Like many of us, you might have (made the mistake of...) Windows Vista on your newly purchased pc. Whether you did this because you thought you had to (which is NOT true -- many manufacturers are still selling new models with Windows XP or no operating system at all), or because you were misled by Microsoft's ridiculously outlandish, circus-event that passed for a software launching, the simple fact remains: Windows Vista is still in 'beta' form at best and neither was nor is ready for mainstream distribution. If you haven't made this hasty jump yet, here are some things to consider before buying a new pc or upgrading your existing one.
What Windows Vista was supposed to do:
Let me start by saying there was nothing really wrong with Windows XP. Windows XP is still -- by far -- the operating system of choice for standard windows computers, and will be for probably a year or two (and that's being optimistic in favor of Vista). That being said, we would never have anything better if new things were never tried. It just so happened that Vista turned out to be that odd item on the menu that causes homage to be paid to the porcelain..I think you catch the drift.
In an effort to deliver something new, Microsoft attempted to improve on its weaknesses (security and graphics, namely) and also to add more scalability to areas it dominates beyond the needs of any user, even in a theoretical sense (way too much emphasis on memory, particularly when nobody buys enough of it as it is). The 'want' list for Vista probably looked something like this:
- Better Security
- Better Memory Management/Scalability
- Better Networking
- Better Graphics/Graphical User Interface
- Better File Structure
- Do they really need a Command Prompt?
- Um...regular updates passed off as a new version?
These items -- in and of themselves -- are not a bad focus for a new update, but a new version...? Needless to say, it didn't work.
What Windows Vista really does -- the bad:
Security. Microsoft has added more security features behind the scenes. And that is great. Seamless security is the pursuit. That is not, however, where they left it. Now you can barely run an application, open a file, browse to a Web site, download an attachment, drink a glass of water, take a breath of air, et cetera ad nauseum without some kind of prompt for verification. What Microsoft got right is that though every security threat is from a source outside of the operating system (initially), it does in fact take user initiative to inadvertently, and often times unintentionally, allow security threats into your system (the Trojan horse). What Microsoft got horrible wrong is that it takes a standard user about...700 “accept clicks” (and that will only take you the first fifteen minutes of using it) to completely ignore this added security feature and just blindly agree to anything. What's worse is that the operating system takes that blind acceptance and treats it as valid. The user doesn't mean to say “I know this is a secure source and that this file is not corrupted”, but rather...”I want pictures!!!”. GRADE: F--
Networking. Microsoft's legacy to the world, if it ever dies off (which it won't...), definitely has to be networking. Back in the days when you could have told any Microsoft Word Bandit* to get in the shell and have them fumbling around for a dead turtle in the case, you could have instead bought some out-of-the-box 95/98 systems with a simple hub and had yourself a good peer-to-peer network that could even run integrated business applications on each of the pc's (I know, I used to do it). Those were the good days. Before the dark times. Before the...wait that's Star Wars. Instead of actually treating the problem of network security, which in its current form is absolutely impossible (yes, I am saying don't waste your money on security software), Microsoft has decided to make the process of networking so cumbersome and, frankly, counter-productive that even if a computer is infected it won't be able to affect the others anyway because nothing's getting through (if you don't believe me go ahead and turn your windows firewall on and just see how productive you are). Instead of treating, we're back to the days of quarantining and letting the patient die (file/data lossage) with the hope of resurrection (but this re-format/salvation comes with a limit, you can only do it so many times before you have to give Bill a call and explain why you can't get his wonderful product working right). The days of networking without a server/client model are, unfortunately, truly disappearing. GRADE: D+ (it still technically works, it's just Dumb)
Memory. Microsoft's other legacy, though it really isn't theirs, is memory. Windows-based systems can have tons of memory in comparison to others -- and they hog it all like a 1960's gas-guzzler (interestingly enough, it would be fair to likewise compare Unix/Linux variants to the 1960's and 70's Asian cars that didn't pack much of a punch, but were highly efficient with what they had). This isn't really a bad thing, though, as with more memory and better memory allocation you can run many more simultaneous applications without interruption (I run on 4 GB of RAM and often will have as many as 10 different programs running, some of them even graphical design applications, and have no system lagging whatsoever). And, truth be told, Vista's improved dynamic/flash-based RAM is truly a good thing. The problem is that almost no computer is sold with enough static RAM to get the system up and running properly to take advantage of dynamic RAM. Most Windows 2000 and XP systems were sold cheap by cutting down on RAM (they came with either 128 or 256 MB). Even Windows Vista only comes with the recommendation of 512 MB. This is classic advertising and will result in ridiculously poor system performance. As stated, I run XP Pro with 4 GB of RAM (and considering how cheap RAM is, there's nothing unreasonable about that -- I just spent about $150 extra, and have saved more than that on what I would have spent on Aleeve...). Nevertheless, it is a good feature...for about ten years down the road when applications could possibly go beyond the means of static RAM. GRADE: C- ('Cause they should have spent more time on other things instead of wasting it here)
Command Prompt. There's really not much to say other than Microsoft has made it ridiculously difficult to use the Command Prompt. It's still there, typically found by: 1. Holding down the shift key; 2. Right-Clicking on a folder; 3. Left-Clicking on 'Open Command Window Here'; 4. Hoping it worked -- because sometimes it doesn't. This is still a completely valid tool and finding it is absolutely ridiculous. GRADE: F--
What Windows Vista really does -- the good:
Admittedly, some of the features of Windows Vista are genuinely good. Again, much of this would have been expected in a standard update, or service pack release at least, but a whole new version...?
Graphics/Graphical User Interface. Of all the things that can be said about Windows Vista...it is 'pretty'. It is 'futuristic'. It's sleek, smooth, and even the annoying security pop-ups give the impression of “whoa, I better pay attention” (though, again, only for about 700 clicks). The aero interface, with its 'behind the window' preview and advanced 3-D viewing options really is an achievement, considering that Microsoft hasn't really touched advanced graphics since MMX back in the '90s (and boy, what a success that was). The reality is, though, that Microsoft has ignored advanced graphics for so long that even with drastic improvements, it simply isn't enough. Windows Vista is designed around Internet Explorer 7 (which by all accounts is a disaster), and it doesn't even handle graphics as well as Firefox – a free alternative. I'm not advocating using alternatives all the time, but typically it isn't a choice to use Microsoft, but rather a grudging acceptance due to the increased functionality and compatibility with applications that Microsoft products do bring – and they do, in fact, do just that. GRADE: B-
File Structure. One thing they finally got right was the file indexing. It's been a very long practice of Web browsing to 'bookmark' sites or add them to 'favorites'. And if you happened to want to put a site under more than one heading/section, you could. This made perfect, logical sense. And, to some extent, with shortcuts this could be accomplished. It just got tedious keeping everything up to date and preventing 'dead shortcuts' from cropping up everywhere. With saved file searches, you avoid all that mess of having to keep everything up to date every time you make a simple change. GRADE: A+
When to get it:
The vote is in, and Vista is definitely out. That is, of course, still running off the observation that it is still in its 'beta' form. It will be greatly improved by the end of this year when IE7 is replaced by IE8. As well, with the onset of quad-core processors, a true multi-tasking platform, Vista should be poised to offer true advancements, worthy of the status of next generation operating system. My recommendation is to wait until the end of the first quarter of 2009 (March...) – a full two years after its 'retail' release. By then appropriate adjustments will (should) be made to make Vista everything it should have been for a product launch, instead of a rushed product released at the demand of pc manufacturers (which is another article-topic altogether).
*Microsoft Word Bandit: Noun. A computer user that, though able to turn the machine on and utilize some basic Microsoft Office programs (for example...Word), lacks all true computing skills; nevertheless, they tend to fancy themselves quite the 'hacker' and find their mono-type, 5 word, non-graphical, Word-based posters quite the accomplishment. Another key trait is the belief that copy-and-paste is synonymous with 'resume-builder', which can lead to significant disgruntlement among colleagues. |
