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MS Windows 7 Home Premium
by TheReviewGuy
I had Windows XP, Vista, and now Windows 7 Home Premium. I would have to say that Windows 7 is the best. Before I bought this, I looked at the comparison between the Ultimate, Professional. There isn't a difference that would benefit me.
The option to browse through multiple open windows is good when you hover over icons at ... the task bar. There has been no problems, no crashing or anything since I've had it. The appearance is a lot better and colourful. I run a 64 Bit and the visual differences are greatly improved. The default icons for the Control Panel are a lot nicer and clearer to see and now you can watch youtube videos at the bottom hovering over a different icon while you are on a different program.
It all seems more organized, especially the start menu and files. It's more bright and feels more modern and lively. There is more help in it and when your system encounters an error, the instructions on how to resolve it is a lot clearer.
I prefer this system and I love it. Most software that you get from the internet supports this OS so you won't have to worry about compatibility issues that may occur when downloading files via the web.
It's easy to work and great for everyone with easy customization options and tools to customize your desktop and your computer!
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MS Windows Vista Home Premium
by sn0zb0z
Windows Vista home premium came installed on my computer. If I'd had the choice I'd rather have had XP. With the specification of my computer Vista does run fine, although I'm sure it would be much faster with XP. However, I decided to stick with Vista as it did seem ok. There have been a number of times though when my computer has ... crashed because of Vista and many things that run which slow down the computer, half of which I have no idea what they even do (if anything at all). There are certain things which I have read you can stop running in the background, but due to it being the Operating System (so rather important) I figured it was best to just let it all run rather than risk stopping the wrong thing.
Recommended system requirements:
1GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) Processor
1GB RAM
40GB HDD Space with at least 15GB of available space
128MB Graphics Card with Pixel Shader 2.0 support and WDDM Driver (DirectX 9 compatible)
Sound Card
DVD-ROM Drive
Internet access
Design:
The main design is still very similar to previous Operating Systems. You have the task bar at the bottom which includes the clock and other icons on the right. The Start button is slightly different, showing the Windows logo rather than saying Start. The menu is also different. I have gotten used to the menu, although I found it much easier to find what I wanted on XP and before. With Vista the main options such as My Computer and Control Panel are at the right side and all recently used programs are on the left. At the bottom you can select All Programs to see everything. As everything is just in one list it can take me a while to find what I want, especially as I have quite a few programs.
The Control Panel windows are a bit different to Windows XP as some icons are labelled differently, but you can always put it in Classic View which is useful.
Unlike XP and before, Vista organises folders better. There is Documents, Music, Pictures and Videos folders under each user. I always used to make folders with these names anyway so I haven't noticed much difference as far as files being more organised goes. Under each I still have many other folders so things can still get confusing and become hard to find.
Features:
There's nothing really new about Vista in the sense of features. You still have Paint, notepad, Windows Movie Maker and the option to change your desktop, screensaver and so on. You get a better selection of desktop and screensaver images and some do look like they have more depth to them, although they're not 3D.
One new thing, which can be seen as good or bad, is the preview you get when you hover over the windows in the task bar. As you hover over them it will bring up a small preview above the bar which shows you what that window is. In one respect this is great. You can find the window you want without opening them all up properly and it is usually detailed enough so that you can see exactly what things are. If, for example, you are on Youtube you can hover over the window and see the preview with the video and be on something else. On the other hand if someone else is with you and you are trying to avoid them seeing something they may see it anyway if you accidentally hover over it. It can also make the computer freeze a moment if you are trying to do something which takes a lot of power and you hover over a window.
Sidebar:
The sidebar is a nice extra to Vista, although having said it can make the computer slower if you are running a few other things. The sidebar allows you to put different features at the side such as a clock, the weather or notes. You can get loads of these features and all for free. Some are pointless, but nice to look at while others are designed to help you.
I used to use the sidebar more when I first started using Vista as it was interesting to see what different features were like. Now I rarely use it. Only time I am likely to use it is if adding the note feature as this can be helpful sometimes as I can write a note to remind myself of something and it will always be there. This is, of course, more useful if you use the computer a lot as then there is a constant reminder there otherwise you have to remember to turn on your computer and you can't have a reminder on your computer for that for obvious reasons.
Windows Movie Maker:
Windows Vista comes with Windows Movie Maker. This has been updated since XP and unfortunately is even worse. Windows Movie Maker, or WMM for short, has always been known to crash and this version is no better. On top of that useful features have also been removed such as being able to play a video and save any part of it as an image.
Paint:
Paint has also had an update. It's nowhere near close to programs like Photoshop, but if you want to simply crop an image or mess around then Paint does the job well. The design of Paint has been updated, although the main features are all the same.
Compatibility:
Apart from one game which I've never been able to play on any computer due to either low specs or the wrong spec now I have Vista, I've had no problems with compatibility. There are many things which will not be compatible with Vista. Some things do have downloads so you can use them though. Some games will also run in compatibility mode. This always you to select to run it in XP or before and as soon as you exit the game it will return to Vista.
Overall:
Some may say the interface is easy to use and looks better, but personally I don't really think it is a great improvement on XP and it has far too many bugs. Out of all the Operating Systems I prefer XP. Vista is alright when it works, but nothing special and not good enough to make me want to upgrade to Windows 7.
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