Stick with XP until Vista SP2 proves worthy (MS Windows Vista Home Premium)

Member Name: bryantma

Product:	MS Windows Vista Home Premium
Date:	13/11/07 (803 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Visuals are lovely and it is finally simpler to use.

Disadvantages: slow, over-secure dificult to configure

Where do I start? Hummm. I'll start on a positive note, I think. Vista looks lovely. Just about every visual aspect of vista is a huge improvement over XP. It really does look lovely.

And if you are a non-techy person, the interface has also been given an overhaul that makes many of the features usable by people who have no idea what an IP address, gigabyte or pixel is. This is a major step forward by microsoft, who have finally recognised that the vast majority of home users don't have a technical support department to fall back on. For years (decades, even) PCs have been designed for businesses and sold to the general public without any concession to their lack of knowledge of how to get the things to work well. Windows Vista is a good step in the right direction.

OK. That is every single positive word I can think of for Vista.

It's slow, inconsistent and the most frustrating piece of software that I have ever seen.

Connecting a second monitor will cause Vista to make lots of assumptions which will ensure that it configures the screens in the least possible useful way.

The wonderful simplification that the majority of users crave makes it almost impossible for those of us that have been using Windows at work since it's birth to configure the thing the way that we would like to.

Wireless networking has always been somewhat unreliable, but Vista gives it that edge, dragging wifi into the realm of useless.

Windows Explorer has been given lots of new options, most of which are impossible to get rid of, should you want to keep it like it was in XP. New options are a good thing, but why can't I hide them if I want to?

The number of warnings that Vista now gives in response to a command is excessive. Security has obviously taken a very high priority and copying or deleting a file that you didn't create requires 4 or more clicks on pop-up warning messages. Starting an application that you have installed is the same. The fight against viruses on the PC has taken the same turn as the fight against terrorism at airports. It's inconsistant, overbearing, too late and you often wish that you'd just not bothered.

I'm told that when Service Pack 2 comes out in the new year, this will make huge improvements to Vista, but until then, I'm stearing well clear of it. In fact I've been pushed into the arms of Ubuntu which is so far proving to be a wonderful alternative. Quicker and simpler to install with fewer applications to install to make it useful. [Note: whilst every man and his dog have written some form of application/utility for Windows this generally means that we all install them in their droves and then wonder why the PC takes three days to boot. We have every conceivable facility possible for Windows and this isn't a good thing. With Ubuntu I have everything that I need and very little extra. This keeps the PC running at a good speed and the applications that I do have installed remain responsive and productive.] The visuals of Ubuntu are not so advanced as Vista, but that is a small price to pay for a PC that works, very, very well.

I would really like to be able to praise Vista as much as microsoft do, but given a choice between XP and Vista, I'll stick with XP thanks. This has been echoed by Dell customers and IT departments everywhere.

Sorry, but Vista isn't the OS that Microsoft want it to be. Stick with XP until the world in general has given Vista SP2 a thumbs up.

Summary: Not worth the effort. At least not yet.

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