Windows Vista Ultimate with SP1

- To be looked at...that's how useless it is
Microsoft forces it down people's throats by trying to stop XP support & coercing comp manufacturers into exclusively offering Vista, but now they're trying to change their tone. Don't buy Mojave ads and don't buy Vista.

Vista is obsessed with looks. Unfortunately the resource-hog features like Aero (semi-transparent borders? really?) don't help productivity. And after the first 5 seconds of use, you really don't notice the fluff anymore.

What you do notice beyond the first 5 seconds is the sluggishness, even with the fluff turned off. Opening the control panel takes 15 seconds. Accessing a folder's list with a large number of files is agonizingly slow (and didn't Vista start as Longhorn, a faster file-accessing goal?)

Features were also ripped out and tripped over. The picture editor, which I enjoyed toying with, is now bare-bones, stripped of the cool little editing tools. The media center doesn't even have a progress bar to skip through (not to mention it plays DVDs with an awful horizontal misalignment / lag). And surprise...navigating it is slower!

Windows Defender, the spyware & unwanted program monitor is turned off by default, supposedly to avoid further antitrust problems for Microsoft (but isn't Vista's tech pitch that it's more secure?!). So you'll need to dig through and turn it on.

It seems as if Microsoft set a date to make money, failed at their initial goal of writing a new file management architecture, and pieced together a last-minute cosmetic skin to meet that deadline. Maybe it could be a fantastic OS. Maybe it already is, and just falls short of my last one. Maybe MS just completely screwed the pooch on their business strategy and customer goodwill. Til they provide free XP to existing Vista users to allow side-by-side comparison, I can't stomach the Mojave advertisements of "surprise...it's Vista!"

Rating:

- VISTA so far Rules!!! That is for a system with high Memory and Processor.
I upgraded my system with Windows Vista Ultimate with SP1 and it came with my new Dell XPS 420. Have to say that for a system with Duo Core and 3.16 GHz and 4Mbs Ram, it runs so far much more smoothly and with finesse that Windows XP Pro. The only first drawback is the overwhelming feeling I got thinking, "Yikes, what have I done? I'm going to have to learn a brand new system and I have no idea if any of my software will work."

That concern seemed to be addressed very quickly when I began to install my apps and ran them without a hiccup or the dreaded "Blue Screen of I need to buy Depends right away!"

Granted, I have yet to fully immerse myself in all of the functions and run it at its peek potential, but so far I'm encouraged with the ease of use and the ability to perform similar functions that I became use to with Windows XP Pro.

I do believe that for systems that are running a Pentium 4 with less than 3.2 GHz or Processing power as well as robust memory with 4 gigs, I can see how the many complaints about the OS would be very valid. I haven't read all of the troubles, but it does stand to reason that unless you have a system comparable to the hungry needs of Vista, the experience would most likely be frustrating and hair pulling to say the least. One friend ran it with his system of 3 years and it was definitely SLOWER than Windows XP Pro and was a waist of time for him.

By the way, off topic so I apologize, but if you're purchasing a Dell desktop system with Vista Ultimate and the sales rep tells you that Ultimate comes with a CD for Windows XP Pro, or that you have download rights, it's all bull. The only systems that Microsoft is allowing rights for are XPS systems for Gaming only. I was lied to by 5 reps who each gave me a different story. Fortunately XP Pro can be obtained legally and cheaply from other vendors and that I also am fully satisfied with Vista for my Setup.

I hope this helps.

Cheers.

Rating:

- Windows Vista Ultimate with SP1
Vista is far the best operating system MS has put on the market. I have used all of them since the first issue and I am really happy I have migrated to Vista Ultimate.
With kind regards,
Branko

Rating:

- Enjoyable, with buggy character
Along the same tune of many others, Vista Ultimate has its perks, but hardly makes for a compelling reason to upgrade from XP.

I switched from XP to this version of Vista a few weeks back and am still in the process of acclimation. Although Aero is very nice and pretty, it clearly comes at a price as this system does run slower with this OS.

Also, I had a ton of programs that worked fine on XP, including a mouse gesture program I lived with on my old system, that are useless on Vista - they just don't work. On top, as has been stated to death, Vista prompts you for agreement every time you want to download or update pretty much anything.

Another annoyance, if the computer happens to go to sleep, it'll take close to 30 seconds to go back to normal, as I have to wait for the computer to register my keyboard strokes and reconnect to the internet. This is pretty annoying, and coming from a brand new Dell system by the way.

Lastly, not sure Ultimate is worth the extra dollars, unless you're on a laptop and need the encryption feature, or don't already use some other programs to remote access your system or backup the disk image, which at my office we already did before Vista. I'd suggest considering one of the other cheaper versions, which for most consumers is likely to suffice.

Rating:

- It's OK
Not crazy about Vista- it keeps asking if I want to leave this page, etc etc etc- It was fairly easy to install despite other's complaints about the complexity. My computer fared well without issues.

prisrob