spherebox

Got my new rig in the last day of Jan 2007, together with a copy of OEM Windows Vista Home Premium edition. As promised, I’m writing a review of the OS.

While this review is obviously not as complete or professional as other articles that you could find elsewhere, it gives you my very own and neutral opinions on this Microsoft’s flagship product.

Introduction

Windows Vista is the first major OS product from Microsoft since the release of Windows XP, more than 5 years ago. During this period, OSes like MacOS X and some Linux distros have been released and offering much more than what Windows XP is capable of, and because of this, the release of Windows Vista is often being considered “over-hyped”. However, the hype given to Windows Vista is understandable, as Microsoft is still the biggest software company in the planet, and Windows is still the most popular operating system around.

In this article, I’ll concentrate on the improvements compare to its predecessor (Windows XP), rather than comparing it with other OSes such as Linux or MacOS X. It will also not cover each and every aspect of the OS, but only the functions that deserve a mention IMO.

My Windows Vista is being tested with the rig specified here

User Interface

With the introduction of new stuff like Aero, Flip 3D, higher resolution icons, Windows Gadgets (to be further discussed) etc, Windows Vista is indeed an eye candy. Whether or not Windows is copying the idea from other OS (you know it), doesn’t appear to be a problem to me (who cares?) The most important thing is, those functions are eye-pleasing as well as practical.

Anyway, the eye-catching user interface comes with a hefty price (literally), it requires relatively higher hardware requirements. To check whether your system is ready for Windows Vista, you can download the upgrade advisor here. With a low-end graphic card like Nvidia GeForce 7300GS, it only gives me a 3.7 experience index in “Graphics”, however, I’m still able to run Aero smoothly.

For those who are complaining the hardware requirements are too overly high, or Windows Vista is taking up their system resources especially their precious RAM, you always have the option to disable Aero or Flip3D, it’s not like you have no choice. To enjoy the bells and whistles, you must pay for the price, simple as that.

Windows Sidebar Gadgets

Despite the claim that this is a rip off from MacOS X, it is probably a good news for Windows-based Desk modders, since they don’t have to use third party software from Stardock anymore, as it has been integrated into Windows itself.

Windows Gadgets are basically small applications that can be attached to the sidebar, like RSS feeds, calculator, calendar, CPU meter, weather and whatnots.

I personally think this is a great and definitely a nice to have function for users with good system spec (high RAM, to be precise). It’s not only just visually appealing, but some of the gadgets like calendar and clock are also practical to be used.

What’s more, you can always download extra gadgets from the Internet for free, and the installation of gadget is nothing but just a mouse click. This gives users some kind of flexibility.

Security

With the widespread of Internet access, security has become a major concern not only to business users, but also to home users. Microsoft has definitely learned the lessons in WinXP and IE6, and has substantially improved its security in Windows Vista by offering Windows Defender, IE7, a proper Firewall, Bitlocker* and Encryting File system* (in Business and Ultimate version only). However, unlike Microsoft’s previous plan, no Antivirus is bundled with the OS, meaning to say, you’ll still have to look for a third party antivirus elsewhere.

While Microsoft’s effort in improving security is much appreciated, they might have overdone it. By default, Windows is asking the user for confirmation each and every time an executable file is being executed. I understand that this function is good for inexperienced users as well as preventing EXE files from being executed automatically, it does not change the fact that most of the experienced users find it extremely annoying. Anyway, this can be easily gotten rid of, by turning off the UAC (even though Windows Vista doesn’t recommend it)

Compatiblity

The main reason why I go for 32-bit is that, it really takes a long long time for 64-bit to get common. But still, due to the fact that Windows Vista is a new OS, and compatibility issues is inevitable.

Anyway, most of the things work well, I’ve managed to install these applications without any problem (all are latest version to date):

7-Zip, K-lite Mega Codec pack, Paint.NET, Avast!, CCleaner, Flashget, Firefox, OpenOffice, Skype

However, I was facing some problems with my D-link USB Wireless adapter, and the onboard soundcard. It took me a really long time to get those issues resolved (you know, those minor issues).

And also, while there are wide range of free antivirus to choose from, Avast! is probably the only free antivirus that works well in Vista as of now.

What we can do is really just wait, as I’m pretty sure that applications and drivers in near future will definitely cater of Windows Vista.

For the full list of applications/games compatibility, please read here.

Stability

Despite Microsoft’s claim that Windows Vista is the most tested software ever from the software firm, the stability of the system has not yet been convincing. I’ve encountered several situations whereby applications stopped responding, and needed to close.

For example, when I’m configuring my mic with WLM and configuring speech recognition at the same time, the system will hang and I’ll have to end the task by going to task manager. I’m also encountering stability problem with VMWare player that I’ve chosen to uninstall it.

While Windows Vista is working fine most of the time, what I’m trying to say is, stability is really something that Microsoft needs to improve and I hope hotfixes will be released ASAP to solve all these.

Windows Search

Yet another major improvements in Windows Vista is definitely its search function. While it probably takes you 10 minutes just to search a file, you can do it instantly in Windows Vista (a.k.a search as you type).

While this function has been offered by other third party software like Google Desktop search, it’s always good to have it integrated in the OS instead.

Windows Anytime Upgrade

Purchased Home Basic edition, but find out that you REALLY need the functions offered by Ultimate edition?

Rest assured, while not denying that it is a marketing strategy from Microsoft, Windows Anytime Upgrade provides you the flexibility of upgrading your current OS to a more powerful version, without having to buy the full version again, and without having to re-install the whole OS.

Just for your information, this function is not available to Malaysian users yet, as of today. But I’m considering upgrading it to Windows Vista Ultimate whenever it is available.

Untested features

Readyboost, Readydrive, Superfetch etc. Feature like Readyboost is pretty hard to test as it requires a really big USB drive and the difference might be too small for me to notice especially when I’m having 2GB of RAM. However, I might post separate articles regarding these features in future if I’ve found a proper way to test them.

EDIT: Added an article about Windows Vista Speech Recognition here

My Final Say

Some of you might be thinking, I’ve just got my OEM Vista yesterday and it only takes a day for me to fully review it? It must be kidding! For your info, I’ve been testing Vista since the Beta stage, and it took me a whole night to explore the improvements in the final build.

My verdict is, Windows Vista is a much better version if compare to Windows XP, however, considering the rather long development and testing duration, Microsoft could have definitely done much better than this. But anyway, the first service pack is scheduled to be released this year itself, and I’d expect it to be more robust and stable OS by then.

If you insist me to rate it, I’d give a 7.5/10 for now :-)