Running Windows Vista - It ain't half bad!! - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

tangledweb · 12-10-2006, 06:54 PM

I took advantage of the cold weather and decided to forsake my outside work for a little computer experiment. I loaded Windows Vista - Business on my laptop last night and I am very surprised to say that I'm not disappointed. The install on my Sony Vaio laptop went smoothly and the only problems I have had have been minor glitches with installing older software. Some of the things that the Upgrade Advisor said would not work in Vista (such as my Wireless Network Adaptor), are working anyway.

I'll tell you up front that this version of Windows is going to come off l'ooking' like a GUI upgrade over XP. I say 'looking' because there is a little more under the hood of this release than just transparent panes and slick graphics. The bootup and shut down sequences are AWESOME and fast. My laptop now shuts down in less than 10 seconds and boots back up in less than 30 seconds. It accomplishes that task by hogging down about 20gigs of HDD space and keeping a trickle of power to the RAM, but so far it is well worth it.

The graphics overhaul is slick but requires more than an onboard intel chipset with shared memory. With a good enough video card, you can use the Windows Aero interface that basically gets 'Windows' to function like you would think an operating system called Windows should. You get slick thumbnail views and lots of tabbed subpanels for some true multitasking with a single monitor. The ability to monitor several different running tasks at the same time is finally here with the real-time thumbnail views.

If your computer meets the suggested requirements and you want to spiff up your computer's look and feel, then you might want to consider upgrading when Vista hits the shelves in late January. If, on the other hand, you are expecting an 'all-new' operating system experience, you might want to save your money. This upgrade will feel like the upgrade from Windows 95 to Windows 98 where Microsoft just took all the really clever and innovative software add-ons that had been developed for 95 and rolled them into 98.
There is more to Vista than that - but that is how it is going to look and feel.

ktspktsp · 12-10-2006, 08:13 PM

Cool - thanks for the review

Cynthetiq · 12-10-2006, 08:40 PM

eh.. i loaded Vista 64 RC1 and it was neat and all, but it just wasn't all that and a bag of chips, whereas when I loaded OSX for the first time, I was amazed at how much more intuitive it had taken the OS to the next level.

But I do think that Vista needs to finally rear it's head... it's about time.

shakran · 12-10-2006, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tangledweb

It accomplishes that task by hogging down about 20gigs of HDD space and keeping a trickle of power to the RAM, but so far it is well worth it.

I'm not sure I'm following you here. Computers have been doing that for years. It's called sleep and hibernate mode.

Quote:

If your computer meets the suggested requirements and you want to spiff up your computer's look and feel, then you might want to consider upgrading when Vista hits the shelves in late January.

And if you're willing to accept the fact that if you upgrade your computer more than once (want a shiny new video card? You just performed a significant upgrade!) you will loose your legal right to use Vista unless you can convince the nice folks back at Microsoft to give it back. If you can't, you're off to buy another copy.

Moyaboy · 12-11-2006, 10:02 AM

Not true at all. It takes 5 hardware changes to re-activate the copy protection.

When I had to call them to re-activate it was fast and easy. A few questions and I was back up and running, since then I have reinstalled and upgraded two pieces of hardware, and I haven't had to call them.

asshopo · 12-11-2006, 10:55 AM

And if you are a complete geek and upgrade something every few months then it will take around a year before you have to buy a new license. Nope, not buying it, but I'll use it!

snicka · 12-11-2006, 11:14 AM

I have been playing around with RC1 for a bit and do believe that I will upgrade to it after the first service pack or so. I like the interface and some of the features, especially the integrated inking capablities, are very attractive to me.
My main complaint is really from a developers standpoint, since I often fiddle with the registry, device manager, windows directory, etc I get EXTREMELY annoyed by the User Account Control interface. Doing something and then having it pause and have to click another button saying that i approve the action is infuriating at times. You can turn this off but then it shows that little red shield in the corner saying that you have a security problem.
All in all though I think it is a good OS and will eventually be upgrading to it at home.

12-10-2006, 06:54 PM	#1 (permalink)
tangledweb slightly impaired Location: Down South	Running Windows Vista - It ain't half bad!! I took advantage of the cold weather and decided to forsake my outside work for a little computer experiment. I loaded Windows Vista - Business on my laptop last night and I am very surprised to say that I'm not disappointed. The install on my Sony Vaio laptop went smoothly and the only problems I have had have been minor glitches with installing older software. Some of the things that the Upgrade Advisor said would not work in Vista (such as my Wireless Network Adaptor), are working anyway. I'll tell you up front that this version of Windows is going to come off l'ooking' like a GUI upgrade over XP. I say 'looking' because there is a little more under the hood of this release than just transparent panes and slick graphics. The bootup and shut down sequences are AWESOME and fast. My laptop now shuts down in less than 10 seconds and boots back up in less than 30 seconds. It accomplishes that task by hogging down about 20gigs of HDD space and keeping a trickle of power to the RAM, but so far it is well worth it. The graphics overhaul is slick but requires more than an onboard intel chipset with shared memory. With a good enough video card, you can use the Windows Aero interface that basically gets 'Windows' to function like you would think an operating system called Windows should. You get slick thumbnail views and lots of tabbed subpanels for some true multitasking with a single monitor. The ability to monitor several different running tasks at the same time is finally here with the real-time thumbnail views. If your computer meets the suggested requirements and you want to spiff up your computer's look and feel, then you might want to consider upgrading when Vista hits the shelves in late January. If, on the other hand, you are expecting an 'all-new' operating system experience, you might want to save your money. This upgrade will feel like the upgrade from Windows 95 to Windows 98 where Microsoft just took all the really clever and innovative software add-ons that had been developed for 95 and rolled them into 98. There is more to Vista than that - but that is how it is going to look and feel.

12-10-2006, 08:40 PM	#3 (permalink)
Cynthetiq Tilted Cat Head Administrator Location: Manhattan, NY	eh.. i loaded Vista 64 RC1 and it was neat and all, but it just wasn't all that and a bag of chips, whereas when I loaded OSX for the first time, I was amazed at how much more intuitive it had taken the OS to the next level. But I do think that Vista needs to finally rear it's head... it's about time. __________________ I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not. What's the best nation in the world? DO-NATION!

12-11-2006, 10:02 AM	#5 (permalink)
Moyaboy Crazy Location: Charlotte, NC	Not true at all. It takes 5 hardware changes to re-activate the copy protection. When I had to call them to re-activate it was fast and easy. A few questions and I was back up and running, since then I have reinstalled and upgraded two pieces of hardware, and I haven't had to call them. __________________ "With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion." - Steven Weinberg

12-11-2006, 10:55 AM	#6 (permalink)
asshopo Insane Location: Michigan	And if you are a complete geek and upgrade something every few months then it will take around a year before you have to buy a new license. Nope, not buying it, but I'll use it! __________________ Patterns have a habit of repeating themselves.

12-10-2006, 08:13 PM	#2 (permalink)
ktspktsp Addict Location: Reykjavik, Iceland	Cool - thanks for the review

12-11-2006, 11:14 AM	#7 (permalink)
snicka Crazy	I have been playing around with RC1 for a bit and do believe that I will upgrade to it after the first service pack or so. I like the interface and some of the features, especially the integrated inking capablities, are very attractive to me. My main complaint is really from a developers standpoint, since I often fiddle with the registry, device manager, windows directory, etc I get EXTREMELY annoyed by the User Account Control interface. Doing something and then having it pause and have to click another button saying that i approve the action is infuriating at times. You can turn this off but then it shows that little red shield in the corner saying that you have a security problem. All in all though I think it is a good OS and will eventually be upgrading to it at home.