Forbes takes a look at Vista, and writes: "More than five years in the making, more than 50 million lines of code. The result? A vista slightly more inspiring than the one over the town dump. The new slogan is: 'The Wow Starts Now', and Microsoft touts new features, many filched shamelessly from Apple's Macintosh. But as with every previous version, there's no wow here, not even in ironic quotes. Vista is at best mildly annoying and at worst makes you want to rush to Redmond, Wash. and rip somebody's liver out." They also look at Office 2007.
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Member since:2005-07-06
NOTE: I went into Vista hoping it would finally be a revamped version of XP with a user-centric design like OS X. That was the wrong mindset as I've been disappointed from end-to-end. Vista is essentially XP with a nice new UI, don't expect more and you will be fine.
If you aren't expecting much you will likely be just fine. If you are expecting Microsoft to "finally get it right, like Apple" then you *will* be disappointed.
It's not that the tech is bad, it's just clear (from end to end) that the OS was kicked out the door with no serious time infront of a usability team that took their job seriously. To get a bit more insight into how this happened, you can read a lot of articles about the corporate environment over there (yell loud, pass the buck, do whatever the guy yelling the loudest says). Hardly an ideal work environment to mull over button placement for 3 months.
To save you the time, go into Vista thinking of Windows XP with a nicer interface, but all the same quirky stupid design decisions that bothered you in the last 10 years of windows and a slew of unexplainable new ones (like moving over 1k files will take upwards of 10mins). You will likely also notice the absolute clutter of the entire thing, like the new explorer. It seems like portions of Vista were developed by a usability-reviewed team, and others were developed by programmers and they were all thrown together into this 50-million-line-of-code salad, and then tossed. It's not a smooth experience, but it's also not insurmountable.
But then there are some other nice touches to combat the new stupidity like file content previews, the nice interface (yes, it's mentioned a lot because it's the only major new thing people can focus on) and searching CAN be handy.
As far as device compatibility and any of that junk, it's the same it's always been but likely worse due to insufficient drivers (not really Vista's fault, but just don't expect a smooth out-the-door experience).
That being said, if you are NOT a gamer, I would strongly suggest you take a look at Linux (OpenSUSE & Ubuntu) and then Mac (in that order).
If you ARE a gamer, then you have no choice. Just suck it up and like it. Oh, and get ready in a few years to drop another $400 on Vienna (prelim name) or whatever the next version of Windows is called. I would be willing to bet $100 by that release that Microsoft will really have something very cool. They have always been a 2.0 company and continue to do so (Zune v2, Xbox 360, etc.) but luckily their version 2.0s of things tend ot be very slick.
I think Vista + SP1 will be sane, and Vista + SP2 will be like XP "stable enough to carry us until the next release" but still not fantastic (fantastic meaning Microsoft finally being competitive with OS X as far as user-driven design goes).
Edited 2007-02-11 16:36
Member since:2005-07-06
Member since:2005-08-19
If you aren't expecting much you will likely be just fine. If you are expecting Microsoft to "finally get it right, like Apple" then you *will* be disappointed.
It's not that the tech is bad, it's just clear (from end to end) that the OS was kicked out the door with no serious time infront of a usability team that took their job seriously. [...]
[...] That being said, if you are NOT a gamer, I would strongly suggest you take a look at Linux (OpenSUSE & Ubuntu) and then Mac (in that order).
If you're talking about usability teams (i.e., ease of use for everyone) why do you suggest Linux? It's a system for experts and I haven't yet succeeded with making any of my (non-technical) friends happy with it. OS X is much better in this regard.
Member since:2005-07-06
Member since:2006-04-21
If you ARE a gamer, then you have no choice. Just suck it up and like it. Oh, and get ready in a few years to drop another $400 on Vienna (prelim name) or whatever the next version of Windows is called.
Well, you could "have a Wii". Or allow MS to continue churning crap out like this for another ten years by buying an XBOX360.
I would suggest buying a PS3 before an XB360, if I were sure of the release date. But there's plenty of time for it to Vista^H^H^H^H^Hslip yet AGAIN.
Member since:2005-07-05
"...you can read a lot of articles about the corporate environment over there (yell loud, pass the buck, do whatever the guy yelling the loudest says)"
That is exactly right! I worked at Microsoft back in the late 90s, but had to leave because I failed to see the intelligence or innovation in making all decisions on a product via shouting match.
With regards to Vista, it probably isn't so much that Steve Jobs is a benevolent, forward thinker and Bill Gates is pure evil, from the soles of his hooves to the tips of his horns, but simply that Microsoft either can't or won't let go of their old technology.
Apple REALLY did it right with OS X. They totally screwed backward compatibility and jumped into a whole new feature with both feet.
Microsoft will never be able to provide an Apple-like experience until they throw absolutely everything away and start fresh; preferably with new people who aren't familiar with their past technologies.
Member since:2006-08-10
He is actually pretty spot on from a users perspective. I just setup my in-laws PC with Vista Home Basic. The thing runs like a tired old dog. With the specs the computer has, I could be running Ubuntu with beryl and no slow downs.
The Comtrol panel took me forever to figure out how to uninstall an application. He's right, they renamed things for no real reason. The new start menu sucks! honestly, I think that they need to give up on GUI and start talking other people to officially support alternate DE's or shells.
Member since:2005-07-28
Member since:2005-07-06
Member since:
2005-11-13
You know MS can't be too happy about this one. I haven't tried it yet myself, but hopefully Vista isn't as big of a train wreck as this article lets on. I wasn't expecting a huge improvement over XP, but this actually sounds like a step backwards.