Windows Archive

Windows Vista: 19 Months of Usage and Counting

  Submitted by flanque Windows 23 Comments
Is Windows Vista really the indispensable upgrade that Microsoft wants you to think it is? ZDNet's Kingsley-Hughes says: "Having been using Vista for over 18 months I believe that it's a huge improvement over XP and even though I still use XP I find that I miss many of the features that Vista offers. However, I wouldn't call any of the changes earth-shattering." My take: That is about the most sensible Vista-related conclusion I have read so far.
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Windows Vista Desktops

Windows 41 Comments
"Windows Vista has been available to consumers for nearly a month now. Many new and revamped PCs incorporating Microsoft's latest operating system have been released, with lots more on the way. So far, we've looked at a range of Vista desktops from gaming rigs to all-in-one PCs to low-end machines, and by and large, we've liked what we've seen." By the way, some people really go to great lengths to... Well, I don't know.
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64-Bit Vista Is Hard to Get

  Submitted by george Windows 42 Comments
Microsoft is keen to stir up enthusiasm for Windows Vista, but when it comes to the 64-bit edition of the recently released operating system, the software giant is sending decidedly mixed messages. Vista is available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions, with the latter targeted at owners of recent computers with 64-bit processors. However, customers who purchase the retail version of Vista Home Basic, Home Premium or Business don't have the option of buying the 64-bit version directly. It also seems Microsoft will toughen its anti-piracy policies.
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Convert Physical Windows Systems Into Virtual Machines

  Submitted by falko Windows 15 Comments
"This article shows how you can convert a physical Windows system into a VMware virtual machine with the free VMware Converter Starter. The resulting virtual machine can be run in the free VMware Player and VMware Server, and also in VMware Workstation and other VMware products. Vmware Converter comes in handy if you want to switch to a Linux desktop, but feel the need to run your old Windows desktop from time to time. By converting your Windows desktop into a virtual machine, you can run it under VMware Server/Player, etc. on your Linux desktop."
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Fixing Windows Vista’s Firewall

  Submitted by Jennifer Logan Windows 23 Comments
"What is it with the Windows Vista Firewall and its refusal to go away? All our PCs are secured behind two firewalls: a hardware firewall and Microsoft ISA Server. The only traffic that gets in is the traffic that we want to get in. Now we can appreciate having the firewall on by default; but after turning it off over 20 times, it’s getting to be too much."
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First Thoughts: Windows Vista Ultimate

  Submitted by anonymous Windows 55 Comments
MBReview.com reviewed Windows Vista, and concluded: "Overall, my first impressions of Vista, and specifically Vista Ultimate, are quite good. I had few problems moving over hardware and software, other than issues of driver support by manufacturers. This is an extremely annoying issue and I'm sure I'm not alone in my distaste for such lack of driver support. The new Aero interface is gorgeous and is one of the big reasons I have moved over to Vista on my main system. It has it's quirks like anything, but it is a big improvement from WindowsXP. Thus far, I'm impressed."
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Ballmer: Vista Sales Expectations Too High

  Submitted by Sphinx Windows 28 Comments
Microsoft's Steve Ballmer said Thursday that Wall Street's current expectations for revenue from its newest operating system may be too 'optimistic'. "I'm really excited about how enthusiastic people are about Vista, but I think some of the revenue forecasts for Vista in 2008 are overly aggressive," Ballmer said in a meeting for financial analysts. " is primarily a chance to sustain what revenue we have - not every release is a revenue growing opportunity." On a related note, boxed sales of Vista trail those of XP in the first few weeks after launch.
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Vista Today, Tomorrow, What Never Was

Windows 162 Comments
Shock and awe; Windows Vista has been released to the hounds (that would be us). As just about every publication has reiterated a thousand times over it took 5+ years of design and development and cost USD 5.5 billion both directly and indirectly. We were promised (maybe not even promised, but bullshitted) a revolutionary operating system and what we got is for you to determine for yourselves. I personally think it's a disappointment to say the least.
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‘Why Vista’s DRM Is Bad For You’

Windows 93 Comments
"Windows Vista includes an array of 'features' that you don't want. These features will make your computer less reliable and less secure. They'll make your computer less stable and run slower. They will cause technical support problems. They may even require you to upgrade some of your peripheral hardware and existing software. And these features won't do anything useful. In fact, they're working against you. They're digital rights management features built into Vista at the behest of the entertainment industry. And you don't get to refuse them."
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Vista First Look: Bugs and Confusion

Windows 97 Comments
El Reg has reveiwed Windows Vista. "So, there's our first look at Vista. It does benefit from a lot of good ideas, many of them Apple's, of course, but good nevertheless. It simply doesn't work very well, unfortunately. There are serious problems with execution; it's not polished; it's not ready. It should not be on the market, and certainly not for the outrageous prices being charged. Don't buy it, at least until after the first service pack is out. Don't pay to be a beta tester." Elsewhere, analysts believe Windows Vista will take a bite out of Mac's market share.
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Hacker, Microsoft Duke it Out Over Vista Design Flaw

Windows 22 Comments
Joanna Rutkowska has always been a big supporter of the Windows Vista security model. Until she stumbled upon a 'very severe hole' in the design of UAC and found out - from Microsoft officials - that the default no-admin setting isn't even a security mechanism anymore. Rutkowska believes UAC has a major flaw in the way it automatically assumes that all setup programs (application installers) should be run with administrator privileges.
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Forbes: ‘Dim Vista’

Windows 172 Comments
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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Vista Spurs US Computer Sales

  Submitted by jayson.knight Windows 76 Comments
US sales of computers carrying Microsoft's new operating system Vista soared in the week after it was launched, defying the expectations of analysts who gave Vista lackluster reviews. Personal computer sales for the week following Vista's debut to succeed Microsoft's Windows XP in January were 67 percent higher than those in the same week in 2006, and nearly triple those of the preceding week, according to Current Analysis.
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Old Computer Gets Vista

Windows 54 Comments
"When Microsoft brings out a new operating system, it's always nice to know that you can actually take advantage of it. Sure, you're used to whatever you currently have, which is most likely Windows XP, but you also know that sooner or later, something new will come along that requires the new operating system. So when Vista finally shipped, I decided that the time had come. I'd upgrade one of the machines in the back room."
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Analysis: New Windows Vista Firewall Fails on Outbound Security

  Submitted by Sphinx Windows 18 Comments
Microsoft touts Windows Vista as giving significant security improvements over Windows XP, and it offers the Windows Firewall, with its new two-way filtering feature, as one reason for that better security. But as shipped, the Windows Firewall offers little outbound protection, and it's not clear how outbound protection can be configured to protect against spyware, Trojans and bots.
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