Posted on 04/04/2007 10:45:10 PM PDT by Swordmaker
Comparisons, conjecture, and controversy. Microsoft's new operating system is here, but is it ready for primetime? We spend 30 days with Windows Vista to see if it's worth the leap or if Microsoft should go back to the drawing board.
Introduction
When trying to decide whether to upgrade from Windows XP or 2000 to Windows Vista, it is all too tempting for many people - myself included - to come into it with prejudices and presumptions, and the rumor mill is rife with what Vista can and cannot let you do. Many forum posters say that Vista is nothing but trouble - others say that everything works flawlessly. The differences are so stark that it often seems like two different operating systems are being discussed.
It’s also easy to associate Windows Vista with "Microsoft" the company. Microsoft has done more than perhaps any other software company to bring computing to the masses - and yes, that includes Apple. A great part of our culture was advanced - for good - by the development of Windows. It’s a family of operating systems that run on just about any hardware, making computing affordable for almost everyone. A computer in every home - much like Ford putting a model-T in every garage.
And like Ford, there are also some complaints about Microsoft leveraging its monopoly power to stifle innovation, which we’re all familiar with.
This is at best a wash, and the history of Microsoft, while it may impact individual purchasing choices, does not impact whether or not Windows Vista is an operating system of value. In short, Vista needs to be evaluated in a vacuum - or at least as close as we can get to one. The bottom line is, "does it work, and does it work well?" There's so much information and misinformation about Windows Vista - driver support, stability, DRM - which may be scaring people away from the OS. Conversely, there may be some information yet to be disclosed that could cause problems for users who are looking to upgrade. Clearly, it's time for an objective, in-depth look at what Windows Vista does and does not do.
To properly explore this, I once again formatted the hard drive of my home computer, Whakataruna, and Puget System's graciously provided Pugetina, and made the decision to use Windows Vista as my sole home operating system for 30 days.
This evaluation is a bit shorter and less detailed than the evaluation of Ubuntu Linux which we've recently completed, but that is partially because of the readership’s general familiarity with the OS. Linux was a completely different operating system, so going through it for 30 days was the equivalent of being dropped in a foreign country with a guidebook and friendly locals willing to help you get by - but in the end, you’re still having to learn a new language and the learning curve feels like a monolingual American being air-dropped in the middle of Toyko.
Moving from Windows XP to Windows Vista on the other hand, is more like being dropped in... Toronto. Most users are at least passably familiar with the standards of the XP interface, so there's no need to go into what hasn't changed from one version of Windows to the next. What will be more important is what has changed, and is it for the better?
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Conclusion
The Good:
To be fair to Microsoft, I can kind of see where they were going with this. The UI is improved for novice users, and there are some additions to the OS that are, quite simply, improvements. You can argue that these improvements are stolen from Mac, but until Macintosh makes an OS that isn't artificially crippled and unable to run on the hardware of our choice, I'll consider a good idea a good idea no matter where it’s "stolen" from.
Some of the worst fears of Vista were largely unfounded. Activation was a snap, even when moving from one computer to the next, and I didn't have any trouble with DRM preventing me from doing what I needed to; though, admittedly, I wasn't running any high definition content or operating an HTPC either. 64-bit is not the nightmare that I thought it would be. While I had every expectation of literally nothing working under 64-bit, it behaved the same, and better in some areas, as 32-bit.
Running standard definition content will likely be improved due to Windows Vista's upsampling of compressed video as well - assuming you have the hardware to run it.
We were also impressed with the steep performance increase we saw with Windows DVD Maker over Adobe Premiere Elements.
The Bad:
There were some features that, in retrospect, didn't seem to do much. Flip 3D is a gimmick, not something that will really add to productivity like Mac OSX's Expose. Windows SmartStart and ReadyBoost were non-starters as I couldn't see any performance improvement related to RAM utilization or general usage.
The vaunted new security features of Windows seem to be a good start, but I have my doubts that they'll actually keep the computer secure because it does not require a password. Furthermore, the repeated prompts actually start to work against the user due to their incredibly annoying nature.
I ran into a few problems with peripherals. Specifically, my iPod, scanner, and printer flat-out wouldn't work. My DVD burner technically worked in 32-bit Vista, but Vista uses a new file system on burned CDs and DVD which prevents them from being used in even Windows XP computers. There's a mode that is supposed to make these discs compatible, but it didn’t work for us. We find this to be a severe limitation, as moving data around on optical discs between different operating systems now becomes virtually impossible.
I found no general performance benefits compared to Windows XP, and, in fact, the system ran noticeably slower on the year-old Whakataruna. Turning off Aero did not help, and both Windows Media Player and Windows Media Center were sluggish in playing full screen video while third party freeware applications showed no such sluggishness.
The Ugly:
On two separate computers I had major stability problems which resulted in loss of data. This is an unforgivable sin.
Additionally, Vista claims backwards compatibility, but I've had major and minor problems alike with many of my games, more than a few third-party applications, my peripherals, and, in short, I encountered problems that actively prevented me from getting my work done.
Burning optical discs is a very flawed process, and I could never make a data DVD on 32-bit Vista that would work on a non-Vista system. Many of these programs did work better under 64-bit Windows Vista, but there were still stability problems in that version of the OS.
Furthermore, in exchange for that lack of stability, there is little advantage for any user to upgrade to Windows Vista, and the few advantages we noted - a new (not necessarily better) UI, a better Windows Movie Maker, and some security improvements (however errant), currently don’t seem to be worth the trouble.
The Bottom Line
It's a lemon.
Now, I like Microsoft as a company. They've put together impressive products and they can do some amazing things. I believe that while they've done both good and ill, the karmic scales of the company weigh more towards the good. I might get personally frustrated with their products and disapprove of certain business decisions, but I also believe that without Microsoft providing a de facto standard for operating systems on the desktop, it would have been harder to achieve the broad information age that we have today. Windows XP Service Pack 2 is a very good operating system because it is stable, works with most hardware, and is easy to use.
I say this to impart that this is not a thoughtless slam or heedless rant against Microsoft, which can often be an inviting target.
Based on my personal experiences with Vista over a 30 day period, I found it to be a dangerously unstable operating system, which has caused me to lose data. The 64-bit version is slightly better (which, frankly, surprised the hell out of us and makes us wonder if Microsoft didn't make a mistake in choosing to only distribute Home Premium 32-bit in the retail channel), but it still has stability problems.
Any consideration of the fine details comes in second to that one inescapable conclusion. This is an unstable operating system.
When Microsoft moved from the DOS to the NT based architecture for its consumer products, they did so primarily because users were tired of operating systems that had poor stability. The move from Windows 98 to 2000 brought that stability to the masses. Now, users are tired of operating systems with poor security, and in an attempt to bring that security to them, Microsoft has undermined the operating system's stability and overall utility.
I can see what Microsoft was trying to do, but it may be that keeping Windows backwards compatible and making it more secure, all while trying to keep the OS stable may be an impossible task. I don't know if Vista will be improved with the next service pack, but the problems I found seem to stem not from flaws in code, but flaws in design.
I don't want to give into hyperbole, but at the end of the 30 days, I begged Managing Editor Jason Wall to let me reformat my computer and stop testing.
I really did want to like Vista. Yes, it is possible to enjoy both Windows and Linux - but unfortunately this product is unfit for any user. I still intend to keep a Windows XP partition on my computer for gaming and some multimedia editing, but as of the time of this publication, I have removed Vista entirely.
Editor's Note: The fact is that Vista is far from "unfit for any user," and this statement by the author is simply incorrect. If you read the discussion thread linked below you will find there are many Vista users that are having positive experiences. The author's experiences are his own and I think a great look into just some of the complications that can come with upgrading to Vista. Some have had worse experiences and some have had better.
My own experiances with Microsoft products has taught me to always wait for the first service pack to be distributed beefore upgrading.
"Thirty Days in The Hole" by Humble Pie. Circa 1972.
I swore against Vista because of my first experiences with it. Since I now put it on a laptop with enough power under the hood... It’s actually growing on me... The interface is sleek and I am getting used to the new locations for everything... Anyway... It is not so bad... it is a hog though...
Yah, so who's the editor and who's buying ads in his publication? And if it's incorrect, why is he publishing it? In order to shoot it down?
The editor's editorial assertion raises way too many questions.
A recent Dell ad circular noted on the first page that they still had models with XP on them. That sounds like that Vista is meeting a lot of resistance.
"Thirty Days in The Hole" by Humble Pie. Circa 1972.
Truly a great song!
I’ve had it for nearly 2 months now and love it. I’m still shocked that I do since I thought I would never like it much less install it.
Mine is solid... nary a glitch thusfar.
Have you tried reading DVD data disks on an XP box? Problems?
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