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Posted on 01/18/2007 3:16:25 PM PST by Swordmaker
XP Successor Doesn't Break New Ground on Ease of Use, But It's Best Windows Yet
A new version of Microsoft Windows, the world's most popular and important computer operating system, will finally arrive for consumers on Jan. 30. It has taken the giant software maker more than five years to replace Windows XP with this new version, called Windows Vista -- an eternity by computer-industry reckoning. Many of the boldest plans for Vista were discarded in that lengthy process, and what's left is a worthy, but largely unexciting, product.
Vista is much prettier than previous versions of Windows. Its icons look better, windows have translucent borders, and items in the taskbar and in folders can display little previews of what they contain. Security is supposedly vastly better; there are some new free, included programs; and fast, universal search is now built in. There are hundreds of other, smaller, improvements and additions throughout the system, including parental controls and even a slicker version of Solitaire.
After months of testing Vista on multiple computers, new and old, I believe it is the best version of Windows that Microsoft has produced. However, while navigation has been improved, Vista isn't a breakthrough in ease of use. Overall, it works pretty much the same way as Windows XP. Windows hasn't been given nearly as radical an overhaul as Microsoft just applied to its other big product, Office.
Vista's Flip 3D feature lets you scroll through images of currently running programs. The sidebar (right) contains miniapplications. The Windows Photo Gallery (left) is for organizing and editing photos.
Nearly all of the major, visible new features in Vista are already available in Apple's operating system, called Mac OS X, which came out in 2001 and received its last major upgrade in 2005. . . .
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
PING
Helpful review, thanks for posting.
I read that review earlier today. His upshot is, unless you've bought a new machine very recently or are planning on buying a state-of-the-art machine, don't bother with Vista. It must be a monster resource hog.
So we're transitioning to Linux, specifically SUSE 10.2. It's not as finished a product as Windows and driver support is only 'pretty good', but it's completely satisfactory for our Internet machines. Unless you have a specific need for some Windows-only app, I highly recommend it.
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Interesting ... from Mossberg, Microsoft Maven
Microsoft is simply playing it safe. There was little need to rush Vista out, since XP has been selling more than all the competitors combined over it's life of 5 years. During that time some choose to pay more for something better, while some choose to pay less for something worse. Microsoft has simply hedged it's bet with Vista, actually putting the pressure on those charging more for something better lower their price, and those charging less come up with something as good, and right now we're seeing some of that but not much.
choose=chose
Thanks for the post and the ping. Very interesting.
From the article:
already available in Apple's ...
apes some elements on the Macintosh ...
As on the Mac, you can now ...
like the Mac's excellent ...
awfully similar to a Macintosh feature...
Like the Mac, Windows now has ...
another feature introduced earlier by Apple ...
As on the Mac, Windows now has ...
but it's inferior to Apple's iPhoto ...
ironically, Apple's free built-in word processor does ...
In short, buy a Mac. He even mentions Apple's new upcoming OS.
Having now read the full article, allow me to add to your list.
Runs like a bloated Rosie O'Donnell with the latest and greatest hardware, however the interface is prettier than she is. (Maybe, maybe not)
Mossberg has written favorably about OS X for a long time. Particularly on the security front.
Yes, on security. But as a long, long, long time Los Angeles Macintosh Group member [which was once quite large] we always noted that Mossberg never said a peep about Macs. He just never covered them.
A long letter writing, email writing campaign later, he does mention Apple quite a bit now. And usually quite favorably. But a decade or more ago, Apple was an "also ran".
I don't want Apple to be first or biggest. It would not be the same. But Apple is THE innovator in personal computers.
""'Like the Mac, Windows now has ...
another feature introduced earlier by Apple ...
As on the Mac, Windows now has ... """
Unlike the Mac, the PC doesn't have to run its applications through Rosetta on Intel based macs, causing slow operations even on the big daddy Mac Pro.
Unlike the Mac, PC's have choices, such as uptodate video cards, even the big daddy Mac Pro has outdated video cards. And its called a "video" machine.
Unlike the Mac the PC has a ton more choices in hardware and software. Just to name a few. I like the Mac, but the more I researched it, its just an ok system. Yes more secure than PC's, so save your breath.
I hope those comments removed by the Mod weren't mean-spirited, personal attacks and anti-Apple diatribes.
But we can imagine, can't we?
Do you have a source citing performance standards for the "slow ops" or is that a personal opinion? When I used a dual ops Mac with an Intel inside two weeks ago it was blazingly fast... but maybe that was just my impression.
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