Andi and I came across Windows Vista today. Some blokes from Microsoft offered a deeper insight into the ‘OS of all OSs’ at the mall in Wiener Neustadt today. Before I go on I should mention that I’m no ‘OS Nazi” – I’ve worked and am still working with Mac OS, Linux and Windows, so I think I can give you a fairminded review of what I’ve seen today. Comparing those 3 is like comparing apples to pears – literally.
First of all, Vista looks good, no doubt about that, sharp, beautiful icons, nice and smooth borders everywhere. Funny though I couldn’t find any innovations on that one laptop running Vista I could get my hands on. Nothing that haven’t been there before. Aero works fine, a nice gadget to have for sure. The sidebar is useful, but we all have seen that before – nevertheless it is new to some Windows users. Translucency here and there gives it a fresh look.
By the way, the box it comes in looks really good
Security had been written in capital letters ever since Microsoft announced they’re going to make something new and exciting – and most of all – secure. Well, it seems that Vista features a lot more security measurements than XP: everytime you change something that has some major effects on the whole system (e.g. installing software, adding devices and the like) you have to authenticate as administrator – pretty much the same as in Mac OS and Unix/Linux where you have to proof that you’re root. Good idea, judging from the fact that 99% of XP users always run their machine as administrator, or at least as power user – without a password.
The start menu now stays in place, and doesn’t expand to a full screen list of programs like in the old days, and it now features a search box, pretty much the same as ‘Spotlight’ in Mac OS X Tiger and ‘Beagle’ for Linux.
Mircosoft’s programmers have overdone themselves this time – Vista offers 8(!) different versions for you to choose from, beginning with Vista Home Basic over to Vista Home Premium to Vista Ultimate, and one version for companies called Business and you can choose either the Upgrade or the Full version. (there are even different versions for 32 and 64 bit architecture processors).
Prices start at €135 for the Basic Upgrade and reach up to almost €600 for the Ultimate package.
And to find your way through this version jungle, Microsoft tells you what version perfectly fits your needs:
Windows Vista Home Basic is ideal for homes with basic computing needs like e-mail, browsing the Internet, and viewing photos. Easy to set up and maintain, it enables you to quickly find what you’re looking for on your PC and the Internet, while providing a more secure environment to help protect you from an unpredictable world.
Windows Vista Home Premium is the preferred edition for home desktop and mobile PCs. It provides a breakthrough design that brings your world into sharper focus while delivering the productivity, entertainment, and security you need from your PC at home or on the go.
Windows Vista Ultimate is the choice for those who want to have it all. Easily shift between the worlds of productivity and play with the most complete edition of Windows Vista. Ultimate provides the power, security, and mobility features needed for work, and all the entertainment features that you want for fun.
The question now is why I should buy the cheapest version of Vista and downgrade my machine running XP to an internet-café computer? And if I want to have the same possibilities as in XP I’ll have to use the Ultimate version and that isn’t really a bargain. And if you’re doing fun stuff like spreadsheets and pie charts you need Office 2007, and that isn’t a bargain either. And now that I’ve spent €1000 for Software, I still need a decent computer that can handle the system requirements of Vista Ultimate – and seconds later I would have spent €2000.
If I should give an advice to someone who has 2000 bucks to spend on hard- and software, I would advise to buy either a computer and widescreen display and install Ubuntu Linux with XGL or to buy a neat product from Apple. And if she or he is really into trying ‘new’ things telling her or him not to buy a ‘Vista Ready’ product – the same with ‘HD ready’ screens: now they’re doing their job, but in two years time they’ll be outdated.
I don’t think that Vista will be sold in the store, but I guess that Vista will ship itself with new PCs made by Dell, HP, Sony and the like – and this will be how Microsoft will enforce their market position and make it OS #1 on this planet, regardless of its security holes, whatsoever.
It is up to us to decide wether to give Vista a try, stay with XP until the (Windows Update) end, switch to Linux or Mac OS or to code our own OS. I for my part rather be switching to other products and save a lot of money to spend in the pub 
