The Latest Windows OS
April 10, 2007
Well, it's finally here! The greatest operating system software ever assembled is now available to all us poor schmucks who think we can't live without it.
Since I recently purchased a new laptop with "Vista Home Premium" installed, and have sufficiently familiarized myself with (some of) it, I will give you my "expert" analysis of the new offering from Mr. Gates and company.
First off, it's pretty to look at. That is, if you have at least the "Home Premium" version. If you didn't already know this, there are four versions of the latest Windows: Home Basic, Home Premium, Business and Ultimate. Home Basic doesn't have the visually appealing "Aero" interface that is included with the other versions, although that means it doesn't require the higher end graphics performance that the others do.
My notebook came with one gigabyte of main system memory (the gforce graphics shares the memory). I replaced one of the 512mb memory modules with a one gig module just to give it a little breathing room. I've read that Vista Home Premium performs best with 2 gigs, but I hated to replace both modules, so I can't say for sure if that's true.
One nice new feature in Vista is something called "Ready Boost" which allows you to use certain usb flash drives or memory cards (think the SD card in your digital camera) as an additional form of memory. Not all flash drives or memory cards will work, so you might need to search the web for some info on which ones do. Ready Boost uses this memory to install specific system files that it would typically search for on the hard drive. Since flash memory is faster than a mechanical hard drive, performance is enhanced somewhat. Nothing helps like installing extra sdram though.
One thing is for sure; Vista requires more processing power and ram than XP does. If you're looking to upgrade and you have a powerful pc with a good graphics card and at least one gig of ram, chances are Vista will run decently on it. Be prepared, though, because it won't run as fast as XP. You'll also need to upgrade your drivers and possibly some of your favorite software. When I installed my programs on my new notebook, I found that one of them didn't work. A quick check of the software's website revealed a new version; installing it fixed the problem.
Vista's security features are improved over XP, and networking is easier to set up. There are also some neat things like Media Center (with lots of integrated multimedia programs) and desktop "gadgets" (clock, calendar, etc.). At the same time, some of the normal stuff seems harder to find even though it's still in there.
Here's my overall take: If you're going to buy a new pc or notebook computer, get one with Vista - you will like it. If you have an existing computer with XP that is doing everything you want, don't rush to make the switch. My desktop pc still has XP and it's going to keep it. I don't have a desire to create needless headaches for myself (at least not yet).
April 10, 2007
Well, it's finally here! The greatest operating system software ever assembled is now available to all us poor schmucks who think we can't live without it.
Since I recently purchased a new laptop with "Vista Home Premium" installed, and have sufficiently familiarized myself with (some of) it, I will give you my "expert" analysis of the new offering from Mr. Gates and company.
First off, it's pretty to look at. That is, if you have at least the "Home Premium" version. If you didn't already know this, there are four versions of the latest Windows: Home Basic, Home Premium, Business and Ultimate. Home Basic doesn't have the visually appealing "Aero" interface that is included with the other versions, although that means it doesn't require the higher end graphics performance that the others do.
My notebook came with one gigabyte of main system memory (the gforce graphics shares the memory). I replaced one of the 512mb memory modules with a one gig module just to give it a little breathing room. I've read that Vista Home Premium performs best with 2 gigs, but I hated to replace both modules, so I can't say for sure if that's true.
One nice new feature in Vista is something called "Ready Boost" which allows you to use certain usb flash drives or memory cards (think the SD card in your digital camera) as an additional form of memory. Not all flash drives or memory cards will work, so you might need to search the web for some info on which ones do. Ready Boost uses this memory to install specific system files that it would typically search for on the hard drive. Since flash memory is faster than a mechanical hard drive, performance is enhanced somewhat. Nothing helps like installing extra sdram though.
One thing is for sure; Vista requires more processing power and ram than XP does. If you're looking to upgrade and you have a powerful pc with a good graphics card and at least one gig of ram, chances are Vista will run decently on it. Be prepared, though, because it won't run as fast as XP. You'll also need to upgrade your drivers and possibly some of your favorite software. When I installed my programs on my new notebook, I found that one of them didn't work. A quick check of the software's website revealed a new version; installing it fixed the problem.
Vista's security features are improved over XP, and networking is easier to set up. There are also some neat things like Media Center (with lots of integrated multimedia programs) and desktop "gadgets" (clock, calendar, etc.). At the same time, some of the normal stuff seems harder to find even though it's still in there.
Here's my overall take: If you're going to buy a new pc or notebook computer, get one with Vista - you will like it. If you have an existing computer with XP that is doing everything you want, don't rush to make the switch. My desktop pc still has XP and it's going to keep it. I don't have a desire to create needless headaches for myself (at least not yet).
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