Date:
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Author:
Brian Boyko
Editor:
Jason Wall
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30 Days with Windows Vista

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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The Rules:

1) I will use Windows Vista on my home machine as the sole operating system for 30 days.

2) I'm going to be using a retail version of Windows Vista, Home Premium 32-bit to do the bulk of the testing. Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit is the version of the operating system most likely to be purchased by the end-user or come preinstalled on an OEM machine. Furthermore, the retail version supposedly allows the user to move from one computer to the next as you upgrade motherboards, something the OEM does not let you do, and I'd like to test how much of a hassle - if any - it is to move from Whakataruna to Pugetina. I'll also go through the process of ordering Windows Vista 64-bit through Microsoft, and also testing that version.

3) I'm going to try to use the programs provided with Windows Vista whenever possible - this means the new versions of Windows Movie Maker and Windows Mail, among others. The exception is Internet Explorer 7 – this is not a package exclusive to Vista, so XP users can install it from the Microsoft site to see what it’s like.

4) I'm going to be testing out as many "typical end-user" applications and activities as possible. Digital photography and video processing, burning and ripping DVDs and CDs, email, Web browsing, gaming, word processing, MP3 playing and organizing, instant messaging and IRC chat, scanning, movie watching, etc. I'll also plug in as many hardware components from my own collection as possible, none of which were bought with the idea that they would be used with Vista. Some of it is years old, and some of it is brand new - a typical real-world situation. The devices are the same peripherals used during our recent test of Ubuntu Linux.

5) I will use the OS on two different computers. The first, and the majority of the test will be on a lower-end computer, which I have named Whakataruna. This system represents the previous generation of hardware, and is perhaps very much like what a consumer would have bought one year ago.

One year sounds ancient when you live on the bleeding edge of the hardware market, but when you think of your parents or non-techie friends, one year is practically brand new to them. In our opinion, these are the folks that are most affected by the "Vista vs. stick with XP" decision, as their computer probably has a borderline profile for being able to run Vista. While their computer is likely serving them very well and they question the need to upgrade the hardware since the computer is still "new," they are most at risk for taking the leap to Vista with the notion that their computer should be able to run it without issue.

To make sure the problems I experienced were with the software, and not with the computer, we will also mirror our testing on a current mid-range computer. This computer represents what a consumer would have bought within the last six months in the expectation that they would be set for the next couple of years. The prospective owner of a configuration such as this would have possibly bought the system in anticipation of running Vista on it and made component choices reflective of that objective. This system was graciously provided by Puget Custom Computers and represents a solid mid-range machine that should be able to run Vista without problems, should the owner decide to upgrade.

We also used this computer in our testing of Linux, where we dubbed it Pugetina.

With these rules in place, I forged ahead, backed up my data, wiped my hard drive on "Whakataruna," and started with the installation.