Windows Vista- First Impressions

As a computer repair specialist, its important for me to keep on the cutting edge of technology so I can support my clients. Ive been using the new operating system from Microsoft; Windows Vista for over a month. So, how does Vista compare to past operating systems?

Not bad. Its definitely a different experience, although not too different. Its not a very far leap from Windows XP.

For once Microsoft seems to have released an operating system that doesnt need a year of patches to be usable. It seems to be stable and usable from day one, Ive been using it for over a month, and I havent seen it crash yet. It choked a little bit on my graphics card driver, but then there was a new driver especially suited for Vista, and it seems to work fine now.

The User Interface is probably the most improved and most altered. Things are just a little more transparent. And its just a little easier to multi-task. Its easy to have multiple windows up, each doing different tasks. One of my favorite innovations is when you hover over the tasks on the bottom taskbar, it gives you a small thumbnail of what that page looks like. This is perfect for having a few browsers open, and finding the exact page you wanted without having to open all of them.

What I found surprising is the voice recognition capabilities of Vista. I hadnt expected that it would be so robust. It takes a little bit of getting used to, but you can effortlessly blend normal computer operation with voice control. Its not perfect, dont get me wrong, but it is a novel way to interact with the computer and has tons of potential.

One thing to keep in mind with Vista is that current hardware is a necessity. Vista really craves lots of memory, a fast processor and fast video card with lots of memory. If youve bought your computer in the past year, you should be fine otherwise you might need to do a few essential upgrades before you install Vista. I highly recommend at least 1GB of memory for most Vista users.

While Vista is not perfect, its definitely the operating system of the future. I believe that Windows Vista will prove to be one of the most successful operating system releases from Microsoft. Its easy to use, yet powerful and will fundamentally alter the way we interact with our computers. Maybe not a smart upgrade choice, it makes a great operating system for any new computers that you buy.