It starts off with a soothing and quick chime and just like that Windows Vista has booted. Everything instantly seems to move much faster than it does on XP. But is it just the shiny new facade that is distracting me or is the OS actually an improvement over the old one?
The system requirements seem to be much steeper than its predecessor but Vista seems like whole new beast. Everything has a shiny glow to it, things have been moved around and the familiarity of XP calls me back to it. But I fight the urge and press on as I feel out the new OS that Microsoft seems to have put a lot of work into.
So let’s get down to it. I’m running a single core AMD chip at 2.60 GHz with 4 GB or ram and Vista 64 Ultimate is running baby smooth. Most of you out there are probably thinking that the 4 GB was a typo but nope it is not. In fact I was Vista with 2 GB at first and then I saw a deal on my ram that allowed me to double up for about $80 and i jumped at the chance. The actual OS seems to load miles faster than XP, it just seems like it is on as compared t XP that would still require ample time to load all the startup items required for it to function. The new search is much better than the old version, results are displayed much faster and it is for once a useful feature, somewhat like the Apple OSX.
The new Account Security that prompts you before you every time you are about to do anything is a double edged sword. It prevents any unwanted changes but being an user with above average intelligence as well as someone that is accustomed to the ways of the web and spyware and all that junk I felt like it slowed me down and annoyed more than it helped; so I turned it off. I’m willing to take the risk flying solo.
It seems that the whole networking code has been rewrite or optimized at least because I’m getting speeds almost double of what they were on XP when using my school LAN. That is a positive all around. Network detection works very well and as always there are several setting that you can tweak allowing you more access or security. It has been said that a large amount of antivirus software will not work with Vista because of the new kernel and security features but updates are already popping out with Vista compatibility so it is nothing to worry about.
The 64 bit version seems stable as a rock, most software works on it and it features a very good 32 bit emulator to run those applications not written in 64 bit code. In fact one of my friends swears to the fact that his 64 bit version is faster using 32 bit applications than the 32 bit version of Vista he set up on a dual boot. Is this true? I’m not sure, but sometimes all it takes is perception; if we feel that the OS is faster then it must be. Right now Vista is very usable and fun to play with, the price is something that would, and should, put many people off. If you can get it for free or through a discount and can easily afford it you should seriously consider giving it a try.
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