Vista Review

With the release of Windows 7 drawing ever closer, there is definitely no shortage of articles about it and Windows Vista as well.

Let’s start off with a post about a version of windows Vista I didn’t know existed “Vista Starter. Apparently this version is about as stripped down as it gets, and was designed for “developing nations”. In other words “the poor”. If you don’t have money – then you can browse the web, and that’s about it. And people wonder why Linux is popular in these countries.

I was surprised to read on Slashdot (of all places), that the Windows 7 beta seems to be going amazingly well, purportedly the most solid beta version of Windows put out to date. It looks like it’s so popular that some people are installing Windows 7 on their netbooks.

Another surprising post this week comes from Gizmodo where they answer the question “Why should you go 64 bit with Windows 7?“. Apparently the answer is memory. Like I always said – why would you want to use 4GB of memory in your box when Windows Vista (or XP, or whatever) can only use 3.3GB of it anyway in a 32 bit version. That coupled with the fact that like a year ago all kinds of devices and drivers didn’t work for squat in 64 bit windows. No more is the case I guess, and guess what? With 64 bit Windows you can use up to a Terabyte of RAM!! If you’re considering Windows 7, I guess you should be trying the 64 bit version unless you have all kinds of legacy gadgets.

Another unusual post was the one about the Microsoft REC (Retail Experience Center) store. They have setup a 20,000 square foot store (that you can’t shop at) to show retailers how their products should be displayed.

And if you’re sick of all this Windows Vista and 7 Hype, read How to make windows XP last 7 more years – you’ll be glad you did!

There’s all kinds of Windows news about this week, including the new version of Mac OS – Snow Leopard. It seems there was no mention of it at MacWorld, and it was Apple’s chance to beat the Windows 7 launch in mid-2009.
It seems as though in an attempt to foster good thoughts after the bungled “Vista Ready” campaigns, Microsoft will offer free Windows 2007 upgrades for anyone that buys a PC after June 2009. Is that really a deal? I mean come on – windows 7 is supposed to be out by that date. They should offer Windows 7 for free to anyone who buys a PC in 2009 period. Looks like there are 2 restrictions to the upgrades, you have to upgrade to the same language version, and you have to upgrade to the straight path (ultimate to ultimate, etc).

You know, this recent article reminds me of one Vista quirk I never wrote about, the fact the IE stores all it’s downloads in My documents -> Downloads folder. It’s funny I think that Windows seems to remind you about every GD thing in the universe you don’t want to know about (storing passwords, visiting secure sites) – but it never bothers to tell you where the downloads go. New users are just confused until they figure it out.

I read a post about Michael Dunner comparing Vista and Windows 7 security, bringing to the surface once again the problems with the evil UAC (User Account Control) in Vista. This is by far the most annonying feature that Microsoft has ever invented. I’ve blogged about this before – but how come each and every time that the IT rags write about UAC they don’t just come out and say that Microsoft was blatantly copying Linux (Ubuntu) when they created UAC? I mean, come on – in Ubuntu Linux even if you were the one that setup the PC you have your own account separate from root. If you try to do something on Ubuntu that your privelege does not allow, it prompts you for the “root” password So many things in Vista are blatant rip-offs of both Mac OS X (based on UNIX anyway) and Linux it’s not funny – from UAC, to the sidebar, Aero, screen and window effects, and more…the “new” versions of Windows are oh so….COPIED!

I came across another feature I didn’t know about in Vista this week, it’s the hidden checkboxes feature. Wish I’d known about this one awhile back.

You might also like to know about the new “Pre-Boot shells” that are coming available with some newer laptops. You can surf the web without ever entering windows and save up to 25% of your battery life at the same time. Pretty cool. My laptop has a Linux/Vista dual boot – and 95% of my time is spent in Linux anyway.

I’ve read quite a few Windows articles this week, and there is definitely a buzz about Windows 7 in the air. It just seems like nobody knows what is going on. This post Windows 7: A New Vista or a New Operating System lists some features of Windows 7 that sound pretty cool. The new taskbar and jump list features sound great, but why in the hell MS still insists on making Calendar, windows mail, movie maker, contacts, and photo gallery downloadable is beyond me. They also seem to have taken the stance that they need to remove things that Vista had that pissed people off. Like incessant UAC notifications and alerts, hardware requirements, and connection speeds.

In the meantime we are all reminded what a turd Vista is by having to remember the whole “Vista capable” debaucle in posts like there’s a class action lawsuit saying Microsoft misled consumers – where HP is highly pissed at Microsoft because the chipset they were using for “Vista capable” machines couldn’t run Vista at all. In otherwords, HP was practically forced into selling Junk PC’s! Yet another post reveals how Intel Benefited from Vista capable.

Something I had forgotten since my Windows Vista journey started (and this blog started) 2 years ago was the fact that “Windows Vista Ultimate” was supposed to contain “elite cutting edge extras” that you couldn’t get in the lesser versions. According to this post on Tom’s Hardware one was released a year ago, and this week one game and some sound schemes were released. Wow. That was really worth paying $400 for wasn’t it? According to that post, people who bought Vista Ultimate are getting pretty pissed off. This post reiterates more of the same.

Maybe Microsoft should stick to operating system development and leave cutting edge software to third parties. Tivo has partered with Nero and released a PC version of the Tivo that ships with a TV tuner card and remove for $199. This includes the Tivo montly service and guide for one year. You can also buy just the software if you already have a TV tuner card for only $99.

I have to say after 2 years of using Vista home on my laptop it’s becoming pretty damned bogged down. I came across this Vista Optimization Guide today which I will be using to see if I can get it to be responsive once again.

In Windows 7 – will Microsoft pry open your wallet and start taking out cash on a regular basis?? I’m not so sure….

In my last post I talked about the fact that Microsoft is going to try and release the next version of Windows (Windows 7) as early as June 2009. Then today I read that Windows 7 will replace some Native Windows app with “Live.com” services.

Whaa?? I mean, WTF??

For YEARS Microsoft has been jamming every known feature they could think of into Windows. A CD burning app, a calendar, an e-Mail client, a web browser, a media player, a video editor, an instant messaging app, and more. They have labored long and hard wtih millions of dollars and lots of lawyers to get courts worldwide to believe all these functions were “meant to be native in Windows” and it was OK to CRUSH or put out of business companies like Netscape, Eudora, ICQ, Ulead, Nero, and more.

They are going to tell you that by putting these apps on live.com customers will benefit by getting the latest version sooner (without bugs) – but they forget to tell you their entire decisive evil plan. Microsoft search is DEAD LAST in the search engine wars, and MSN has failed for years, MSN Spaces is NOTHING like WordPress.com, LiveJournal, MySpace, or Facebook, and even Hotmail has fallen to the mighty gmail.

By forcing you to go to Live.com – Microsoft can shove whatever advertisements they want down your throat will you use their “FREE” apps. They can’t shove an ad on your desktop just yet for the latest NBC sit-coms when you open Outlook Express – so in Windows 7 you’ll just get no email program and when you click the icon go to “live.com” where you will be FORCEFED ADS until you puke whether you like it or not!

Do you think it will stop there? Oh hell no!! With Outlook Express you can store UNLIMITED amounts of email on your local hard drive. You can keep the last 5 years of messages of you want. Get a new PC next summer and all your email will be stored in Live.com’s servers, and when you use up too much space you will be forced to either delete old emails OR pay them a MONTHLY FEE for what was previously FREE as part of Windows on your local computer.

Now – they will also say that your email is “safer” (against hard drives crashes and being lost forever) on Live.com’s servers – but it’s also now not in your hands and “could” be hacked from the public Internet by someone anywhere in the world (as Sarah Palin just found out!).

Guess what – in Windows 7 you also won’t have a Photo Gallery or Movie maker either! Oh – and you won’t have Windows Writer (Wordpad) either! This all (in my opinion) works into Microsoft’s evil plan to force you to store ALL YOUR MEDIA, documents, digital pictures, and movies ON THEIR SERVERS. This way when you have too much you WILL HAVE TO PAY THEM A MONTHLY FEE TO STORE IT!

They may boast security, backup, ability to access your files from any PC and Internet connection, but in MY HONEST OPINION it’s a blatant attempt to get Microsoft into your wallet EACH AND EVERY MONTH!! If you thought that Windows Vista was expensive – do the math if you’re paying Microsoft $29.95 per month for functionality that was previously PART of WINDOWS!! You might as well buy a screen, keyboard, and mouse and say you’re going to lease Windows by the month!

F-U Windows, I am so ready to go Ubuntu from here on out it’s not even funny! If you’re going to do what I think you are – the next version of Windows might even be a BIGGER FLOP than Vista!

So it looks as if Microsoft it battling bad Vista PR with the same resource it usually does in bad times – MONEY! They are throwing lots of money at the problem in hopes that they can fix the “Vista perception” in the public eye. Personally, I think that they should just spend that money to speed along the new version of Windows more quickly. Oh wait – it was reported this week that Microsoft is pulling Windows 7 ahead early – possibly up to June ’09!

Even though big company CIO’s are planning on skipping Vista altogether, Microsoft is working hard to get consumers to not want to downgrade to XP! The recent ads of the “Mojave” expirement are a joke – where MS shows consumers “Vista” but tells them it’s the new version of Windows called “Mojave” and they “love” it until they are told it’s Vista. You read new articles all the time like “Will Vista be the death of Microsoft that question whether or not a new operating system could become popular or not, and (in that article) the rumour is HP is working on one.

You still occasionally find the odd-person-out that says Windows Vista is not so bad. And there are still tips here and there available, like how to unlock Vista’s hidden boot screen. The ability to customize and remove certain features in Vista must be lacking, or at best difficult, give many companies have enabled groups of experts to help customers remove them.

Until next time – that’s what’s new in Vista in the News!

After all complaining about Vista for months, it was kind of refreshing to read 40 Must have Windows programs for Vista over at TechRadar this morning.

Among the favorites listed are many programs you may not know about – like “Aerofoil” which turns off Vista graphics heavy “Aero” interface with just the click on one buttons. Also take a look at Windows Live Listas, CC Cleaner, and TweakVI. Everything else is great, but not really Vista specific. All in all though – there are some great pieces of software on this list, and many are free (and work on XP too)!

I’m wondering how many people out there (on average) have updated their Vista laptops and desktops to SP1 not that it’s been available quite awhile. I have to say – I haven’t updated my laptop yet at all, especially since I read that (despite the initial hype) machines aren’t running faster at all post-upgrade, they’re (mostly) in fact running slower!

This guy at TechIMO reports his system running squirrelly after the upgrade, so he backed it out with system restore.

Then again – it’s a double edged sword, since if I don’t upgrade in the near future my machine might be vulnerable to new exploits, the one recently announced that renders Windows Vista security useless.

It looks like I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t, and I may have to make a choice this year. Have you upgraded your Vista yet? What have you experienced?

Microsoft is running an ad campaign called Mojave. They tell testers that they are testing the new version of Windows (after Vista) code named “Mojave”, and then they actually show them Vista instead. Then the users “all love it (yay!)” – and Microsoft is like “we pwned you – Vista rocks”!

Idiot Microsoft – Vista STILL SUCKS!

Everybody knows that Windows Vista is a dud and Windows XP is still viable. The hilarity of the “downgrade” option is absurd. How ironic is it then that Windows Vista good enough for new OEM PC’s to consumers, but it’s not good enough for Intel employees. Intel has more than 80,000 computers, but is only meagerly testing in a few departments Vista. The rest of the company is waiting until 2010 when Windows 7 comes out according to an anonymous source in The New York Times. If the failure of Windows Vista weren’t evident before, glaring examples come out more each day.

WTF is going on Microsoft? In my last post I talked about “Vista’s Second Life, and how the confirmed release date of Windows 7 is Jan 2010. OEM’s can sell XP Professional until Jan 2009, so that leaves people screwed for about a year if they buy a new PC – doesn’t it?

Well, just a couple days about Microsoft officially ended sales of Windows XP – you can’t just walk into Office Max and pickup a copy anymore. As previously mentioned, you can still get it from OEM computer builders until Jan 2009, but after that they can’t even get it from Microsoft.

So, the really screwy thing I just read about was that Dell was now offer it’s new Windows Vista Bonus Program for only $99. What’s the bonus?? You get a computer with Windows XP Professional installed on it, and a disc with Vista on it. WTF Microsoft – and WTF dell?!? Now we have to PAY AN EXTRA HUNDRED BUCKS to not get Vista? F*CK YOU!

US $49.95 End Date: Monday Aug-02-2010 12:37:06 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $49.95 Buy it now | Add to watch list

US $3.95 End Date: Friday Aug-06-2010 10:09:19 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $3.95 Buy it now | Add to watch list

US $0.01 (0 Bid) End Date: Saturday Aug-07-2010 13:33:33 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

The register article Microsoft says ‘hasta la vista XP’ is so timely. It loos like Windows 7 (to be released in Jan 2010) is really gonna be Vista mock 2, and built on the same “core architecture”. Basically they’re saying – no surprised, we’re gonna fix it this time – really! In addition, OEM’s can still sell XP Professional until early 2009. So what happens between 2009 and 2010 is what I want to know! I guess, just don’t buy a PC or laptop that year at all.

I would hash out all the BS in Vista they should fix, but why when Let’s Not Repeat the Vista Mistakes in Windows 7 does it so well already!

It was important that Microsoft confirmed the Jan 2010 release date, but more importantly MS – can you clue us in along the way on what you’ll actually be doing with it? What’s included? Will you take ANY of our millions of suggestions into consideration? I doubt it.

It’s time to review what’s new with Windows Vista in the news! First up is the $1,632 copy of Windows Vista that’s just insane. Bill ordered Vista online and each time he tried to pay it gave him an error screen and he had to go back. Each time he went back and tried again it billed him $233. Months later he still doesn’t have all his money back – and the Vista Ultimate Upgrade license he was charged for wasn’t even the one he ordered! Oh – did I mention he was an IT manager at a large university? Unbelieveable.

This is horrible Vista Promo video is like something out of a bad Saturday Night Live sketch. It’s soooo bad you’ll be rolling on the floor howling in laughter! To make matters worse, they probably blew millions on this clip with really bad fake Bruce Springsteen. If they were going to drive a bad idea that far into the ground shouldn’t they at least have gotten a REAL celebrity?

Well, to everyone that was waiting for SP1 to come out – guess what, the “official release” that was initially posted on the web was full of errors that made machines reboot and reboot and reboot and reboot! And now they’re saying that it’s 40% slower than XP!

In other Vista news this week, turns out that almost no one is buying Vista Ultimate and 75% of all Vista shipments are Vista Home Premium. Redmond is sniffing out pirates in SP1, but for some reason only seems to be nagging them to death.

There is hope as Geekywood shows you how to speed up your Vista, and if that weren’t enough – I’ll cap it off with “How to install Vista in 2 minutes” (which is hilarious – lol)!

Did Microsoft lie about “Vista Capable” machines being able to upgrade from XP?

When I was reading this article today in Bit-Tech I suddenly remembered the problems that people had with their “Vista Capable” systems when Vista first came out. Apparently most of those systems were barely capable of running “Vista Basic” and most didn’t hard the processor or memory to run Aero, etc. So, of course there’s a “clasa action” suit against MS for it. The funny thing about it this time is that the lawyer seems to have done some pretty good (email) discovery, because he dug out some awesome things written in internal emails by Microsoft employees the public never heard about, like such gems as:

“Even a piece of junk will qualify”

“You guys have to do a better job with our customers”

I PERSONALLY got burnt. … Are we seeing this from a lot of customers? … I now have a $2,100 e-mail machine.

Now that’s why they say to watch what you type in an email!

If that isn’t enough in the original article Joseph Tartakoff was there first hand and heard during the court testimony that “Another e-mail chain presented in court showed that Wal-Mart was concerned about the impact the campaign could have, and Tilden hinted that other retailers had similar concerns.” So, even companies (selling systems with the “Vista Capable” sticker) were concerned about customer education (of what they were buying). Is all this surprising? I certainly don’t think so…

The official release of Vista SP1 can’t be far off, because anyone can register and download the official SP1 release from Microsoft’s OEM site. There are so many improvements and to exising Vista features that I just can’t wait for this thing. I’m about to download that OEM version and install it and be done because it’s so damn slow when transfering files, even emptying the recycle bin is a pain. I have the display driver bug too, and anytime I login I have to wait 5 seconds for he screen to quit flickering before I can work. For the most part Windows Vista has been pretty “stable”, but as I’ve written before – for a system with 2GB of RAM you’d think it’d be a hell of a lot less sluggish than it is. I hope when I intstall SP1 it will be – you’ll be the first to read about my experiences with SP1 here.

ZDNet gives SP1 “7 out of 10″.

What are they highlighting in SP1?

- new windows Firewall
- improved Windows update
- preventive data loss when ejecting removable media
- improved sleep and wake-up times
- improved Readyboost
- smart card enhancements
- read/writing files is faster

Their advice? Wait until SP1 is offered through Windows “Automatic Updates” service. I think I might just do that.

It looks like Microsoft Vista Service Pack 1 isn’t much better at stopping pirates than the original release. Wired confirms that there are still several exploits available that bypass Vista activation that aren’t that complicated at all.

PC World has reported that Windows Vista Service Pack 1 or SP1 will be officially available to everyone on February 15th, 2008! Or will it? That date has been reported by Taiwanese news agency, and some sources close to Microsoft say that’s a “target date”, but Microsoft won’t comment. Some believe that SP1 will bring a new wave of adoption to Vista, espcially businesses. I just want my “blackout screen glitch” to go away everytime I log in. I read last year that this (among other video drivers fixes) should be fixed by installing SP1.

As many look for SP1 to make their Vista experience better, IBM is preying on the fact that so many people are having difficulty with Vista and businesses that are dragging their feet to upgrade from Windows XP. The are starting to swing the Linux hammer in an attempt to get people out of “Vista Hell”. They announced that they will offer an “Open Collaboration Client Solution with support for Ubuntu”. What is Ubuntu? Ubuntu is the most mainstream version of Linux I’ve ever seen, and IBM touts it as “personal computing software that is based on open standards, providing businesses with a cost-effective and security-rich alternative to Microsoft desktops”.

The timing is good for IBM, because Vista has a poor reputation among many. Can they re-brand themselves? I don’t know, being an IT person myself I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, anyone support open source standards and Ubuntu has got my attention. But we all know IBM is self-serving, and the proof in the pudding is that their “Open Collaboration Client” software manifest nothing but proprietary IBM apps based on Lotus Notes and Websphere. When you first read “Ubuntu” you expect to see things like “Open Office” on the list.

If you were doubtful about the fact that not only does Windows Vista have a poor reputation – but that Microsoft knows it and is worried about it, read this article announcing that Windows 7 may be released next year. Windows 7 is the next version of Windows, and Microsoft now has on it’s roadmap a release date in mid-2009. What will an early (3 year) release of Windows do to their 5 year release cycle? Will it make people angry (having to upgrade so soon), or will it placate all those who Vista pissed off? It’s a real catch-22 for business who may have been putting off a Vista upgrade, and now many surely put off until Windows 7. The only thing we can be sure of are Microsoft’s claims that Windows 7 will be the last 32 bit version of Windows. From that point forward, all versions of Windows will be 64 bit. What does that mean? It means that millions and millions of old PC’s will live on for years and years on Linux once older versions of Microsoft are no longer supported. It means (in my opinion) that Ubuntu will become even more popular among those with older or dontated hardware.

Windows Vista Service Pack 1 or SP1 is now available to the general public (Release Candidate 1 or RC1), and Microsoft has prepared a 17 page document describing the changes that Vista SP1 will include. Looks like one of the biggest bug fixed we can look forward to is support for “exFAT” which will greatly speed up file transfers to flash drives (much needed!). These tidbits were courtesy Internet News. Meanwhile, many people may decide to remain on Windows XP – because Service Pack 3 or SP3 for XP is coming…and the exo-blog posted benchmark results that show Windows XP3 update gaining 10% performance gain over Windows Vista and Vista SP1.

I’ve been very surprised that the “performance improvements” listed in that 17 page MS RC1 document don’t seem to be posted in any of the articles I read announcing Vista SP1 RC1 at all. Is it Microsoft propaganda – or are these numbers real? I can only hope that one of you installing RC1 will comment back and let us all know. Here are the ones that intrigued me:

• Improves the speed of adding and extracting files to and from a compressed (zipped) folder
• Significantly improves the speed of moving a directory with many files underneath
• 25% faster when copying files locally on the same disk on the same machine
• 45% faster when copying files from a remote non-Windows Vista system to a SP1 system
• 50% faster when copying files from a remote SP1 system to a local SP1 system
• Improves the time to read large images by approximately 50%
• Removes the delay that sometimes occurs when a user unlocks their PC
• Improves overall media performance by reducing many glitches

Ready to download and install Windows Vista Release Candidate 1? Here’s you go…

Vista SP1 RC1 links you need

Offical MS Doc: Notable changes in Vista SP1 RC1
Instructions to install Vista SP1
Microsoft Official download link to Vista SP1

Oh, and for your “Vista Sucks” fix of the day, just read The Vista is not so Grand. My favorite quote from that article is:

As innovative as Apple is and as free as open source is, Microsoft still commands about 90 percent plus of the desktop computer market. The question that analysts, commentators and our own software pioneer Mark Shuttleworth keep asking is: for how long?

If you just love Windows Vista so far – I guess you should go and read Windows Vista: Official Magazine.

Well, according to this PC World article, once you get Windows Vista Service Pack 1 or SP1 – your PC will be just as slow as the original version of Vista. That kinda sucks, like I wrote in other posts here on Vista Review – this OS was touted as being “snappy, responsive, and fast”, and it’s been slow, buggy, and sluggish. I think we were all expecting to get some kind of performance boost with SP1 – but it doesn’t really look like that’s going to happen.