Windows Vista - Is it As Bad As Everyone Says?

As a system consultant, I'm seeing an increasingUnfortunately, I see many more speed decreases with
number of my clients running Microsoft Windows VistaVista than increases, when compared to Windows
these days in spite of the fact that most businessesXP. The worst performers are database-type
have not upgraded from Windows XP. In fact, I haveprograms, such as several point of sale applications I
always discouraged people from running Windowstried, including Quickbooks Point of Sale, CounterPoint
Vista due to compatibility issues.and Retail Pro. In all fairness, this is not surprising and
The problem is that it is getting harder and harder tomay be due to the fact that I'm running them on a
buy a new computer with Windows XP. Althoughrather low performance Netbook. No point of sale
Microsoft delayed their decision to stop sellingsoftware vendor would recommend running their
Windows XP due to protests from vendors andprogram on a Netbook. However, it is worth noting that
consumers, they will eventually stop making it available.all of these programs performed acceptably under
As a result, I knew I would have to deal with WindowsWindows XP on this same Netbook.
Vista sooner or later, so I took the plunge this week. IThe biggest problems I encountered were
bought the Windows Vista Home Premium upgradehardware-related:
and installed it on my Netbook. The upgrade process1) Neither my wireless network card or wired network
took about 5 hours, much longer than upgrading fromcard worked immediately after the upgrade. After
Windows 2000 to Windows XP did.rebooting again, Windows did install the driver for my
Let me start with what I like about Vista. I was verywireless network card, and I was able to get
pleasantly surprised to find that most of my programsconnected to my broadband internet. It took me longer
work under Windows Vista. The main reason Ito get my wired network card to work.
generally discouraged people from upgrading to Vista2) At first, it did not detect my video hardware.
was because of known compatibility issues with manyRebooting again allowed my video card to be
programs. I did have to repair my iTunes installation andrecognized so I could switch to a higher resolution
upgrade my Nero CD recording software to work withscreen.
Vista. So far, I am finding Vista to be stable with veryWhat is my take on Windows Vista now that I've
few program errors.used it more extensively? I want my $129 back. I can
I do see a couple of speed improvements with Vista.now say from experience that the benefits of
When I open My Computer, I see the drivesupgrading to Windows Vista do not outweigh the
immediately; whereas in Windows XP Home, it coulddisadvantages. Undoubtedly, your performance may
take as much as 30 seconds for the drives to appear.be better than mine on a computer with faster
Likewise, when I go to Add/Remove programs, I starthardware. However, I still don't see what new and
seeing programs in the list immediately. With Windowsexciting features Windows Vista brings to the table to
XP, I would see nothing for maybe 30 seconds andmake it worth the money or even the time it took to
then the list would appear. Interestingly, the programsupgrade. Because Windows 7 has been found to be
that open as quickly as they did under XP are mostlyfaster on computers with even modest specs, such
Microsoft programs, such as Microsoft Works.as Netbooks, I recommend waiting for this to come out
Another piece of good news is that as far asinstead. The beta version of Windows 7 is actually
functionality, much of Windows Vista is similar toavailable for download right now. On a scale of 1 to 5, I
Windows XP, so you don't have to learn a whole newgive Microsoft Windows Vista a 2.5, and I don't
operating system all over again. It was very easy forrecommend it.
me to find my way around Vista.