Vista Impressions (and comparison to OSX) (56k warning)

[bousozoku]

It looks interesting, if not distracting. I think users will find they need to upgrade their systems because the visual effects will require more power than they have. Apple certainly tweaked the visuals repeatedly until they got something more usable that's less flashy.

It looks as though iTunes is the odd application there but individuality is typical on Windows. After all, users can change something like 7 different coloured items on a scrollbar alone. Is Vista so flexible?

 

[DavidLeblond]

*shrug* they made it look prettier... big whoop. Where's my improvements to usability?

 

[Neonguy]

I find the glass blurring distracting as well. Looking at it long make my vision grew tired because that what it look like when you don't have good vision.

 

[ricksbrain]

I don't post here often, so maybe you can overlook my attitude. Sorry to start off with...

Vista really does = teh Shiny®. It is a fisherman with a dazzling lure, trying to catch a large-mouth bass. People will bite, but it's not what they think it is.

Vista is flamingos in the lawn.
Plastic covers on the couch.
Gold leafed picture frames of the prom.
Faux fur.
Lipstick on a pig.
Cubic zirconium wedding rings.
New car-scented candles.
A postcard mailed from home.
Your weird cousin _____________.
A stirring rendition of Mama, a Boo Boo by Belafonte.

Vista: look away.

 

[barkins]

In the end, it's still just a Windows machine and that's not saying much.

 

[kevin.getrhythm]

I don't post here often, so maybe you can overlook my attitude. Sorry to start off with...

Vista really does = teh Shiny®. It is a fisherman with a dazzling lure, trying to catch a large-mouth bass. People will bite, but it's not what they think it is.

Vista is flamingos in the lawn.
Plastic covers on the couch.
Gold leafed picture frames of the prom.
Faux fur.
Lipstick on a pig.
Cubic zirconium wedding rings.
New car-scented candles.
A postcard mailed from home.
Your weird cousin _____________.
A stirring rendition of Mama, a Boo Boo by Belafonte.

Vista: look away.

Pretty much exactly what I think, I would much rather see Windows look exactly the same and run much smoother with better abilities.

 

[thewhitehart]

Hopefully the only good thing about it, if it is a success, is it will drive down prices of video cards as manufactures will compete to have their systems Vista Aero capable.

Vista will be a huge problem for IT managers, as computers will become pigeonholed based on whether they will be Vista Aero capable or not. Most businesses have no need for 128 MB video ram, but companies will nevertheless scramble to upgrade to take advantage of graphical improvements best reserved for games and not business apps. OS X has stunning visual effects with 32 MB of video ram; if they only knew.

If Microsoft tells you to jump off a cliff...

 

[ricksbrain]

Kevin-- do you ever go to Jungle Jim's (I think that's the name)?

 

[Chone]

Pretty much exactly what I think, I would much rather see Windows look exactly the same and run much smoother with better abilities.

Who says it doesn't? Vista does run faster than Windows XP, apps I use more often open more quickly (SuperFetch) and there are tons of other features...

Stuff like indexed searching and the like only allow for more productivity and smoother workflow.

It is not just eyecandy, the new features and performance improvements are definitely there.

Just out of curiosity, out of all the people here who have judged Vista... how many of you have actually installed the OS and used it? And how many of you have used an operating system for more than 5 minutes that wasn't OS X?

And for all of the people who complain about transparent glass... you can turn it off relax, here is a picture of Vista without the glass effect. And you can make the interface more cohesive by making the windows have the graphite color of the taskbar which in turn also lessens the effect of glass... I just like the default light blue color...

 

[flopticalcube]

I would certainly hope that, after 5 years of development, it would be smoother and faster than XP. I still think it is too early to judge it's security and overall robustness but I would also expect it to be better than XP. Are there any backwards compatibility issues that you can tell? How is it with memory and disk?

PS I have used just about every OS on the planet, except Vista.

 

[ricksbrain]

My judgement comes from knowing M$. Computer technology is one of the most amazing of human inventions and M$ turned it into a commodity crap-fest.

Vista isn't shiny enough to polish that turd.

 

[840quadra]

For me, what it boils down to is the core operating system..

I can (and so can any of you) modify my GUI interface to suit my needs (3rd party or not). And honestly, I would prefer to use some modified versions of KDE, or Enlightenment over both Apple's Aqua, or Vista. What I really need, is for the core OS to do what I need it to do, and quickly.

 

[decksnap]

The transparency, as they've implemented it, has to be one of the dumbest interface ideas I've seen in a long time. I don't want every window chrome to look like a fuzzy pastel impressionist painting. Words that come to mind... dirty, confusing, annoying, distracting, unnecessary.

It's funny that the only nice-ish looking bits are the parts where they just dropped in aqua verbatim.

Edit: oooh I found the word I was looking for...

muddy.

 

[Rojo]

I feel really sorry for people who will have to use Vista only as their OS.

 

[Shadow]

Just out of curiosity, out of all the people here who have judged Vista... how many of you have actually installed the OS and used it? And how many of you have used an operating system for more than 5 minutes that wasn't OS X?

Well, I've used Linux (several distos inc Ubuntu, Mandrake), Windows 95, 98, Me, 2000, XP (SP1 and SP2) and Beta 2 & Pre-RC1 of Vista. Oh, and Server 2003. And Mac OS X.

Anyway. While I wouldn't go to say that Vista looks terrible, because I think it looks good, but I will say that usabilty goes down because of that 'looking good' factor. I have long belived that Microsoft should scrap Windows NT (and its relatives) and start over, without support for 'legacy apps' (thatis, XP apps etc)

 

[codo]

I'd quite happily use that. I think elements of it look much more attractive than OS X now, totally.

I want to see Apple using their new tools in Leopard, such as this Core Image thing, to improve OS X.

 

[xUKHCx]

I use XP on a daily basis and have used 98 , 2000, Vista RC2 (for about a month), 10.3, 10.4 (oddly enough i switched from 98 to 10.3)

There is also Flip3D, which is Microsoft's take on Expose, XP has always had the option of "Showing the Desktop" but now Vista offers Flip3D... hmm, in a nutshell Expose is still better than Flip3D, its hard to say why without sounding contradicting, basically, Flip3D seems "superior" in both visuals and function

Visuals maybe but function no. They waste such a large amount of screen space which OS X uses to display the content of the window to the user, which at the end of the day is the function of these features.

Flip3D looks more striking and allows you to scroll through Windows as in a 3D wheel

Activate Expose and press tab, cycles through the windows perfectly?

Expose's implementation works better for me, plus its easier to see the content of windows than in Flip3D

.

Totally agree what is the fourth back window showing, do i have to cycle to see it. This just destroys the point of Flip3D

 

[poppe]

Totally. Now they can keep those every so important Virus scanners and their anti-spyware programs along with another 2 or 3 firewalls.

Windows users make computing a hobby again.

I never ran a Firewall or a Virus scanner or anything and never got a single virus. And my computer was always secure.

 

[Chone]

I use XP on a daily basis and have used 98 , 2000, Vista RC2 (for about a month), 10.3, 10.4 (oddly enough i switched from 98 to 10.3)



Visuals maybe but function no. They waste such a large amount of screen space which OS X uses to display the content of the window to the user, which at the end of the day is the function of these features.


Activate Expose and press tab, cycles through the windows perfectly?

.

Totally agree what is the fourth back window showing, do i have to cycle to see it. This just destroys the point of Flip3D


[Image Here]

Yeah I knew I was going to sound contradicting, I like Expose better, Flip3D is more visually striking but the Expose is more productive, Flip3D is but a novelty to me, I like the screen hotpoints from expose and without that I can't use it, ever since I've installed Vista, I've only used Flip3D to amuse myself and take that picture but I've been flipping through windows the same way I did on XP, with the taskbar.

In any case, Microsoft can always improve on Flip3D, all they need to add is a screen cornet hotpoint for me to be able to use Flip3D for other stuff other than amusing myself at the pretty graphics.

 

[Zwhaler]

I think that since most people don't know jack about computers, they will fall for Vista and claim that it "0wnz" OSX because of the damn user interface. This is all the more reason why I want Leopard to have an upgraded UI. I have a strange feeling that it will. Knock on wood!

 

[SMM]

The Vista extortion has began

Many of you may not be aware of how MS uses its' 'business partner' program to extort the business community. In the month of December, I have received two notifications concerning "...after December 31, 2006 we will no longer provide updates or telephone support for .....revision ...." of our software.

Now, neither of these vendors are 'cutting edge' types. But, MS has a deal with them. They must discontinue revision support, on or before MS does. It really does not matter whether their SW will run on Windows 2000 (example). They just will not allow their installer to initiate. It is total BS.

I have zero plans to upgrade to Vista, or Office 2007. But, what will happen a year from now is, I will not be able to print the new government forms from my accounting software, without upgrading. However, XP and Windows 2003 will still be supported. So, I will be OK. However, the following year, they will not. So, by December 31, 2008, I must upgrade.

So, MS can force the business community to upgrade, without having to do the dirty work themselves. The business partners can wash their hands by blaming MS. They have a good thing going.

 

[AdeFowler]

I've heard that the view modes in the 'finder' (explorer?) are pretty impressive; icon view in particular. Screen grab?

 

[Chone]

I've heard that the view modes in the 'finder' (explorer?) are pretty impressive; icon view in particular. Screen grab?

Well they are neat, icons go up to 256x256 resolution which is too big to actually serve a purpose but its quite neat, well anyways here are some of the view modes, the design of the icons is nice, I liked it personally.

 

[Jollins]

From my experiences with Vista, yeah the transparency got old after a half-hour or so and it really doesn't fix too many of the gripes I have with XP. However, in terms of ease of navigation and features, Vista explorer is quite a bit better than XP and it made 10.4 Finder pale in comparison. I really do hope Apple does something about this in 10.5

 

[dpaanlka]

That transparency just introduces areas of blurriness all over your screen. It makes me feel like I'm drunk trying to use my computer.

I agree totally. Lest we all forget, Apple tried the whole transparent window title bars thing in the past, and thankfully removed it after realizing how annoying it was?