Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1

If it ain't broke, why fix it?

Strengths: Relatively fast install, newest Microsoft OS out there

Weaknesses: Slower boot time, taxes system resources, learning curve

Summary: This review is mostly focusing on my initial impressions using Vista on my Parallels Virtual machine on a MacBook.

First of all, installation went ok -- except for a hitch where the setup said it was "configuring my PC" and stayed there for an hour -- until I finally stopped the virtual machine and rebooted. Then all went well. Without this hitch, it seems like Vista would install quicker than XP for a clean install..

I've just been basically dealing with basic apps on Vista -- Firefox, IE, etc. to see what working in it is like daily. Interesting enough, I've even been able to make it act much like Windows 9X (removing all the fancy themes, and returning to the old fashioned start menu -- simple but effective and uses the least amount of screen real estate.)

Overall boot up time is slower, as I think most Vista upgrades are prepared for. Once Windows is started and you've got apps open, things seem to work about the same as XP. Also note for my Vista virtual machine I allocated 768MB of RAM, while with XP VM simply has 512MB. This is true evidence that Vista is slower. I don't think my VM will even support Aero glass...

Access Control for even the simplest setting changes are completely annoying, hence, I have disabled it. I would imagine the novice Vista user would always be clicking okay on these anyhow, negating any additional security benefit.

The control panel has of course changed, so many things are new places. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but when you've gotten used to the control panel being almost the same since Windows 95, it's confusing.

As an desktop support manager at company with a mixed Windows XP and Mac OS environment, I'm still eager to stay with XP for our Windows users as long as possible. This review can't cover it all -- this review is meant for highly technical overview of a brief, quick experience with Vista. Overall advice -- if it ain't broke (XP), why fix it (Vista)?

64-bit Vista

Strengths: One license for both 32-bit and 64-bit

Weaknesses: A bit sluggish

Summary: The operating system may bit a bit slow and the interface is pretty. I love the new file explorer. Not only that, I have the option to use either the 32-bit or the 64-bit version. I know the 64-bit can cause headaches but for me, I love the stability. However, the 64-bit version definitely is not for everyone.