Windows Vista - One Month In
Well, it’s time for some impressions of Windows Vista RTM after a month of good use. I thought it was fair to my readers to post an update to how I am liking and getting along with Windows Vista Enterprise after the rocky start I had getting an install working.
In case you do not remember the machine specs or are a first time reader, the machine is an HP Pavilion DV8000 laptop, 1.73Ghz Core Duo Processor, 1GB Ram, dual 100GB Hard Disks and 128MB GeForce Go video card with an addition 128MB shared video ram. It has a 17″ LCD with 1440×900 resolution, a DVD-RW drive, media card reader and built in wireless.
First lets take the time to talk about the software I installed, and how it is running so far.
I have noticed several google searches hitting my site with keywords for the Verizon VZAccess Manager software. Windows Vista warned me this application would not work. Being the rebel I am, I am happy to report, I installed this application and it has worked without incident.
Actually I have had only one application that acts a little funny in Windows Vista, that’s Microsoft’s own Age of Empires III. There may be a patch for it, but I haven’t even taken the time to look.
The following software is working perfectly:
- Adobe Photoshop 7
- Adobe Illustrator 10
- Macromedia Studio (Dreamweaver, Flash, Freehand)
- Microsoft Streets and Trips 2007 (with GPS)
- VZAccess Manager
- ITunes
- Firefox*
- Yahoo Messenger
- Office 2007
- SmartFTP
Yes, a pretty slim assortment of applications I know, but it’s all I really use on a personal laptop. Why the Firefox asterisk? I had to install it twice, first it was locking up and having some problems. On the second install, it has worked fine.
I will mention that although an iPod Nano and iPod Video 80GB seem to work fine syncing music, I had no luck with a 1st Gen iPod Shuffle, it would not write to it no matter what I tried.
I also was able to get the drivers from HP for the onboard buttons and remote control with no trouble.
Overall the machine runs fantastic, it’s fast, I rarely see much processor load, almost always none on the second chip (I run a memory/CPU monitor on the widget bar) The memory is usually around 40% and I have seen it spike to 50% when idle, but that’s pretty rare.
I used this machine exclusively over Christmas vacation and had no crashes, problems, etc. It’s rock solid. I will mention the “are you sure” screens are a little annoying, but that’s a minor thing.
The interface is gorgeous, I usually disable eye candy, I have used XP in 2k mode since it came out, but this is just too pretty to ignore.
The widgets are really sharp, I keep up CPU/Memory stats, hard drive space, a launcher that allows me to run command line stuff, the weather, Digg RSS feed and the stats on my wireless connection. There are a lot more available, but I am only going with stuff I will actually use.
Overall I will have to say that this is really nice. I don’t really see a need for the average user to upgrade as XP is solid too. There isn’t anything I see as a “must have” for Vista, but I am sure that will change as 3rd party vendors add new products to the mix. On the other hand, if you’re getting a new PC, and Vista is an option, I say go for it. I have also added a screenshot at one reader’s request.
For my first article on “Why I am afraid of Windows Vista, look here Full Article
For those photobugs out there, I took two photos of the laptop, the first I shot exposed for the laptop, the second for the screen, then I photoshopped the screen on so you could see it :)
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Comments
Nice review, well written. I think I may take the Vista plunge now, I’ve just been pushing it back to test it :).
those are minor details… the real reason why not to use Vista is DRM
checkout this great article about Vista and DRM http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.txt
Ofer
Hello Jason. There are the very innovative gadgets on Vista, not widgets. Therefore it’s the gadgets bar, not the widget bar. But i don’t want to start a flame war.
Greetings from Germany.
I have a dv8000 with 3.2 ghz and 512mb of memory. I have it on a dual boot at the moment because some applications dont run in vista too well and tend to crash the system.
I love vista I think it works great. I hate it when I have to revert back to winxp to do some stuff, like right disc although vista does have a disc writing utility I make a lot of home videos and I use nero. The new nero enhanced is supposed to work with vista but I haven’t seen it work yet.
I think once I get another stick of memory it will work much better.
Your link to the Why I am afraid… doesn’t work.
Also, you mention Two pictures… I see one at the top of the article, but no other. Am I missing something?
Oh, and if you’re telling us about Vista, don’t use the term “widgets”… microsoft exclusively calls them Gadgets… widgets are OSX.
The only problem with vista is DRM, so if you’re not editing video, watching HD video on it and so on, I would not expect anything out of the ordinary.
Hey I have Vista business, and I agree it works like a charm. But on my 680i motherboard i had difficulty installing drivers, same with my 7600gt GeForce graphics unit did you have any real annoyance with the drivers. If so, help on troubleshooting please!!!
Oh and another thought, don’t try to be cool and get the 64-bit version, you don’t need tons of RAM and it is only designed for autocat users and such. To many problems for the normal user/gamer. I tested it and found it ver problematic.
I think must haves for Vista would be the search indexer. Search is amazing in Vista, love how it search right before your eyes. As well as the backup utilities. Booting from the Vista disc and going into WinRE(Recovery Environment) you can make a complete PC backup(an image of your machine) this is great for people who like to clean install cause they can now reimage their machine without using a third party app like Norton Ghost.
You had me until ,,,, ” I don’t really see a need for the average user to upgrade as XP is solid too” spillled out of your mouth.
You have got to be kidding me.
How bout just a screen cap, so we can see the desktop clearly?
I’m sure there are others out there, but you were soooo close.
** Regarding your difficulties with Vista reckognizing your first gen Shuffle:
This is actually a problem with the software on the shuffle itself. and apple has released a stand-alone patch to correct this. While I did not run into this when using my Shuffle on Vista (I listen to TwiT and Diggnation every morning at the gym) I do know a few people who have run into it.
Here is a link to the download page for the reset utility. I hope this fixes your problem, and thanks for the well written article :-)
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/ipodshuffleresetutility101forwindows.html
Great article!!!!!
I am about sick of XP Pro now as I was with 98 when Millenium and Xp came out. I’m ready for a nice change and Vista looks grand for an average user like myself. I’m an audio-fiend (if there is such a person)and a longtime PC gamer, and I look forward to using the crap out of any and all current and future features Vista has to offer. I did abit of searching into DirectX 10, and as a gamer type I wonder what game creators will unleash with all the leaping technology with dual SLI and X-Fire and dual core this and quad thingamajamma. Your article
on one month in on Vista is makin me jones………….gotta go buy it cya!
Did you by chance configure bitlocker? If so, how did that work out for you? I have the same laptop as you and want to configure and enable it for bitlocker for mine. I’ve read the white paper on it, just curious to hear if you used it and what your experience has been with it. Thanks!
i installed vista 64 prem. on a new amd x2 5600 a week ago but never got the printer to work with my wifes wireless mac connection. it (hp psc 2210) worked fine locally. Iv’e heard somewhere on the net that the printer work work with the 64 bit drivers?????
Then the moterboard failed and i returned it. Since then ive tried to reinstall xp pro on the same original hard drive but it now runs sluggishly it at all and usually have to reset the computer to get out of most programs.
thanks
larry
I am able to run Diable II expansion. Vista said it wouldn’t run.
I’m trying to install Street and Trips 2007 (No GPS). I keep getting the msg that it needs to install Microsoft Text-to-Speech Engine. Then it quits. Can you help me? I can’t find any help anywhere.
Thanks
I have two computers both were running vista, but I had too many problems and switched one of them back to XP-64bit. The other is a media center and pretty much only plays videos which I have had no problem with…
The two major problems I have are MSN Live Messenger video does not work on Vista Ultimate 64bit. (I am using a Microsoft Live webcam and it is vista compatible, however… ) I can only get sound or video to work, not both at the same time, using the lastest MSN Messenger, switched back to XP-64bit and it all worked fine. Checked the web and lots of people experience the same problem and MSDN said that they are “working on a fix” but they have been working on a fix for the last 2 updates, so I am not holding my breath.
Office 2007, experienced crashing randomly, none received in XP-64bit so far.
Supreme commander. Crashes after 1 hour exactly, everytime without fail. I suspect there is some kind of problem in vista with Supreme commander with negative integers or something. XP-64bit has not exhibited this problem.
My Sony-erickson mobile is not compatible with Vista, my Canon n1220u scanner is not compatible with vista…
So the only things that worked with Vista that I use regularly are Programmers notepad, Adobe Photoshop, Nero and Firefox.
Hi mate
Thanks for the erticle, interesting read. Would you direct me to where you got the Vista drivers for the onboard buttons and remote control?
Cheers