Microsoft Vista Home Basic
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January 26, 2007 04:06
Excellent
2.0/5
I have vista ultimate so basic is probably even less worth it. I had medium hopes for vista but even with low expectations, after using it for about 2 weeks now I am still disappointed. My machine is a P4 3.2Ghz, 1GB RAM and Radeon X800 128. One of the most basic things, the start menu is just terrible. When you click on "Programs" in XP, it pops up in an instant. In vista there is a very noticeable and annoying delay. When playing counterstrike the OS blue screens (yes, blue screens) on me and of course restarts. Sure, this is probably due to the beta ATI drivers but come on, why a complete OS crash?? Same thing when testing the webcam from my pinnacle video capture card (to be fair, also non-vista drivers). Vista has a "self-fixing" feature which tries to determine when a program has stopped responding and then tries to "find a solution" for this problem and, of course, never finds a solution for it and just kills the program. Most annoying is that it pops up an alert telling you it is trying to find a solution and my windows sidebar constantly has this problem and thus I constantly get popups. I'm not even gonna talk about IE. Just use firefox. I'm gonna stay on vista since slowly better drivers are coming out and I'm still hopeful it will improve. I understand that a lot of the problems are due to vendor drivers and MS is not fully responsible for that but the native vista features also just don't perform acceptably.
If you are buying a new computer, of course, get vista. All the hardware will likely work fine. If you are just looking to upgrade XP, hold off until you see a lot of good user reviews. You are not missing anything from vista. -
January 26, 2007 12:37
Good
1.5/5
Not even worth it. You miles well stick with Windows XP Home, because this version of Vista is stripped of just about everything that attracts Vista in the first place.
Vista Premium Edition is the best all the way around for the avg pc user. -
February 9, 2007 02:34
3.5/5
I would have given Home Basic a 8/10 if it wasn't so difficult to install. First it had given me several error messages. Then when I did a clean install with the upgrade disk (because thats one of the options) it would not activate. Microsoft did little to help me activate it. But I finally figured out the problem (I put the computer in safe mode and installed it. Hey it worked!). You have to update your audio driver when you are finished. But other than that, this OS looks AMAZING! The interface is sleek yet easy to use. The new interface makes it easier to use and search items. The search bar on your start menu is also handy. The Windows Media Player 11 works much better on Vista than on XP. The new Photo Gallery is also a handy tool. The games look great and are actually some-what more fun to play, but generally look better. The security is also good in Vista but can be a little annoying, but it is necessary and helpful. Overall its better than XP, but I just wish the Installation went smoother! -
January 29, 2007 07:30
Terrible
0.5/5
I won't get into the pros and cons of this new operating system in terms of the usual critique, because it's all been covered here. What I want all of you to be aware about are the technologies that Microsoft has implemented in order to control what you can or can not view or listen too. If you are not familiar with DRM, them please read about it. Microsoft has also implemented AACS within Vista, and this is also something you really need to inform yourselves about. I suggest you start on this website:
http://www.grc.com/SecurityNow.htm#76
Listen to episodes 73, 74 and 75. You might be shocked at what you will hear. If you're not that tech-savvy you'll probably have to listen to these shows a couple of times. -
January 30, 2007 11:50
Good
1.5/5
I have long been a Windows fan ... but even an ardent fan knows when he is being scammed. There is NO reason the leave XP ... ever, as far as *I* see. No more than there was a reason to leave Office 2000 - which still has FAR more features than I would ever use! -
January 5, 2008 07:56
Spectacular
2.5/5
The vista is all about the visual appeals..... The best new thing is the gadgets...its just like a shortcut to virtually anything.
I am working on a 1 GB/ 256 MB ATI mobility card/7200 RPM HDD laptop and the vista works well even with a large number of applications. The problem comes when you start a game...
Since there are many things on desktop which is updating itself regularly, so the cpu usage fluctuates, which make ur system slow.
Following things can improve the speed of ur machine.
1. Use original XP theme in vista..... the speed will increase drastically.
2. Use minimum visual setting in folder options....remove all smooth edges, shadows etc.... the machine will work fast.
3. Dont use too many gadgets at a time.....
4. while playing game, close the side bar
5. Check ur startup (run msconfig), remove unwanted programs like itune update, java update, adobe reader startup, ms office start file some osa.exe ...., real player, QuickTime etc.
6. use ur updated drivers (for vista), do not rely on vista drivers or old xp drivers. It may work fine, but have some compatibility issues.
7. Remove screensaver, desktop themes etc, even the wallpaper.
8. try to keep at least 10-20% of ur drive space empty all the time (for all drives). If u have less space in any drive, it will significantly impact the speed.
9. use less number of usb plug n play device.
10. increase ur page file size.
11. Do not use windows firewall, use some original software.
12. use temperature control/fan speed control software.
These small steps will definitely improve ur system performance while using Vista or any OS. -
January 28, 2007 02:40
Spectacular
2.5/5
I have been using the beta version of Vista since August of 2006. I currently own three pc's and an iMac. The best way to sum up Vista is this: go to a store that sells Apple computers (like an Apple store!) and play with OS X. That's basically what Vista is--a knock-off of Mac OSX. Yes, Vista is easy on the eyes, but otherwise, Microsoft simply stole elements from OSX and changed the names--like Widgets to Gadgets. They took the Apple "spotlight" and made a search function at the bottom left hand corner, in the start menu.
And let's face it--this is Microsoft, there will be plenty of bugs to work out and lots of vulnerability and security problems the first few months.
Save your money and switch to a Mac--that's what I did and there isn't a day goes by that I don't regret it! -
August 31, 2007 02:42
Good
1.5/5
I cannot simoultaneously run 3 apps on vista without a crash. Today It froze as I tried to install an MS web cam while I logged on to MSN messenger. If given a choice, stay with XP SP2. -
June 20, 2007 12:51
Terrible
0.5/5
Stay with XP at ALL costs until they sort out ALL the bugs. Because there are a lot in my opinion -
April 25, 2007 11:53
Excellent
2.0/5
If you think that you are just going to migrate from XP to Vista, you had better set aside a few days just to find what Microsoft renamed and moved in this new version. It would seem that if something works, you dont change it, you just improve on it. To put it in perspective, just imagine that you came home from work tomorrow, but your kids and wife were all renamed and every time you wanted to do something the lights go dim and you have to push a button for permission. All I have to say is that you had better buy a wig, because you will pull all of your hair out.
