A Few Thoughts About Windows Vista

I purchased a new computer this week and specified that it should have Windows Vista Home Premium pre-installed at the factory. I was able to take the computer out of the box, boot up, and start using Vista within a few minutes. I had read quite a bit about Vista's improvements and wanted to try them out for myself. Now that I have about eight hours' use under my belt, I am ready to share my impressions.

By coincidence, I also purchased a new Macintosh system a few weeks ago and have been using it quite a bit. I now find myself in a position to make side-by-side comparisons of the latest offering from Microsoft versus the latest operating system from Apple. I obviously can also compare both against previous versions of Windows.

First of all, the Windows Vista user interface certainly is nicer than that of Windows XP. Premium editions of Windows Vista include a redesigned user interface and visual style, named Windows Aero, an acronym for Authentic, Energetic, Reflective, and Open. Aero strikes me as being easier on the eyes. Various windows fade in and out quickly rather popping into view. The end result seems less "jarring" to my eyes. If you happen to have a high-powered video board in your computer, the visual effect is great.

If you move your mouse over the icons of running programs in the task bar, you will see thumbnail "snapshots" of the programs as they look when maximized. You also see these same images if you use the ALT-TAB keys to switch between programs. Previous versions of Windows simply displayed program icons as you kept pressing ALT-TAB. Vista displays program thumbnails of the program in operation.

I rather like the variable opacity icons and gadgets available within Vista. It's amusing that Microsoft calls them "gadgets" although the same functionality has been available under Macintosh OS X for some time and from third-party Windows XP programs under the name of "widgets." Whatever you call them, these are mini applications that display information on your screen. You can choose from a calendar, clock, yellow "sticky notes," RSS news headlines, a slide show, stock prices, your local weather forecast, and more. You may need a large screen since these things do eat up "real estate space" on your screen. However, you can hide them quickly, should you wish to do so. In any case, it's nice to see Microsoft catch up to the Macintosh.

Vista also now includes excellent multimedia capabilities. If your hardware is powerful enough, Vista will let you watch television as well as capture video. You can edit the videos (you probably will want to purchase additional software to supplement Vista's basic editing capabilities) and then export it in a number of formats. You can now edit and distribute old home movies, perhaps even posting them online where your relatives may view them. You can also capture TV programs live and save them to your hard drive in a matter somewhat similar to Tivo. I must admit, however, that most of the multimedia capability in Windows Vista was also available in the previous Windows XP Multimedia Edition as well as in Macintosh OS X.

Vista allows for frequent data backups and restores. A new type of folder known as a Shadow Folder has the ability to revert its entire contents to any arbitrary point in the past. Not all folders are Shadow Folders, however. You have to explicitly specify that a given folder is to be a Shadow Folder.

Windows Vista features a system-wide integrated search that will quickly find any information stored on your hard drive. Besides searching normal files, this search also works with Help, Control Panel, Networking, and more. In Control Panel, for example, typing "firewall" will instantly return all applets that have to do with the system firewall.

Microsoft brags that Vista is the most reliable and stable version of Windows ever created. Perhaps so, but I had an application freeze on me about 90 minutes after I booted up for the first time. Internet Explorer 7 went to a web page, displayed about half the page on the screen, and then froze. I couldn't go back; I couldn't minimize the application; I couldn't even delete it until I launched the Windows Task Manager and told it to abort Internet Explorer. At this time I only had Windows software installed on my computer. I hadn't yet installed any new software. I was using Internet Explorer 7 and the other software included with Windows Vista. I then re-launched Internet Explorer 7and returned to the same web page, and everything displayed as expected.

I later looked at the same page by using both Internet Explorer 6 and the Firefox web browser on my older Windows XP computer, as well as with Safari and with Firefox web browsers on the Macintosh OS X computer. I did not observe any lockups or other abnormal behavior. I suspect the page was not the problem; it had to be something within Windows Vista and Internet Explorer 7.

As a result, I am not impressed with Vista's claimed stability. An operating system or application that locks up within 90 minutes of its first boot while still in an all-Microsoft environment isn't ready for prime time. I couldn't help but reflect on the fact that the Macintosh I purchased a couple months ago has never frozen any application in the several hundred hours it has been used.

The extra security features built into Vista should be nice although I must admit that I haven't had any reason to use them yet. (My system sits behind a hardware firewall on my in-home network and is already rather well protected.)

Vista also has many new security and control features that are useful in the corporate world. However, most of them are missing in the Home Edition, and I doubt if these corporate world features will be of interest to readers of a genealogy newsletter. I'll just skip over them.

I could write a lot more about Vista, but the fact is that thousands of reviews have already been written by others. I doubt if I could write anything that hasn't been written many times before. If you are interested in the nitty-gritty details of Windows Vista, I'd suggest that you read some of the Windows Vista reviews others have written, starting at http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=windows+vista+review.

What I will do, instead, is describe the use for Vista for genealogy purposes. In the next few weeks, I will install a number of today's more popular Windows genealogy programs onto the Vista PC and then write about my experiences in future newsletters. That should be different from the hundreds of other online reviews.

As I started using all the new features in Vista, I kept asking myself, "Is it really better?" I tried to determine how much more productive it made me or if it allowed me to do things that I could not do before. My goal was to determine if Vista is really a worthwhile upgrade or if it is simply "eye candy."

After eight hours' use, I am somewhat unimpressed with Vista. To be sure, the desktop visuals look nice, but this system hasn't yet made me any more productive. Maybe it will eventually as I gain more experience, but I really don't see how. Even though the screens look a bit more pleasing with transparency and fade-in/fade-out capabilities, the changes to the on-screen visuals don't allow me to work any faster or better.

I must say that I have fallen in love with the multimedia capabilities of modern computers. My new Vista computer was manufactured with a TV tuner built in. It can record video from broadcast television as well as video from a handheld video camera or most any other video source. By plugging in a VCR, I can convert old videotapes to modern DVDs, perhaps first editing the videos to select only the best ones that are worth saving. It is rather fun to reduce the size of the displayed video to about the size of a postage stamp and leave it running in the upper corner of the screen as I write newsletter articles, read and write e-mail messages, and perform other tasks on the computer. It's a great way to watch the six o'clock news while multitasking on the web.

All newer Windows Vista and Macintosh computers have similar capabilities. I happened to buy a Vista computer with TV hardware built in while the Macintosh I purchased did not. The fact is that you can obtain similar hardware and software for both operating systems.

So the question remains: Should you upgrade to Vista?

If you already have a Windows XP system that meets your needs today, I'd suggest that you not upgrade to Vista on the present system. Most reviews will point out that Vista requires rather powerful hardware. You can translate this in the reverse direction: Vista will always appear to be slower on your present computer than is Windows XP. Assuming that your present system meets your needs, why would you want to upgrade? However, if you are thinking about increasing your computer usage to include multimedia and other advanced capabilities, you might want to purchase new hardware and a new operating system to go with it.

The expense of powerful hardware never remains static. For the past thirty years or so, whatever the price of the most powerful hardware available, the price drops by 50% or more within a very few years. The hardware requirements for Vista may seem to be very expensive today, but within a few years, typical Vista computers will be cheaper than today's Windows XP systems. Of course, the Vista operating system will be pre-installed on every new Windows computer by that time, so you won't be able to purchase "old fashioned" Windows XP in the future. After all, when was the last time you saw a new computer for sale with Windows 98 already installed? The same will soon be true for Windows XP: it is a dying operating system.

In short, if your primary reasons for using a computer include writing documents, working on your genealogy, reading and writing e-mail, and surfing the web, I'd suggest that you ignore Vista for a while. It won't help you any more than what you probably have today.

If you are interested in multimedia, perhaps I'll offer a different suggestion. To be sure, Windows XP Multimedia Edition already includes 99% of the multimedia capabilities built into Vista while Macintosh OS X does the same and perhaps even a bit more. In short, I'd suggest that you not rush into the upgrade. The longer you procrastinate, the cheaper the price. When the time for an upgrade does arrive, I would encourage you to also consider the Macintosh. You may be glad that you did.

Comments

[Keith Wilson]

The choice between Windoze Vista and an Apple Mac running OSX 10.4 Tiger (soon to be OSX 10.5 Leopard) is a no brainer.

[Dave]

Amen, brother! I love not have had any crashes in TWO YEARS since buying a Mac. And, of course, no viruses AT ALL. Lovin' it!

[Joyce]

Thanks for the review - I'm looking forward to hearing how TMG works with Vista. :-)

[Eileen Souza]

I have always been a Windows user since developing Windows applications is what I do for a living. I have worked with Windows Vista Enterprise Beta2, RC1 and now RTM versions. I have it installed on a Dell 1.7 MHz with 512MB memory and a low end video card. In other words, a cheap business computer. I have been testing my application, a document management system (image intensive) in Vista. It is a large desktop application that is written in Visual Basic 6. On an old system, Vista more closely resembles Windows XP but when I benchmarked my application, it actually ran slightly faster in Vista. I didn't think it would run at all. I think the big gain for business with Vista is the improved security and network management. At first, I thought Vista was Windows XP with functions moved so I couldn't find them. Now that I am used to it, I like it better than XP and I have not experienced any crashes while I daily experience them in XP.

[Roger Lewis]

Pleased to hear that you are to install a number of today's more popular Windows genealogy programs onto the Vista PC. This will be a great help to those of us who are considering purchasing a new Vista PC.

The program I use is 'GENERATIONS' now supplied under the Broderbund label. Will you be trying this on the Vista PC? If so this will be of great interest to all 'GENERATIONS' users, as it is unlikely that this particular program will be updated specifically for the Vista PC.

[Dick Eastman]

---> The program I use is 'GENERATIONS' now supplied under the Broderbund label. Will you be trying this on the Vista PC?

Probably not. According to one list I have seen, there have been more than 100 genealogy programs released over the years. It isn't practical to test them all, even if I did have copies of all them available (which I don't).

I do plan to test the 5 or 6 most popular Windows genealogy programs of today as I believe that will cover 99% of the Windows-using readers of this newsletter.

The testing will not happen immediately as I will be traveling soon. I do plan to test when I return.

- Dick Eastman

[Linda Gutierrez]

My motto has always been to wait for the later versions of the newest Windows operating systems because they tend to be more stable. I personally have the XP Media Center Edition, which I am very pleased with and also I am all set to upgrade to Vista at some future point, if I choose to so I appreciate you sharing your experiences with us.

From what I have heard about IE7, I believe that your problem with the freeze up was caused by IE7 not by Vista. IE7 can be downloaded to any computer running an XP operating system (not sure about earlier versions, but I would assume yes) which makes it software that can run independently from Vista. While I know there are a lot of plusses to IE7, a lot of people I know have had problems running it and have removed it from their systems. To avoid getting it on automatic download (if you have your windows updates done automatically) you can download a beta blocker to inhibit the download of the software. Once I hear that they have gotten the bugs out I will download it.

[Helene Pockrus]

Dick, Could you address putting it on your XP computer when you have been advised by the LDS church not to use IE 7 as it is not compatible with the New FamilySearch, plese?

[Carla]

AMEN Again! I love macintosh. I have had pc's, but never been happy with them. I just wish someone would design a genealogy map program for the mac. Very pleased with ifamily for tiger software. I also create videos and ibooks of family history with my imac. Can't be beat!

Carla

[Jack Murray]

Hi Dick,

Have you tried to use external older versions of hardware; Printers, scanners, etc with Vista? I understand that there is a lot of problems of not working. I have a Konica-Minolta ProPage 1250W and when I did the Vista Compatibility test it stated that it would not work unless I installed new drivers of which Konica-Minolta do not have.

Jack

[Dick Eastman]

I'm afraid that I haven't tested many peripherals yet, Jack. That's primarily because I don't own that many devices! (smile)

I did pick up a new, inexpensive video camera a few days ago for use with Skype and it is driving me nuts. Plug the video camera in and it works perfectly. Try it again 12 hours later and it doesn't work. Unplug it, plug it back in, uninstall the software, re-install the software, etc. Eventually it starts working. Try it again the next day and it doesn't work. Go through the whole cycle again and eventually it works.

Here's the fun part: the brand name of the video camera is... (insert drum roll here)... Microsoft!

It is a Microsoft LifeCam VX-3000. The only reason I purchased that particular unit is because it had a sticker on the box that said, "Works with Vista."

At this time, I have no idea if it is a problem with Vista or with the video drivers or even a hardware problem with the videocam.

- Dick Eastman

[Ron Lankshear]

Thank you for a very truthful article on Vista. On XP since I installed IE7 I have had freezes so I have suspicions. I am very interested in Video analog to digital and photos into movies so I think your idea to look at MAC is sound. My son's graphic design business is all MAC and the Multimedia they do is real easy.

I am close to wanting to "replace" my XP P4 1.60 Ghz machine as I need more HD and faster multimedia - as you say perhaps MAC

So that leaves Genealogy - I'd be very interested in how you see family tree programs in MAC - I know of Reunion

Oh and writing web sites - currently I use Frontpage

I suppose I would like to use my XP old box as a server for hard drive backups etc behind my new box is that possible with MAC..... Thanks Ron

[Dick Eastman]

---> I'd be very interested in how you see family tree programs in MAC - I know of Reunion

Reunion is by far the most popular genealogy program for Macintosh but there are others. I recently wrote about iFamily for Tiger, a Macintosh program, and there is Heredis and others.

Go to the menus in the column to the right of what you are looking at right now and click on "Search Past Standard Edition Newsletters - Thousands of genealogy articles!." Enter a search term of "Macintosh" and you will see all the articles I have written about Macintosh in the past 11+ years.

---> Oh and writing web sites - currently I use Frontpage

Dreamweaver. Better, but more expensive. Available for both Macintosh and Windows.

Then again, there is no need to run out and buy all new programs. Read my recent review of Parallels. It allows you to run Windows programs on Macintosh systems and it works well. It only costs $80 which is a bargain, in my opinion. You could use all your current Windows programs on a new Mac. Use of Parallels could save you a lot more than $80!

- Dick Eastman

[Rowenna J Blum]

Had to replace a Toshiba laptop this week and the new one is HP and has Vista. Legacy program and Data seem to have transferred smoothly. No glitches in Genealogy in this early stage. Hooray!

[Keith]

I am running Windows Vista x 64 Home Premium edition and am loving it. I have installed a good deal genealogy related programs. Amongst these are:

Legacy V6 Deluxe
Famil Tree Maker 2006
TMG v6
Custodian 3
Genmap 2.2
LDS companion 2.17
Parish Locator

However i am having problems with several LDS software packages, these being British Vital Records v2 & Australian Vital Records. I have contacted LDS support and await an answer from thewm on these issues. I know that Animap 2 doesn't work also.

[Theo Zelders]

Hi Dick,
Your remark: "It's a great way to watch the six o'clock news while multitasking on the web." is not a special feature of Vista. I regularly do this for a long time already, with my Windows XP and my old WinTV2000 card running fine in XP!
Theo

[Bernard Doddema]

You made mention at the beginning of the article that you would do a side-by-side comparison of the newest version of Windows and Macintosh. Is this a future article? I look forward to it. As a longtime, disenchanted Windows users, I'm looking more into what Macintosh can offer me. My serious concern at this point is genealogy.

Thanks for your suggestion about searching for past Macintosh articles.

[Bud]

After using Vista for a few days, I'm disappointed by the approach to security - it simply seems to make the user micro manage everything, with annoying little pop up dialogs continually asking me to approve stuff. I was trying to explain this to a non-Vista experienced friend and then on TV tonight, low and behold one of those Mac vs. PC commercials came on and nailed my feelings exactly:

http://images.apple.com/movies/us/apple/getamac/apple-getamac-security_480x376.mov

I've have a Mac and actually still prefer the PC, but I really do get a chuckle out of those commercials.

[James Irwin]

I am having problems with my HP lap top. It operates with Vista and has IE7. I have been watching videos and it freezes up. It seems to freeze up earlier each time when I try to re-watch the video. Any ideas

[Wend]

I am having difficulty loading my Legacy 6 program in my new Vista Computer any help appreciated.