I Finally Started Using Windows Vista

I finally became one of the converts to Windows Vista this week.  I installed Windows Vista Business Edition on my work laptop in order to learn it and be able to support it when we have to start deploying it at the office, which probably won’t be until next year sometime.  I also installed Microsoft Office 2007 for the same reasons.  Below is a screen shot of me writing this blog entry in Windows Live Writer on Vista:

I have to admit, I like Vista upon first glance.  It’s a pretty slick operating system.  However, I must add that I also upgraded my memory to 2GB, and I bought a second hard drive to install and did a fresh, clean install (instead of an upgrade).  I left the old hard drive intact just in case…  So, I’m running it on a computer with pretty hefty hardware – not an entry-level computer like you might find for $399 somewhere.  I still contend that if you’re wanting to get Vista, you’ll probably need to buy a new computer, unless you purchased yours within the past 6 months or so.

Everything is still basically in the same place (upon initial inspection), but there are some settings that are a bit difficult to find at first, especially if you’re an IT guy trying to find settings that most average users don’t even know exist.  The sidebar on the right stores gadgets that are more neat than useful (although there is a notes one and acts like sticky notes that I haven’t used much yet).  The Aero interface (the glass-like windows) is pretty slick – things seem to move very smoothly and gracefully.

I haven’t had any problems with Vista yet, but I did find out that I need to update our main database system software for compatibility with Vista (one of those things I needed to find out before deploying it on others’ computers in the office).  There were drivers for all my hardware (which has been an issue for some), and everything seems to be running smoothly so far.

I’m still not sure what I think about Office 2007.  I haven’t played with those programs enough yet.  The ribbon interface is probably an improvement in the long run, but it will take people some getting used to, especially if they’ve been using previous Office versions for quite some time.  But the basic functionality of the programs is the same (except for I saw articles online about a bug in Excel in which some calculations that are supposed to show the value 65,535 actually show up as 100,000).