Microsoft Vista – A Rotarian’s Perspective

By Alan Salmon 

Microsoft launched Vista, its new operating system on January 31^st. From Times Square in New York City, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates hosted the worldwide launch of Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office System. The celebration paid tribute to the millions of Microsoft customers, partners and product testers around the world who provided input and feedback on these products -- helping Microsoft transform the way people communicate, create and share content, and access information and entertainment in the new digital age.

I decided to test the new Windows by installing it on one of my notebooks. That decision was not made lightly, as it is usually an interesting challenge getting a new operating system to work on an older machine.

The first decision you face is to determine whether your current computer will work with the new operating system. For starters Microsoft has two main user interfaces for Vista -"basic" and "Aero." You'll need a far more robust system to run Aero, with its great graphics and this is the version that most people will want. For basic, you'll need a PC with at least an 800-megahertz processor and 512 megabytes of memory. However, I wouldn't even consider a Vista upgrade with such a low end system for basic.

Similarly, if you're on the borderline of acceptable Aero hardware - a 1 GB processor, 1 GB of RAM and a fast video card - think long and hard before taking the plunge.

My Dell Inspiron 9300 seemed like a good upgrade candidate. It has a 2.4-GHz processor, 1 GB of RAM and a fast graphics card. To start the process, I downloaded the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor from www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready.

The software, which works only with Windows XP, scanned my Dell notebook. It was deemed Aero-capable - almost.

First, I had to free up space on my hard drive; you need at least a 40-GB drive with 15 gigs free. Microsoft flagged about a dozen items that might have compatibility issues, including Yahoo Music Engine. Interesting, several of Microsoft's programs appeared on the list, notably Windows Messenger.

The only program that I was told to remove was the 2006 version of Symantec's Norton Internet Security (firewall, anti-virus). Symantec is in the process of readying a Vista-ready version.

With my checking out of the way the last thing I needed to do was visit the Microsoft Windows Update site to download the latest "critical" updates.

I installed Vista Ultimate, at US$259.00, the most expensive of the upgrade editions aimed at consumers or small businesses. It includes Media Center digital entertainment capabilities. The stripped-down Home Basic version costs US$100.00 to upgrade. Other versions include Vista Home Premium and Vista Business.

At the start of the update process, I decided to keep my current files, settings and programs. I could have chosen to do a "clean" install of Vista, which would have wiped out everything on my hard drive but I decided that was too much work.  Whichever route you decide to take, make sure you have backed up your critical programs and files.

During the upgrade process I got several messages that indicated that the computer would "restart several times during the update" and that the upgrade "could take several hours to complete." I started about 9:30 in the evening and at 11:45 with the upgrade about half ways completed, I went to bed.

Amazing, when I got up in the morning Vista was installed and working.

So was it worth the effort? From my point of view yes. There are many elements in Vista that I really like. These include the universal desktop search; the at-a-glance Gadgets programs (weather, stock prices, etc.) and the Aero interface.

The Aero interface is gorgeous. You’ll like the translucent edges, live thumbnail images that appear over taskbar items you mouse over, and a 3D effect that lets you use the mouse scroll wheel to flip through a stack of open windows. You can also hit Alt + Tab to flip through windows.

Vista promises to be more secure and time will provide the proof of Microsoft’s claims in this area. Vista frequently asks you for permission before allowing potentially risky changes to be made. Plus, Microsoft has implemented handy parental controls to impose Web and program restrictions and time limits on minors.

I tested all of the programs I currently use and there were no major problems running any of them. However, I did encounter a few minor compatibility snags. A downloadable update to Quicken didn't load properly on my first attempt. When I ran the Opera Web browser, the "color scheme" was temporarily downgraded to Vista Basic.

Whenever I boot into Windows Vista, the Windows registry editor seeks permission to continue mucking with something involving the computer's "quick launch" buttons. Microsoft says there will be a fix for this one; they tell me it is related to my hardware and not a general problem.

There is no doubt that Vista is a better Windows overall. But you’re going to need patience and a relatively powerful system to upgrade. For a lot of people you should live with Windows XP until it’s time for a new computer that will come preloaded with Vista.

Editor’s footnote: The foregoing article reflects the views of the author. Rotary eClub One assumes no responsibility whatsoever for the author’s comments and recommendations. The computer user must assume the entire risk of using the software.  Good data processing procedure dictates that any software be thoroughly tested with non-critical data before relying on it.