Use Vista! I Would Rather Catch The Plague

Have you heard how bad Windows Vista is? Apparently it's dog slow and nothing works on it. Not only that but I think it's also responsible for global warming and world poverty. Well that's what you could be made to believe if you listened to what some people have to say about Vista. Vista is Microsoft's current operating system, that's the software that actually makes your PC work to start with. Previous operating systems were Windows XP, Windows 98 and Windows 95, not to forget the original Windows itself. OK so now we understand that Vista is the newest Microsoft operating system and the world seem to hate it, but what's the truth for the rest of us? Should we upgrade or not?

Well Vista was released well over a year ago, I know with all the recent gossip about it you would think it was launched yesterday. This doesn't mean much, other than the fact that now it's entering its "late teens" it starting to settle down from those rebellious early days. Those initial compatibility issues with existing software have mostly been resolved, and all decent new software is compatible. Microsoft has even issued the service pack 1 update to Vista, which is traditionally the time to accept that a new operating system is stable. In short there is no real reason not to use Vista, but is there a compelling reason to make the move from XP?

How's it look? In short quite pretty, but then I think my dog looks handsome and others disagree with that, so it is probably a personal call. True it probably doesn't look as nice as the current Mac operating system Leopard, but then Apple seem to be able to cope with design better then Microsoft. It has what Microsoft call Aero, which for me and you simply means that it looks nice and glassy, some would say almost Apple like, but I wouldn't like to comment. In truth I can't get excited about the way any operating system looks, because inevitably I have started my PC to do something not look at the pretty screen; but that said it is definitely an improvement on previous versions of Windows.

Extra features are abundant there as well, whether you choose to use them or not. The side bar is an area that remains permanently on screen, and can hold all sorts of little gadgets that for some reason every one has chosen to call Widgets. But this could be useful as it can hold a clock, calendar, notes and even the latest news directly from you favourite news provider. Of course the first thing I did was disable it, trust me I don't need distracting anymore than I already am. Vista also keeps an index of everything on your PC which makes finding things a lot easier. Simply press the Windows key on you keyboard and start typing for what you are looking for and a list of options appear in the menu. It took a while for me to start using this, but now I miss it when I am on an older PC without Vista. There are other features that were already in XP but no one knew about them. Like the backup which has been made a whole lot simpler to use and automate. The way that Vista manages photo and images has had a reasonably good overhaul as well.

Of course if you do choose to upgrade it's not a simple choice. Vista comes in not one, not two, not even three but four flavours. It has to be said this is shear madness. I could live with a home and a business edition and possible could even make a case for that, but four is bizarre. So we have Vista Basic, Vista Premium, Vista Business and Vista Ultimate. Lets narrow down our selection. There is no compelling reason to fork out the extra dosh for Ultimate, so that's down to a choice of three. Vista Basic is too basic and I think it use to be called XP! Hold on a minute that brings us down to two, Vista Premium and Vista Business, a home and a business version. It's almost like it's meant to be that way, maybe Microsoft could save us the time and market it that way in the future.

Ok so the bottom line is, should the rest of us upgrade or Not? There is nothing compelling that would make you want to run out and upgrade from XP if you are happy with you current PC. The extras are nice, but at the end of the day are not going to improve your life enough for that not insignificant outlay. However don't be fooled by the naysayers who say that when you buy a new PC that you should ask for XP. Apart from the fact that the ability to do this is reducing day by day, why would you downgrade your system? You wouldn't buy a car and ask them to put last year's interior and engine in it, why do the same for a new PC? So in short don't upgrade your current PC, but do enjoy the benefits the next time you buy a new PC. One thing to note here is that many new PCs come with Vista Basic so paying a little extra would probably be worthwhile.

Vista or the plague? I would skip the plague if I was you; it gets very messy after a while.