Apparently, the wow has yet to start.
Windows Vista, Microsoft’s newest operating system, has utterly failed to impress the IT community.
Available since March to businesses and April to the general consumer, the OS is but a shell of what was originally promised.
The new Windows was supposed to have included a new file system, WinFS, which was going to help users search their hard drives more easily by including extra information about the file itself in the index on the hard drive.
Vista was also originally going to ship with Avalon, a graphics engine built for integrated three-dimensional imaging within Vista.
None of these things were included as promised; they were either cut entirely from the final release (a la WinFS) and promised as an update, or were so pared down that the item was barely recognizable.
Furthermore, as "the most secure Windows yet," Vista includes the User Account Control feature. This is the annoying pop-up asking the frustrated computer user to "cancel or allow" the task he or she just initiated. This can be disabled, but is buried so far in the menu structure that it’s almost not worth the hassle.
The only true upgrade in the whole package is the nifty Aero interface. Aero, a themed "skin" for the interface, makes windows look like glass, and allows for Flip 3D, which "stacks" the windows open at the time and cycles through them to change focus from one task to the next.
In addition to the severe lack of promised features, the code is bloated and slow to run, even on the Microsoft-recommended two gigabytes of memory.
The operating system is such a resource hog that one needs 16 times the minimum amount of memory that was needed for the previous version, Windows XP. The processor, which for XP could be as slow as 400 MHz, must now be at least 1.5 GHz to be considered "Vista Capable," and at least 2.0 GHZ to be "Vista ready."
Microsoft has produced a piece of software so onerous that people are actually requesting to be downgraded to XP with the purchase of a new machine which would normally come with Vista installed.
Most IT professionals will tell you to wait for the service pack or not to upgrade at all. Take their advice. Keep using XP until Microsoft no longer supports it, or until they release some quality products.
Conant, an entrepreneurship freshman, can be reached via [email protected]
