Windows Vista review

Originally Posted by DarkLord7854
Does it have improved Voice Recognition at least? :)

Yes, the voice recognition is absolutely excellent.

Originally Posted by Dreaming
Hi! First post :p I've been a long time reader of bit-tech and was reading the responses to this article and wanted to point out another article I've read that states: Vista OEM can be reinstalled onto another system / motherboard.

Find the linkage here: http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=352&type=expert&pid=4

Cool, that's info I was looking for.. Looks like I will be getting a Ultimate OEM then.. ;)

Originally Posted by Ramble
Yes, the voice recognition is absolutely excellent.

Ahhh... finally an answer, thanks.

Does it rival/beat OSX's voice recognition?


Can you dictate the computer what to type, what to open, can you tell it to shut off and so on?

I was in staples today and saw the cool boxes. Am I wrong in finding the box more interesting than the product itself????

Yea the boxes are indeed rather funky

im not gonna say anything for or against the new microsoft os. I just have one question though, the whole typeinyourpasswordtodothis thingie seems adopted from linux as for example, ubuntu wont let you change vital stuff unless you sudo it right?? if it works like that im okay with it, I actually read the boxes before going "Ok, clickety-click" and runas in Xp is such a hassle i am on an admin account anyways.

I wont even start ranting on DRM and the likes until i know more about it, and more importantly, how to defeat it.

As long as i can use Daemon tools to mount my discs and it works im fine with it.. Using a optical disc is a nuisance for my hemorroid :D and i make images of everything i own.

OSX also has that option where you can set it to ask for your password for vital system option changes. Makes it more secure

i have tested vista on my laptop which i think is pretty powerful but the OS was still way too choppy and slow for me... Not fluid at all except for the first few seconds of use after a boot...

At first I thought it was because I had the windows drivers of my 7400 but after nvidia realeased drivers (@ Dell) I realized that it was just plain slow ...

If you guys know anything I should know about this, let me know :)

Laptop :
Dell XPS M1210
Écran 12" WXGA 1280x800
Intel Core Duo (Yonah) T2500 (2Ghz)
1Gb DDR-II PC5300 667Mhz
GeForce Go 7400 256mb
Hitachi 80gb 7200RPM SATA-II
Logitech Cordless Mini Optical Mouse

I'll say that I've played around with Vista a bit. From XP, well, it looks better at least. And the shinier UI actually looks good, unlike the horrible default fisher price XP theme. The various subtleties are nice, like the glowing min/max/close buttons on hovering. But without Glass (as on my GMA900 fileserver), it just looks stupid, only slightly better than XP. At least the colors are tasteful. Not sure what the 128MB DX9 card stuff is all about, as Glass seems to run fine on my GMA950 Thinkpad. Program compatibility will get better with time, so no major faults there, even if it's not great. My own security doesn't concern me greatly, but compatibility is a sacrifice I'm willing to make if it means that 90% of the computers out there aren't spam-relaying botnet zombies anymore.

At first, I thought the new networking stuff was great. Seemed to play a lot nicer with network shares. Until it actually has to authenticate with them - not an issue on my XP shares, somewhat of a problem on my Mac. OSX protects shares with the standard user/password affair. But Vista's too good for that. They decided that a username alone wouldn't cut it, and it would tack on the computer name as well. So while 'firehed' might be a valid username, 'Vistabox\firehed' isn't... tsk tsk.

Security - could have been great, but I think they blew it. You still default to an admin account, which means everyone will still run as admin. Furthermore, it means that you don't actually need to authenticate to allow the virus to run, just click okay first. Within three minutes of the constant bombardment of security prompts, I was clicking yes automatically, and I know better. Luckily I know how to not get viruses and all that crap, but it's not an issue on OSX where you don't default to an admin and thus actually have to type in an admin password to boost privaleges. Linux is the same way, so I'm not going to give all the credit to Apple here.

Still feels laggy to me too. Although in fairness, I did most testing on a laptop, so it has a slow hard drive. Even on a pretty good machine (FrozenFire, see sig), it still didn't feel as smooth as it should have.

My verdict: coming from XP, it's largely a huge improvement. As a not-that-long-time Mac user, it's a lame copy that had a lot of potential. I'll stick with OS X, although maybe I'll have a Vista box around for gaming (I only have my laptops and fileserver at school, not a proper gaming rig). What it's really missing is consistency. Keyboard shortcuts in OS X are almost always identical in every program I use (and I think I use more software in OS X than I did in Windows), and developers actually use the human interface guidelines. The Windows key is still largely useless in Vista, unlike the command key in OS X. If you're going to put a key there, make it useful. They've had over ten years to make the thing do something productive, yet it still serves no other purpose than kicking me out of the window I'm typing in when I hit the wrong key.

Oh yeah, Quicksilver. I can't possibly consider something other than OS X until it has a QS equivalent. Best app ever.

For someone who doesn't want to shell out for the expensive ultimate edition does the basic come with DX10 for gaming?

Originally Posted by Review
A note on OEM software:
It has long been the case that cheaper, licensed versions of Microsoft software have been purchased by enthusiasts building their own systems. Generally, you are entitled to buy OEM / system builder editions of MS operating systems if you're buying hardware, such as a hard drive, at the same time. You don't get retail packaging, just the disc, but you do get a legit key. There is a massive difference in price - the full version of Vista Ultimate can be had for around £130 on an OEM deal, and Home Premium for £75. Unless you have a distinct reason to buy retail, we'd suggest going with an OEM version. However, do note that once you've installed an OEM copy of Vista, the license agreement prevents you installing it on another machine. Upgrades, however, are permitted.

Will you guys please read the Microsoft licencing.

To purchase OEM you either purchase the system builders pack, or purchase it with a new PC.

The thing about buying it with a piece of hardware went out about a year ago.

Originally Posted by Enak
Will you guys please read the Microsoft licencing.

To purchase OEM you either purchase the system builders pack, or purchase it with a new PC.

The thing about buying it with a piece of hardware went out about a year ago.

Are you sure? A friend of mine just ordered an OEM version from eclipse without needing to buy anything else at all. Maybe the key won't work?

That'll be the system builders pack then :D

Originally Posted by Enak
That'll be the system builders pack then :D

Oh right. So am I right in thinking:

system builders pack = (or is equivilent to) 'old' OEM MS Software?

It'll be called OEM software where you purchase it from.

But it either comes in a box with the system builder licence on the outside, or it's preinstalled on a new or refurbished PC (that's supported by the company that sold it to you).

I have a question about the review I've not seen asked already : were the performance tests performed in 32 bit or 64 bit vista ?

The reason I ask is that 64 bit XP ran about 15% faster than 32 bit XP .. but for most it wasn't really an option, whereas 64 bit Vista might be .. making it fairly possible to go from 32 bit XP to 64 bit vista .. and maybe having the performance drop offset ?

It's kinda lame how only the retail copy can be bought as 64 bit >.<

No you can buy OEM as 64-bit, but with the reatil IIRC you get both 32 and 64, wereas the OEM you have to choose which one you get.

Really? I've only see the 32bit OEM one on newegg, I'd like to get the 64bit OEM Ultimate (upgrade hopefully)

Right here

Originally Posted by Fophillips

Quote:

Originally Posted by Will
w00t for you. For the 95% of the market, this is new. Most gamers don't have the luxury of running Linux.

Linky to 50$ "gaming" suit that only works with, don't know...say 10% of Windows games, most of them "with issues".

And

Originally Posted by Fophillips
For example for a virus to infect my computer I would have to manually execute the following:

Code:

tar xvf malware.tar.gz
cd malware
./configure
make
make install

And this Kids, is why Windows has 95% market share!

Next week, why Linux zealots scare the c**p out of most average users? Stay tuned!

Originally Posted by Risky
It's highly unlikely that many people need Ultimate. Home Premium will be fine unless you're connection to a domain or running software that requies it (Visual Studio Pro, SQL Server etc).

Of couse many copies will be bought for vanity....

Are you nuts? Your Vista version is going to be the definitive e-penis measurement system in geekland for some time (until R600 arrives, that's it). Anything else than Vista Ultimate....and many geeks will feel woefully *inadequate*

Originally Posted by Fozzy
For someone who doesn't want to shell out for the expensive ultimate edition does the basic come with DX10 for gaming?

Yes. Even Vista Home Basic supports DX10.

Originally Posted by r4tch3t
Right here

Ahhhh... I'm a dummy :p

Thanks! It'll be here next week w00t

I was flipping through the Fry's (computer store) ad in the paper at work yesterday and I noticed that appearently you can't buy a computer with XP anymore at one of the largest retail chains. This may not be the case, but from looking at the ads, that's sure what it looks like.

Every day I become more and more glad I switched t linux ;)

just a quickie,

I know you can install Vista for a 30 day trial before the activation period runs out, is the iso available to download anywhere officially? I'm wanting to try it out to see if it's really worth the money yet. Or will i have to find a non official source to download it from or someone who already has a vista disc?

I feel quite excited about this now its launched, I didn't before was just a waste of money there are a few things that have drawn my attention, but I wont state those, I just want a new pc and windows vista. If anyone would like to rob a bank with me lemme know!