Windows Vista…
So, I finally decided it was time to have a real play of Windows Vista, I had previous thought that with the release of Vista I’d make the final jump to either Linux or FreeBSD. I’ve generally found that it’s not been the doom bringer that people have forcast it to be, and it’s okey to use. For reference I’m using a work licensed copy of Windows Vista Enterprise via one of our key servers. I’ve noted some of the nicer and anoying things I’ve found below.
Sound Controls
Okey, so BeOS had this about eight years ago, but it is useful. I play music for my SO and I when we are working at our desks, the ability for me to leave WinAmp/iTunes at a higher level then say, Firefox or even World of Warcraft is good in my books. My only grudge is that the tray volume control only permits application volume changes, you have to dig further into the Sounds panel to alter levels.
Windows Updates
It seems wholey more integrated into the system, which can’t be a bad thing. I was pleased to get a screen telling me which updates had been sucessful after a reboot.
Notification of Administrative Access
This is a nice concept from Mac OS X and other OS’ that Microsoft seem to have missed the point, if I’m in the Control Panel I shouldn’t have to be clicking “Continue” to enter config options on a link that I clicked in the control panel. If anything I should have been asked to confirm my password once, and then be permitted to go on my way. I’m happy to see it and get asked when I install an application, although perhaps it popping up for every embedded MSI in the iTunes installation was a little anoying. But having written MSI’s for a living I can understand why that might not be possible if the MSI author isn’t the best.
Windows Aero/Windows Explorer
Aero, “what’s it all aboot?”. I don’t really see this interface as a big selling point, sure it’s nice to see your applications before switching to them, and a little screenshot if you hover over the task bar is nice. The glass effect is “fun” but not exactly life changing. I don’t see the point… I’ve not put it into “Windows NT” mode yet, so I guess that says something about the default theme for me.
As for what used to be Explorer… you can set it back to nearly what it used to be. I’m not convinced of the new fuffyness, but I’m a hard ball. I prefer *nix to Windows, and even prefer a *nix window manager like Ion3. It doesn’t seem to bad though. Although one plus, I could actually delete the Recycle Bin off of the desktop without jumping through hoops.
Windows System Rating
Heh, doesn’t really matter, but it’s slightly odd. I’ve got an Intel Pentium Core 2 Duo 3.6Ghz machine, yet the processor only get’s a rating of 5.0 and thus limits the machine to 5.0 rather then it’s other lowest value of the HD at 5.4… Petty, but still. I’m sure a 3.6Ghz dual core should be more then 5.0.
Task Manager/System Performance Monitor
It appears that this version of Windows keeps a lot more of a track of the applications that are running on it, the monitor allows you to see how much bandwidth each process is using. It’s not a huge step forward, I’d really have liked to have seen SysInternals (now Microsoft) Process Exporer merged into it even if not in the full.
“Start Search”
Another minor one, but, if I want to ping something now, I can just bring up the start menu and type “ping caesium”, I don’t have to do run anymore. I just start typing in the search box.
IPv6
Okey a major one for me in my job. I think Vista will probably be the one thing that pushes IPv6 hard throughout the world. It does everything it can using IPv6 by default. I’ve had to turn off Toredo as I’m not ready to use it at home yet. But this is a good step for the future, and respect to Microsoft for providing the pool of public Toredo servers to allow easy IPv6 connectivity in IPv4 only areas.
Well that’s it for now, I’ll post more once I’ve discovered more. Tomorrow I’ll install World of Warcraft and see, at this point I can see why Becta endorsed a report that basically suggested that while Vista was okey, there was not one “must have” feature that outweighed the cost finacially or in support terms. IPv6 could be one though…
If you wounder why Becta, remember I work at a university that supports over 1000 primary and high schools.
D.