So, here we are at less than 7 months until the official announced release of Microsoft's Next OS, Vista. Since complexity is the dominant word for any new OS, including Vista, it is normal to underline that this is a bird-eye view of Redmond-giant's flagship product. Or, if you prefer, a Beta 2 review of Windows Vista Beta 2...
Any comment made about Vista must start with the hardware required for running it smoothly or efficiently. Minimum requirements for it were already posted on thousands of Internet sites, but it's probably not bad to remind them: 512 RAM, 800Mhz processor and a DirectX9.0 compatible graphics card, with 64 MB of video RAM and 20 GB hard drive with 15 GB of free space.
To be honest, there is a lot to talk about these requirements, but since others have already done that before, I'm going to concentrate upon Vista's "flavors". Yes, if you felt that Media Center, XP Home Edition or Professional Edition (with or without Windows Media Player included in the European versions) were confusing, just think that things are going to get worse. We are about to see versions like Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Enterprise and Ultimate. The Beta 2 version released for testing gathers them all, so we're dealing with an Ultimate Edition, that is also the first Beta public release.
The first thing you see after booting is of course the new User Interface, which is widely revamped to be more eye-catching. 3D is the word of the day for Vista, in order to make the user's experience with it more realistic : beautiful 3D wallpapers, flowing 3D movement for windows when pressing Alt+Tab, etc. We also find on our desktop default widgets like RSS feed, a clock, etc., which we can multiply or make disappear by pressing the + or <> keys, situated above. I would also like to mention that immediately after booting, a new welcome screen- named "Welcome Center"- allows users to set different parameters like administrator passwords and privileges for other users, printing or Internet connections, security status, and so on.
The Aero UI, based on Avalon, delivers a lot of pleasant effects, but which are not very new and spectacular (KDE desktop did that long before Vista). Still, the new Start menu looks pretty attractive and it has a new functionality that enables users to quickly search for a certain program or folder located on the hard-drive. Windows Explorer has of course undergone some serious changes both in aspect and efficiency, and we now have the option of an instant search, very much resembling to the one
implemented in Mac OS X.
As a music fan I've tried a comparison between Media Center and Vista. Euphemistically speaking, I would always choose Media Center instead of Vista at this chapter. MC has more attractive, better differentiated and more functional menus, compared to Vista, at which not even Aero can compensate for the stressing crowding of menus and their lack of visibility. Another new feature is the possibility of taking a look at what is minimized in the task bar, a useful trait that helps users orientate within windows, without having to click on them. Of course, new versions of bundled applications (like IE7, also available for XP, or WMP 11) give Vista a refreshing taste, not to mention that we also find totally new bundled apps : Windows Sidebar, Photo Gallery and Windows Calendar, Windows DVD Maker...
Since I haven't yet come to deal very much with other even more complex insertions of Vista (like for example the technology that led Symantec into filing a complaint against Microsoft for misuse of intellectual property) I'll limit myself at only mentioning them : "centers" for separate categories of actions (security center, networking center, mobility center, etc.), a dramatic improvement in security and performance, reliability for the business sector (Vista provides a Windows Meeting Space, where users can collaborate, but it is also easier to install and manage by IT specialists) and a new boost for mobility.
All in all, one conclusion is obvious: Vista is designed to make you change your old PC. In order to beneficiate from its HD computing capabilities, or its Aero interface, or from next-generation media environment you must definitely pay for upgrade. A news that can only makes hardware suppliers smile.
