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Windows Vista Home Premium with SP1 | 
| From: Microsoft Software
List Price: $269.99
Buy New: $149.99
You Save: $120.00 (44%)
New (30) Used (5) from $145.00
Rating:  98 reviews
Sales Rank: 182
Format: Dvd-video
Platform: Windows Vista
Media: DVD-ROM
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Operating System: Windows Vista
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3
Dimensions (in): 19.7 x 19.7 x 19.7
MPN: 66I02387
Model: 66I-02387
UPC: 882224661256
EAN: 0882224661256
ASIN: B0013O54OE
Release Date: March 19, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New, UnOpened MIcrosoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition CD-ROM!
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| Features:
| • | User-friendly software combines the features of Windows Vista Home Basic with even more impressive and user-friendly capabilities | | • | Features Windows Aero, an efficient and visually stunning interface that makes it easier to accomplish multiple tasks at once by providing a three-dimensional, real-time, animated view of all of your open applications, and documents | | • | By integrating search throughout the operating system, helps you quickly find and organize large collections of documents, pictures, movies, videos, and music | | • | Includes Windows Tablet and Touch Technology that enables you to interact with your Tablet PC-compatible computer with a digital pen or your fingertip instead of having to use a keyboard | | • | Includes all of the Windows Media Center capabilities for turning your PC into an all-in-one home entertainment center; enjoy music, photos, and DVD movies |
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Product Description
This is the preferred edition of Windows for home desktop and mobile PCs. Windows Vista Home Premium delivers the productivity and entertainment that you need from your PC at home or on the go. It includes Windows Media Center, which helps you more easily enjoy your digital photos, TV, movies, and music. Plus, you'll have the peace of mind of knowing that your PC has a whole new level of security and reliability. Whether you're balancing your checkbook, studying for school on your mobile PC, watching a downloaded or recorded movie, or sharing your favorite photos with friends on a custom DVD, the experience is much better on a PC running Windows Vista Home Premium.
Windows DVD Maker - Burn your photo slide shows & home movies to a professional-looking video DVD and watch them on a DVD player or PC Windows Movie Maker - Capture, edit, and publish your digital home movies in standard or high-definition format Instant Search & Windows Internet Explorer 7 - Quickly find what you need Elegant Windows Aero desktop experience with glass-like menu bars, Windows Flip 3D, & Live Thumbnails Automatic backup of your files, such as your valuable digital photos, music, movies, documents Built-in parental controls
System Requirements 800 MHz processor & 512 MB of system memory 20 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space Super VGA graphics support
Amazon.com
Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 is the preferred edition for home desktop and mobile PCs. It provides a breakthrough design that brings your world into sharper focus while delivering the productivity, entertainment, and security you need from your PC at home or on the go. | Compare Windows Vista editions. | 
Use Instant Search to quickly find the information you need. View larger. | 
Windows Vista Aero provides spectacular visual effects such as glass-like interface elements that you can see through. | 
The redesigned Windows Media Center in Windows Vista lets you enjoy your media throughout your home, even on your Xbox 360. View larger. | Improved Reliability and Performance
Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 and improvements delivered by hardware and software partners increase the reliability, performance, and compatibility of Windows Vista-based PCs. With Windows Vista with SP1, many of the most common causes of operating system crashes and hangs have been addressed. Windows Vista includes new, innovative technologies that help pinpoint and diagnose issues reported anonymously by Windows Vista-based PCs from millions of users who have elected to have their PC send us system information. Windows Vista with SP1 supports a number of important new technology standards, so it will keep making your PC easier and more enjoyable to use for years to come. Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 delivers more ease of use, security, and entertainment to your PC at home and on the go.
Here it is: the preferred edition of Windows for home desktop and mobile PCs. Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 delivers the productivity and entertainment that you need from your PC at home or on the go. It includes Windows Media Center, which helps you more easily enjoy your digital photos, TV, movies, and music. Plus, you'll have the peace of mind of knowing that your PC has a whole new level of security and reliability. All together, Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 redefines enjoyment in home computing. It starts with a breakthrough design that makes your PC easier to use every day. With Windows Aero, you'll experience dynamic reflections, smooth gliding animations, transparent glass-like menu bars, and the ability to switch between your open windows in a new three-dimensional layout. Instant desktop search capabilities, coupled with powerful new ways to organize and visualize your information, means you can instantly find and use the e-mails, documents, photos, music, and the other information you want, when you need it. Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 also helps keep your personal information, your PC, and your family computing experience safer than in previous versions of Windows. For example, Windows Internet Explorer 7 in Windows Vista includes automated defenses against malicious software and fraudulent websites so you can use your PC online with greater confidence. Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 also provides automatic backup of your files, such as your valuable digital photos, music, movies, documents, and other files, so you can relax and focus on the things you care about most. And, by using the built-in parental controls, parents can help ensure their children's computer use is appropriate and safer. And what about fun? A major advance in Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 is the dramatically improved digital entertainment experience. Windows Media Center makes organizing and enjoying photos, music, DVDs, recorded TV, and home movies easier and more fun. Enjoy the entertainment on your PC or even on your TV in the living room with an Xbox 360 wirelessly networked to your PC. Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 makes it easier to burn your photo slide shows and home movies to a professional-looking video DVD that your friends and family can watch on a DVD player or PC whenever they like. Combined with unbeatable support for gaming and music, Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 delivers a complete home entertainment experience. If you want a PC that can keep up with you while you're on the go, then you'll appreciate how Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 helps you get the most from your mobile PC. It provides simplified power management, easier wireless networking, and streamlined ways to sync with the devices that keep you connected. Because it's incredibly flexible, you can even draw and write by hand on a Tablet PC, and enjoy all of your entertainment through Windows Media Center when you're on the road, in a coffee shop, or relaxing on the couch. Mobile computing has never been like this before. Finally, Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 makes it easier than ever to set up and maintain your new PC. There are new features that make it easier to transfer all of your data and settings from your old PC to your new one and technology that helps keep your system running quickly and reliably over time. Whether you're balancing your checkbook, studying for school on your mobile PC, watching a downloaded or recorded movie at home, or sharing your favorite photos with friends on a custom DVD, the experience is much better on a PC running Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1. 
Windows Sidebar gives you quick access to gadgets like picture slide shows, Windows Media Player controls, or news headlines. You pick the gadgets you want to see in Windows Sidebar. View larger. | 
Use Flip 3D to navigate through open windows using the scroll wheel on your mouse. View larger. | Safety
Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 helps protect your family and your personal information from threats from malicious software and phishing scams and helps you keep your PC backed-up and running smoothly. Parental Controls help parents keep children safer while using PCs through convenient tools to manage and monitor children's computer use, access to websites, and ability to play certain games and use certain applications. PCs running Windows Vista are 60% less likely to be infected with viruses, worms and rootkits than PCs running Windows XP SP2. Windows Internet Explorer 7 helps protect your PC and your personal information against malicious software, fraudulent websites, and online phishing scams. New phishing attacks are more than 25 times as common as new viruses, and over 20,000 fraudulent phishing websites are created every month. Internet Explorer 7 is now blocking nearly one million inadvertent attempts to access fake phishing sites per week. Help defend your PC against pop-ups, slow performance, and security threats caused by spyware and other unwanted software with Windows Defender. Windows Defender in Windows Vista automatically scans Internet Explorer 7 downloads to help bring spyware to your attention before it can infect your computer. More easily back-up the content on your PC--including digital photos, music, movies, and documents--with Scheduled and Network Backup. Entertainment
Windows Vista with SP1 is more entertaining. With Windows Media Center, you can enjoy your digital photos and music on your TV as well as on your PC. And it can turn your PC into a digital video recorder, so you can record TV and watch it on your schedule, not theirs. Sit back and enjoy recorded TV, photos, music, home videos, games and DVDs from the comfort of your couch with Windows Media Center. Access and project your TV, music, photos, and movies to any room in your house using an Xbox 360 console connected to your wired or wireless home network. It's like having your Media Center PC wherever you have an Xbox 360! Author and burn movies, photos, and music to DVDs you can play on your PC or a DVD player with Windows DVD Maker. Live the game! It's easier for you to find, play, and manage your games with GAMES EXPLORER. Games Explorer provides detailed information including when you last played, game genre, and rating of your games. With DirectX 10, play vivid and engaging games with unrivalled realism. Also, use the same game controller with both your PC and your Xbox 360 system. Ease
It's easier and faster than ever to find, use, manage and share the information on your PC or on the Web with Windows Vista with SP1. Most Windows Vista-based PCs boot in less than a minute, which can be an improvement over Windows XP boot times. The Windows Vista sleep and resume features can bring your PC to life in a snap. The vast majority of Windows Vista-based PCs resume from sleep in less than six seconds. See everything you're working on more clearly with Windows Aero and quickly switch between windows or tasks using Windows Flip 3D. Find it fast! Simply type something about a file, picture, or song, such as a word contained in a document or e-mail message, the artist of a song, or the date a picture was taken, and Instant Search will bring back any matches instantly. Organize a lifetime of photos and movies with ease using Windows Photo Gallery. Tag your photos by date, keyword, star rating or any identifying label you choose--so you can find them anytime you want them. Display live information, like weather, stocks, and news, directly on your desktop with easy-to-use Gadgets and Windows Sidebar. View multiple web pages simultaneously with Quick Tabs in Windows Internet Explorer 7. Get up and running faster than ever with Windows Easy Transfer that automatically copies your files and settings from your old PC. Mobility
With special features to help you go mobile, Windows Vista with SP1 makes computing and connecting away from home or the office easier than ever. Work the way you want with touch and digital input and handwriting. Tablet and Touch Technology makes your notebook PC experience truly personal. Set up a wireless network at home with Network and Sharing Center--so you can experience the freedom of working virtually anywhere in your home. Then easily find and join a wireless network at your favorite hotspot--so you can stay productive wherever you go. Optimize your power and mobile settings centrally with Windows Mobility Center. Easily sync and manage your music, contacts and pictures across your devices and other PCs with Sync Center. Share your desktop or any program with Windows Meeting Space. Co-edit documents, and pass notes in class, a favorite hotspot, or where no network exists.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 93 more reviews...
 Windows ME Revisited? March 28, 2008
Yu-jin Chia (Cupertino, CA USA)
47 out of 55 found this review helpful
Let's get one thing straight right off the bat- I'm not a Microsoft hater. In fact, I've been very satisfied with XP from the start, and still am despite having had experience with other operating systems which are probably more advanced and streamlined. However, with the release of Vista I can't help but feel that this product is another 'interim OS' - a la Windows 98/98 Second Edition or Windows ME - that Microsoft put out for several reasons: 1) the fact that they haven't introduced a new OS in a long time, thus tempting users to look to other alternatives in search of new features. 2) as support for the fact that Windows is still their major cash cow 3) that Apple and Linux are finally starting to seriously threaten the OS stranglehold that Microsoft has held for so many years.
On point one, the last and- most would say- best OS Microsoft has released is Windows XP. Despite the fact that it's starting to show its age, I believe XP is a superior operating system to Vista for several reasons to be discussed later in detail. Nevertheless, it's been a good 7 years since XP was released, which is an a very long time in the software industry.
Point two is reinforced by the acknowledged fact that another Windows OS is already in development and is due out relatively soon (within the next 2-3 years) and the fact that most Vista sales are made from OEM distributors with the price included in the sticker cost. In many cases, end users have no choice at all for their operating system- you either get it with Vista, or you don't at all. Additionally, the retail package cost of the OS is unusually high- especially for the 'Ultimate' version which adds a few extra security and media features.
Point three is somewhat speculative, but there is some evidence pointing to its truth. The recent change of Mac hardware from the unique Motorola architecture to Intel-based might have riled some hardcore Apple fans, but it was a master-stroke from the business perspective. Now Mac users can run Windows in native mode while also benefiting from the superior Mac OS (still unavailable on non-Apple machines) and thus be able to break the 'gaming block' that Macs have been hobbled with previously. As to the Mac OS's general superiority, there really has never been any doubt- one merely has to see how much Vista attempts to mimic it to find proof of that. On the Linux front, it's really difficult to argue with free- and Linux is steadily improving both in terms of user-friendliness and capability. It has advanced to the point now that one no longer needs any understanding of the command line to use it, and most software- including many games- can be run on Linux.
Let's get down to examining the improvements from XP home to Vista home edition, which is what most people that would pay for upgrades are looking for. Bear in mind I haven't examined an enterprise edition and don't particularly care about business applications of Vista, since I still use XP Pro at work and have no intention of changing that.
Vista's user interface offers a new look and feel, which in anything but the lowest cost version is much more attractive than XP. It has translucent windows, animation effects, and new UI features including the 'Flip' in Premium edition which is a more visual approach to the old alt-tab interface used to switch between active applications and windows. There are also Windows Gadgets, which are small desktop apps, and a Sidebar that can contain Gadgets for quick use. Additionally, dialogs and windows- especially wizards- are standardized and more consistent in look and feel than in previous Windows versions. For pure Windows users, these will all be excitingly new features. However, they aren't actually new- Mac OS X has had all of these features in place for three or more years. This isn't in itself a bad thing, as these are generally good features. The only problem is they aren't implemented very well. Take the example of the translucent windows: put two windows side by side and they look very similar- at a glance it's very hard to tell which one is the active (or 'topmost') window- the only difference is a white line going around the border of the active one. In XP, the windows didn't look nearly as pretty but at least you never had any doubt which one was active. Additionally, the new look and feel comes at a rather punishing cost- the system requirements for Vista increase dramatically if these features are all enabled, and it's highly questionable whether a machine meeting the minimum requirements will be able to run Vista at anything approaching acceptable speed- let alone applications running ON Vista. This means that machines that are 3 or more years old should definitely not be upgraded to Vista, as they will be reduced to snail's pace. If you prefer, you can run Vista with the classic XP layout and look and feel, which makes it look very much like XP and has much better performance on slower machines. However, if you do this it begs the question- what's the point, then? You're essentially back to XP with some marginally useful new functionality, and a few hundred dollars out.
Security features are one of the main selling points of Vista. When you install any software that alters the system- including any and all software drivers and almost any serious applications- you will encounter at least one security popup. You have to explicitly click the Allow/Continue button to get it to proceed. There is no 'Always allow' option, so if you see the dialog once, you will see it again if you do the same thing. Theoretically, this is a great idea- it means a user can't do anything dangerous without seeing a warning. The problem is the warnings are often unclear, and a user won't know whether it's a real threat or not, and whenever one shows up they have to stop whatever they're doing and consider it (or not). Additionally these don't just show up during installations- this security also fires popup warnings whenever applications- including web apps- do anything that Windows construes as 'suspicious,' which is nigh on everything. Example: you plug in an external hard drive. Security warning; click continue. You browse to it and launch an installation batch file. Warning; click continue. The program asks you to register, and sends you to a site that has cookies. Warning; click continue. Within about 10 minutes of using Vista, I had seen more of these than I have on my Mac in 2 months, and that with relatively frequent OS updates too. And no, being an administrator doesn't do a thing in this regard, since Vista's security treats administrators as regular users (huh? exactly...) This is bad for two major reasons that are related: it's so annoying it'll make you spit and holler at the screen, and as a result it (ironically) doesn't do what it was meant to do- which is to stop bad stuff like viruses from taking the whole PC down. Users will get so used to just dismissing the popups that when a REAL threat appears, they will likely just dismiss it out of hand. You can save yourself the trouble and disable User Account Control, but then you're essentially back to XP. Once again, this leads us to that question- what's the point in upgrading then?
Vista includes new versions of Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player, as well as some additional apps for recording movies and (in Ultimate) backing up data. In my opinion these bundled Windows programs have never been better than third party apps- and since I don't have a great deal of experience using them I'll leave others to review them. Perhaps the most important new package Vista introduces is DirectX 10. In my admittedly biased gamer's mind, this is the only Vista feature even worth examining if you're considering upgrading. Windows has always been the OS of choice for gamers, and the fact that XP doesn't support (and never will according to Microsoft, though technically there isn't any reason it can't) the new version of DirectX means that gamers will probably be forced to upgrade eventually. For now, a handful of titles support DirectX 10 in addition to 9, though these are very few at this moment and there are still none that support only version 10. Some of these include Crysis, Company of Heroes, and World in Conflict- to name a few. As is to be expected, version 10 adds a lot of improvements to graphical detail and image quality, and games that take advantage of these features look noticeably better. However, due to the fact that there simply aren't many available yet, it's debatable whether it's worth upgrading to Vista just to do this. It will likely be some years yet before the first DirectX 10-only games appear, so there is certainly no compelling need to upgrade immediately if you just want to play. In fact, upgrading for the sake of gaming is not without risk- and on that note...
Let's talk about software compatibility. Presumably, Vista is backwards compatible with anything that could run on XP. Realistically, it's anyone's guess what will work. Straight up, you can expect none of the drivers you use under XP to work with Vista. In fact, many drivers written FOR Vista don't work, or have very serious technical issues that include such nastiness as random blue screens of death and other unsavory results. I don't know whether this is a result of poor third party support or just the fact that Vista is so new, but no working drivers = no working hardware, which is bad news. In general, newer software and hardware tends to work decently, but if you're using older hardware and peripherals, you might be forced to upgrade those along with the OS. For gamers in particular, it's advisable you keep XP on a separate partition at the very least, since there are many known issues with Vista and older games- usually due to driver issues. These range from relatively minor things like graphical glitches, to games just plain not running. For most there are workarounds, but personally, I'm not the kind that likes to do research and work in order to play (and I think most aren't). Of course, if you don't care about anything but the latest titles, then this isn't a big deal- but in my experience most gamers like to revisit oldies for good times' sake (I certainly do). When running newer titles, there is another factor to keep in mind: If your hardware is borderline running on XP, you will likely need to upgrade your hardware to run the same games on Vista. This is because Vista is a resource hog compared to XP, especially in terms of RAM usage.
The bottom line is that those that have XP should probably not upgrade to Vista. It simply doesn't offer enough new and useful features to be worth the trouble- and can be a great deal of trouble indeed. What advances it does offer are also not all good; I personally think Vista is actually less user-friendly than XP, though admittedly I do have a great deal more experience with the latter.
For those that are looking to buy or build a new Windows machine and actually have a choice, the better OS is more debatable. For those that have little or no experience with Windows, I will be honest and say that Vista MAY be a better choice. I can't really say for sure because I'm definitely not such a person and don't know anyone that is, but if Microsoft continues to base its operating systems off the Vista model, it might be best to just get used to it. Additionally, for gamers looking toward the future and buying DirectX 10 compatible hardware, XP simply doesn't support it. Gamers are also presumably purchasing the newest hardware anyway- most of which works fine on the new OS. For those that are familiar with Windows and want a minimum of fuss (e.g. folks that work at home), I recommend XP instead of Vista because it's both more mature as a piece of software, and is generally a lot more like older Windows versions. Vista differs from previous releases of Windows enough that finding familiar functionality can be a pain, especially for power users or those that like to deal with low level configuration. Most of it is still there in one shape or form, but almost everything is renamed and moved. Aside from these and the above reasons, XP is substantially cheaper and uses far less resources (RAM/CPU/video/disk space). Especially if you aren't buying top-line hardware, this can make a very serious difference in overall performance.
It should be noted that Microsoft is always releasing updates, and Vista is no exception. Service Pack 1 is now available, and is essentially a huge collection of bug fixes, minor performance enhancements, and program tweaks- most of which have already been made available as downloaded hotfixes. Unless you've experienced one of the specific issues addressed, and for some reason haven't been using automatic updates, you will likely not see any significant changes. If you really want to know exactly what they changed, you can look it up in the Knowledge Base. The best I can say is, it doesn't look like they broke anything obvious with it, so there's no reason NOT to get SP1 if you already have Vista. Service packs are available from automatic updates, so this specific product is more of a convenience than a real 'new release.' Microsoft claims that service packs won't be used to make major changes to the OS, and in this case that's not good news. I believe it likely that the next release of Windows (currently known as 'Windows 7') will be when most of the big problems are addressed.
In conclusion, I believe Windows Vista is a tie-in to a 'real' operating system release, just like Windows ME was a stopgap between Windows 98 and XP. However, it's actually less polished than ME was- relatively speaking- and looks like it was rushed to market with many features untested or incomplete. In many ways, Vista is probably the most disappointing Windows release of all time despite the fact that it's technically more advanced and 'better' (at least in theory) than any other release. Maybe it's because of all the new and revolutionary features that were promised, and weren't delivered in the end, or perhaps we've all just been expecting too much after such a long development time. Vista isn't necessarily a bad product or a bad operating system- it does generally work, once you get past its quirks and get used to how it looks, and this is why I didn't give it the lowest rating. In fact, if it is evolved a bit I can see it becoming an excellent OS. However, due to its cost and the fact that in its current state it's hardly an improvement over XP, I really can't recommend it. Gamers are the only folks that should seriously consider upgrading, and at the moment there's no compelling need to. In the meantime, I'm looking for the next Windows release to see whether Microsoft is going to put out the true successor to XP.
 If you want to do Microsoft's QA work, VISTA's for you! April 5, 2008
Kendra
20 out of 26 found this review helpful
It's a long known inside but painful joke in the computer applications development world that Windows gets most of its QA testing from its customers. After spending 7 hours today in a failed attempt to install Windows Vista, I can tell you most emphatically that I am tired of doing Microsoft's quality testing for them.
Installation of Vista over my perfectly fine XP O/S crashed at least 5 times. Part of the installation involved the system rebooting itself during the process. This is a serious problem if you have one cd/dvd drive and your hard disk. It's a problem because most systems will be set at the factory to reboot off the cd drive first, then the hard disk. As the Install disk is in the drive, the reboot will fail and so will the install. So, being a bit savvy, I reset the boot order in the BIOS and went at it again. Still I got the same confounding error!
The error message is: Windows Installation encountered an unexpected error. Verify that the installation sources are accessible, and restart the installation. Error code: 0XC0000005.
I researched online forums and Microsoft's own aptly misnamed "knowledge base" to find a solution. MS's site was useless. Other techy forums were strewn with messages from poor annoyed people like myself having the same issues. Some say, oh just reset the BIOS, but that didn't work. Also, many users will not even know how to access the BIOS and may make an unfortunate error there from which they cannot recover. Forcing the user to change system configuration settings to install software is NOT a good business model at all.
So, on I went into hour 5. I ran the VISTA Advisor application which tells you if your computer is compatible to run VISTA. The application said that I was compatible. But there was a problem there, too. You see, Microsoft's own version of the Advisor failed. So I went to CNET and ran their version which ran perfectly.
During the first installation attempt, the installation showed success and even showed activity on the screen. But, I could tell that nothing was being written to the disc-- I knew it was a failure so I aborted the install. I rebooted the system again and started from scratch. Again, I got the same error message as shown above.
This was a total waste of an evening, and a great frustration. Do yourself a favor and don't get Windows Vista. Windows XP is highly tested and works great. I will keep XP until I have to get a new computer. Otherwise, I may just upgrade to Linux.
This absurd business model of having the customer do the company's testing is abysmal. Why do you suppose that Microsoft has few friends in the Systems world? This is why! I'm sure the O/S and U/I are all quite whizz bang and graphic intensive, but I like to access my 2 GB RAM for applications-- not to support my O/S. Maybe when enough customers have sent their trouble tickets in to Microsoft and the people in Redmond get the code fixed all correctly maybe then I just might take another chance with Vista. Wait, on second thought, no, I won't. VISTA - No Stars.
OS is not bad, upgrading is March 25, 2008
Herschel Greenberg (Whittier, CA USA)
15 out of 15 found this review helpful
Window Vista Home Edition now includes Service Pack 1. As an upgrade from XP, there is still the difficulty of hardware compatibility. In essence, you will need recent hardware upgrades, including a new graphics grade to take full advantage of Vista's effects. If you can upgrade, and want the latest technology from you OS, then Vista is a decent program. But if you do not have the hardware, do not even try to upgrade from XP. Wait until you have to buy a new computer so that someone else goes through the headaches of installing and making the system work.
Vista is definitely the most graphically attractive program Microsoft has made. With all the effects on, it is a nice program to look at, and the appeal is that you do not feel like you are using a clunky OS. Of course, everyone knows they borrowed those ideas from a MAC, but it is still nice to use on an everyday basis.
Vista made a huge leap forward for video game users. With DX10 and 10.1, there is an OS that was designed with games in mind. The graphic upgrades over DX9 will only be apparent if the game is written for this. So older games might not see an improvement, but new games that use DX10 will see better graphics and special effects. For some, this is reason enough to upgrade. But you might encounter games not written for Vista, which introduces an entirely new set of problems.
As far as general users, Microsoft made many changes from XP to Vista. If you are new to computers, learning Vista should be straight forward. If you are like me, someone who has been using computers since the days of DOS ( that is pre-Windows 3.1), then you probably know your existing OS like the back of your hand. Learning a new one then becomes more difficult, because you will constantly ask, "Why did they move this feature?" You will also ask, "I knew how to do this simple task before, and now I have no clue where anything is." Trust me, there is an adjustment learning Vista.
And this becomes the frustrating part--it might take a while to get your computer set and running smoothly. This is why, as an upgrade, Windows Vista is trouble. Between hardware, compatibility issues and the program taking a long time to learn, I recommend to most users NOT to upgrade on their own. If they buy a new computer, that is one thing. But to upgrade to a radically new OS can be trouble. If your computer works, I recommend not buying this program. Let your current computer go through its life cycle, then buy a new one. The upgrade process will cause you to have a headache and spend more money than you had planned. As an OS, Vista is not the end of the world as people claim in other reviews (all OS have positives and negatives) but be aware that there will be an adjustment period.
 Did Clean Install and it Seems to Work April 1, 2008
M. A. Ramos (Florida USA)
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
I must admit I was one of those that avoided Windows for years. I finally tried it with Windows ME that came with a computer I bought. I heard a lot of bad, but since all I did was check web sites, e-mail and play games; it was perfect for me. I did not change again until I went to Windows XP Pro years later. So I was nervous when I installed a different version of Vista last week on my backup computer. Normally I would normally wait until Vista had its SP2 release before trying it out.
Since a clean installed worked so well on my other computer, I decided to do a clean install again. Vista does want the hardware it wants, and is not happy with all my XP hardware. Even though I far exceed XP requirements because I game so much. I have a very good video card and 1GB of Ram. But I do not have a dual-core system. But it had no trouble installing at all.
With XP Pro everything ran great and fast. On this computer Vista is running bit slow. But this I attribute to my computer so will not blame the software for this since I expected it. But I do love the Media Center functions of Windows and the Aero interface. Plus it allows you to place Widgets; I guess Windows calls them Gadgets, on the sidebar to allow better control of projects or various options on hand. Actually too many options for me, but I am sure many will love the options. I mean I do not really need to know the temperature outside. I live in the tropics where it is always hot. But it does let me use all the keys on my new keyboard and that I nice. Though I usually forget they are there and try to load things the old way. I guess I will learn.
What I cannot stand the constant security pop-up messages. If I have installed a program and ran it should know I will continue to want to run it at other times. I prefer the way XP handled my Pics, but that may be because I have not used Vista enough yet. I cannot figure out how to change the size of my photos yet. I would stay with XP Pro until you have to upgrade or if you are really into new technology and/or Multimedia networking.
But what everyone says is true; Vista wants the hardware it wants. So if you do not have the recommended hardware, do not get this software. If you have all the requested hardware then go ahead and get this. I did not have all the loading problems of those I read on various threads. But I would like to say once I again I did a clean install from CD. I do like the new look with Vista and will take some more time to get use to it, but so far so good. As of today two of my computers are running a version of Vista and working well.
GOOD BUT NOT THAT MUCH BETTER FOR ME March 26, 2008
Gail Cooke (TX, USA)
9 out of 12 found this review helpful
Those who are looking for an expert's opinion on the Windows Vista Home Premium had best stop reading here and look elsewhere. I'm many miles from being knowledgeable in the area of computers and software and not at all fluent in geek speak. I'm strictly a garden variety computer user who logs more hours per day than I'll ever admit on our home computer.
My computer came with Windows XP and I'm very pleased with it - no crashes, easy to navigate. What more could I want?
After trying the Windows Vista Home Premium on another computer, I'm here to say that there seems to be very little difference. I would be just as happy with this as I am with the XP. So, if were buying yet another new computer I'd probably go for the Home Premium but wouldn't recommend buying it just to upgrade.
In other words, good product but why switch?
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