Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 26-30 of 117
 I'm Pretty Impressed, So There You Go 5 Stars April 8, 2008
Sara Hackett (from the Darkside)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I've been using Vista with SP1 for a couple weeks now on two different computers, my MacBook Pro and my iMac, both running on Bootcamp partitions and I have to say I'm pretty darned impressed.
I have lots of ram, ram to spare in both my machines, as I'm a Photoshop girl and both my machines are the latest and greatest Apple has to off, so I was good to go as far as hardware was concerned. I had no problems running the Aero eye candy and though it's no Leopard, it's quite nice. I liked the transparent window frames and I liked the minimizing and restoring effects, but again, I'm used to the Mac, so for me they were no great shakes.
I like the search box in the start menu, but I like spotlight better. Still it's very handy. The Widgets are a copy of Mac's Dashboard and Flip 3D is a copy of Expose, but then again Microsoft has been copying Apple for years.
I had to go online and download the printer driver again for my Brother printer, but that was no big deal and a couple of my Photoshop plugins had to be updated, but then I hadn't used them for awhile. I was just checking everything because of the new Vista install.
In conclusion I guess I'd say if you've got the hardware and are not a Mac person, this is a pretty good operating system and it seems stable. I know, I know, you've probably read all the same stuff I have about how Vista crashes and crashes and crashes and I've experienced plenty of crashes myself, but those problems seem to have been solved with the SP1 upgrade.
The Home Premium version I have on my MacBook hasn't crashed yet and Vista Ultimate on my iMac has only brought down my machine one time. Granted, it's early days yet, but as for now I'll say it again, I'm pretty impressed.
However there is one thing I just cannot seem to wrap my mind around. Why oh why are there so many versions of Vista. Well that bothered me with XP as well. Do you really need:
Vista Home Basic with SP1
Vista Home Premium with SP1
Vista Business with SP1
Ultimate with SP1
Vista Home Basic Upgrade with SP1
Vista Home Premium Upgrade with SP1
Vista Business Upgrade with SP1
Ultimate Upgrade with SP1
That's an awful lot of Vistas. Then there's:
Vista Anytime Upgrade Pack with SP1 [Home Basic to Home Premium]
Vista Anytime Upgrade Pack with SP1 [Business to Ultimate]
Vista Anytime Upgrade Pack with SP1 [Home Premium to Ultimate]
Vista Anytime Upgrade Pack with SP1 [Home Basic to Ultimate]
Come on, Microsoft, how about a one size fits all operating system like they do over in the Mac world. And this business about your copy protection, lighten up. Maybe some people do rip off Mr. Jobs' Leopard, you know buy it and put it on more than one machine, but how many computers can they use at a time. Yes, yes, maybe a husband and wife could be on at the same time, or one of the kiddies, but sheesh, give us a break.
I know you have to protect yourself from the hordes who want free software, but Apple's making a pretty penny with Leopard even while they trust their users, you could too.
Still, I guess I have to give all your Vistas with SP1 five stars, grudgingly, because of the way I think you do business, but I've got Vista working fine on two different computers, plus my husband has it on a couple others and we're not having major problems, so there you go, five stars.
Reviewed by Sara Hackett
 Windows Vista 3.5 Stars April 9, 2008
Jem (MD, USA)
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Like many people, I initially hated this new operating system. My main problem stems from ocation changes. Things were no longer where they used to be. The new interfaces are more organized, but no longer familiar. But, as I become accustomed to it, I realize Vista isn't so bad. The menu layout, which used to expand significantly, is now organized by folders even within the "Start" menu. This makes it easier to find the program you are looking for. The same is true for the layout of "My Computer." At first this bothered me, but I do like that menus don't expand all the way across my screen when I only want to find one thing.
I haven't noticed this OS being any slower than XP, but of course I am running it on a new laptop that is more powerful than my old one. The changes made for Vista work for the most part. But, there are definitely issues.
I hate the "Cancel/Allow" nonsense. Those Mac commercials with the secret angent guy are right on the money and I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry when I see that spot. Vista wants confirmation for every program installed or downloaded. Okay, that's probably a good protective feature that prevents spyware. BUT - every single program that tries to open, and isn't Microsoft, asks permission to continue. Programs that are already installed! So, if I want to update my virus definitions with Norton - Vista asks me. If I want to run HP update, Vista asks me. This gets more than annoying after awhile. And I can't find where to change the setting. It doesn't help that the new HP management system is as annoying as Vista.
Another huge issue I had with Vista was that much of my old software programs wouldn't run with it. Nero Burning Rom 5 - nope, need to upgrade. Roxio 5, same thing. So, I either do without or spend a lot of money buying upgraded version when the old ones worked fine for what I wanted.
Overall, Vista is okay, but I wish I could have kept XP - unfortunately, the new laptops don't support it.
 Just don't bother April 10, 2008
ngaio1 (Wellington New Zealand)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I won't waste too much of your time as all that's been said on the subject has been said by reviewers more savvy than I. However, I bought Vista for my new computer, and experienced a full day of frustration trying to get my cherished Nero, Adobe Elements and Acid Music programmes to work but to no avail. I also found that many of my CDs backed up in WMP refused to play because (thanks, Bill Gates) I didn't have a licence to play them. Excuse me?
I called in an experienced technician who spend two hours getting rid of Vista and re-installing my old XP software. His advice was that Vista has caused more probelms than it's worth, and to stick with tried and true XP. I have shelved Vista and will probably not reinstall it. Ever.
I Was Hoping For Some Windex For My PC BUT.......... April 12, 2008
Susan K. Schooniver (Boulder, CO)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I have an older machine and I was hoping Vista was just what I needed to spruce it up and bring all my computer work in to sharp focus. Unfortunately Vista took me forever (or at least the better part of a lovely spring day) to install and frankly the results were not worth it. I am thankful to Amazon for providing me with some expensive software free but the bottom line is I just need a new machine and Vista can't work the miracles I was hoping for and revive my outdated computer.
Visa Media center rocks !! April 14, 2008
Mannina Magha (Traveller)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Overall the vista experience has been very pleasant as I upgraded my computer.
If you are moving from XP/98, make sure that you do have the following:
* Min 2 GB RAM
* Your CPU is atleast a Intel Core Duo/Celeron with high clock speed
I am currently running a Intel Core Duo with 2 GB and the performance is actually better than what I expected - there is a slight degradation of performance, but that is expected when you upgrade.
What is the best thing I like about Vista ?
- Great UI : the windows looks is awesome, looks very stylish and cool
- Media center : This is bundled only with the 'Home Premium' - so make sure that you go for it. If you have a TV tuner card - you get some of these for less than $30, you can watch live TV on your computer.
Infact, vista will get your cable provider details and downloads the information in a easy to use format - it display movie titles as DVD covers which makes it so easy to see what kind of movie you want to watch. I really love this feature and this is one feature for which I would like to use vista.
About SP1:
SP1 is supposed to have fixed many security vulnerabilities:
* Provides 3rd party anti-virus access to the APIsto be able to work on kernel patch protection in x64-bit Vista.
* Decreases chances of of people hijacking vista traffic because it allows signed sessions for remote desktop (you might have used this if you were working for a big corporation) - if not never bother about this
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