Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 31-35 of 117
 As an average PC user, I love it April 17, 2008
Wesley Mullins (Kentucky)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I have been using Vista for a few weeks now, and although I feel like I have only scratched the surface of what all it offers, I think I am in a position where I can now comment on it. My initial reaction is nothing but positive, and frankly, I don't understand why this product is such a lightning rod for criticism. I am by no means a techy person, so maybe I don't understand why it is so bad. I can only speak for myself, John Q. Average Computer User, Vista works great for me.
I like the speed and bells and whistles on Vista. Windows Media Player took a while for me to get used to, and I do think the former positions of the play lists and library were better, but I am now comfortable with the changes. Even though the locations are a step down in their differences, I think the sound and visual quality are better.
I tried using voice recognition before and couldn't get it to work (possibly because of my Kentucky accent), but it seems much better on Vista. I also like the Media Center's option of recording TV and the movie creator tool is far improved from the previous archaic versions.
I have enjoyed every option I have tried on Vista and am sure my experience with it will only get better.
 As a video game collector, even with the Service Pack, this isn't my dream OS April 19, 2008
Daniel W. Kelly (Long Island, NY United States)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
The first computer I ever had came with Windows ME preinstalled. And it was a disaster compared to Windows 98, which I'd been using at work. One of the biggest uses for my computer is videogaming, and, well, after windows 95 and 98, a lot of my favorite games just would not...um...compute.
Ironically, Windows XP fixed many of my woes. Many of my older games that didn't work on ME actually worked on XP, but there were still enough that wouldn't work, forcing me to partition my computer and run 98 on it, and even then I had problems with graphics cards that were too powerful for games, incompatible sound cards, and too much memory for old DOS based games. I was praying that at some point, Microsoft would make a God-like OS that was capable of `emulating' all previous versions of its OS so that compatibility issues with older programs people still loved would never be an issue again.
Unfortunately, I would actually be going a step backwards in compatibility if kept Vista on my PC instead of reverting BACK to XP.
For starters, don't even consider upgrading to Vista unless you have a maxed out PC. You'll need a minimum of 512 ram, 1 Ghz processor and 15 gigs of hard drive free. That means that Vista doesn't run well until you have over a gig of ram, a nice hundred gigs of space and a great processor. Now for the Pros and Cons (aside from the fact that gamers like me will be disappointed that none of their old games run on XP).
Pros: Vista has improved security (for instance, it asks you before you install ANYTHING), the visual presentation is stunning, and the menus are a bit more intuitive and `space age' (you can easily tell apart applications from personal folders like pictures, documents).
Cons: The better security can get kind of annoying, with the OS asking you for confirmation on everything you install. You can turn off user account control but then you get a message popping up telling you that your security is too low. For me, Vista ran ridiculously slow even with the ram bolstered up--the boot up feels as tedious as the old Windows 98 days! SP1 is supposed to increase performance somewhat but you won't be able to tell if you're comparing it to the joy that is Windows XP.
Those are just the surface of issues I might find if I continue using Vista. As I said, my machine is predominantly used for gaming, and unfortunately, barring new games that will come out and be perfectly compatible with Vista, my classic library of games will never be run on a Vista machine.
 ABSOLUTE DISASTER!!!!! May 5, 2008
Ryan Morris (Chicago, IL)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This has been an awful experience. Unless you are very fluent in computer-speak, dont bother doing this on your own or you will have trouble, run-into trouble, then want to cause trouble because nothing works and all you want is your old computer back the way it was. DONT WASTE YOUR TIME.......There will probably be another program in about three hours anyway....Am i Right or Am i Right?
Why Vista? May 9, 2008
Phyllis Staff (Dallas, Texas USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Having read horror stories about installation problems, I installed Vista Premium on a computer I seldom use. I found installation quick and easy with no problems I could find.
However, it's not a good sign when the best you can say about a software program is that you were able to install it. And that's the only good thing I have to say about Vista Premium.
Why the developers change old straightforward labels for confusing new labels and icons? Did they really mean to add hours to simple tasks just because I'm wandering around in the program trying to find the icon for what I want to do? Whatever happened to "user-friendly?"
An ugly side of Vista is that it's a space hog. It's absconded with more than 40% of the space on my hard drive, and I want it back! Another irritation . . . a software program I love and use weekly no longer works. I'm not in favor of spending another $350 just to get the newer version of the same program that will work and play well with Vista.
My computer, although used infrequently, is not my toy. When I use it, it's because I want to create something, not waste precious time looking at irrelevant eye candy. I can find sites that will help me disable much of the useless content, but why should I have to spend hours tweaking the computer instead of writing or doing graphic work. Doesn't make sense to me.
Why Vista? I can't think of a reason. I'm going back to XP, thanks!
It's Definitely Not For The "Older" Computer May 15, 2008
Natalie Kilpatrick (Omaha, NE United States)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
After having this installed on my ancient Compaq, I decided to dump it and go back to XP. I have hardly any memory in my computer (only 256), and this definitely didn't work well. I've got an old video card, too. My computer simply couldn't keep up. I never activated it (phew) so I will be able to hold onto the OS until I get a better computer to try it out on.
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