[angelayala]

Windows Vista the latest version of the Windows Operating System has been out in the wild for quite a while now. It's been almost two years since it was released internally and externally to us end users and still people are very stagnant when it comes to move forward with it. What are the problems? What are the features that Microsoft is pushing so much for us to see?

I installed a fresh version of Windows Vista Business around a year ago and my laptop could not even boot up, it took an immense amount of RAM just to start their new AERO Desktop feature and that was a top of the notch laptop. What's going on? After doing some research I learned that I was not the only one having such problems, the problem seemed to be that Microsoft built a software that was way more advanced and required more resources than what hardware could provide at that time and this triggered a massive effect on end users who did not want to change their new computers and did not wanted to say goodbye to Windows XP yet!.

So 3 weeks ago I decide to give another chance to Windows Vista Business this time running a spanking new Service Pack 1 released by Microsoft to increase performance and reliability with older applications. In this review I wanted to share with the OfficeArrow community the top 10 features I've found to be priceless to have with Windows Vista and give you a glimpse in my findings with my new OS friend.

{Note that I won't be comparing Windows OS with MacOS yet. I will leave that to another article, so for now I will only focus on Windows Vista}

FEATURE 1: FLIP 3D



I work on multiple projects at the same time, sometimes I find myself with a mess of a desktop. Adobe Illustrator, Email Software, Excel Sheets, Word,etc. Right now we have the ALT+TAB feature which allow you to swap from application to application without the use of a mouse and that is very handy and still available on Vista, but the new Flip 3D using the AERO feature allows you to flow through the windows like you were hovering over your work area and choose which task you want to land on. So I give this feature 5 stars!


FEATURE 2: INTERNET EXPLORER 7





Many browsers out there to choose from: Firefox, Safari, Opera, Mozilla and the list keeps going on and on. Internet Explorer 7.0 was a major release last year and today is back in the top of the list. Even though web developers still prefer Mozilla, or Safari. In the corporate world IE still is the king. I still remember when you had to have multiple windows opened in order to see multiple sites, it was a mess. Now with tabbed navigation you can have multiple sites opened within one window. You can experience it now even if you have Windows XP by going to: Internet Explorer: Home Page


FEATURE 3: SLEEP.... SLEEP... SLEEP.... WAKE UP!!!



They finally got it right this time. The Sleep feature is one of my favorite features when I am going home after work or leaving home from work. I just press the Start button and choose "sleep" then my computer goes into sleep happy. Then I come back and just tap the mouse and there she is fresh and ready. This feature is more powerful than a stand-by or hibernation because the PC is only consuming 1/3 of power but still can come back from a sleep within seconds. Kudos!

FEATURE 4: TASKBAR THUMBNAILS



Sometimes the taskbar can be a tough place, with multiple applications opened you might lose the track of where is that spreadsheet or you tube video. Even though users can benefit from the 3D Flip feature that I mentioned before, users with Windows Vista Basic do not have that capability of flipping, that's where Taskbar Preview comes in handy. Just hover the mouse over to see what's up in the container.

FEATURE 5: PARENTAL LOCKSHIELD



Parental Controls are a big part of Vista Family Products. This is more towards a home user than a business user but it is worth mentioning. Now you can create accounts for your kids and control every aspect of their use of the internet seemlessly. Block access to sites, applications, and activities like watching DVD's or listening to music. It is very simple and powerful at the same time.


FEATURE 6: SAY NO TO USER CONTROL ACCOUNT, MAYBE YES.



One of the problems of Windows Vista that you might heard of is that it always asks you to allow an activity or block and activity. For example. If you want to install an application it will prompt you to allow this or disallow. When you go and try to change your password it will ask you do you want to allow this or disallow, and the reason is that malware and viruses do not ask us do you want me to infect your PC with a virus? allow or disallow?, all of this happens without the OS knowing is going on. So windows created a feature called User Account Control that improves the safety and security of computers by preventing potentially dangerous software from making changes to your computer without your explicit consent.User Account Control

FEATURE 7: MR. SIDEBAR



The Sidebar is a powerful place to find information during the day, like calendar access, time and date, weather information, post-it notes, etc. Gadgets and they call it can be added to whatever data you want to have present all the time in your desktop, live stocks is my favorite, and much more.


FEATURE 8: WINDOWS UPDATE



Windows updates are done automatically and reboot's after their installation have been minimized to almost none. So no more bubbles telling you updates are available, please download. Remember that it is very important to keep your OS up to date this takes that task of visiting windowsupdate site all the time. More free time for you and peace of mind.

FEATURE 9: IT'S A WIRELESS WORLD



The new network panel will allow you to connect within seconds to any Wireless Access Point, personally I was able to configure my Mom's wireless network via the phone with her and she does not like technical stuff. She is in love with Vista for it, and not only that, Vista tells you in simple words whats going on, so instead of Mom calling me and telling me that there is a very pretty blue color screen with white letters on the monitor now she tells me that the display driver is malfunctioning and Vista is finding a solution for the problem! Love it!

FEATURE 10: YOU

Yes, You. The user is the one that chooses what works best for them. All this features might help you do your work faster and keep your PC out of trouble.

If you have any question please feel free to email me or message me. I've been using Vista now for a month and it has been working great!

More info @ Microsoft Windows

[NicoleMiller]

What a great post Angel! This was very helpful for me since I have been steering clear of Vista after all the bad reviews I have read in the past. I even uninstalled Vista from my home laptop and installed XP.

Looks like I should give Vista another look...

[lilysunshine]

You know, I used Vista all of last year at my previous job, and once that service pack came out, it was not as bad as all the reviews stated. I use a Mac at home, and my first thought was that Vista is a Microsoft-ized version of OSX (again.) I enjoy my computer being pretty, to be quite honest, and Vista certainly delievered on that front. It was noticeably slower than a machine of the same hardware power runing XP, but you know what? All computers that are even slightly outdated wind up running unbearably slow.

[Patricia]

At first I hated Vista always asking me to allow or disallow. Now I am used to it and I don't even notice. I think the Mac advertising put a name to the frustration many of us were initially feeling.

I don't like the new look of Word 2007 either but that's another thing and I suppose I'll even get used to that.

[Phyllis]

I've heard that Microsoft is going to discontinue support for Vista and start with the next generation already.

Patricia, I LOVE Office Pro 2007. The ribbon took about a day to get used to. I had to close my eyes and visualize what drop down menu gave which item, then transfer that to the tabs on the ribbon. I can't believe I fell in love with it so quickly. I'm normally very resistant to change.

Phyllis