I'm writing this as a stress-reliever at such an important moment in the corporate world: end-of-year reports.
Today, I read interesting articles (again) about Windows Vista. Its from ZDNet, a blogsite that I like reading. The blog in point would be: The Top 5 Reasons Why Vista Failed (http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=10303&tag=nl.e019). To run it down, the Top 5 "reasons" are:
5.) Apple successfully demonized Vista
4.) Windows XP is too entrenched
3.) Vista is too slow
2.) There wasn't supposed to be a Vista
1.) It broke too much stuff
I have to disclose it first though that I've never touched a Windows NT computer. Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows XP SP2, and Vista SP1 are the only Windows systems that I've ever gotten my hands on. I've also never used an Ubuntu OS either. As for Apple, its all Tiger. Nothing earlier than that and no Leopard either.
Anyway…
My office issued me a work laptop. And it has been a valuable machine that I've been using for about a year after it replaced my old laptop which was also office-issued. My previous one was an Acer Travelmate that supported Windows XP. It had all the goodies for work: Visio 2003, Outlook 2003, Office 2003, Project, etc. with FireFox as the only add-on I ever had. (I have issues with Microsoft IE, but that's a different story. I also have issues with Apple's Quicktime).
My current HP was issued with the HP XP image. I don't really remember how long it took to install but I wasn't impatient at all. Thinking that I still had my Acer, the HP was not really an "I need that laptop right now" machine. Of course, we all knew that Vista didn't start off well and its reputation was kind of distorted on the internet. To sum it up, those who didn't like Vista's first release filled up the internet with horror stories while those who did like Vista (if ever they did exist) simply kept quiet and enjoyed the downloads (I know one guy who was patient with Vista and evolved from a hater to a lover thanks to his patience with the updates).
I was slowly leaning more towards the Mac. Its hip. Its cool. And its got all the "non-Windows" essentials that I need… Errr, make that one essential: FireFox. Apple is still a cool machine though. Compared with the "high-end" Vista Home Premium machines (like a Lenovo or Satellite), the Mac just –almost- costs the same. Not only that, it also comes with the "coolness" factor. I'm a Mac. Well, at least Jackie is and I'm tagging along with the "I"-part.
The Mojave Project then came out on some internet pages (probably paid blogs thanks to Microsoft). I found the website quite confusing at first though: So many boxes with so many faces. It was YouTube on a single page. Then again, I clicked randomly and it showed an old guy giving his ideas of Vista and said that Mojave seemed to be a lot better. Next box (I was curious already) showed a young lady bad-mouthing Vista, and saying that Mojave was what she always wanted. Then the next, then the next. Overall, they all had one thing in common: they never tried out the latest release of Vista. (Note: if ever one them did try it out, I wasn't able to accidentally click the video.)
But that's the bottomline of my Vista un-easiness: I too never tried the latest version of Vista.
So off I was to our IT Department and asked about Vista. Lo and behold, to the in-house enterprise support guy I spoke to, his only recommendation was to have a RAM upgrade or else Vista would "crawl". And I was like "that's it?" it's a hardware problem and not a code/security/what-have-you issue?". For that time, his answer was a "Yup. Hardware.".
My request for added RAM was approved with a discussion on risk and all. But being in the service business means that we may have clients out there who are using Vista. Add to that, many of our services are "Vista-compatible" as well. So if we disliked Vista so much, why in the world do we sell services that work with Vista? It would be easy to downgrade back to XP anyway in the event that I didn't like it. We have a fantastic support team and migration wouldn't be a nosebleed for them.
The upgrade to Vista -if that's what we call it- didn't start off well at first. Though I was now powered with more than the recommended RAM, it took about four hours to do the whole installation, Service Pack 1 included. That wasn't cool. An hour was long already. But four hours? Might as well jam myself with meetings that day and just rely on a mobile device for email. Then again, it was there na. Might as well push through.
After that loooong Vista deployment, I fired up my laptop and one driver didn't go well: my office WLAN hardware wasn't "updated". Going back, our IT team had the right driver and my WiFi was up and running in less than 5 minutes. I gave myself a week to test it. Of course, first thing I did was download FireFox , an HSDPA modem launcher, and lately, Twhirl.. Office 2007 was built-in. Windows Update did its job pretty well and better than expected. I was ready.
Jump from the past to today:
I've been on Vista for about two months already with my only peeve being the 6-minute shutdown period. Boot-up which, I don't know why, seems to be a problem on blogs was surprisingly less than a minute. If I were on Mojave, I'd bad mouth the "Mojave is Shutting Down" part. Everything is ok, not great. I'd also praise Office 2007, with extra attention on compression and Excel pivot tables. Visio is a great tool as always.
The Mac will always be a Mac. It will never disappear. When I have enough money, I'll go purchase a license of Leopard to upgrade the Tiger. That's probably something I wouldn't do for Vista. With such flak from the net, no way will I spend $200 for an OS I'm unsure of. Leopard so far, has a clean reputation and when I have money to spend for an OS, it would go to Apple. But since our company has a license agreement concerning XP and Vista, it was worth the "test" (its pseudo-free for me since my office paid for it already). There are no regrets to date. See for yourself and give Vista a try. I would neither recommend nor discourage you from buying it, but I highly recommend that you try out Vista for a month as it takes some getting used to. If things don't go well, Microsoft just issued a 6-month extension of downgrade rights so we could all go back to the humble yet more confident XP.
I'm not in the position to say the Vista is the best, but its surely a lot better than XP. However, note that the only non-Microsoft applications I run would be basic stuff: FireFox, Twhirl, and a USB modem launcher. The rest are Microsoft-dependent, with Visio, Word, Excel, and Powerpoint taking the lead. In my opinion, the "Top 5 Reasons Why One Should Try Vista (but Not Purchase It First)" would be:
5.) Apple demonized Vista
Ladies, there's no need to bad-mouth each other. Bad mouthing just confirms that the other party is worth talking about and deserves our time and attention. The Apple vs Vista mongering just made me curious all the more. And now I'm using Vista for work. No regrets. I forgive the Shutdown Period because of how easy it is to use Vista than its predecessor. (Note: I only use Office 2007 and a few other applications stated earlier.)
4.) Windows XP is too entrenched
Apple makes one different. I use Microsoft for work and Apple for pleasure. Sometimes, siding with the underdog helps. Though XP isn't a Vista-hater, the same company that gave us the XP we love is also the same company that gave us the Vista we doubt. Don't judge a book by its cover. Test the rumors. Challenge the status quo. Not only am I doing this for Vista: give me a Linux laptop and I'd gladly use it.
3.) Vista is too slow
It has been declared. Upgrade your hardware. Vista provides a better look-feel that, I must admit, is better than Apple's Tiger (which Apple released two years ago I think). Also, who doesn't want a hardware upgrade?
2.) There wasn't supposed to be a Vista
XP was just too much embedded in our hearts. It would be difficult to let go of something and replace it with something we're not confident about. The only thing I had when I "jumped a little into the water" was my curiosity thanks to Mojave On-Line. I never used Windows NT, so I couldn't relate to the "NT + 98 = XP = PERFECT" equation.
1.) It broke too much stuff
Windows Update works. You don't have to download everything. Stick to those tagged as Important and Recommended. The Optionals could wait. If you don't like it, you have downgrade rights.
Last Notes:
Ubuntu.
Linux would be great to test. If the World Bank uses Unix, by all means, give me a piece of that!
Apple OS.
Apple will always be Apple. I never had an iPod and don't see myself buying one even if it were given to me. I couldn't stand listening to 2,000 unique songs every week! Give me a Sony Walkman with an AM radio and I'm hooked. But the Mac Book Pro is just, well, different. Leopard will be in the box by Christmas.
Vista.
The Bad: Loooong Shutting Down moments (6 minutes!). Loooong installation (4 hours!).
The Good: Works like XP with a sexy look, easy-to-use interface, and a fabulous Search bar!
Disclaimer: The views stated here are purely my opinion and do not, in any way, reflect the views of my company, my colleagues, and our industry. The Vista license I am using is because our company already has it and it was worth a try. I had Vista installed to see if the rumors were true. XP has served me well and I wish it all the best as it goes into our memory as the "Greatest Windows OS Ever that combined NT and Win98" (whatever that means).
