Vista : A Pretty XP... And More
filed on Saturday, February 03, 2007 at 11:50:28 PM CST

I still remember it much as if it were yesterday.  My first major incursions into the world known as the "IBM PC-Compatibles."  Of course, we just call 'em PC's these days, as opposed to Mac's, and few people even remember that IBM was responsible for the things.  I remember creating the first two issues of Stargazer Monthly on a little-known desktop publishing Program called EXPress Publisher.  And I remember making the eventual, nearly full-time move to Windows 3.1 for my applications (of course, DOS was still for gaming back then).  I remember going to visit my then boyfriend, Rob, who lived with Jim and Susan.  And I remember that brief peak at the computer everyone used, and the strange new interface sitting on Windows, codename Chicago.

Chicago, as the rest of the world came to know it, was Windows 95.  When it was released, I was working at CyberExchange.  The day it was released, I had my pretty sky-colored, cloudy box.  Of course, I didn't have a computer yet, and wouldn't for nearly another year.  But it became the operating system of choice at work, and I made sure to get to know it.  A few, short years later, Windows 98 came out, and by far, it was the most stable version of Windows to date.  I can hear the Mac users loudly Proclaim, "That's not saying much."  Of course, Mac users have deluded themselves into this bug-free utopia where their systems and Programs never crash -- which is, of course, why Apple has dialog boxes with little bomb icons on them.  Because it never happens.  But I digress...

After Windows 98 came out, I was quite happy and content to stay with it for quite some time.  In fact, it wasn't until almost a year after Windows XP was released that I got a copy of it for home.  In the meantime, I'd been using Windows 2000 for some time at work, but still had 98 at home.  Well, a new computer I got at work had XP on it, so I ran out and got XP for home, and thought it was quite a wonderful thing.  In fact, in the entire time I ran Windows XP, I saw zero blue screens of death, and when an application or game occasionally failed, it wasn't a complete drop of the operating system.  Okay, so maybe I was starting to live that Mac Utopian Dream on my PC.

Well, Windows Vista just came out, and for the first time since 1998 (yep, that's almost 10 years later), I ran out and bought an operating system on release day.  Now, true, I'm paying the price for doing that via my scanner, for which hp has yet to release a driver, but all of that aside, I'm loving this beautiful new OS.  No, it's not because of the Mac-like Gadgets that line the right-hand side of my desktop that are Probably more nuissance than convenience (though I might learn how to do RSS feeds if I get clucky), and while the glass-like look is pretty, it's not for that either.

No, for me, though it's a bit annoying having to apProve every bloody Program I want to install, on the other hand, I have to say, it does make me feel more secure.  And while there were tons of reports on networking issues, I was able to find my old system (still running XP Pro) quite easily -- I just had to have it set up right on the XP box, which was an issue there, not with Vista.  And Aero, the interface that gives Windows "transparency", is a great thing, if only for the Windows-Tab scrolling through my open applications.  I can actually SEE what it is I'm tabbing through, not just some silly icon of it.

Then there's the little things... The taskbar is still very much like it's been since Windows 95, but instead of "Start," there's this little Windows-logoed button sitting there... Finding my list of Programs isn't a fly-out upon fly-out eXPerience, but instead a small, cascading menu (which took a bit to get used to, but definitely functions better)... Adding an icon to my quick launch bar no longer requires creating a new shortcut to drag down there, it's now a simple "Add to Quick Launch Bar" click... And while it's annoying having to run the World of Warcraft updater as an Administrator from time to time (because of the way it writes things), when I have to, it's a right-click on the launch icon upon a nifty "Run as Administrator" link.

Cosmetically, Vista's a very pretty XP.

Functionally?  I have to say, it's the little things that count, and Vista's got it where it counts.  I mean, I can preview pictures, and now video too.  It's still going to take a bit to get used to, but much like Office 2007, the learning is well worth it!