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Vista Evaluation

Last Updated 06.06.2007

Advantages

Pretty - the new Aero Glass user interface is sleek and elegant, you can shift your way around through transparent windows and fade effects, sort through active programs with flip 3D and even get live glimpses of programs on your task bar or with alt-tab.
Faster search - assuming you have enough RAM Vista is good at helping you find the files you want faster and easier - with numerous forms of search easily integrated throughout the OS. For those of you who keep cluttered start menus you can even search for program and files through your start menu.
File browsing interface - With better customizable shortcut links and preview panes, getting around the OS is easier than the old-school 'My computer' top down technique.
Download/file transfer interrupts - FINALLY, if your file transfer gets cut off (download or network) you can pick up where you left off.
Caching - Assuming you have enough RAM Vista pre-caches your most often used programs and files and makes them faster to run.
Clock/date - Now you can look at the time and date details without adjusting them.
Easy access audio - You can get to the audio volume and recording options easily in the lower right tray. Makes it easy to switch a recording source, mute mics, or reconfigure your speakers.
Start menu - The start menu is contained within the first container and thus doesn't end up taking up massive amounts of screen real-estate - a nice change from the days when a computer's start menu would be 3 columns wide.
Sounds - No more obnoxious boot up and error sounds - yay!
Thumbnail system - You can see variable size thumbnails very easily and for numerous types of files - change their size dynamically!
Media center interface - Cooler looking and with more options - and advanced users can customize it.
Screen saver - The new screen saver is pretty cool looking.
Security - The code base of Vista is now more secure and contains fewer vulnerabilities.

Disadvantages

UAC - User Account Control is one of the most annoying advents of the modern computer age. You get UAC warnings for EVERYTHING. Want to do something as harmless as remove an item from your start menu? Prepare for 3 confirmation steps with a UAC warning. You seriously can't do anything on the computer without an endless stream of annoying warnings every step of the way. It's an attempt to help users only let certain programs run - but most users don't know what a virus program looks like and will often not even know what their own programs look like. The result is that they don't permit anything to run or they permit everything to run - the latter being the more common result. Generally it trains users to not even think to read the little warning but just click it away much like they do the next buttons on install prompts. Furthermore UAC interferes with the installation of many types of programs. And last of all, if you turn it off, the computer says its less secure, which scares non-advanced users.
RAM HOG!!! - Vista should have 2 gb of RAM to run well. You can get away with running it on 1 gb, but it'll be choppy at times and limited to running fewer programs at once. It's essentially comparable to XP - 512 was what you should run XP on, but you could get away with 256 if you just check Email, write papers, and browse the web. Vista can technically run on 512 mb of RAM, but it's just like XP on 128 mb, atrociously slow. Oh, and by the way, Vista will use your videocard memory too.
Hidden network settings - For those of use who troubleshoot or alter network settings of the actual devices it's a pain in the butt to get to them. Checking your incoming and outgoing traffic or say disabling a wireless device involves clicking through 4 screens.
Graphics requirement - I'm actually happy about this, but it's technically a disadvantage - to run Vista you need a real graphics chip (DirectX 9, with some amount of capability). That means no more of this piss-poor Intel on-board. I'm happy because this means more users with computers that can play games and therefore more people for me to play games with!
Expensive - Vista costs a lot to buy stand-alone. It's not worth the extra cost up from XP in my opinion. The difference between the various versions is almost negligible, too. Aero glass and Media Center seem to be the only ones worth noting unless you're a business security freak.
Compatibility - It took XP about 4 years to reach full compatibility with the 64-bit version, I suspect Vista will be the same way. 32-bit Vista works fine, but there are very few good 64-bit Vista drivers and many software programs won't run on the 64-bit OS. What's more is that it's really not any faster for the average person. Applications and drivers need to catch up for 64-bit to be worth it!