Silverskater145

I just got my monthly issue of PC Magazine. It's all about the new Microsoft Windows, Vista, with the article inside that has the awesomely-bad title: "WHY YOU WANT VISTA NOW!" So, I'll write my own little article, a full, in-depth look at Vista, via PCMagazine.

So, here I am reading up on Vista. They say it's going to be like a Windows 95 upgrade from Windows 3.11. The pictures show Vista as a slick OS. There are little, transparent screens and what not. The start menu is also transformed. It seems more difficult now, though they claim it is alot easier. Alot of it also has a sort of 3D feel.

Then I get to the Internet part of the article. The author starts talking about IE 7, and it's new enhanced capabilities, which include: tabbed browsing, streamlined menu bar, antiphasing and antiproofing capabilities. That's right, it's a Microsoft rendition of Firefox. It's nothing but a cheap-ass copycat of Firefox. Oh yea, it has new improved printing support. Shit, how could I forget about the printing support.

Just read this as well: "I long ago stopped using IE as my primary browser because it lacked tabs, but IE7 just might win me back. If you've somehow missed out on the tabbed-browsing revolution, IE7 might give you the shove you need. Tabbed browsing lets you keep a number of Web pages open within a single browser window, using tabs to select among them. To open a link in a new tab, you can click the center mouse button (or the wheel), hold the Control key while you click a link, or right-click a link and choose 'Open in New Tab.' IE7 always keeps a blank tab open, so you can simply click it and enter a new URL. I'm psyched that tabs have finally arrived" - Some ass author from PCmag.

Any of that sound close to heart? That's right, it's all been done before. And although I think including tabbed-browsing is a good idea, that they can't not do, I can't help but saying that Firefox was the first to do it. I don't see why anyone should switch to IE7 for some of it's new components, since it's all taken from Firefox anyway. Oh yea, they also installed RSS, something else Firefox already has. Before I move on, I should also mention that you're able to view your contacts (MSN) on IE7. You can like click on the contact and like click "send mail."

Apparently, there are search bars all over Vista. Windows Explorer has been ravamped, supposedly making file-searching easier. There's even a search bar right at the Start menu, able to search application names, file contents, even e-mails. Supposedly, this is supposed to be nifty, but I can't stand the idea of having a search bar everywhere. Especially for something like locating my files or my applications.

On to the Media. The author calls everything in Windows XP "child's play." It's going to include a photo manager, not the usual "photo viewer" in WinXP. On top of that, you get "beefed-up" versions of Windows Media Player and Movie Maker, none of which I care one bit about. Any person still using Windows Media needs to unregister and just simply stop using the internet. It goes on and on about Photo Gallery thing and Movie Maker, neither of which are important, so on to Security.

There an improved system of User accounts. Don't really care either way about user accounts. But look what it says here, "and now, even Administrators run at Standard level, with a warning from Vista when elevated privilege is recquired. Unfortunately the frequent 'Windows needs your permission...' warnings can get prerry annoying." IE7 in Vista is implemented with antiphishing. I don't know what it is, but apparently, if you try and go on to a website that doesn't have a security certificate, the keyword on IE7 turns red, and access is blocked. There's also a yellow color for "suspicious websites" and green for verified security. Parental controls, blah blah. Vista's Parental Controls system could actually limit access to games based on their name, content, or ESRB ratings. The horror. The administratior can also limit the days and times another user can be on the computer, and even establishes a list of approved programs. Not to mention Activity Monitoring, which reports an plethura of details of the user's actions, in all kinds of things (applications, sites visited, top 10 sites, files downloaded, and more). Windows Firewall is also improved, and can now protect against unauthorized outbound connections. Sucks for all the kids out there with strict parents.

As for Video Games, I'll just write what the author wrote: "Microsoft made a good show of taking up Vista for games, but gamers have remained uninterested, at best, and can you blame them? Thus far the big points have been a rich set of parental controls, pretty icons, and info pages for cataloging your library. Hardly sexy - atleast, not to performance-hungry gamers. Recently, though, a Microsoft representative mentioned something that coult heat gamers' interest up quickly. No, not the exclusive PC release of Halo 2 on Vista. But there is something to be learned from the excitement over being able to play a two-year-old Xbox game. Most of us would consider the Xbox antiquated. It's 733-MHz Pentium 3, 64MB of RAM, and nVidia video chip derived from the now four-generations-out-of-date GeForce 3 would barely be suitable for surfing the net. But because the architecture allows a direct path tp the hardware, it puts on a terrific show with Halo 2 and dozens of other fantastic-looking games."

My basic reaction to Vista is...meh. Just seems like trouble. And if I read correctly, only 38% of the computers will be able to switch to Vista when it comes out.

Any thoughts on the matter? I'd better hope so. I spent an hour writing.

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