Windows Vista Home Premium with SP1 Upgrade

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Reader Reviews
Please note that I am just rating the OEM system that came with my new HP laptop I bought a month ago. It is Vista home premium with SP1. I rather like it. I have read numerous reviews that don't like it so much, so I am giving my experience here for those, like me, are considering a new computer with pre-installed Vista. My question was: How is Vista better than XP? Answer: It looks better! I am not joking. The only attraction is the aero effect thing where a little bit of each window is slightly transparent, the windows also pop up with a magical effect, like a balloon. It disappears the same way too, with some transparency worked in. It has an option of extra large icon that's really big if you want it, though that takes up screen space fast. The files are also a little bit open you so you can see a file or two in there, but in XP you can see stuff inside too, as many as four things, so the open trick isn't much of an improvement. Also, you can get these things called "Vista Gadgets" for the desktop, like a little calender or a battery charge indicator or even a quick search to amazon that just sits there as part of the desktop. Other program covers it, but otherwise it runs on its own without bothering anything. (And why do I want a quick search to amazon, you might ask, if I already have it bookmarked as a favorite page? Well you see, you still have to click to open a webpage first before you can click your favorite. With the amazon gadget, you just type directly into it what you want, and a webpage will pop up without you having to click to open it! Really saves on the finger energy, you know?) Other than this, there is nothing to Vista whatsoever that is different from XP. There is heightened security measures in the form of "OS fearfulness", but I always disable those things as much as possible because they are nothing but a nuisance. Whenever you want to do something it asks, "Are you sure?" It can't tell if something is wrong, mind you. It just keep asking YOU, and you have to keep assuring it like it is a scared child. And I can't disable all of it because then it nags constantly, "Security setting is set too low! Please raise it!" There are a few minor inconveniences. First, the standard picture viewer will not display GIF images, unlike the one in XP. The help part explicitely states that the viewer will ONLY display bmp and jpg format pictures. Also, the Windows Mail, the equivalent of Outlook Express, no longer has the contact pane where you can just double click any contacts and opening a black email to write. You have to open the contact file each time. Also, the included Internet Explorer has a ton of problems. It freezes every time I go to my hotmail account. I know, they are both Microsoft, so why can't they get along? Who knows. It freezes on certain other sites too, for no particular reason. I don't have any trouble with the old IE in XP, but Vista does not allow you to downgrade. (My Netscape in Vista manages hotmail and other pages just fine, so that's what I use.) A friend warned that my old programs might not install in Vista. I've installed a few now. So far, everything works. So here is the conclusion: except for the pretty translucent aero effect, Vista is identical to XP in every way if you don't think about the few bugs. So if you are into pretty (like me), do get it. It looks cool! It's fun watching the windows pop open and then vanish when you close it! But if you think that sounds stupid, then there is no question XP with SP2 is better in the sense that it is more stable and have fewer bugs. I have to admit that I am slightly disappointed that the aero thing is all that I am getting out of a brand new operating system. Considering how long it took Microsoft to work on Vista, I thought it'd be a lot more exciting. Maybe they have been concentrating on programming "Are you sure" into every move anybody makes. Back when I upgraded from Windows 95 to XP, there were a so many fun new impressive things to enjoy. So the next time another new Windows come out, I won't bother with it. Comment | Permalink | function showYesNoCommunityResponse(uId,result,value) { var msgLayer = getElement("thanks" + uId); if ( result == "SUCCESS" ) { msgLayer.innerHTML = "Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided to other Amazon.com readers and reviewers. Your vote will be counted and will appear on the product page within 24 hours."; } else { showVoteErrorResponse(msgLayer,result,value); } } (Report this)