Vista: What’s to like, and what’s to dislike

I already mentioned I’m a Mac user – and I’m a well-convinced convert to the cult of Mac. But there’s no denying that Macs are expensive (despite what Apple tell us) so when I’m at work we use PCs (I work for a church/charity, so we don’t have tons of money to splash around). We recently got a grant to buy laptops to provide internet access for our youth club and they come with Windows Vista Home Basic. This is my first go at using Vista, so I figured I’d record my initial impressions.

Note, these are initial impressions. I don’t know all the features etc. so I’m coming at this as a bit of a noob.

First: what’s to like?

1. Shiny visuals: Yes, shiny visuals impress me. The logo, backgrounds, even the new Start Menu all just look nice. Now, yes, I know people complained that Vista was only taking ideas from Mac OS X but, to be honest, if they’re good ideas what’s wrong with that? Reinventing them would have been stupid, wouldn’t it?
2. Web-controls: Since these laptops are going to be used by the youth club, it made sense to limit what websites they could be used to get into. The default content filter seems to be really good – I switched it on, left if on the default setting, and then tested out a few, er, dodgy sites. I’m happy to say I couldn’t get into any of them The only downside (and it’s a downside for EVERY content filtering system) is that it can be a little over-zealous at times. For instance, I can’t get into any WordPress.com or Blogspot.com blogs, and I can’t get into a few other sites that I know are OK but probably have some borderline words on them. Still, you can override the filter, which leads me on to the next point…
3. Parental and Program Controls: I’ve limited the programs that can be run by the youth club account to just things I know are safe. This one isn’t so much a case of trying to protect the kids delicate little minds from dodgy content, as trying to protect the computer from the kids! And, again, it seems to work very well. If a program is launched that isn’t on the approved list, the computer tells the user that and asks for an admin’s permission to continue. This is the same kind of system as is used when a blocked website is encountered. An admin can enter their password and give access, or deny access.
4. Game ratings: Vista knows what ratings games are! To be honest, I’m not entirely sure what use that is unless you’re blocking games, but it’s still pretty cool.
5. Windows Defender: A built in mal-ware protection program. It hasn’t caught anything yet, but it’s nice to know that it’s there, working away in the background, helping to keep the computer safe. Well, I think it is…

What’s not to like?

1. User Account Control: Yes, I know it seems like a good idea to ask the user if they are really sure they want to run a program that could d a bit of damage, but it actually gets really annoying after a while to have you screen keep on going dark and a dialog asking you if you really meant to click on that. Is there a way to turn that off?
2. Junk software:  As always, there was quite a lot of “junk” software on the computer when I got it. Demos of child-proof desktops, various ISPs, etc. Again, I know this might seem like a good idea given that some of the people who buy systems haven’t a clue and need to be guided through everything, but for me… it’s just annoying.
3. Shared Desktops and Start Menus – I can’t figure this one out. I know there’s a way to do it somewhere, but I can’t find the option anywhere. If one of the users adds an icon to their desktop, I really don’t want it to appear on mine. And if I delete items from the Youth Club start menu (because I don’t want people accessing those programs), it would be nice if they stayed on the administrator one. Now, as I say, I know there must be a way to have a personalised desktop and start menu, but I can’t figure it out. Anyone got some advice?
4. Show Desktop and Switch Between Windows: Why on earth are these buttons in the quick-launch menu? In my day we just pressed alt-tab or windows-m.
5. No recovery disc: Oh come on. Really. You must be saving about fifty pence by not giving me a recovery disc. Yes, I know there’s a hidden partition, but what if that gets corrupted or the entire disc goes up in smoke? Why make me burn the disc myself when you know it’s really important to have one?

OK, I’ll stop there. In general, Vista’s not bad. I’m probably just complaining about things because I’m not used to them, but that’ll fade. It’s still not enough to tempt me back from the Mac though…

~ by geekspeek on October 10, 2007.