Regardless of the slow sales, the "downgrade to XP" options offered by some PC vendors, and the Vista bashing left and right in blogs and reviews, I like Vista. Since this is a "user experience" blog I will not talk much about its underlying technologies, although there certainly are some interesting innovations there, but mostly about my experience as an advanced home user. I say "advanced" because I have been using home computers for almost 25 years now, starting with the beloved and fondly remembered Sinclair ZX81 and illustrious Commodore 64 systems that my dear dad bought for me when I was still in my teens. Needless to say, we have come a long way since then. Home computers and their operating systems are vastly more powerful nowadays then they were back then, but definitely also more complex, and perhaps a tad less fun than they used to be. The days of nightly assembly hacking sessions are long gone for me, but I still enjoy using and experimenting with home computers.
So what is there to like about Vista? Quite a few things, actually:
- The looks: it just looks good, which is something I have always appreciated in especially home computers. Beauty is only display deep, but it matters. Apple know this very well, for instance. The transparent glass window borders, the color schemes, the desktop icons (except their default over-sizedness and the obtrusive "link" arrows), the side bar and its default set of gadgets: it all looks clean, well designed, harmonious, pretty.
- The plug-and-play functionality: it just works, which is something any home user will appreciate, perhaps after past experiences that were less than satisfactory (not to mention unfortunate blue screen of death events during public demos). With the exception of beta versions of Vista, so far I haven't plugged in anything yet that didn't just work after a brief delay for driver installation: printers (old and new), digital cameras, digital camcorders, webcams, external hard disks, you name it. This has always been an area where Apple used to shine, compared to Windows run hardware, but with Vista it's getting pretty close (and it's harder in the Windows case, due to the more open nature of these systems).
- The set of included applications: rather complete, and with good basic functionality. Vista Home Premium, which is the version I am using, comes with Windows Calendar, Contacts, Defender (spyware protection), DVD Maker (DVD disc composition and burning), Mail, Media Center (to use your PC as an Audio-Video center for the living room), Media Player, Meeting Space (document and desktop sharing), Movie Maker (capturing/creating, editing, and publishing digital movies), and Photo Gallery (digital photo management). There is also a bunch of minor applications, games, and utilities (including for backup and restore), and of course Internet Explorer 7 and the Explorer (which owns the windows you see when you double click the "My Computer" icon, for instance). None of this functionality is really new or unique to Vista, but it all comes pre-installed, works well, works together, and is pretty easy to use also for non-expert users. Perhaps the only thing that could be considered missing for home use is a simple word processor. Once could of course buy MS Office for this, which certainly does the job but is expensive and probably overkill. Fortunately there are excellent and free alternatives like OpenOffice . The latter works very well (also on Vista), and is file compatible and (by and large) user interface compatible with MS Office.
Especially the included applications are relevant for home use, in my opinion. A PC with just an operating system isn't much use to the typical home user, and more often than not one does not want to fork out several hundred euros/dollars more to buy application software, after spending up to a thousand or more on a shiny new PC. The Vista applications are not necessarily the most sophisticated of their kind, and for each one there are a number of good commercial or free alternatives, but the important point is that they are sufficient for typical home use, work well, and are easy enough to use. To name just two, I have been rather impressed with Mail and Movie Maker both in terms of functionality and ease of use, although I have used several alternatives for each in the past.
There is another reason why a substantial set of included applications is a good thing. Experience shows that the best way to have and keep a computer (and operating system) stable it to install as little software as possible on it. The best option is to not install anything other than what came with the system (hardware and operating system), which is of course only possible if the set of included applications is sufficient.
If there is one thing that a home user does not want to be bothered with, it's system management or computer maintenance. Unfortunately, some amount of maintenance is typically required to keep a system running well, and as an insurance policy for when (not if) disaster strikes. Vista takes care of most system maintenance tasks automatically, which can only be applauded. It also includes a backup (and restore) application, which when configured to be used with an external hard disk is of the set it and forget it kind - i.e. the kind most suitable for home use. While the concept and mode of operation of this backup application is great, it does unfortunately have some glitches which could cost you dearly given the wrong circumstances. But that will be the subject of another, necessarily a bit more technical, posting.
Johan
