money may not grow on trees...but there's no denying that the paper it's printed on comes from them!
money may not grow on trees...but there's no denying that the paper it's printed on comes from them!
Member since:11.04.2007
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I have now had a laptop (an acer apsire 5520) with Windows Vista Home Premium for a week, and I would like to share my experiences with you....
MY FIRST JOB It is important, that before I proceed, I tell you that there are lots of 'problems' that people claim to be experiencing with Vista, and by no means am I saying that this is not the case, however I have had no problems whatsoever yet. I have managed to run all of the programs I have wanted to gamewise, though there are only four I have used, namely Rollercoaster Tycoon, Rollercoaster Tycoon 2, Rollercoaster Tycoon 3(yes:-i'm an RCT fan), and finally Theme Hospital. I used Vista Home Basic earlier in the year, and was not at all impressed, as the laptops I had with Home Basic both went back faulty (took one back, the second was a replacement), though since then I have heard various people saying that the problems I experienced were typical of Gateway Computers, and that I should stay away from them if at all possible. Anyway, back on track now to my review.
SET UP My laptop came with Vista Home Premium pre-installed, as many new computers will now, After setting up two computers with XP and one of them two with Vista Home Basic, this was my first with Vista Home Premium. The on-screen instructions were easy to follow, set up was quick and easy and no matter how technologically minded you are you could quite easily manage to set it up with minimal problems, if any at all. The only one problem is tha for the first start up it warns that it could take up to half an hour, mine took about
three minutes, but does have a large amount of RAM and a fast processor, for a laptop, so if you get one it may take a little longer. All in all, no complaints here whatsoever for me.
START UP When you first turn on your computer it starts up almost the same as XP did, other than what was blue boxes for the loading has now turned to a green boxes instead-very..innovative? When it loads up, which takes about 15ish seconds on my computer, it comes up with a very nice green and blue screen with the user name(s) and a password box, and the usernames are now across the screen as apposed to in a list, not all that different when it comes to practicality, but much more aesthetically pleasing than XP. The operating system is displayed at the botom of the screen, a feature that annoyed me with basic, as it made me feel I could not afford a better system, and made me feel that I was lacking something. When you log on, there is a small animated circleto tell you tha the system is loading, and a very cool sounds effect to alert you when your settings have loaded and you can use the computer.
FINDING YOUR WAY AROUND When you first see Vista, you may wonder where the start button is, as this is now just a windows logo. Other than taht it works exactly the same way. The start menu works essentially as it did in XP, but now looks alot tidier as when you open up a folder to view programs in it, it opens within the original start menu as a 'subfolder', as apposed to falling out messily all over the rest of the screen. The buttons at the side of the recently used programmes (which is still there and is covered up by"all programs" when it is selected) do the same as those in XP, and are very functional, particularly for getting to pictures, music documents etc and your settings quickly. Another feature they have brought back from the graveyard that is windows ME is the recently opened doccuments function, which allows you to open any doccuments you have used recently without searching through files and folders for it, god for people who use certain doccuments alot more than others. Generally speaking the start menu may be a little confusing and hard to navigate at first, but when you get used to it it is very easy to use and much the same as XP.
CONTROL PANEL The control panel is one of the parts of Vista that I fail to see some of the practicality in. When it comes to personalization and themes, what you could do before all in one tabbed window, you now have to do in five seperate windows, and so if you want to chnge all five parts you have to press "apply" five times, as apposed to just the once, which seems a little odd to me. Never the less everything else there is easy to use. Setting things up such as power usage, mouse options, printer options etc etc could not be easier. Generally speaking, all easy to use, withthe exception of the dodgy personalisation aspect, that although it is easy to use, it is a little impractical.
APPEARANCE AND GRAPHICS One of the most stunning things about windows vista is the breathtaking graphics, the 3D effects are magical and all in all the whole graphical elements to Vista breathe new life into windows (aah, I see, thats where our breath goes that Vista took). The desktops backgrounds make you feel as if you could just reach insde your screen, and are mostly situated around nature, a feature I like, but some may prefer a more fun aspect. Either way, they are one up (ore nearer ten up) on previous operating systems, and are great. The screensavers are very good graphically too, and once again looks great. Microsoft has paid great attention to graphic detail, and it really does show. The new start-bar looks quite cool too, a change from the old solid coulors of previous operating system. You can now choose to have them semi-transparent, which is sometimes good, but sometimes makes it look a little dirty, such as if you have yellow desktop background under a black startbar it looks like a mucky brown, though this is easy enough to change, and lets face it, black and yellow were never the best of combinations anyway-sorry to anyone who likes them together. All in all, the Graphics are amazing though I would ook for a good graphics card, my laptop has a 128mb dedicated graphics NVidia GeForce graphics card and everything looks super on it. Either NVidia or ATI, I presume will br good, however I personally think that NVidia are better than ATI, but that is just me. Whatever you do, don't go for an intel media graphics card, as they really aren't great, if you don't really know much about graphics card, one tip is that if you get a computer with an AMD Processor then it is going to have a reasonable graphics card, as they can't use intel media graphics-my computer has an AMD processor, and all in all I find it much better than any intel I have ever used anyway.
GAMES There are several very good built in games to Windows Vista Hoem premium, many more than there is to basic, however an apology to people who liked internet reversi, internet backgammon, internet hearts etc etc, because these are no longer there. Another apology to thos who liked the 3D inball, as this has gone too-and I have to admit that I really liked the old pinball game, and am slightly let down by this. The new games include:- >Spider Solitare-not strictly new, however totally reformed, the same way of playing but more card options, more background felt options, and for a reason unknown to me, even though the name has stuck, nothing to do with spiders. >Chess Titans-A very good 3D Chess game, that is also good for learning how to play chess >Mahjong Titans-A great mahjong game, anyone who has played mahjong before and liked it will love this, as I do. It is really easy to use and great fun. >Purble Palace-A shape recognition and learning game for younger children, or adults that are really just big kids. Good for a laugh and educational for children, it is definately aimed at kids, but who cares, it is good fun. >Ink Ball-A good game, but best not to use it if you are impatient-you may end up throwing your computer out of a window. Generally the idea is to guide coulored balls into the corresponding holes, highly irritating, yet utterly addictive.
FLIP AND FLIP 3D One of the key points of vista is flip 3D, anyone who has seen vista promoted on the TV will no doubt have seen the 3D scrolling through open windows, yet the truth is, many people do not even know how to use it, from what I have heard. Let me enlighten those who fall into that category, you simple press down the windows key on your keyboard, then press tab. remove your hand from the windows key and it will zoom into the window displayed at the front of the 3D line. In truth, it is not overly practical, though it is usable, but who cares, it is there and looks good. Something you are probably more used to using is the "alt"+"tab" function, which is now known as "flip". This works exacly how it did before, but now displays a pictues of each open window rather than it's name and symbol, which is much more helpful than in XP.
READYBOOST Something I have not yet had to use, as I have 2GB of RAM already, I am not 100% sure how this works, however what I do know is that it enables you to use a memory stick/pen drive to plug into your computer and use it as RAM in order to boost your productivity and computer speed temprarily, needless to say, if you will only need to use it once a month or so, this is far more practical and viable than a RAM upgrade and will work in much the same way.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS My understanding of the system requirements is that the following are 'needed': 1024Mb or 1Gb or RAM 40Gb of Hard Drive 1Ghz Processor Speed Support for direct X 9 128Mb shared graphics Personally I would reccomend: 2048Mb or 2Gb of RAM more than 80Gb hard drive dual core, at least 1.6Ghz processor speed a good graphics card(NVidia or AT)
All in all, this is because idol system usage of vista on my computer uses around 500Mb or 0.5Gb of Ram on it's own, and uses about 20Gb or Hard drive space just for the preinstalled items, an gaphics are just much better with a good graphics card, and faster processor, though not essential will go a long way in performance.
CONCLUSION Windows Vista is a really good operating system, and can be baught for £99 from PCWorld. It is seriously worth considering fora high spec computer, or if you're buying a new computer, it may be a must. If you have the choice betwen Premium and Basic, go for Premium, as I was not at all impressed with Basic. It has to be said that I adore this operating system, and would be willing to reccomend it to anyone. Just make sure you have a high spec PC for it.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have found this helpful, if you have any quetion please let me know via a comment, and I will try to Answer them for you. Thanks again, Daniel C [aka ^_^EuroDC^_^]
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Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP2, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP1, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP1a - for PC - English - Quantity: 1, 3 - 1 user - CD-ROM
(+) Faster, good networking with other Windows machine, so far it has not crashed. (-) price, best to do a fresh install which will involve backup & restore of information
Windows Vista Home Premium is the operating system for homes with advanced computer needs. ... more
It will help you use your laptop or desktop PC more effectively as well as enable you to enjoy new, exciting digital entertainment experiences-all with the benef...
Postage & Packaging: £4.99 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Advantages: Tight security new entertaining games, Fast search Disadvantages: annoying when it always asks you if it should proceed into opening programmes
Advantages: If you have the hardware, the speed will be amazing. Disadvantages: If your not using a 64bit system. Only thing you will see different is the design.
Dec 22nd, 2007
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