thefutureissimple
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Hasta la Vista XP... NOT!
After hearing so much about the new Microsoft Vista, I've been a little resistant to bring it into my workplace, as making a change to a new operating system is a masochistic move that can only bring on additional pain and suffering. Mind you, I am not talking about a huge company with limitless resources and a dedicated support staff. No, we are a small company of professionals who depend on technology each and every day to get our things done, and the move to a new operating system that is basically unproven, delivered from a company infamous for security issues, sub-standard customer care and comprised of a convoluted usability interface is not something to look forward to. So we've not really paid it much mind.
Until last night.
I tried Windows Vista for the first time last night. The truth is, I was asked for help from my sister, who was having computer problems. When I offered to help, I was unaware that her computer was running the new OS. At first I was a little excited... I mean come on, its a new OS that Microsoft has been raving about for so long. It was almost, like that feeling one get when one is about to open a present.
So I played for about 5 minutes. Granted, it was not a long time, but I did get a basic feel for the system. In short, its the polished but slightly retarded cousin of Windows XP. In essence, Vista is the operating system that XP should have been... if it had wanted to be 'cooler' but slower and more annoying.
The truth is, I was utterly disappointed. I guess I knew I might feel this way, which might be why I had not had any desire to seek it out and play with it at all. While playing with Vista, on a computer that is arguably twice as good as the one that I use daily, I felt as if I had taken two steps back into the dark ages. The responsiveness of the system seems to have been tuned to give the impression of speed, when in reality it is as sluggish as can be. The start button and a few other key elements have been tweaked to be ultra responsive, but in essence I felt I was waiting longer for programs to start and load. Closing programs on the other hand was kind cool, as they disappear with a 'cool' effect, though looking at the system processes, the reality is simply that they get out of your way quicker, but are still closing in the background.
It is with all this in mind that my decision to not upgrade to Vista has been validated. In the end, I've already gone ahead and made a decision to wait for the next version of Apple's OSX, and simply migrate to Macs instead of the next version of Vista. The reason for this decision is simple... as a small business (or even as an individual), there is not enough time (or desire) to be continuously fussing around with security patches, system updates, anti-piracy registrations, and all the other overhead that comes along with running PC's. In short, the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) is pretty high with Microsoft products, something that is almost the opposite of the Apple products which I have tested and/or played with.
At the end of the day, it is also a leap of faith, and my faith in Apple has been earned, while my faith in Microsoft is almost expected - unfortunately, it is no longer there.... so all I have to say is Hasta la Vista, Vista!
Until last night.
I tried Windows Vista for the first time last night. The truth is, I was asked for help from my sister, who was having computer problems. When I offered to help, I was unaware that her computer was running the new OS. At first I was a little excited... I mean come on, its a new OS that Microsoft has been raving about for so long. It was almost, like that feeling one get when one is about to open a present.
So I played for about 5 minutes. Granted, it was not a long time, but I did get a basic feel for the system. In short, its the polished but slightly retarded cousin of Windows XP. In essence, Vista is the operating system that XP should have been... if it had wanted to be 'cooler' but slower and more annoying.
The truth is, I was utterly disappointed. I guess I knew I might feel this way, which might be why I had not had any desire to seek it out and play with it at all. While playing with Vista, on a computer that is arguably twice as good as the one that I use daily, I felt as if I had taken two steps back into the dark ages. The responsiveness of the system seems to have been tuned to give the impression of speed, when in reality it is as sluggish as can be. The start button and a few other key elements have been tweaked to be ultra responsive, but in essence I felt I was waiting longer for programs to start and load. Closing programs on the other hand was kind cool, as they disappear with a 'cool' effect, though looking at the system processes, the reality is simply that they get out of your way quicker, but are still closing in the background.
It is with all this in mind that my decision to not upgrade to Vista has been validated. In the end, I've already gone ahead and made a decision to wait for the next version of Apple's OSX, and simply migrate to Macs instead of the next version of Vista. The reason for this decision is simple... as a small business (or even as an individual), there is not enough time (or desire) to be continuously fussing around with security patches, system updates, anti-piracy registrations, and all the other overhead that comes along with running PC's. In short, the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) is pretty high with Microsoft products, something that is almost the opposite of the Apple products which I have tested and/or played with.
At the end of the day, it is also a leap of faith, and my faith in Apple has been earned, while my faith in Microsoft is almost expected - unfortunately, it is no longer there.... so all I have to say is Hasta la Vista, Vista!
Labels: Apple, microsoft, OS, Small Biz, software, TCO, Vista
¶ 10/04/2007 08:43:00 AM 0 comments
