Getting  Along With Your Computer Column Archive

Vista: Cancel, or Allow?
By Cate Eales
Appeared August 9, 2007 on castanet.net

This week's email contained a note from a very happy Windows Vista user. By coincidence, I'd just finished setting up a new Dell laptop with Vista for a client, and I had made some notes for a Vista-related column. So here we go.

Comments from a Vista convert
"Dee" wrote a very thorough critique of her Vista experience. It reads in part:

Well Cate, after all the reading and being told what not to buy - I ignored others and went with my own feelings and research. Checked out CNET and Consumer Reports. Guess what, Dell got the Editors Choice for the Inspiron 531 from CNET. It was highly rated by users...

For so long I had people tell me to stay away from both. Jumped in with both feet and bought a Dell Inspiron 531 with the Athlon Dual Core Processor - no Intel for me, preloaded with Vista Home Premium. I got comments about Vista, "oh no, wait till they get the bugs worked out." That comment resounded so many times. I waited till July and figured it was time.

I turned off the security in it and it no longer asks me for authorization. It downloads and opens the programs in a blink. The startup list can be changed to the classic format, and the background pics are much more colorful. My icons can be changed for each program, there are many groups to choose from and not just one. The mail takes some getting used to as the screen kind of fades away upon closing the open mail. I have the choice to import my mail from other programs, or import email accounts for others...

In fact I love my Dell, and I love Vista. My old computer ran XP and this is such an improvement. All the commercials with PC and Apple bantering I laughed at, as Apple was running Vista down. Like anything people have to get used to new programs...
 

Comments on the comments:
Vista is very pretty. The icons and visual effects are fresher and more beautiful than XP. The new arrangement of the menus takes some getting used to, but the Search feature is spectacular. They could have called it "Find" that's how good it is.

I ran the Decrapifyer program, and I was impressed with how little garbage Dell included for their Canadian customers. In just over ten minutes, all the trial offers and Norton Anti-Virus were out of there. (Yes, I certainly did install another anti-virus program!)

I also installed the drivers for the client's HP Laserjet printer, and I was impressed with how smoothly that went. And, it was so easy to set up both a wired and a wireless connection, I wasn't sure it had actually happened until I opened the browser and found myself online!

But I now understand why User Account Control is the most reviled feature of Windows Vista.
Dee wrote that she had disabled this feature. The temptation is strong, especially if you are the only one using the computer. However, in my client's case, we actually need UAC, and I bet the people who use the computer are going to find it annoying. That Apple commercial is right: You can turn it off but then it doesn't protect you at all.

If you want to turn off User Account Control, try this, or this  Just realize you won't be protected from yourself. Yikes!

Finally, if you're wondering about taking the plunge to Vista, I would say this:

If you use your computer for email, web browsing, photo editing, word processing, spreadsheets, and other fairly routine tasks, then be assured that Vista will certainly do all that, and may do it faster and more stylishly than your XP machine. If, on the other hand, you rely on other programs --- accounting software, web design programs, etc. --- to get work done, it's important to check beforehand whether your programs can be expected to work with Vista.

In my client's case, before they ordered the PC, we checked with the developer of the one program the client actually must be able to run, and found that it "should" work. And luckily it does. We also checked the HP Laser printer site to be sure there were Vista drivers, and there were. Microsoft is expected to address some of the bugs and compatibility issues in the first Vista Service Pack, which is currently scheduled for later this year.

Dee (and my client, too!) did the smart thing by purchasing a computer with a valid copy of Windows Vista already loaded on it, and with some warranty support. Those things are especially important if you want to make the switch to Vista now. What about it? Have you made the switch? Email cate@rlis.com and tell me why or why not!

Thanks for your questions and comments. Please keep them coming! And don't forget to check out the column archives. You can look at any of the past columns any time.  If you'd like to subscribe to this column by email, please visit this link.  It's easy, and free. If you'd prefer the RSS Feed, click here.


Links
PC Decrapifier http://www.pcdecrapifier.com/
AVG Free Anti-Virus http://free.grisoft.com/doc/download-free-anti-virus/us/frt/0
Wikipedia article: User Account Control http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_Account_Control
Apple commercial: Windows Vista Security http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2bByYgk4dk
Turn off Vista UAC, method 1: http://www.petri.co.il/disable_uac_in_windows_vista.htm\
Turn of Vista UAC, method 2: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/disable-user-account-control-uac-the-easy-way-on-windows-vista/
Get Cate's column by email http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub=20618
RSS Feed: http://rlis.com/rlis.xml
Cate's list of good, free software http://rlis.com/columns/column75list.htm

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Cate Eales has been helping people make online computing safe, accessible and fun for over 20 years. She lives in Kelowna with her husband, Eric, and her dog, Sandy. Cate is a partner in Real Life Internet Solutions, helping individuals and small businesses with virus, spyware and malware eradication; personal computer training and management; digital image management; music transfer; and website design, hosting and management. Email Cate at cate@rlis.com with your comments, suggestions, or questions. To browse the column archives, visit the Real Life Internet Solutions website at www.rlis.com.