The Vista Wowersize

Canyon — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 04:21:21 +0000

I have come to confirm my earlier impressions about Vista. I have determined that it has stabilized into a good “Power User” operating system. I still hesitate to endorse it outright, and will caution any prospective users, due to it’s many issues and complications. I don’t think it is justified for most typical users. For power users who will use it’s updated features, and are willing to work past it’s issues, it is functional and even positive.

My friend is definitely a power user. While not a professional Geek, he certainly enjoys the learning and doing parts enough to have grown well beyond casual use. He frequently trouble shoots his own problems, customizes his software configs, and tweaks his system in interesting ways. I know that when I get a call from him, either he needs a sounding board to bounce an idea off of, or he has a real problem that will require more than a reboot or a reinstall.

He has had his share of Vista complications. Foremost of which is Cannon’s decision to support Vista on it’s combo Printer/Scanner/Copier/Fax systems starting with the model directly after his. He was able to get the XP driver installed and he can at least print. Alas, scanning and faxing seem lost to him. His other major issue, which others have repeated, is installing software. His work around to the access issues he has encountered is to use the “Run As” command on the Setup.exe in order to execute it as Administrator. This has resolved the majority of his issues, although it did require several reinstalls of software he has setup before discovering it.

In the end he is genuinely happy with both Vista and his new hardware. I hope that others find Vista as positive an experience as he has. Unfortunately from the reports I have read, he seems to be among the minority.

Supprising shades of Vista

Canyon — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 22:40:27 +0000

I did my first official Windows Vista install on Tuesday night. A good friend wanted to “make the leap” with the new PC he was purchasing. His logic was sound enough. “I’m going to need to upgrade eventually, might as well do it now when the hardware is new and I have to reinstall everything anyway.”

I have just heard the first reports back and he described it as “Blown Away.” He seems to be enjoying Vista itself, beyond the new hardware benefits he is getting. I hope that my cautionary tales of Vista’s successes and failures helped him in having a positive, yet realistic, mindset for the transition. I will gather more in depth information tonight and we’ll see if the initial enthusiasm holds up under scrutiny.

Canyon R » Computers

The Vista Wowersize

Supprising shades of Vista