Students not advised to rush into the ‘wow’ factor despite fancy new features
The new Microsoft operating system, Windows Vista, was released Tuesday, with lots of new features. However, along with these new features comes some consumer confusion.
Microsoft’s website declares, “The ‘Wow’ starts now.”
According to Microsoft, using Vista will make it easier to find and share files as well as back them up. Also, there are more gadgets, which are customizable mini-applications. These additions can provide users with instant weather, news, and traffic updates.
The new operating system is also declared to be “more entertaining.” There will be an available remote control to use with recorded TV, pictures, music, and DVD’s. If you own an Xbox 360 you can wirelessly connect to TV’s around the house and display the media from you computer.
Vista comes in multiple configurations for home, business, and professional users, leaving questions about which is the right one to purchase.
“It’s at a state of confusion right now with Vista, it will take some time to sort it all out,” said Chuck Johnson, a manager of the CU Bookstore.
PC users wanting to upgrade to most Windows Vista versions will need a computer that has at least a 1GHz processor, 1 GB of RAM, and a 40 GB hard drive. Current PC owners can go to Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor to see if their machine will run Vista with their current setup. Some PC computers being sold in the last year have come “Vista Ready,” letting consumers know that they will not need to upgrade their machine for the new operating system.
Johnson is not pushing students to go out and buy Vista quite yet. Students may want to be cautious because its likely there will be bugs with the program, just like any other software when it is released. It could cause problems that students do not have time to deal with in the middle of the semester.
“Sometimes I think the cautious and conservative perspective is a little bit more beneficial for people,” said Johnson, “This is not the time to lay-on a new learning experience,”
Scott Kearney, a junior economics and pre-law major has a “Vista Ready” machine, but has not decided yet if he is going to get the new operating system. He currently runs the Microsoft XP Media Center Edition 2005 and feels that it runs really great, so he is a bit reluctant to upgrade.
“It depends on the price; I hate to spend over $100 on a new operating system when I already have one,” Kearney said.
Some of the new features offered in Vista are similar to those that have been available on Apple computers for almost two years. Microsoft Gadgets closely resemble the Apple Widgets, which have been available since the release of OS X Tiger in April 2005. Apple also developed a media remote to work with the application Front Row, allowing users to access their home movies, DVD’s, music and pictures from across the room.
Apple is scheduled to release an upgrade to their operating system, OS X Leopard this spring. Features for this operating system will include Time Machine, which is an automated backup program. Boot Camp will also come standard allowing Apple computers with Intel processors to run both OS X Leopard and Windows XP.
You can find the Windows Vista Home Premium Upgrade Edition at the Buffalo Chip in the CU bookstore for $89.95.