So I got a chance to poke around Windows Vista a bit the other day, and I gotta say, I'm impressed, but not happy.  Now I didn't spend much more than two hours with it, and I certainly didn't go through everything there is to go through but here's a short list of pros and cons from my point of view:

 

PROS:

Pretty interface

Huge Frickin' Icons (if you like that kind of thing, they can be set to a variety of sizes)

The way it handles pictures is much better than XP

The install process.  Finally, an install process that isn't a chore, and isn't ugly

More secure, at lest till the bugs start being made public

limited rights for users

Did I mention the pretty interface?

 

Cons:

There's eight bloody versions ranging from the useless Home Basic to the does things you'll never need it to do Ultimate version

Price ranging from the expensive Home Basic, to the maybe I should just by a Mac Ultimate version

User Access Control.  Why do I need to be asked if I'm sure I want to run this application, only to be asked again if I'm really, really sure?

Security.  It's the most secure Windows yet!  So was XP, so don't expect Vista to be any different, it's just a matter of time till the bugs are  reported, exploited, then patched, and usually in that order.

Pretty interface.

 

Why is pretty interface both a pro and a con?  Well it's nice to look at, but you can get the same interface on XP for considerably less money.  The Apple style gadgets are all available for XP from various sources, not the least knows of which is Google.

 

User Access control was just annoying and should be shut off by anyone that has to install any number of applications.

 

One other interface feature was the fade and pop that windows seem to do by default.  Dialog boxs fade into view then Pop into focus.  Pretty cool the first time, kind of funky the second time, but when installing this one app, by the sixth dialog box, I was dizzy and my eyes hurt.  That got turned off quick.

 

What the hell is up with the 8 different versions?  Sure choice is good, but the vast majority of users can barely articulate "When I print, nothing happens".  How are they supposed to know which version is right for them? 

Sales Drone:  "what would you like to do with your computer"

Average Joe: "just email and the web"

SD:  "Well then Home Basic should be just fine for you and it's cheaper too"

AJ:  "sounds great, hook me up"

Fast forward 1 month later

Average Joe "this piece of shit, why can't I have email, the web, media player, and my movie maker open at the same time???  I should have bought a mac"

 

Now, some of you may get the idea that I'm a Mac fan boy, well I'm not.  I'm actually a Microsoft Certified IT guy and I've been doing this for a decade or more.  Vista is pretty, there's no doubt, it's more secure, for now, and the list of improvements over XP is impressive.  Compared to XP though, I feel that things have changed so much, and things have been moved around so much, and so much has been added that the learning curve for the average user moving from XP to Vista wont be that much greater than moving from XP to a Mac, but with a Mac you get a much nicer interface, a much nicer computer, and far fewer security headaches, at least for now.  Sure Mac's are expensive, but you get everything you need in one box, and you'll most likely need to buy a new computer anyway to take advantage of Vista.  May as well make your experience not suck out of the box and go buy a Mac.  If you're a PC gamer though  you're pretty much stuck with Windows.  Sorry about your luck.