Vista has launched today, and it's the biggest piece of computer news since Google bought YouTube. And just like that deal, most people aren't going to be affected right away. However, when you're talking about the latest version of the most dominant software application in the world, it's important news.
With all the press conferences, launch parties, and talk show appearances, it can be a little overwhelming. Don't be dazzled by all the hype. The computer you've been using for the past few years isn't going to blow up or stop working now that Vista is out. The world is going to continue on as normal, but it's good to know what has happened, and how the launch of Vista will change computers.
What does Vista mean for the average person
Is that computer you bought last year totally worthless?
Of course not. The most common statement you'll hear about Vista, is that it's great and does a lot of cool things, but you don't need to switch from XP. And really, you don't. Just like when XP launched, most people didn't upgrade for a year or two. For most people, their Windows got upgraded when they purchased a new computer, and the same thing will happen here.
Personally, I think of it this way. Don't upgrade to Vista until you're getting a new computer. When that happens go with Home Premium.
If you're in the market for a new computer then hold off for a month or so until all the new computers come with Vista preinstalled as standard.
While Vista has a lot of cool features under the hood that'll be immediately useful when you upgrade, it's better to couple it with all new hardware. This way you don't deal with any weird licensing issues. Also, the cost of powerful computers are going to take a sharp decrease in the near future as the demand of better processors and graphics cards skyrockets due to the more demanding needs of Vista. When you run Vista with the right hardware, you'll get all the cool features, both seen and unseen, and the whole new computer experience will feel substantially more significant.
The coolest parts of Vista
When you do eventually upgrade to Vista there are a bunch of cool things you'll notice right away, and some that you won't that'll make using your computer a better experience. Here's a few.
New and improved base
Some of the most important new features of Vista are things most people won't even be aware of. However, these new paradigms and technologies will make life easier for a very important group of people: software developers. A lot of people like to think that the desktop is dead, but they're wrong. The desktop is alive and kicking, and Vista is now entering the new generation of operating systems that OSX has pioneered. This will cause a resurgence of cool new desktop applications that the web won't be able to compete with.
The great thing about the new Vista technologies is that these desktop applications will all be "next generation". They're all going to have cool Internet related functionality, and they're all going to look very cool and spiffy. This is because Microsoft has made it extremely easy to make spiffy, Internet connected applications. What this means is that we're going to get some cool applications, but they won't come out for a little while. However, in 6 months to a year there should be a flood of brand new applications that'll make upgrading to Vista extremely tempting.
Check out the video preview of Yahoo Messenger built for Vista.
Furthermore, the new technology architecture makes for a substantially better base to build off of for Microsoft. This means that new upgrades and features will incorporate into Vista better than with Windows XP. Just look to OSX for an example of this flexibility. Apple spent a long time working on OSX, and the first version of OSX wasn't very good, but it laid a solid foundation that has paved the path to making each subsequent version have great new features in a timely basis.
New security features
I take pretty good care of my computer, because I'm anal. However, I have a lot of friends who don't. As a result, every time they start up their computer they have to wait 3 minutes for the thing to settle down, and then their bottom right notification area is a ridiculous collection of icons that don't mean anything. This is actually one of the main reasons why I always recommended Apple computers to my friends. It's a lot more difficult to screw up your system with a Mac.
If what Microsoft says is true, then it'll be a lot more difficult to screw up your computer with Vista. From the early signs there has definitely been a major improvement overall to the way the security system works inside of Vista that should make your system run better for a longer period of time.
I'm still not sure if it's better to upgrade early or later, in terms of viruses. If you're early then hackers haven't had much time to dissect the software, so you have a window of peace before the assault begins. At the same time, because the software is new, there could be unknown holes until later on when the obvious holes are found and corrected. Either way, if you're smart about things, you should be safer overall. In general you'll be able to protect your computer from yourself, and that's just better overall.
Way more stuff built in
Finally, Windows will ship with DVD burning software, and a decent photo system. You don't have to use the crappy software that comes with your digital camera. And you don't have to download some sketchy freeware version of DVD burning software. These two aren't the only examples of built-in software as a lot of common software now comes with Vista out of the box, including Calendars and Movie Maker. Essentially taking another page out of the Apple book. Fine with me! That was the other reason I recommended Macs was because of all the great software that was included without having to buy 3rd party stuff.
The photo library is one of the biggest new features that will have the most significant impact. Everybody has digital cameras nowadays, and there's so many different photo management programs out there, a lot of them being pretty horrible. Having a standard system that's actually decent makes life easier on everybody and will make sharing pictures a lot less painful.
Side Show
What? You don't know what this is? And yet it's probably one of the coolest features of Vista. Laptops are the way of the future. That's just the way things go. People like to have the portability of a laptop, so why buy both a desktop AND a laptop, just go with a good laptop and you're done. Well Side Show is extremely important for laptops and mobile devices because it lets you do a lot of cool things without draining that oh so important battery.
Essentially the basics of Side Show is a set of technologies that allows your computer to work on a secondary display while in a "shut down" state that lets you do simple tasks while consuming substantially less power than the normal working state. Some examples are listening to mp3s on your notebook while it's closed, or checking your e-mail. Very simple tasks that you can do without spending the time to turn on your computer and draining your battery. Moving forward there will be cool applications such as doing most mundane tasks in this low power state all of which will save you substantial amounts of battery power.
The issue with Side Show is that the set of technologies is pretty comprehensive, therefore, the computer you buy will explicitly state some kind of Side Show capabilities. Most of the notebooks that are shipping with Side Show capabilities right now are on the higher end of expensive. In the future as the technology becomes more commonplace then mainstream notebooks should start to see these features, and will probably fall at the same time that a large number of people are looking to buy new laptops anyway (in around 1 to 2 years).
Media Center included
Media Center is only included in Home Premium and Ultimate editions. Media Center is great even if you don't have a specially built Media Center PC. However, now that MC is part of the normal Vista package, hopefully a lot more computer will start shipping with the proper TV inputs built in. Once you connect TV to your computer you open up a whole world of new media experiences. Forget about Tivo as you can convert your computer, or Xbox 360 into a Tivo and accomplish the same tasks.
Incorporating MC into Vista isn't doing anything revolutionary as MC2005 already exists, it simply exposes all the cool stuff that MC does to a much broader audience, which will then make it likelier for companies to take advantage of the extra features that MC provides.
Vista and Gaming
Vista combined with a completely new marketing initiative by Microsoft will have a large impact on the PC gaming landscape. Games will be easier to use, easier to install, and the experience will be a lot more consistent across a variety of games. I'll be writing about this more in another article.
