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The world may have embraced Tech in a big way and transformed the Geek from zero to hero, but when it comes to a new operating system, the same old caution sets in. Reception towards the new Windows Vista is not too different from the slow public conversion to Windows XP half a decade ago.
Those who say they were right to wait it out then, with the many fixes, patches and eventual roll-out of Service Pack 2 for the XP are singing the same song about Windows Vista despite this being the longest-in-the making Windows OS and intensive testing (more than five million beta versions downloaded and tested worldwide) that has made this the most responsive release yet, from Microsoft.
Vista also rolled out on the promise of a more stable, secure and overall enjoyable computing experience. Those who faulted the XP for its many loop holes that made end-users vulnerable to hackers and other malicious attacks, should appreciate the fact that Vista was created from the painful lessons of XP and a promise of a system where security is not easily compromised.
In fact, security experts say much of the current popular malware that can infest Windows PCs will have a harder time doing so on Vista. Security vendor Symantec which ran a test by sending about 2,000 malicious code samples to a Vista system found that more than half couldn't launch and only about six percent managed a full compromise.
Of course, it will be only a matter of time before the attackers work out a way to hit Vista users, hopefully, that time will be a long way off.
Windows Vista comes in four versions - Home Basic, Home Premium, Business and Ultimate.
If you bought a new budget PC or laptop late 2006 or early 2007, your device may have been bundled with the Windows Media Centre instead of Windows XP. That's close to what you can expect with the no-frills Vista Home Basic that offers Windows security and Internet explorer.
If you were happy running XP Home, then upgrading to Vista Home Premium will have you more than satisfied with the totally new experience in store, such as the 3D flip navigation option which allows you to stack all open files, Meeting Space which allows you to find and connect with friends online to share documents and the Media Centre which can be linked up to the home entertainment (or Xbox 360 console) for a new way to enjoy videos, photos and music.
This is missing, of course, in the Business bundle which has essentials such as back-up features and remote desktop connectivity.
Those who constantly work on their laptops or work both at home and in the office, will want all that's in the Home and Business OS, and that's the Ultimate. Apart from letting you have it all, the Ultimate has one extra programme that none of the others have, the BitLocker Drive Encryption programme that protects your data should you lose your device.
Of course the lamest excuse to getting the Ultimate would be that it comes in a stunning black package that really makes it stand out from the rest of the family.
Now, before you dismiss the Home versions, you'll have to understand that despite the difference in applications, there remain some fundamental features enjoyed in all versions of Vista.
The first would be the rich interface. Yes, there are many who have said "it's just like what you'd see on a Mac" and some have gone as far to dub Vista, "Vastly Inferior Software To Apple's" but the grin will stay on your face when you encounter Vista after the XP and the other earlier Windows operating systems.
There are bright icons to remind you of what's on the PC and alongside the start button (which remains where you last saw it, in the lower left corner), there is something new, the Search function. This is very handy as all you need to do is to type in the word and every item with that word will pop up, from programme, document or photo on your PC(so you don't need to remember which drive or folder) to Contact list entry and even items on the Internet.
While that function DID exist in XP, it was limited and worse, a slow and tedious process. Now, the results are almost instantaneous.
Another Vista 'standard' is the Media Centre which organizes the Music and Video collections that you have compiled or downloaded, a Photo Gallery and enchanced Movie Maker which allows you to easily upload, fix and transfer photos and videos, even to DVD. What's even better is, if you made a mistake 'fixing' a photo, you can always get back to the original, untouched.
Since security was a major criticism of Windows XP, developers decided to make Vista a more secure platform.
Security isn't about who or what your keep out, it is also about how the PC is used and so with Vista, parents can set in their kids' accounts, where they can go on the Net, what they can or cannot see, and also set the day and time for the youngsters' computing.
There's also greater in-built security from Windows Defender which monitors changes to the system (which means the presence of malware), a Phishing filter to sniff out bogus websites and stronger defaults in Internet Explorer 7 to prevent the installation of malicious codes and identity theft.
As mentioned earlier, the interface is rich in graphics, so for those who just love being surrounded by those they love, Vista allows you to bring up a stamp-sized Photos Gallery that sits on the desktop alongside other 'gadgets' such as a Sunflower clock, calendar and 'speedometer' on the amount of RAM your device is taking up with each application being run.
Admittedly, it will take a fraction of your computing time to get used to the fresh interface, but if a kid below age 10 can zoom around without a proper introduction to the new OS, I am sure you can get used to it in a few seconds.
So even if you get the Home Basic, you won't be terribly short on fun when it comes to computing.
With the Ultimate (as well as Home Premium and Business), you enjoy another element of the rich interface, the Aero, which transforms content not in use into a translucent graphic that's 'pushed' into the background until it's needed.
What I liked about using Vista was not just the 'overall look'. While it was definitely more pleasant to the eye, what was nice about this OS was that it was also more intuitive, you didn't have to guess what was in folders for instance, as there would be little thumbnails to show you that the cryptic-named folder in fact contains photos and scraps of memo.
The 'gadgets' that appear on the Sidebar also made things less boring and if you are inclined, you can create your own gadget which can join the many that are already online and free to download.
The downside is the OS with eye candy is heavy, the Vista Ultimate for instance requires 1GB of system memory and 40GB on your hard drive, while the Home Basic requires 512MB of system memory and 20GB on the hard drive. In both cases, there must be at least 15GB of space on the hard drive before installing Vista.
The Vista will run on either a 32bit or 64bit processor and for the higher end Business and Ultimate, you will need a machine with the newer dual core processors.
Along with the new operating system, the Microsoft group rolled out at the same time, Office 2007.
Like the OS, this has been a long time in the making, sports a new look and feel, and is divided into versions that vary according to how it would be used.
There's the Home and Student edition, the Standard, Small Business, Professional and Ultimate, and all will have the standard-bearers of the earlier versions of Office, namely Word, Excel and PowerPoint, with two versions of Outlook and a host of new applications scattered among the different versions.
Once again like the new OS, the Ultimate lives up to its name and includes all the programmes available in other suites and then more, which is InfoPath (to create forms) and Groove(a tool that allows teams to collaborate on documents without leaving their desks). Ultimate also has OneNote which is available only in the Home and Student version of Office and helps users to organize different bits of notes kept in the PC.
The Small Business Office will probably satisfy those who bring work home or work off their office laptops, and even the high-end home user. It comes with an enhanced Outlook programme that manages the Calendar, email and contact list, and offers Publisher.
The Professional has the same as Small Business Office but with just one extra component - Access, which is to create and manage databases.
But is it any better, you ask?
Well, the experience is vastly different from the 'old Office' which you will be calling the 2003 version just that once you try Office 2007.
The document pages (whether Word, Excel or PowerPoint for instance) will open up with the familiar top task bar, which the people at Microsoft have now dubbed 'the ribbon'.
Whatever you choose to call it, you'll find that this is more than a name change.
Rather than a static bar, the 2007 version of the taskbar will change as you change your document, whether it's a graphic insert or font change. You also get to view what the change will look like before committing to it.
What's even more impressive is its 'cleverness', asking if the document is to be saved as a 2007 version or for an earlier version, which means you can go from Vista PC running Office 2007, to XP machine with Office 2003, without dropping a full stop or any loss in quality, be it font type or background colour.
The other programmes in Office 2007 are just as engaging and smart to use, and don't require a How-To crash course, even a child who'd learnt how to use Word 2003 in school a few weeks earlier, managed to open up Word 2007 and create a colourful document, without any guidance.
You can install Office 2007 on your XP machine, but be prepared to sacrifice on just a few of the graphical perks that's supported by Vista and also some space on your system.
Overall, the experience from Vista and Office 2007 is "Wow".
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