With the introduction of every new operating system from Microsoft, companies spring into action to offer software that really will make you a expert tweaker, expert system cleaner, expert security guru and any other extra you may want to be. So I found it interesting that products are popping up promising all of the above plus more, and for as little as $39.95. One such product I found is called Vista Manager.

According to the site information, Vista Manager promises:

“Why Should I use Vista Manager?

Windows Vista is the new Operating System for home users and professionals alike. Windows Vista brings clarity to your world, so you can more safely and easily accomplish everyday tasks and instantly find what you want on your PC.

Vista Manager is the powerful software tool to tweak and optimize your Windows Vista, it bundles more than 30 different utilities in one and help your system faster and more stable, secure and personal!”

Sounds very impressive. One tool that does 30 things. STOP! These all-in-one gadgets usually don’t work very well. They are generally half-ass products that do a half-ass job. This type of software has been floating around since Windows was in knickers. Most professionals know that if you want great tools, you get separate tools designed to do specific jobs.

They go on to say:

“Information
Get detailed system and all hardware information on your system; show all detailed information of running processes and threads on your machine; Vista Manager offers 1-clicking cleans your system automatically.”

Vista already does this. The new operating system provides all hardware and system information including system processes. One click cleaner? Oh, like disk cleanup which is also included with Vista. In fact it has been around for quite some time.

How about this:

“Network
Optimize your Internet connection speed, manage all shares items; tweak your Internet Explorer easily.”

Vista has one of the better network sharing and easy of access to both wi-fi and hard wire LANS - WANS. Internet Explorer 7 has built in tools and added security to prevent ‘critters’ from making changes to your system.

I could go on, but you get the point. I’m not picking on Vista Manger as a product. But all products that claim to be all-in-one protectors and basically perform some of the functions that are already built into the operating system. Over the years too many consumers have fallen for this ploy and have ended up wasting their money on products which provide very little in return.

So this is more like a warning. Be careful what you buy.

Comments welcome.

[tags]vista, microsoft, manager, software, [/tags]