It’s been several months since I wrote my piece about the Vista install fest. I think it is time to revisit Vista and take a look at how it has worked in the real world.

I run Vista on two machines. My desktop runs Vista Ultimate and my tablet runs Vista Ultimate, but doesn’t do Aero. I have gotten adjusted to how it works in both places and have come to love and hate pieces of the OS.

What I love:

• Ok, I’ll admit it, some of what I love is pure and simple eye candy. I like being able to flip through what is open on my desktop with a key press and it is one of the things I miss on my tablet. (No aero, no flip.) I like the nice clean desktop backgrounds. I like having the moving backgrounds that comes with Vista Ultimate Extras, especially when I am presenting. Yeah, it’s cool to watch people’s faces as the realize that the background of my desktop is actually moving. (Bruce’s laptop, not mine. My tablet doesn’t do Aero…)
• Another Aero feature I love is the miniature of the app that shows when I arrow over things in my taskbar. Seeing what is there, not just the name of the app helps. I miss it on my tablet.
• I like being able to adjust my thumbnails to the size I want them to be. I tend to go with big ones for folders that contain pictures, smaller ones for folders that are docs.
• Speaking of pictures, I do like the new Movie Maker. Pulling together a bunch of pictures for a quick video and then using that video as a background for the desktop: Pure fun. No real reason for it other than the “because I can” factor, but then again… I am a geek.
• I like the gadgets and the sidebar idea. I keep a different set on the two machines, based on what I do on the two machines.
• I love the new games. I have even grabbed the Hold ‘Em Ultimate Extra. It is a good game and remembers my scores. In fact, I find myself playing games I haven’t played in years because they are subtly different under Vista than under Windows XP.

Things I have come to depend on:

• I am getting to the point where the new search comes naturally to me. I like how easy it makes it for me to find things on my machine.
• I am getting used to the new Windows Explorer. I still get myself into places where I can’t access things, but that is happening less and less.
• I like the new stacking of apps in the folders under the Vista–> All Programs menu. Takes up less desktop space when it is open.
• Hooking up to wireless and wired networks while traveling is easier. I like being able to just see the network and connect. Seeing whether it is local or local and internet is great. Being asked whether it is home/office/public means I am safer. Remembering to save the setting is a pain.

Things I wish worked:

• Well, let’s start with my tablet. The handwriting is much better than previously. But what good is it if I can’t turn my screen? Why aren’t there Vista drivers out there for so many basic things? I want Aero on my tablet, but I won’t ever have it. Guess I will have to hope for it to work on the next one.
• Networking… I am still having problems figuring out where to put things so that I can access them from more than one machine. Probably if I sat down with Bruce and actually went over what was where, it would help… but who has the time for that? He says it won’t take long to explain it or do it, then I have to get used to it.
• My SATA drive still doesn’t like my motherboard on my desktop machine. We solved the problem by putting the drive in an external enclosure and hooking it up via USB, but I shouldn’t have had to do that.
• My printer and my scanner don’t have Vista drivers. Luckily both work with the generic drivers, but I would like to be able to use the software that came with them and I can’t.
• Second Life still doesn’t run under Vista. That means we have to have a specific machine just for it. If that machine is in use for client work by one of us, no Second Life time.

All in all… I think I will stay with Vista. It works well enough and doesn’t crash. I will keep hoping for the device drivers to catch up and for things to improve. For now, it is good enough.

Tags: vista, tablet pc, aero, drivers