Windows Vista
Leave it to Microsoft to reinvent the wheel. Just when users get XP down, MS changes the game. Windows' users are slow to pick it up, sales are half of what XP's were at this point. User's experiences with Vista vary widely. Some folks hate Vista. Some folks really like it. They've probably got very powerful computers running it. Vista really needs a dual-core processor (not a low-end Celeron) and at least 1 GB of RAM, preferably 2 GB's. But you can get by with less. In our tests, it easily uses twice the RAM that XP uses.
What Happened?
Five to six years of development and a lot of over-engineering. All of which became one big, fat version of Windows. Well, get used to Vista if you don't have a copy of XP. And some of the newer hardware is Vista-only anyway. On the bright side, if you're running Vista, you got some new features to enjoy. The Aero desktop. Enhanced 3D. A new sidebar. Lots of eye candy. But Vista's got new security features too, primarily User Account Control (UAC). There's Parental Controls now. Anti-spyware's built in using Window's Defender. Some versions, Ultimate and Enterprise, have BitLocker for encrypting and securing the hard drive.
What To Do?
It"s an uphill climb for many Vista users at this point. UAC is very confusing. It's keeping users from installing software, constantly throwing pop-ups in front of users and generally making Vista a pain in the...neck. It may seem like a contradiction for a site pushing secure computing to recommend disabling UAC. But UAC is fraught with problems, not the least of which is the nuisance factor. If you want a more user-friendly Vista, we recommend disabling UAC, click here. Reviewing the Startups in msconfig wouldn't hurt either. All in all, Vista's a manageable operating system, it's just going to take some getting used to...