Product Review: Windows Vista Home Premium Edition

Recently I purchased a new Sony Vaio laptop, which came pre-loaded with the new Windows Operating System, Vista. I was somewhat leery of using something so new form Microsoft, especially without any patches available the day I bought it. But, I tucked my fears of the new bug-infested operating system deep inside me and decided to shell out the money for the new laptop anyway. The only reason I went ahead against my better judgment was because I already own one Vaio and love it. I thought for some reason that the actual brand of the computer would trump the inadequacies that would come with Vista. Well, since the version of Vista that was pre-installed was the Home Premium edition, I felt a little more at ease than if it were only the Home Basic edition.

Never-the-less I fired up the new computer, eager to see what all of the fuss was over Vista and how it could be so much better than any other Microsoft operating system. Even though it was set up a little different, it ended up being basically the same idea as XP. Microsoft has made it a little easier to understand which things do what and have re-worded some of the features and functions. Basically, it's so easy a monkey could run it. With this in mind, I then tried to add the new laptop to my wireless home network. This was where I was stopped dead in my tracks. As it turns out, Vista does not like to play nice with many of the routers already on the market. There are many reasons for why this is, from the firmware of the router not communicating properly with Vista or the router and Vista not "talking" fast enough and the packet gets dropped somewhere in the 2nd layer of the topology layers.

Since I am a network and security professional, I tried my hardest to fix the problem of the new computer not wanting to connect to my network. I configured everything that could be configured, uninstalled and reinstalled drivers, and even went as far as entering my configurations manually and turning "down" the security of my router. After banging my head against the wall several times, calling the support line for the router and the computer companies, and Googling for answers until my fingers bled, I threw in the towel. I finally had to do what I did not want to do; I went and purchased a new router that specifically stated it was "Vista Ready". My old router was barely a year old, but I knew I had tried everything and had to just bite the bullet and shell out more money for a new router.

Well, problem solved. I officially can connect to my wireless router and I can even see the rest of my network. Am I happy that I had to shell out extra money for a new state-of-the-art router? No. Am I happy that the problem is fixed? Yes. However, I am very displeased with two things. I am very unhappy with having to shell out more money than I thought when I first purchased the computer; all because Vista is temperamental. And I am also unhappy that according to others around the world that are having "problems" with Vista, the router situation is a drop in the bucket. I am now having problems with the security suite that I use on my other two machines. It seems that Vista doesn't like it just like it didn't like my router. I can't wait to pay out even more money to the endless pit that is Vista.

All I can say is if given the chance I would go back to Windows XP in a heartbeat. I don't think they should have released Vista, knowing that they were having so many problems during Beta. All I keep thinking is "Way to think of your customers first Bill, great job." Of course, he's probably smart enough not to use his own operating system. I wonder if he uses Linux?