Windows Vista Really Isn't All Bad

Microsoft Windows Vista has had its share of bumps and bruises. It was widely expected to be Microsoft's best operating system ever, and yet the reception of Windows Vista was mixed, if not sour. However, this is an undeserved reputation. For any number of reasons, Windows Vista is the best operating system out there today, and will, in retrospect, get the reputation that it deserves- as an excellent operating system that was a great stepping stone in making an even better operating system- Windows 7.

The first and probably largest criticism of the operating system is the User Account Control. This is the new feature in Windows Vista that requires that the user enter a password whenever they are going to do anything that changes system-critical features or settings. Many people say that the level of security is too high. The system prompts for the password, and prompts again, and then it prompts again. However, I feel that this is one of a great many features of the operating system that make it more secure than anything else that is out there today.

This feature is something that has been widely used for years in other operating systems, most notably Linux and Mac OS. Because it requests the password every time there is a change, it makes the operating system literally immune to viruses. If a virus gets onto the system, it has to request your password every time it wants to do something. Therefore, you will know and know that you have to remove it. With this in effect, Windows could conceivably be run entirely without antivirus software. I think that all of the nagging is worth it to get such a secure OS.

Another criticism of the operating system is that it has very long start times. This is one of those things that have been blown out of proportion by the "I'm a Mac" advertisements, as have many of Vista's supposed flaws. A good answer for this is to just put the computer into sleep mode. This is one of those things that Microsoft optimized to use very little power, and many people choose to never shut down their computer, but only put it to sleep. It resumes in less than five seconds, saves your session, and uses a bare fraction of the power. Furthermore, a good portion of the decrease in boot times occurs because people are putting this operating system on an old PC. Of course new software will boot slower if run on the same hardware. Vista is optimized for the newer computers, as was XP when it was released.

Yet another criticism that has been blown out of proportion is the fact that Vista has a built-in requirement that certain types of media be run encrypted if traversing something where it could be intercepted. This is mostly media from Hollywood, such as blu-ray and HD-DVD media. However, this criticism does not hold water. Not only will this feature not be enabled for at least two more years, it protects against piracy. Furthermore, it does not slow down the running of the media, so it can't possibly interfere with the user's enjoyment of the media.

Speed is yet another attack on the operating system, particularly in games. This is one of those attacks where Microsoft dropped the ball where they should have advertised the positives of their operating system. Where initially this was the case, and Vista was an extremely slow operating system, SP1 of the operating system sped it up to XP levels on most hardware, and SP2 sped it up even faster. Furthermore, many other of the problems were fixed in these service packs, including reducing the number of prompts in User Account Control, startup times, etc. These service packs were an extreme boon to the operating system, and changed the opinions of many users.

Overall, Windows Vista is an operating system that you should consider, despite what the critics say. The only situation in which I would say that you definitely shouldn't use this operating system is in the case of old hardware. The operating system definitely needs about 2 GB of Ram and probably a dual core processor. However, if you have that, this will give you a much better experience than what the critics would have you think.