[glug-t] Big Brother in the world of computing? Windows Vista is not all that good

  Windows Vista is not all that good
By Jay Dougherty
Washington, Feb 4 (DPA) Windows Vista is out. And by now, almost
everyone knows three things about Microsoft's first major operating
system release in five years: it has enhanced security features, a
snazzy interface, and better search capabilities.

But there's more to Vista than these three features - and the new is
not all good. While some of Vista's secrets are bound to surprise you
pleasantly, others could make you question your decision to upgrade
altogether.

With Vista, Microsoft has gotten stricter than ever on acceptable use
of its software. The company's Genuine Software Initiative has been
picking up steam over the past year, forcing users to "validate" their
version of Windows when a critical patch or desirable new feature is
made available over the Internet. If, through this check, the software
is deemed invalid, access to the download is denied. Complaints from
paying customers of Microsoft's software are not rare under this
system.

But with Vista, Microsoft has taken the Genuine Software Initiative to
a new level. If you fail to "activate" - or register - your version of
Vista with Microsoft within 30 days, the operating system goes into a
"reduced functionality mode," which essentially cripples the operating
system.

Once in reduced functionality mode, you'll be able to log on to Vista
for only one hour. After thhat, Vista will force a system shutdown.
Even during the hour you're logged on, Vista will disable the Aero
interface and several other key features that make Vista what it is.
About the only thing you'll be able to do is activate the product
using one of the acceptable methods.

Part of Vista's emphasis on security alters the way users of a PC are
handled. Vista's new User Account Control (UAC) is at the heart of
these security enhancements, and it's a feature that's bound to cause
frustrations for a large number of people.

Here's why. By default, Vista monitors a user's actions and throws up
a dialog box requiring administrator credentials before allowing any
action that has a potential impact on system security.

UAC is designed to prevent malicious software from infiltrating your
PC, and it goes some way towards achieving that goal. The downside,
however, is that most users will have to deal with annoying dialog
boxes whenever they run a program that requires access to sensitive
locations. Many beta testers of Vista complained that UAC prompts
showed up even when performing seemingly harmless activities.

To avoid such annoyances, Vista owners will have to become thoroughly
familiar with the concept of UAC and configure their user account
appropriately - no lightweight task.

Windows Vista requires more computing horsepower than any previous
version of Windows. While that's not necessarily surprising, what may
be is that Vista's visually impressive Aero interface won't even be
available to you if your computer does not contain a dedicated
graphics card. Roughly half of today's computers will need to be
upgraded to run Vista adequately, according to US based Jon Peddie
Research.

Notebook users will be especially hard hit by Vista's hardware
requirements. That's because many lower-cost notebooks over the past
couple of years were sold with low-cost integrated graphics
controllers that work fine when displaying the standard business
applications and Web pages in Windows XP. But for Vista, these
machines will be inadequate.

Even worse, notebook users with integrated graphics won't be able to
upgrade their machines just by purchasing a new video card. Most
notebook computers would require an entire motherboard upgrade to work
effectively with Vista. In other words, it will make more sense to buy
a completely new machine.

Those who do have a dedicated graphics card with at least 64 megabytes
of memory will have to make sure their systems meet the other unspoken
requirement of Vista: at least 1 gigabyte (GB) of system memory.
Anything less will have you tapping your fingers far too often - or
reducing the number of tasks you can undertake simultaneously.

-

thanks

taggy


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