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Subject: Microsoft Windows Vista Impressions

As promised in last month's ELM Bulletin we are presenting our initial impression of Microsoft Windows Vista which has now been in use on a number of our systems for several weeks.

In the interest of giving this ELM Bulletin a guise of scientific credibility our principal users of Vista were asked for their opinions, here is what they said:

"I don't like how it handles my old printer, but I like the user interface and its search capabilities; both in the program list and searching for files, which is very fast."

 

"I like it. It's a worthy upgrade from XP."

 

"It's good. I like it's sidebar."

 

"Oh my goodness, it's beautiful!"

In general, our Vista users are pleased with it and consider Vista to be a good improvement on Windows XP. Over the next several months most of our staff will have upgraded to the Vista operating system.

But the question remains: Should You purchase Vista now, wait a few months or wait for the release of the first Service Pack to resolve the inevitable problems? Our simple answer: Wait; not necessarily for the Service Pack, but at least for a few months. By this time the various hardware and software manufacturers should be able to offer most of their current products with drivers for Vista. Even now the situation is much improved over a month ago with our newest Vista system presenting fewer driver issues than our first Vista systems. Rest assured, however, that any system you purchase with Vista will generally have the drivers available to enable Vista to recognize and use all installed hardware components (though a small percentage of Vista users reported some driver problems on new systems loaded with Vista).

Our concern is not so much the hardware drivers as it is the software that you are already using and which may not run at all under Vista. A prime example is QuickBooks. Intuit, the developer of QuickBooks, requires users of older QuickBooks versions to upgrade to the newest, Vista capable, versions in order to use QuickBooks on Vista systems. Older versions of QuickBooks, as of this writing, will not be modified to run on Vista as Intuit claims that the cost to do this is prohibitive.

QuickBooks will not be the exception. It is reasonable to assume that other software vendors will follow suit and require users of their older versions to upgrade to newer, Vista capable versions. It is therefore our recommendation that you contact your software vendor(s) prior to purchasing Vista to ensure that their software will run on Vista and if not, what alternatives are available. You can also call ELM Computer Systems, we will be happy to discuss any questions you may have.

So, would we at ELM Computer Systems recommend Vista to our clients? Yes and no.

Yes - Where software and hardware compatibility are not a concern we have no hesitation in recommending Vista. It is a significant improvement on XP and offers greater security and a more pleasant and functional environment in which to work.

 

No - Where software and hardware compatibility are concerns we recommend that you stick with XP. It is a known quantity, the software you are using now is compatible and XP will be a significant presence in the computer industry for several more years. Furthermore, the security features of Vista are at adequately made up for in XP by many third party vendors (and careful computing).

In the final analysis some Vista features seem to be waiting for the first service pack to make them truly useful, others look like they have been rushed out the door to meet a scheduled release date. (Many of the advanced features first associated with the operating system that eventually turned into Vista have actually been discarded during development; most notable of these is the advanced file system which may yet appear at some point in the future.) All-in-all Microsoft Windows Vista is a competent operating system that makes the computer user's experience more pleasant and secure.

Apple QuickTime Update - Apple has released updates for its QuickTime media player that resolve a number of security issues on both PC and Macintosh platforms. This highly recommended security upgrade can be downloaded from the Apple QuickTime website: www.quicktime.com.

As always, please contact me if you have any questions about this or any other computer issue.

Peter Rhebergen

Technical Specialist, Systems and Software

Email: peter@elmcomputers.com

ELM Computer Systems Inc.

502 Gordon Baker Road

Toronto, Ontario, M2H 3B4

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Fax: 416 495 0044

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