xp

I recently received a couple of emails asking my opinion about Windows XP vs Windows Vista. I was surprised to see this question for a couple of reasons. First that it has been debated and talked about at length by many people on TV and online. I appreciate the gesture that you want my opinion on the matter *wink*. The second reason is the fact that Vista has been out so long and the chance for most people to play with it is as easy as a trip to Best Buy.

When it comes down to the comparison, Windows XP and Windows Vista really are meant for different systems. I think the reason that this became such a controversy was due to the lack of legacy support in Windows Vista on it’s release. Most computers when released with Windows Vista worked very well out of the box. People ran into problems with Vista when they either tried to install it on a new computer or tried to install a legacy peripheral on their new Windows Vista machine.

Today if you buy a machine the chance of having a problem due to compatibility with the OEM hardware is very slim. Mistakes happen but no more than they ever did with Windows XP after 2 years out on the market.

Now you really have to make decisions based on what type of machine you have. My machine that supports the live.thesleepygeek.com stream is about 3 years old and I have need to run Vista on it. If there is a feature that you really need in Vista and you have an older machine, I would still recommend an upgrade. Honestly the price of a new system today is so much lower than it used to be and it would be a much better user experience.

I have gotten Kubuntu installed and upgraded to KDE 4.1 and I am not sure what it is but the GUI seems like it is lacking consistency. I haven’t been able to put my finger on something concrete as of yet, however as I noticed when moving from XP to Vista, this upgrade from KDE 3.x to 4.x feels like a bit of a step backwards.

Some parts of it are completely visual. I think that this is partly to do with Kubuntu releasing KDE 4.x before they have had a chance to put a theme or skin on certain things (ie. Firefox). We’ll see how that pans out with future official releases of Kubuntu with KDE 4.x.

The rest of it has to do with things like the “start” menu (I don’t know if I will ever call it something else, I know… bad Marcus!) changes. Like with Vista it feels like there were changes; not to improve the functionality, but to change it. I am frustrated with things being changed just to change them. I have felt that Microsoft has done that often in the past simply to roll out a new version of software (as with Office suites when all you notice is new icons) simply to gain revenue.

To compare this to my first experience with KDE 4.x when it was still in beta and RCs would be a positive thing. When installing those versions I was usually greeted with usability problems of insurmountable proportions causing me to drop the idea within a day. Don’t get me wrong, I am still going to be using my Mac as my main computer as I still have no desire to move away from OSX. This is one of the first times that I will test and OS in this fashion. In the past I have usually switched my main computer over to the test OS, partially because it is a good test method and partially due to my tiredness of Windows. To continue this test I will be running the operating systems side by side and try to perform the same tasks on the Kubuntu machine after having done it in OSX.

I know that my initial reaction is not positive but I will try to remain unbiased and really look at the functionality of the interface.

Upon return of my vacation I had a meeting at work and learned that we would soon start the testing and piloting of Windows Vista for the client machines. It’s a good time to start thinking about it as XP end of life is in a couple of years if I am not mistaken. We will most likely start deploying people only late 2010 or early 2011 but this is a good head start.

So me being me, I decide that if we are going to be using it at work then maybe it’s a good idea to use it day to day to learn the ins and outs. Don’t get me wrong, I have used Vista on and off since before most people were able to get it, but I never actually installed it on my main machine. I have a desktop at home that I had it on which I used for video editing and some web stuff, but my laptop is where my life is.

I grabbed a copy of it and installed it on Monday. The installation is lightning fast as you all know by now, but I just can’t get a hold on the UI. I can’t tell you what it is exactly that I don’t like but I feel like I am constantly walking through a pool. Everything is just a little harder and heavier to accomplish.

Back to XP I suppose. There is too much work to get done to fight with your UI when really you don’t get anything more from it. There is nothing extra in Vista that I need to get my work done, so the cost for benefit is awful!

I will try again, I will need to eventually. But for now, XP it is.