Bracing for Windows Vista

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Mon, 10/30/2006 11:20 AM | Life

Arnawa Widagda, Contributor, Jakarta

Set for release in three months, Windows Vista will likely be the talk of the IT industry next year. It's hard not to draw parallels with Microsoft's own Windows 95 when it was released.

Both versions of Windows have introduced major changes to user interface, hardware drivers and software support, and share the same resource-hungry characteristics that will make people want to buy new hardware or an entire PC just to run them.

With such a long list of changes and features, both Vista and Windows 95 have experienced quite a few delays. Any operating system is complex, be it MacOS, Linux or any other variation of UNIX.

However, even UNIX developers will be left scratching their heads at just how complex windows is. A lot of people think Microsoft is way over their heads, as evident in the monthly release of patches to fix Windows and other related software security issues and system vulnerability.

Despite the many technical issues, most people ended up using Windows 95 in the end and Vista will likely be no different. The rate of adoption may actually be a lot faster with Vista.

One of the major headaches with Windows 95 was the introduction of Plug-n-Play hardware. Some of you may recall the experience as being more like Plug-n-Pray.

When Windows 95 was launched, not all manufactures were ready with drivers to support the new operating system. Users had to rely on old DOS drivers to continue using CD-ROM, sound cards and network connections and run Windows 95 on top of it.

The Internet boom was just starting and users don't always have the luxury of updating or downloading to the newest drivers.

The situation is different now. There are a lot less manufacturers then there were when Windows 95 came out. Most of these manufacturers already have Vista-ready beta drivers and the final versions should be ready by the time Vista is released. Chances are the necessary drivers for your current hardware will ship in Vista's installation disc.

For those that don't, users can either download the drivers directly from the manufacturers or rely on Microsoft's Windows Update services.

Since Vista will use a different driver model from Windows XP, you can't use your old Windows XP drivers in Vista. Granted, this means your hardware won't work, but it won't cause any other problems.

Software support was another major headache with Windows 95. In those days, users still needed to run a mix of DOS, 16-bit and 32-bit Windows applications side by side.

Throw in Windows 95 poor memory management and protection plus the aforementioned DOS drivers and all hell can break loose -- we're all familiar with the blue screen of death or BSOD.

Today, we don't encounter this situation as often. Microsoft has reduced DOS support to just the rudimentary features with Windows XP and the transition between 32 and 64 bit application was surprisingly smooth.

One of the concerns with Vista is how resource-hungry it is. Users who have used Vista RC1 or the recently released RC2 still complain about this. Microsoft does have a solution for this but it may not be what you want to hear -- get more memory.

Just as Windows 95 will run better with 16 MB of RAM rather than 8 MB, Vista will run better with 1 GB than 512 MB. For less fortunate users, Vista can use solid storage devices like a flash drive or memory card to help users with limited RAM.

Security issues remain a major problem with Windows to this day. This is something that was not as ""visible"" with Windows 95. Microsoft has taken some important steps in this area with the inclusion of a firewall in Windows XP Service Pack and Vista will also be equipped with a spyware/malware protection tool dubbed Windows Defender.

Windows Defender is actually not new and has been available for Windows XP for some time now. Users' experience with this tool is pretty varied and the Windows XP version is still not able to deal with the most stubborn spyware making the rounds.

Hopefully, the Vista version is more effective, however you should always remember software is just another set of tools. The most effective tool is self-policy, meaning you should only install software from trusted publishers and websites.

Changes in user interface in Vista, Office 2007 and other Microsoft-related software may be the only real issue in the foreseeable future that will trouble users when Vista hits the shelves.

The question is: will you upgrade to or use Vista? That is for you to decide. Microsoft has taken major steps to make sure upgrading to, using and supporting Vista is much less painful than with the previous version of Windows.

If you're not sure, then don't. A wait-and-see approach seems to be the consensus among users, particularly corporate users. New PCs will likely still come with an option of Windows XP and Vista.

Microsoft is even providing a free upgrade to Vista for users who bought new PCs between October 23rd and the date Vista will be released.

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