New Windows Vista on the horizon
Breaking down the new OS

Erik Wells | contributing writer
ewells@smcvt.edu

Windows Vista, Microsoft’s new operating system (OS) was released on Jan. 30. Its unveiling comes five years after the release of its predecessor, Windows XP.

What’s new?

Windows Vista offers a number of changes, most notably aesthetically and security wise, says Jon Kohler, a computer technician at Best Buy in Williston, Vt.

A Windows Vista display in the Best Buy in Williston, Vt. ( Erik Wells, photo)

In terms of security, Vista has expanded on the built-in firewall, first used in XP, and comes with Windows Defender, which protects against spy ware, Kohler says. The user access control feature alerts users whenever something new is going to be installed and if computer settings are going to be changed, he says.

“It asks you before it changes anything, so you don’t have someone randomly going clicking and changing stuff and messing it up,” Kohler says.

In addition, the redesigned appearance of Vista incorporates a new aero interface, which creates windows on the desktop that are translucent and have a “glass” appearance, according to the Windows Vista Web site.

Also, the new 3-D flip feature enables a user to look at different programs running on the desktop simultaneously. Live thumbnails of the open windows are displayed in an offset 3-D manner, according to the site.

“It makes it a lot easier to see what you’re going to do before you do it,” Kohler says.

When an application is minimized on the taskbar a user can mouse over it and also see a live preview, Kohler says.

Windows side-bar enables a user to display different “gadgets” on the desktop, including stock monitors, news feeds, and weather updates by zip code, Kohler says. These “gadgets” are similar to features offered in Macs.

Most changes to the new Microsoft OS are subtle, behind the scenes changes that a user will have to dig around to discover, Kohler says. This includes the exclusion of the run command on the start menu. Overall, Vista has the same feel as XP, but a user will have to play around with it to figure out all the changes, he says.

In order to install Vista, a user must have a good computer, Kohler says.

“A lot of people who have XP now and it runs okay are not really going to be able to put Vista on their machines and be happy with it,” Kohler says. “Same goes with things like upgrading from XP to Vista; it’s really, really rough.”

Problems can arise in upgrading with files being lost, Kohler says. Best Buy suggests doing a clean installation by wiping out everything on the computer or buying a new system, Kohler says.

'The blue screen of death'

Bill Thayer of South Burlington, Vt. has run into problems after upgrading to Vista.

His newly purchased Norton AntiVirus 2007 software, scanner, sound, and graphics cards have not worked properly since Vista was installed. The Vista aero technology is not working because his graphics card is not compatible with Vista, Thayer says.

“It’s something I can’t get on to figure out how to fix myself - that’s what bothers me most about it,” he says. “I’ve had it, I’ve been playing with [Vista] every night and I’m tired of it.”

It was after Vista started to run on the computer that the problems began.

The music on the computer stayed, but Thayer, an avid digital photographer, lost approximately 2,000 photos in the operating system upgrade, he says. Luckily, the photos were backed up ahead of time.

While running Vista, Thayer has come across what he calls the “blue screen of death” that tells him he has to shut down multiple times, he says. Though the experience has been frustrating, Thayer says he was aware ahead of time of the possible complications in switching operating systems.

If installing a new graphics card to run Vista is too expensive, then he will switch back to XP, Thayer says.

Far reaching implications

The release of a new Windows OS is significant because of its pervasiveness in the world of computers, Gregory Morrill, a computer science professor at St. Michael’s says.

St. Michael's computer science professor Morrill. (Erik Wells, photo)

Recently released operating systems have been concerned with providing better security, rather then new functions. Vista is the first operating system released by Microsoft since its chairman, Bill Gates, said security would be the top priority, Morrill says.

It will be interesting to see if that proves to be true with Vista, Morrill says. Improvements have been made in security in the past, but it seems like ground has been lost in that area as well, he says.

“I do believe in our connected world that there’s more importance on the operating system to adequately protect information and such things then ever before,” Morrill says.

Vista has some nice visual features, but retains the feel of XP overall, Morrill adds.

“It’s not so radical that somebody who runs XP will be lost,” Morrill says.

Vista will start to filter more into the mainstream as people buy new computers, Morrill says.

“The primary way consumer people get their operating systems is when they buy a new computer,” Morrill says. “And obviously now when you buy a new computer, chances are it will have Vista on it.”

Operating systems are moving incrementally in the right direction, but as technological devices get smaller they will need to accommodate issues involving personal computer size as well as security issues, says Morrill.

“Why bother going to your laptop when you can do your e-mail or whatever from your cell phone?” Morrill says. “That’s a challenge for the folks in the operating systems.”

St. Mike’s Philosophy

Sophomore, Amanda Laprise, works on a Microsoft run computer in Jean Marie. (Erik Wells, photo)

St. Michael’s won’t switch operating systems from XP to Vista until it is necessary, says Billie Miles, director of information technology (IT). Time is needed to evaluate whether applications and programs used on XP, will be able to work on Vista, she says.

Moving to a new operating system that may cause problems to these programs isn’t something that will happen until it is fully looked into, Miles says.

“It would be disruptive,” Miles says. “Our goal is to make things work better, not worse.”

Currently St. Michael’s information technology is looking into Vista and developing a way to support the new operating system. They are preparing in order to be ready when Vista starts to have more of a presence on campus this fall, when it is the dominant operating system on new computers brought to school, Miles says.