With more and more people using Windows Vista now, I am finding a wide range of opinions coming my way. Some love it, and actually use their computers more now that they have Vista instead of XP, others have gone and bought another copy of XP to just get rid of Vista entirely.

Personally, I hate it. I can’t seem to keep the systems that have Vista running happily, and they are painfully slow. The westXdesign network consists of 2 desktops and 5 laptops. Both desktops are running XP professional, and are by far the most reliable of the Windows-based systems we have ever run. They usually work just like you expect them to - which means you walk, up, sit down, and it works. Aside from the blue screen of death that occurs a lot more often than is acceptable, they get the job done. One of the laptops is my MacBook Pro with Leopard. I never have to do anything at all to get it to do what I want. Never have. Doubt I ever will. But Macs are a whole different story, and most of you don’t use a Mac, so on the nightmares: the 4 Windows Vista laptops. Various hardware manufacturers, various configurations, all with 2 gig or more of memory and at least core duo processors. Yet that ALL are slower to respond than the oldest of the 2 desktops, which is just a P4 with bare minimum memory. And none of them want to play nicely on the network with the rest of the computers OR the network attached storage. And forget the shared printers. What good is Vista if a basic user can’t get it to work with a simple home network, not to mention something more sophisticated in a business environment?

What has your experience been with Vista? Love it or hate it, I’d like to know more about how users are adopting Microsoft’s newest nightmare.

If you haven’t seen Windows newest operating system in action, you might want to visit Windows Vista Test Drive. Before we begin looking at it, there are a few important things to keep in mind. First, the test drive is only available to the US and Canada. You have to use Internet Explorer 6 or better in order for it to work, and you’ll need a plugin as well as a decent broadband connection.

When you visit the site, you can choose between small business and medium/enterprise editions. We’ll look at the small business edition. After entering an email address, your system will be checked to be sure you have JavaScript enabled, are using IE6 or better, and if the plugin is installed. If not, you need to install it before proceeding. The installation will open in a new window. When it’s complete, you can close that window and go back to the test drive.

It’s not like sitting at a Vista computer and using it, but you’ll be able to learn about many of the functions and features Vista has to offer. For example, when you select “Efficient’ from the main menu, you will see a list of some of the features of Vista. Select ‘Test Drive’ to see it in action. Another window will open, which is more like an actual Vista desktop. Follow the tasks given in a step-by-step format on the right of the desktop to try a few of the major functions. Even though this is a business version of Vista, you will get a pretty good idea of what the home edition will look like if you buy a new computer, or are considering upgrading your existing system.

My opinion? If you are buying a brand new system with Vista pre-installed, it’s fine. But don’t go out of your way to upgrade your existing system right now. Vista is still very new and the upgrade process isn’t as smooth as I’d like. In the long run, it is more stable, but we need more time for the hardware and software manufacturers out there to produce drivers and code that work well with Vista.

After talking with quite a few novice users, I have found that all of them are more comfortable using Vista than any other previous version of Windows. The interface is more intuitive for them, and they are more confident in what they are doing. More advanced users seem to have a harder time. I think that’s just due to the fact that we are used to working with Windows in a certain way, and finding files and programs in that way, and we have to re-learn the Vista way.