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Ten Reasons to Buy Windows Vista

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the lesser-of-evils dept.

pennconservative writes "Michael Desmond, writing for PCWorld.com, gives us ten reasons to buy the next version of Microsoft Windows. Some of his reasons sound compelling, and it definitely sounds like Microsoft has found yet another way to ensure market dominance for a few more years. Desmond also gives a few reasons not to buy Vista, but the most compelling of those is the hardware required to run it. Since Vista will likely ship on every new computer anyone buys, I don't see that being a major roadblock."

20 of 851 comments (clear)

  1. One good reason NOT to buy Windows Vista: by mrchaotica · · Score: 5, Insightful

    DRM. Why would you pay for your own shackles?

    --

    "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

    1. Re:One good reason NOT to buy Windows Vista: by waveclaw · · Score: 5, Insightful

      DRM. Why would you pay for your own shackles?

      Avereage Joe: But they were sooooo shiny! And look at all the pretty 'features.' And everyone's getting or got a pair! Besides, they go so well with my gamer clothes...I mean work suit.

      The number one and number two reason people will buy Vista: it will come on their new PC and it will play all the video games sold for PC (that Average Joe cares about.) You can talk about 'compatibility' with work, but Windows 98 with Office 97 is all that takes for most cases. As soon as Duke Nukem comes out, you can be sure it will have a 'Made for Microsoft Windows Vista' sticker on it.

      --

      "You cannot have a General Will unless you have shared experiences. You cannot be fair to people you don't know."
    2. Re:One good reason NOT to buy Windows Vista: by NutscrapeSucks · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yes, in order to view "secure" windows media content, you have to have a special monitor which can decode the encrypted content in the first place

      Yes, and the MPAA will give Apple an exception to this rule, because Apple computers are like shiny and stuff. Whatever you say.

      Or, more likely, OS X will "limit" you in the exact same way. (And by "limit", they mean "allow you to play Blu-Ray and HD-DVD on your computer.")

      --
      Whenever I hear the word 'Innovation', I reach for my pistol.
    3. Re:One good reason NOT to buy Windows Vista: by aj50 · · Score: 4, Insightful
      DRM shackles you whether your computer supports it or not.

      If your computer doesn't support drm, then you can't see the content at all. Your system not supporting drm does not magically make all drm protected content play without restrictions. If drm is widespread, then you receive all the disadvantages of drm and none of the benefits (eg. more content being offered online).

      The only good thing is if few people have drm then it is harder to distribute drm'd content but if by having a computer that doesn't support drm you are in the minority, there is no direct benefit to you.

      --
      I wish to remain anomalous
    4. Re:One good reason NOT to buy Windows Vista: by visualight · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yet another option is to call their bluff. Hollywood has played that card with Intel, MS, and the U.S. Congress already and I don't understand why it sways anyone.

      Hollywood: If you don't (pass the dmca)(implement drm)(produce tpm compatible chipsets) we're going to take our ball and go home.

      Appropriate response: Well take your goddamn ball and go the fuck home then.

      --
      Samsung took back my unlocked bootloader because Google wants me to rent movies. They're both evil.
  2. So... by TERdON · · Score: 4, Insightful

    what feature will I get that I don't already have in Mac OS X 10.4?

    I skimmed the list rapidly and I'm already using the equivalents to at least half of them, probably more (I wrote "skimmed"). Some of the features I have even used for several years...

    --
    I have a really elegant proof for Fermat's last theorem. If this sig was only a bit longer...
    1. Re:So... by tpgp · · Score: 4, Insightful

      what feature will I get that I don't already have in Mac OS X 10.4?

      The ability to run specific win32 apps.

      That is the only difference.

      As you've noted that most of the features in Vista (Music management / photo management / drm / desktop search / etc are already present (or have equivilants) in OS X.

      --
      My pics.
    2. Re:So... by mrchaotica · · Score: 4, Insightful
      The ability to run specific win32 apps.
      Go, go, gadget Darwine!
      --

      "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

    3. Re:So... by JonTurner · · Score: 5, Insightful

      >>As you've noted that most of the features in Vista (Music management / photo management / drm / desktop search / etc are already present (or have equivilants) in OS X.

      Not to put too fine a point on it, but i would say, not only are they available, on Mac OS X, they are superior. iTunes, GarageBand, Final Cut, iDVD. Etc. Apple's been shipping this stuff for years. MSFT's just talking about what they hope to release, and talk is cheap.

      Given Microsoft's tendancy to cut features like a boot camp barber cuts hair, I'm not too hopeful everything's going to make it to the final release.

    4. Re:So... by Dominic_Mazzoni · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Let's compare to Mac OS X, shall we?

      1. Security, security, security: (Mac OS X: check) bidirectional software firewall (check), Windows Services Hardening, which prevents obscure background processes from being hijacked and changing your system (no, but it's not clear that this is needed on Mac OS X now). There's also full-disk encryption (check)...User Account Protection, which invokes administrator privileges as needed(check).

      2. Internet Explorer 7 (check - Safari does all that IE 7 does and more),

      3. Righteous eye candy (check - Mac OS X is way ahead here)

      4. Desktop search (check - Spotlight)

      5. Better updates (check - Software Update)

      6. More media (check - iTunes, iPhoto, etc.)

      7. Parental controls (check - see the System Preferences)

      8. Better backups (OK, Apple doesn't include a backup utility unless you purchase dot-Mac)

      9. Peer-to-peer collaboration (check - Bonjour, aka Rendezvous)

      10. Quick setup (this isn't as much a feature as it is getting rid of bottlenecks in Windows - not needed

      Again, nothing wrong with any of these features - but where is Microsoft innovating?

    5. Re:So... by ScrewMaster · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Innovation has nothing to do with it. This is merely a response to market pressure. That's the only pressure to which Microsoft ever responds. They don't need to be a technological leader ... they only have to be the market leader, which means they can just satisfy the current top "n" complaints about Windows to keep selling millions of copies. Windows users look at features and capabilities this way: if it wasn't in Windows before, and it is now, then it's an innovative, new feature. Doesn't matter if every other major OS has had said feature for years ... it's still innovative.

      --
      The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
    6. Re:So... by cyborch · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I posted 10 reasons to buy OSX Tiger in response.

  3. Misleading headline by marcello_dl · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Those are 10 reasons to buy vista IF you are currently running XP. As a Linux user who has always the option to open a maconlinux OSX window, the only reason would be the collaborative environment. All the other reasons were available to me on linux osx or both, since at least two years ago. Heh, the two way firewall :)

    --
    ---- MISSING MISCELLANEOUS DATA SEGMENT --- [sigdash] trolololol
  4. Requirements won't be an issue by Kasracer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    According to Microsoft, the requirements for Vista are almost as low of Windows XP, you just can't have all the pretty effects and such.

    I was reading about Vista last night and it's including features like a revamped sleep mode which is a cross between standby and hibernation. They have have SmartFetch or whatever it's called so it knows what applications you typically use and at what times so it'll preload them into memory making it seem snappier.

    All in all, it sounds like Vista will be a pretty good release (at least, in my opinion).

  5. New computer? Why? by JonTurner · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Good luck MSFT - you've got a hell of a challenge ahead of you.

    The age of the compelling application is mostly over because existing hardware (even systems several years old, and thus dirt cheap) fulfill almost all of the average person's computing needs. I'd wager that 90% (or more) of average household computer usage is spent in two applications: email and internet browser. (the other 10% is word processing, accounting/taxes, etc.)

    And no, gamers aren't "average" computer users. They're always looking for state-of-the-art.

    Seriously -- other than as a new game platform, why would the average person buy a new computer? Mom & Pop don't understand/care about new video production, DVD ripping, file sharing, etc. They just want to occasionally look something up on the net, buy something off eBay, or get a photo of the grandkids. If they already have a system (and market saturation ##'s suggest that they do) convincing them to shell out a grand for a new box that doesn't offer them anything more than the old one is going to be a tough sell.

  6. Any Color You Like, As Long As It's Black by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So the top reason to buy Vista is "you have to".

    --

    --
    make install -not war

  7. Such wonderful reasons! by mrchaotica · · Score: 4, Insightful
    1. Security, security, security: Windows XP Service Pack 2 patched a lot of holes, but Vista takes security to the next level.
    That's not an argument for Vista, that's an argument for a secure OS (such as every other OS except Windows!).
    2. Internet Explorer 7: IE gets a much-needed, Firefox-inspired makeover, complete with tabbed pages and better privacy management
    If it's "Firefox inspired," why not just use Firefox in the first place?
    3. Righteous eye candy: For the first time, Microsoft is building high-end graphics effects into Windows
    Wow, what an innovation! Wait a second, that reminds me of something. Oh yeah: Mac OS.
    4. Desktop search: Microsoft has been getting its lunch handed to it by Google and Yahoo on the desktop, but Vista could change all that.
    See above statement.
    5. Better updates: Vista does away with using Internet Explorer to access Windows Update, instead utilizing a new application to handle the chore of keeping your system patched and up-to-date.
    And Linux, BSD, and even Mac OS have had package management systems since when, forever?
    6. More media: Over the years, one of the key reasons to upgrade versions of Windows has been the free stuff Gates and Company toss into the new OS, and Vista is no exception.
    This must be some kind of joke. Windows bundles the fewest apps of any operating system. Have you seen what comes by default with Mac OS or -- better yet -- a typical Linux distribution?!
    7. Parental controls: Families, schools, and libraries will appreciate the tuned-up parental controls, which let you limit access in a variety of ways.
    Oh boy! New and improved restrictions!
    8. Better backups
    Thank god! Now I no longer have to back up my system on 376 thousand floppy disks!
    9. Peer-to-peer collaboration
    Quick, somebody sic the RIAA on them!
    10. Quick setup: Beta code alert: There are some Vista features I hope dearly for even though they haven't been built yet. This is one of them.
    And reason number ten? There is no reason number ten!
    --

    "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

  8. In case of /.ing, the 10 reasons are by Yahweh+Doesn't+Exist · · Score: 4, Insightful

    1. new firewall almost as good as ZoneAlarm
    2. new IE almost as good as Firefox
    3. new eye-candy almost as good as OS X
    4. new desktop search almost as good as Google Desktop
    5. new update program almost as good as Mac Software Update
    6. new media programs almost as good as iLife
    7. new parental controls almost as good as proper parenting
    8. new backups almost as good as things not breaking in the first place
    9. new P2P almost as good as turning off your firewall
    10. new quick install almost as good as all the other planned features that don't actually exist yet

  9. Re:can they all run it though? by ozmanjusri · · Score: 4, Insightful
    that's an improvement, how?

    Compared to the XP fisher-price look?
    Just be grateful, OK.

    --
    "I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
  10. Ten compelling reasons why not to upgrade! by Nirvelli · · Score: 5, Insightful

    1. Security, security, security: New holes, new holes, new holes.

    2. Internet Explorer 7: GetFirefox.

    3. Righteous eye candy: Ooohhh shiny...

    4. Desktop search: Learn to organize.

    5. Better updates: Why update? Because it was broken in the first place!

    6. More media: More DRM!

    7. Parental controls: Real parents don't need an OS to babysit their kids.

    8. Better backups: Already have that.

    9. Peer-to-peer collaboration: ???

    10. Quick setup: Why am I running setup more than once anyways?

    In short, 10 compelling reasons why you don't need to upgrade to Vista.