Review of Windows Vista

[+Warwagon MVC]

Vista was developed from Server 2003 codebase. Not XP's. Microsoft abandoned XP's codebase with the cancellation of Longhorn. 

 

I'm sure Server 2003 had some XP code it.

[Dot Matrix]

I'm sure Server 2003 had some XP code it.

They're still two different codebases. 

[Atomic Wanderer Chicken]

Vista was a very nice looking MS operating, especially with aurora themes, aero glass, aurora screen saver, the black taskbar. Windows 7 does look fresher and cleaner though.

[+Warwagon MVC]

They're still two different codebases. 

 

So you are saying between the 2 there is not one single Identical line of code?

[Dot Matrix]

So you are saying between the 2 there is not one single Identical line of code?

I'm not saying there wasn't identical lines, but the differences between the two are like night and day. 

[Growled Member]

Vista was a very nice looking MS operating, especially with aurora themes, aero glass, aurora screen saver, the black taskbar. Windows 7 does look fresher and cleaner though.

 

 

I honestly like that much better than I do Windows 8. 

[Athernar]

I'm not saying there wasn't identical lines, but the differences between the two are like night and day. 

 

Not really, Server 2003 was just a refined/newer build of the XP codebase in much the same way 8.1 is to 8.

[Boo Berry]

I never had any issues with Vista either, same with Windows 8.1 now.

[+DonC Subscriber²]

A big plus for me about Vista was that it used the volume shadow copy system from Windows Server.

[Atomic Wanderer Chicken]

Windows 8 is technically solid and is very good with handling resources. Windows Vista was technically sound but chugged resources like a Ford Excursion.

[(Account no longer active)]

I had issues with graphics drivers (games would crash or cause BSODs), probably due to drivers being still in beta (when released to the public!). I always found Vista's theme rather ugly - I disliked the round Start orb, and the black taskbar, and many other UI elements. Mac OS X was so much nicer overall. I always wanted to know if it would have been possible to replace the Start button with the one seen in Beta 1, and in the Classic theme, the Start button flag from colorful to white (as also seen in Beta 1) - I still want to do the latter today when I'm using the Classic theme.

 

Windows 7 was a much needed upgrade, but many features seen during Longhorn's development still haven't been implemented, and probably never will.

[PeRTeX]

Quoting from Wikipedia:

 

Microsoft began work on Windows Vista, known at the time by its codename Longhorn, in May 2001, five months before the release of Windows XP. It was originally expected to ship sometime late in 2003 as a minor step between Windows XP and Blackcomb, which was planned to be the company's next major operating system release. Gradually, "Longhorn" assimilated many of the important new features and technologies slated for Blackcomb, resulting in the release date being pushed back several times. Many of Microsoft's developers were also re-tasked to build updates to Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 to strengthen security. Faced with ongoing delays and concerns about feature creep, Microsoft announced on August 27, 2004, that it had revised its plans. The original Longhorn, based on the Windows XP source code, was scrapped, and Longhorn's development started anew, building on the Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 codebase, and re-incorporating only the features that would be intended for an actual operating system release. Some previously announced features such as WinFS were dropped or postponed, and a new software development methodology called the Security Development Lifecycle was incorporated in an effort to address concerns with the security of the Windows codebase, which is programmed in C, C++ and Assembly.

 

 

Windows Vista

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Vista

 

Development of Windows Vista

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Development_of_Windows_Vista

[Dot Matrix]

I need to write a review of Windows XP. :p

[Raa]

No offense, but i'm sorry - what year is this?

 

People pile on the fury for people "still running Windows XP", and in my book, that should apply to Vista users as well!

[PeRTeX]

How about OS comparisons?

 

Windows 2000 [Windows NT 5.0] versus Windows XP [Windows NT 5.1]

Windows XP [Windows NT 5.1] versus Windows Vista [Windows NT 6.0]

Windows Vista [Windows NT 6.0] versus Windows 7 [Windows NT 6.1]

Windows 7 [Windows NT 6.1] versus Windows 8 [Windows NT 6.2]

Windows 8 [Windows NT 6.2] versus Windows 8.1 [Windows NT 6.3]

 

Windows XP versus Windows 7

Windows 7 versus Windows 8 versus Windows 8.1

[Andre S. Veteran]

Vista was developed from Server 2003 codebase. Not XP's. Microsoft abandoned XP's codebase with the cancellation of Longhorn. 

Windows Server 2003 is Windows XP with server-specific improvements and features.

 

In fact the original plan for Windows Vista was to supersede Win32 with WinFX, a managed code API. That failed miserably, so WinFX became .NET 3.0 (WPF and WCF), and Vista became just another Win32 version of Windows.

[Dot Matrix]

Windows Server 2003 is Windows XP with server-specific improvements and features.

I know. Which still makes Server 2003 a different codebase than XP. 

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

It's funny. Most of the hate for Windows Vista was because of its image. Microsoft did an experiment where they pretended to release a new version of Windows called "Mojave". It was identical to Windows Vista in terms of features and appearance. The people in the video loved it and Microsoft surprised them by saying it was actually Windows Vista. And some of the people admitted that although they hated Windows Vista, they never actually tried it for themselves.

 

I had very little issues with Windows Vista. It was a little slow on one of my Pentium 4 computers and it ran great on my Core2Duo E6750.

 

Here's the video:

 

[Andre S. Veteran]

I know. Which still makes Server 2003 a different codebase than XP. 

Yes, but then they never ditched the Windows XP codebase. They evolved it into Windows Server 2003, and then into Windows Vista. That's how software development works. The initial WinFX/WinFS prototype was based on XP simply because XP was the most up-to-date version of the Windows codebase at the time; they only did the same thing by starting off from Server 2003 after the Longhorn debacle.

[Boo Berry]

It's funny. Most of the hate for Windows Vista was because of its image. Microsoft did an experiment where they pretended to release a new version of Windows called "Mojave". It was identical to Windows Vista in terms of features and appearance. The people in the video loved it and Microsoft surprised them by saying it was actually Windows Vista. And some of the people admitted that although they hated Windows Vista, they never actually tried it for themselves.

Sounds like Windows 8 too. I'm sure if people gave it a chance (if they don't like the start screen they can get a menu replacement) they'd like it too.

[Andre S. Veteran]

It's funny. Most of the hate for Windows Vista was because of its image. 

I think driver incompatibilities, slow startup/shutdown times and lack of support for Aero on brand new "Vista capable" certified laptops were the main factors.

 

Personally I was about as impressed with Windows Vista as I had been with Windows XP; both made major strides in taking Windows forward technologically. Windows XP integrated the NT kernel in a consumer OS which was probably the most important feat in Windows' history; Windows Vista completely reworked security, rendering, updating, search, networking, etc.

[Boo Berry]

3rd party driver support on launch was the big one to tarnish Vista's image, IMO. The majority of crashes/BSODs were attributed to poor drivers from both AMD/ATI and Nvidia and not Vista itself.

[PeRTeX]

If only they released both Windows 8 and Windows 7 Service Pack 2, then Microsoft will know where to dedicate their resources more. They should not be driven by the growing mobile market but they should have stick with Windows 7 and improve it. Yes, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 are based from Windows 7 but with mobile phones and tablets in mind.

[(Account no longer active)]

If only they released both Windows 8 and Windows 7 Service Pack 2, then Microsoft will know where to dedicate their resources more. They should not be driven by the growing mobile market but they should have stick with Windows 7 and improve it. Yes, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 are based from Windows 7 but with mobile phones and tablets in mind.

A few times, Microsoft laughed at Apple's offerings, but then seriously took up Jobs' speech on the post-PC era - this is where their main focus is now. They don't want to be late to the party again like they were with smartphones and tablets. Ballmer mentioned that Windows 8 would be risk.

[Dot Matrix]

If only they released both Windows 8 and Windows 7 Service Pack 2, then Microsoft will know where to dedicate their resources more. They should not be driven by the growing mobile market but they should have stick with Windows 7 and improve it. Yes, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 are based from Windows 7 but with mobile phones and tablets in mind.

Because in today's world, mobility is key. Windows 7 is still very much like Windows 95 - developed primarily for stationary computers, and laptops. Windows 8/8.1 break that mold, and have turned Windows into a mobile OS.