One thing, and one thing alone, makes Vista stand out for me.

It is *****FINALLY***** going to force programmers to do their job
correctly. Because of this, we will all see a tremendous benefit in about 2
years, when the older programs - that kinda/sorta work - are finally laid to
rest.

It's about time!

--


Regards,

Richard Urban MVP
Microsoft Windows Shell/User


"SysAdminTH" <notarealaddress@amuro.net> wrote in message
news:OMPsIoIZHHA.3256@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>I find it very frustrating when reading this thread that almost every
> criticism of Vista is seen as some sort of threat and illicits a quite
> often rude thoughtless response from Vista's proponents. So first I
> thought I'd recap on the Windows upgrades history then see how Vista
> stacks up to it's predecessors and then invite the Vista proponents to
> educate me on the benefits of this upgrade.
>
> How can any non-novice user regardless of experience level be satisfied
> with Vista and tout it as a major upgrade? The only answers I can come
> up with are A) I don't understand the benefits or B) My expectations are
> above those of my fellow users.
>
> I have been working with Windows since the first version of Windows 1.0
> was released in the mid-eighties and before that on DOS/PCM OS's so I
> feel qualified to comment on improvements and upgrade experiences. With
> a few notable exceptions each successive incarnation has brought
> significant benefits to users and businesses alike.
>
> Windows 1.0
> Card file and Calculator
>
> Windows 2.0
> Excel, Word and Pagemaker DTP
>
> Windows 3.0
> Multi Tasking, Virtual Memory, VGA, Multi Media Extensions Add-On,
> SoundBlaster
>
> Windows 3.1
> True Type scalable fonts,
>
> Windows for Workgroups 3.11
> Integrated Multimedia, peer to peer networking, full support for 386
> processors
>
> Windows 95
> Consumer Version of NT 3.1, Improved Desktop and Menu System, Win32 API
> subset
>
> Windows 95 OSR 2.0-2.5
> Full FAT32, Internet Expolorer, USB Support, greater reliability
>
> Windows 98
> Better hardware support - HDD's, USB, Internet connection sharing,
> greater stability.
>
> Windows 2000 Greater stability, Active Directory Support, directX for NT
> Kernal
>
> Windows Millennium Edition (ME)System Restore, Movie Maker
>
> Windows XP (See Win 2000)New User Interface, NTFS, proper 32bit API,
> based on Windows NT5, Windows Firewall
>
> Windows Vista Aero Interface
>
> That's my history of Windows upgrades (with a little help from Wiki),
> non of the upgrade paths was totally trouble free and there is obviously
> a learning curve when desktops and UI's change however I do still
> expect some real benefits for my $$$.
>
> Win 1.0 was fun and the move to Win 2.0 allowed me to do some serious
> work especially Excel and Pagemaker. Windows 3.0 brought better
> resolutions and multitasking painfully slow but it was a benefit. The
> Multimedia extensions allowed me to use a CD ROM and Soundblaster that
> coupled with a Canon RC-250 to create multimedia apps and presentations.
>
> The step up to Windows for Workgroups 3.11 really launched the peer to
> peer small office network and while frustrating and often slow it was a
> great affordable alternative to sneaker net.
>
> Windows 95 was buggy and prone to too many BSD's however the new UI was
> more logical and a faster to access the applications you required. The
> Win32 bit API was a bit of a bodge job(think thunking) but it did feel
> faster and slicker than 3.11. The OSR releases were a god send and
> addressed many of the stability issues.
>
> Windows 98 in someways mirrored 95 insomuch as the second edition was
> the one to get improving stability no end. However USB support,
> internet connectivity, support for large hard disks were all real
> benefits for this version. This was the Windows version that put DOS
> well and truely on the sidelines.
>
> Windows ME was a complete disaster for me and perhaps any others
> unfortunate to have to use it. Stability seemed to take a step
> backwards which seemed illogical considering it was essentially a tarted
> up 98SE.
>
> Windows 2000 a godsend, not to brilliant on the initial driver support
> but after 98SE this was a significantly more stable platform. Often
> forgotten Windows 2000 in workstation or server versions was Microsoft's
> biggest advance in O/S's. Not all was rosy with this product and was
> left all but defenseless against all types of virus and malware threats
> but robust 3rd party solutions were available to take care of that.
>
> Windows XP was the pretty version of Win 2000 for general consumption
> and this was good for users of both versions as drivers were for the
> most part interchangable, this motivated consumer device manufacturers
> who had not written drivers for 2000 to now do so. To be honest I
> preferred 2000 until general machine specs were up to XP's resource
> hogging requirements but on the whole a very good release.
>
> Enter Windows Vista
> Aero interface and that's about it. In it's current form I do not
> perceive UAC as a benefit. Initially I thought Vista would secure my
> system and negate the need for 3rd party AV/AS products which would be a
> great step forward, that promise was conveniently dropped by release
> time. Much of what's good in XP has gone or is broken so can somebody
> (preferably a power user or admin)who thinks Vista is a good upgrade
> please list out it's benefits which I could use to convince my clients
> to move from XP?
>
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