Home & Small Office Computer Guide

Windows Vista is one year old this week and it hasn’t been a very happy birthday.

Take up of the new operating system has not been what Microsoft were expecting and they are still seeing plenty of resistance from business and educational institutions.

Here in Australia savvy buyers are still tracking down PCs and laptops that come loaded with Windows XP and in the United Kingdom the agency that governs educational technology has advised schools to keep Windows Vista and Office 2007 out of the classroom and the administration offices. You can read that story here.

Meanwhile major retailers here in Australia aren’t helping Microsoft much. One major chain is selling laptops loaded with Windows Vista but only half the RAM recommended for the operating system.

If your still wondering whether or not you should switch from Windows XP to Windows Vista so new performance tests that compared the two systems may make you think again.

In tests conducted by Devil Mountain Software Vista was noticeably slower than XP when working through a benchmarking test on what could best be described as a slightly better than average desktop computer.

You can read the full report here.

Ever since the release of Vista there have been many businesses that have found that a lot of software problems came with the new operating system. Many programmes that small businesses in particular depend on simply don’t run under Vista.

That situation has seen an upsurge in the number of new computers being brought into computer repair shops to have Vista removed and XP installed. Now it seems that Microsoft has bowed to the inevitable and is allowing the big PC makers to offer XP once more … but only in certain circumstances.

You can read more about Microsoft’s shift here

If you believe the hype Vista is definitely the best thing since sliced bread. It will do everything but tie your shoelaces in the morning and if you’re not running Vista your missing out on one of life’s major experiences and yada yada yada …

The fact is that at the grassroots level Vista is still a dog. Many individuals and businesses both large and small are still finding that key pieces of software will not run on Vista. Fortunately several large computer manufacturers … and plenty of local ones too … are aware of the problems and Windows XP is still available if you ask for it.

You’ll find more information about it here

… it all depends

When Windows Vista appeareed one of it’s selling points - aimed at those who use laptops - was that it would extend battery life. To some extent that has been the case and if you run Vista in it’s very basic form you can get better battery life than if you were running Windows XP.

However, if you have the hardware in your laptop to run Vista’s Aero Glass interface - you know, the one the brochures all show you and that looks so wonderful - then expect to drain your laptop’s battery rather quickly. The problem is so bad that several laptop producers have come up with their own power management settings rather than relying on those built into Vista.

You can find more about the story here.

… Microsoft to small business - too bad … it’s gone from the beginning of the year.

Well it seems that sales of Windows Vista haven’t been quite as stellar as the hype from Microsoft would have us believe. In fact in some markets, such as the small office/home office market, sales of Vista have been rather dismal as small businesses prefer to stick with an operating system that works with all their software.

Microsoft’s solution? Make sure there’s no other operating system the small office/home office people can buy. Windows XP in the OEM version will be withdrawn from sale by the end of the year.

There’s nothing quite like bludgeoning your clients into submission.

You can read the full story here

Microsoft expects small businesses to ‘deploy’ Vista more quickly than they did Windows XP.

Here in the town where I live one medium sized retailer advised a small business that needed a new laptop to buy the one the retailer had for sale and take it round to a computer shop to have Vista wiped and XP installed - you see, the small business had a payroll system that wouldn’t run with Vista.

I wonder how many others around the world are being told something similar?

There could be some hardware issues because not all devices have drivers suitable for Vista. So before you do try upgrading perhaps you should download, instal and run Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor.

It’s a freebie and the experts say that it really does know what it’s talking about.

You will find some other great tips about Vista at All About Microsoft

If you’re thinking of upgrading to Vista it might be advisable to wait a few weeks. Reports are floating around that Microsoft is getting ready to release the first service pack for their new operating system.

That seems to say a lot when you consider that Vista hasn’t even been released in some markets yet.

Perhaps not for Windows Vista

Microsoft has finally announced the release date for Windwos Vista to the general public - January 30. However, it won’t be the Vista that was first promised several years ago.

Among the features that are still part pf Windows Vista are improved graphics and a new search tool.

Missing from the new release is a promised more sophisticated method for sorting and organising data and several other features that would have made Windows Vista more appealing to consumers.

By releasing Vista in January instead of before Christmas Microsoft has dealt a blow to computer manufacturers who were hoping to use the new operating system as a marketing tool to increase sales over Christmas.

In an effort to still encourage people to buy new computers over Christmas Microsoft is offering coupons for free upgrades to Vista come January 30. It appears that these coupons are only going to be offered in the United States.