Mark Evans

Mossberg Sorta, Kinda Disses Vista

When the Wall St. Journal’s Walter Mossberg talks, people listen. So, I suspect many people at Microsoft must be somewhat disappointed with Mossberg’s take on Vista, which is sees as a “worthy, but largely unexciting, product”.

“Vista is much prettier than previous versions of Windows. Its icons look better, windows have translucent borders, and items in the taskbar and in folders can display little previews of what they contain. Security is supposedly vastly better; there are some new free, included programs; and fast, universal search is now built in. There are hundreds of other, smaller, improvements and additions throughout the system, including parental controls and even a slicker version of Solitaire.”

My take on Vista is pretty much the same as Mossberg’s. Vista is a definite improvement from a user-interface perspective with some really nice, user-friendly features, particularly the multi-media players. That said, my overall reaction is akin to what my mother says when goes to a movie or play that’s alright but not amazing. Her default phrase is “It was very nice”, which is a mild praise, at best. (I’ll provide a more in-depth review of Vista in a few days.)

As one of the bloggers who received a Ferarri laptop pre-loaded with Vista, one thing I can say is I’m more impressed with Vista than the laptop. The Acer machine has a great screen but it’s fairly heavy, difficult to open and the exhaust fan blows on your hand (if you’re right-handed).

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