Installation

At the desktop computer had to install a system to Windows XP, so it has not had a DVD drive for reading. We selected configurations with a choice of operating system at boot the computer.

Installing Windows Vista on both computers took about an hour and a half. This is a fairly long time. All you need to do once installation - specify a username and password, and Vista is ready for use.

The system for purified before that took 7.5 GB hard drive. So if you have less space on your hard drive, keep in mind that Vista requires quite a lot of it. Other versions of the system can occupy less space.

Notebook

At each step the user is confronted with the necessary waiting, but this time the waiting time is not as great, so it is safe to wait. It seems that Vista is constantly trying to redraw the image on the screen, but the graphics processor is unable to cope with the workload. Help cope with the problems of faster graphics processor and more RAM. Definitely one can say that the new system, 512 MB is not enough.

First impressions

Immediately striking new colour scheme, which looks especially good on new laptops with high contrast LCD displays. For us it has made a good impression, although, of course, there are many opponents of the prevalence of red hues in the color scheme.

Changing all menus can be a shock to users for many years accustomed to the normal location of tools and applications. On the other hand, the new location should be more convenient for new users Vista, particularly those who have worked before with Mac OS. Experienced Windows users are likely to be called the new menu overly complex and overloaded, which significantly complicates the implementation of the simplest operations and capabilities:

* Windows Calendar - simple desktop organizer
* Windows Update - updated now in a separate annex
* Windows Collaboration - a means to work together with applications and documents multiple users
* Windows Sidebar - sidebar for small software on the desktop
* Speech Recognition - English-speaking way to give voice command system
* Windows DVD Maker - Record DVD
* Windows Photo Gallery - photogallery
* Windows Slide show - slide show
* Powerful search and indexing service information
* Windows System Performance Rating - a means of tracking the overall performance computer
* Several new games using the graphics processing capabilities.

Most of us were surprised by the fact that Microsoft is being made Internet Explorer 7 independent of the operating system. We can now simply remove IE without any consequences, not feeling that we pulled out the heart of the operating system. Despite the fact that IE7 has become very convenient, it still ate a lot of system resources.

What is this new?

Despite the fact that Vista has many new features and changes in the interface, almost anything that seems new, in fact, not so new. Changes at first glance seem radical, but they are not revolutionary.

Vista Aero Glass

Users of Macintosh computers will not be surprised by the new interface, as well as his ability and his privychny interface familiar to Luna. Microsoft has spent a lot of time and effort on developing Aero Glass, and we are pleased that it has finally completed work on it. Is he justified expectations? Yes and no.

No, because it uses too much CPU and video card requires the most up-to simply withdraw interface elements. Microsoft recommends the use of video card with at least 128 MB of video. If companies spend thousands of dollars except for the purchase of operating systems and even to upgrade graphics cards, their workers are unlikely to be satisfied with the improvement of the interface.

More or less experienced Windows users should be generally familiar with Alt-Tab to switch between allowing run applications. Now this function is improved. Users see not just the icons of applications, and copies of each application window. Added to the list of applications and desktop Windows.

Vista Basic, and the rest

At first glance, it might seem that the menu itself has not changed. It looks almost the same as in Windows XP, but there are more important changes. One of the main distinctions is that the building disappeared cascading menus.

The good news - as a menu option is the old, bad news - the classic menu does not support transparency, it is exactly the same as Windows 2000.

In this review we will end externalities in the new system and will suspend the description of our impressions to the second part of article, which go to the assessment of the capacity and productivity of Windows Vista.