Conclusion... for Now
Overall, in order to rate Vista we have two different competitors we need to look at: MacOS X "Tiger" and Windows XP. Although Vista is the same operating system in both cases, how well it performs is all relative to what it is being compared against.
Vista vs. Tiger
If you read our initial Beta 2 preview, then you can stop reading now as Vista has not changed enough to drastically alter our view on this comparison. In short, Mac enthusiasts can breathe a sigh of relief because Vista won't be causing a reverse-switching phenomenon any time soon. Vista is good, good enough that it will stop the hemorrhaging and greatly reduce the number of switchers for the time being. However it's not better than Tiger for Mac users and it isn't going to pull anyone back, so the operating systems are at a stalemate at the moment until Leopard and/or Vista SP1.
In Microsoft's corner, Vista's file-I/O improvements keep it solidly ahead of Tiger. The SuperFetch family of abilities is clearly beyond Tiger, as Tiger's own caching system doesn't have the speed or refinement to match what Vista can do and it makes a remarkable difference. System Restore/Volume Shadow Copy is also well beyond what Tiger can do, and although this is apt to start debates at VSC versus Apple's already-revealed Time Machine technology, only one of them is in a shipping operating system and that's Vista.
In Apple's corner as we've mentioned before is Exposé, which will continue to weigh heavily in the favor of Apple as it's a simple-but-powerful tool to boost productivity. Apple's other strengths here are also related to their UI, as the Finder is still a better organized file browser than Explorer, and they have done a better job enforcing a consistent look and feel across their own applications and even 3rd-party applications.
In the middle then are their respective application suites, in which there is no clear winner. Windows Calendar is the closest single thing we've seen to being an Apple knockoff (it's iCal) while Internet Explorer 7+ is the new benchmark for Safari. Meanwhile iTunes does a much better job as a media player than Windows Media Player, and Windows Mail with phishing protection keeps users safer than Mail.app's security-through-minority nature which doesn't prevent phishing.
Given how long Vista was in development and how long after Tiger it is being released, it's almost a bit sad to see that Microsoft couldn't come up with something that was far above and beyond Tiger. Leopard will undoubtedly change things again, but for now Vista could have surpassed Tiger only if Microsoft had done more sensible things with the UI. Nonetheless Windows users will be happy to have a version of Windows that finally isn't lagging behind MacOS X.
Vista vs. XP
Among those that won't become switchers, Microsoft's own worst enemy is itself, as it needs to prove that Vista is a worthwhile upgrade to XP when XP is already so refined. For many users in the consumer space, Vista is simply a version of Windows where (to borrow a quote from Field of Dreams) "If you build it, they will come." These people will get Vista on their new computers and they'll like it because it is good, but having never had the chance to decide if they didn't want it.
For everyone else who does get a choice, more often than not we believe the choice will be Vista. As we've stated before it's not perfect, but it's quite good. There are some very good reasons not to use it in some cases (system requirements, compatibility, and OpenGL performance), but for those machines that the above do not apply to, there are numerous useful features in Vista that warrant an upgrade if you find that you're the kind of person that will use them. Vista's SuperFetch and Search technology are both reasons enough to migrate from XP, as they easily improve productivity and performance.
Vista is a worthy upgrade and an even better choice as an operating system for a new computer. At the same time there's still ample room to grow; hopefully we'll have even fewer complaints once Service Pack 1 is released later this year. Hopefully Microsoft will spend some time improving features as opposed to simply bug fixing, though, as right now some of the design decisions still need work.
Overall, in order to rate Vista we have two different competitors we need to look at: MacOS X "Tiger" and Windows XP. Although Vista is the same operating system in both cases, how well it performs is all relative to what it is being compared against.
Vista vs. Tiger
If you read our initial Beta 2 preview, then you can stop reading now as Vista has not changed enough to drastically alter our view on this comparison. In short, Mac enthusiasts can breathe a sigh of relief because Vista won't be causing a reverse-switching phenomenon any time soon. Vista is good, good enough that it will stop the hemorrhaging and greatly reduce the number of switchers for the time being. However it's not better than Tiger for Mac users and it isn't going to pull anyone back, so the operating systems are at a stalemate at the moment until Leopard and/or Vista SP1.
In Microsoft's corner, Vista's file-I/O improvements keep it solidly ahead of Tiger. The SuperFetch family of abilities is clearly beyond Tiger, as Tiger's own caching system doesn't have the speed or refinement to match what Vista can do and it makes a remarkable difference. System Restore/Volume Shadow Copy is also well beyond what Tiger can do, and although this is apt to start debates at VSC versus Apple's already-revealed Time Machine technology, only one of them is in a shipping operating system and that's Vista.
In Apple's corner as we've mentioned before is Exposé, which will continue to weigh heavily in the favor of Apple as it's a simple-but-powerful tool to boost productivity. Apple's other strengths here are also related to their UI, as the Finder is still a better organized file browser than Explorer, and they have done a better job enforcing a consistent look and feel across their own applications and even 3rd-party applications.
In the middle then are their respective application suites, in which there is no clear winner. Windows Calendar is the closest single thing we've seen to being an Apple knockoff (it's iCal) while Internet Explorer 7+ is the new benchmark for Safari. Meanwhile iTunes does a much better job as a media player than Windows Media Player, and Windows Mail with phishing protection keeps users safer than Mail.app's security-through-minority nature which doesn't prevent phishing.
Given how long Vista was in development and how long after Tiger it is being released, it's almost a bit sad to see that Microsoft couldn't come up with something that was far above and beyond Tiger. Leopard will undoubtedly change things again, but for now Vista could have surpassed Tiger only if Microsoft had done more sensible things with the UI. Nonetheless Windows users will be happy to have a version of Windows that finally isn't lagging behind MacOS X.
Vista vs. XP
Among those that won't become switchers, Microsoft's own worst enemy is itself, as it needs to prove that Vista is a worthwhile upgrade to XP when XP is already so refined. For many users in the consumer space, Vista is simply a version of Windows where (to borrow a quote from Field of Dreams) "If you build it, they will come." These people will get Vista on their new computers and they'll like it because it is good, but having never had the chance to decide if they didn't want it.
For everyone else who does get a choice, more often than not we believe the choice will be Vista. As we've stated before it's not perfect, but it's quite good. There are some very good reasons not to use it in some cases (system requirements, compatibility, and OpenGL performance), but for those machines that the above do not apply to, there are numerous useful features in Vista that warrant an upgrade if you find that you're the kind of person that will use them. Vista's SuperFetch and Search technology are both reasons enough to migrate from XP, as they easily improve productivity and performance.
Vista is a worthy upgrade and an even better choice as an operating system for a new computer. At the same time there's still ample room to grow; hopefully we'll have even fewer complaints once Service Pack 1 is released later this year. Hopefully Microsoft will spend some time improving features as opposed to simply bug fixing, though, as right now some of the design decisions still need work.
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Lifted - Thursday, February 1, 2007 - link
That's odd. I can search network drives using XP Pro. Maybe it's a Pro vs. Home issue?
Was also wondering about the network test myself. 10MB/s file copy on XP Pro seems abysmally slow when using gigabit NIC's. Just testing right now I about 35MB/s between a pair of 5 year old servers (dual Xeon 1GHz) with Intel GB NIC's. I haven't checked transfer rates with XP as I'm on a 10/100 switch at the moment, but I can't believe it's really THAT much slower than 2003.
Aikouka - Thursday, February 1, 2007 - link
I remember running a gigabit cross-over (CAT6) cable between my roommate's computer and my computer in college. We achieved about 33MB/s (through FTP) running Windows XP Professional on each. So I'd say that you'd probably see about the same speed if you were running a gigabit switch.mjz - Monday, February 5, 2007 - link
i think windows xp sets a limit when downloading from another computer to 33MB/s..Nehemoth - Thursday, February 1, 2007 - link
Same here.I just wanna Vista for the improve TCP/IP Stack, now I'll wait for SP1
tallsummi - Thursday, February 1, 2007 - link
I'll wait for SP2 of vista and then go for it..keitaro - Thursday, February 1, 2007 - link
Perhaps Microsoft should have copied the idea from Novell's SUSE Linux Desktop (powered by XGL and compiz). The compiz software package (compositor and window manager) comes with its own alt-tab that surpasses Flip 3D in every way. http://www.novell.com/products/desktop/features/xg...">See here for a look at what XGL and compiz can do.mlambert890 - Friday, February 2, 2007 - link
I think that xgl crap is an overenginered waste that adds 0 productivity. Flip 3d gives you the one thing you need - a live shot of running apps. Who the hell needs some spinning cube? And look how bad video playback perf is in that Novell demo...bleh... I dont feel myself drawn back to 1992 when I lived and breathed Novell; sorry...
Locutus465 - Friday, February 2, 2007 - link
I dont' know, personally I like flip 3d better..archcommus - Thursday, February 1, 2007 - link
The article makes me a bit sad about Vista. It made me realize - wow, yeah, it really IS a shame that Vista doesn't totally smash OS X Tiger given how long it's been in development and how long Tiger has been out for. I guess they just got in such a rut of catch-up that not many new revolutionary features could be developed.In particular, I'm disappointed with how similar (and ugly) certain aspects of Vista look compared to XP, for example the quick launch area, system tray, clock, and the overall taskbar. With the exception of the Start buttion being replaced by an "orb," it looks EXACTLY the same as XP, and this could have been and should have been revamped to improve productivity. Quick launch is just...stupid, and ugly. All it is is additional shortcuts, and they waste taskbar space. I think a small menu that appears and disappears on the fly would be nicer. I'm not sure what improvements to suggest for the taskbar, all I know is, with how pretty the rest of the OS looks, the application blocks down there just look out of place. Same with the system tray icons.
Explorer is better though and the transparency is great. It's too bad x64 performance and drivers aren't up to snuff yet.
thebrown13 - Thursday, February 1, 2007 - link
Microsoft has to cater to about 349852395472039 more software programs.That's why. Updates, bug fixes, feature designing, it all takes A LOT longer than with an OS with 5 people that use it, like Apple.
We're lucky the mainstream OS isn't MUCH farther behind.