Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate (Full Product)

Reviewed by: nurseshelly

Duration of ownership: 1 Month

Strengths: Speed, user friendly, backups, media center, very fast start up / shut down, features for business and home, 64 bit capability.

Weaknesses: Had to do some tweaking at first to get it to run correctly, there were some issues with 64 bit software unavailable for some hardware ... now that it is fine tuned, very reliable. Not everyone will want to do the work involved to figure out what is causing the instabilities to fix the problems and make their system stable, I spent several days of being up until 1am with many blue screens of problems to do it. Before fine tuning, was very unstable. This is why only 4 stars ... should not have to tweek so much to get reliable system on a freshly built system with all new "vista compatible" system. Even items that were vista compatible did not always have correct software, some were not compatible with 64 bit version.

Overall: Now that we have it all tweeked, we love it, and we do not have any problems with it, very stable. It's a lot of fun and with the 64 bit, I can use all of my installed RAM, it's screamin fast! It was worth all of the tweaking to get here ... but might not be worth the work for some.

Reviewed by: mcconnell

Duration of ownership: 3 Months

Strengths: Speed, reliable, user friendly, easy media, network connectivity, business features, auto back up, X-box 360 connectivity/ media sharing, work and play features, great for gaming, fast start up.

Weaknesses: None that I have found. Upgrade to Vista!

Overall: Everything about this new OS is great! The OS sped up my PC (which previously had XP) and had many new features. Vista is much better for work and play then XP and is definately worth the $$$$.

Reviewed by: Wizkid

Duration of ownership: 6 Months

Strengths: The interface looks nice and Vista is easy to use.

Weaknesses: Vista has lots of bugs in it which can be VERY annoying and it runs VERY slow compared to other Windows products.

Overall: Windows Vista Ultimate is a great Operating system. Almost anyone can use it, because of it's ease to use and it looks the best (my opinion) compared to all the other Windows products. If you want to upgrade from Windows XP to vista, I wouldn't recommend that because you don't need to waste you money when your XP has everything it needs to run, and Vista is VERY slow compared to XP.

Reviewed by: terflip

Duration of ownership: 5 Months

Strengths: Nice graphics + a wonderful interface for your entertainment. Lots of security Plesent to look at.

Weaknesses: Eats up the ram, heavey power user, Hard to customize. Takes a lot of time to get acustom to all the features.

Overall: I'm a power user for Games and other apps. Procceses that I can't shut down or suspend causes problems Alot of the security features can be shut down or suspended. Overall I found it fun to tackle and learn to make it compatible to my style of play and work. After useing this program, I went back to Windows XP Pro. I had to have a OS that I could control.

Reviewed by: fahim86

Strengths: Its graphics quality is excellent.

Weaknesses: Little difficult to use.

Overall: When you want to have it all, including the ability to shift smoothly between the worlds of play and productivity, there's Windows Vista Ultimate. Specifically, Windows Vista Ultimate offers all of the features found in Windows Vista Home Premium, including Windows Media Center, Windows Movie Maker with high-definition support, and Windows DVD Maker. Not only these, there have many more options people can get from Windows Vista Ultimate. Designed to help you feel confident in your ability to view, find, and organize information and to control your computing experience, all editions of Windows Vista introduce a breakthrough user experience. The desktop experience is more informative, intuitive, and helpful. And new tools bring better clarity to the information on your computer, so you can see what your files contain without opening them, find applications and files instantly, navigate efficiently among open windows, and use wizards and dialog boxes more confidently. Let?s have a look some system requirements about Windows Vista Ultimate.Recommended system requirements * 1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor * 1 GB of system memory * 40 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space * Support for DirectX 9 graphics with: o WDDM Driver o 128 MB of graphics memory (minimum) o Pixel Shader 2.0 in hardware o 32 bits per pixel * DVD-ROM * Audio Output * Internet access (fees may apply)Additional requirements to use certain features * TV tuner card required for TV functionality (compatible remote control optional) * Windows Tablet and Touch Technology requires a Tablet PC or a touch scr * Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption requires a USB Flash Drive and a system with a TPM 1.2 chipIn short I would like to say that Windows Vista Ultimate satisfied me with its friendly performance and easy working performance

Reviewed by: rgpai

Strengths: good display

Weaknesses: takes more ram

Overall: if you want the latest OS then vista ultimate is best..display quality is good if u have good video card..it also has some nice 3d gadgets which makes it unique

Reviewed by: SkywardSig

Strengths: Excellent graphics if you have the right video card. Fun switching between windows with the new Flip 3D. Fun and useful gadgets. Great Backup system if you have an external drive.

Weaknesses: Memory intensive, so buy as much RAM as you can. Security questions with almost every application and operation that you run.

Overall: If you want or need to see the latest OS from Microsoft, get Windows Ultimate, but, if you can hold off, Windows XP will be adequate you for a while. I am sure Windows Home Premium will be okay as well, but you do not get the Backup and Restore feature that you get with Ultimate. Restore from Backup is relatively quick if you have a fast computer and External Drive as is the initial backup. Do not pay dollar for what ever OS that you buy. Compare prices online!

Reviewed by: mavx14

Strengths: DX10, Aero, Bitlocker, UAC, Good multimonitor support

Weaknesses: Needs a modern PC to run.

Overall: This is Microsoft latest and greatest and is worth moving up to if you have a modern PC. If you have an ancient one, then you might not want to bother unless you are willing to upgrade it. Most people complain that Vista takes too many resources to run and that is true. But so what? XP used more resources than ME, 2000 or 98. This is how advancing technology works.

Reviewed by: benjithedoggie

Strengths: Nice interface, the transparent look, DX10

Weaknesses: Security reminders, cost, no realy special additions for ultimate only

Overall: Nice interface, the transparent look, DX10Security reminders are annoying although you can turn them off, cost is high, no realy special additions for ultimate onlyIt requires a great deal of memory and will slow down your computer, very nice graphics though.DX10 Games are just starting to become available.