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Overall Rating
3 Star Review
Reviewed by: PGreviewer05
Updated:06-30-08
Duration of ownership:3 Months
Strengths: latest OS, not bad with SP1
Weaknesses: you need a faster machine to make it run smooth
Overall Evaluation: The first time I tried Vista, it was so slow. I could not stand it and uninstalled it. Since I ran out of XPs, I had to give Vista a try on my newly built machine. With SP1, AMD 4000, 4GB ram (though 32-bit Vista can only recognize part of it), The machine runs pretty good. I needed to change the settings to turn off the fancy stuff. If I have a choice, I probably still pick XP, but Vista is decent after all.
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Overall Rating
3 Star Review
Reviewed by: deshwasi
Updated:06-28-08
Duration of ownership:30 Days
Strengths: inexpensive
Weaknesses: not full-featured
Overall Evaluation: This is the most stripped down version of windows vista but is good for getting a taste of vista before springing for a higher version that come with other features like media-center etc. This is an upgrade version and install is straighforward and quick. should be good to go within half-hour. keep in mind that vista is more resource-intensive and you need 2GB memory and a decent graphics card to run it smoothly.
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Overall Rating
3 Star Review
Reviewed by: dcp693
Updated:05-30-08
Duration of ownership:
Strengths: Installation is pretty straightforward
Weaknesses: SLOW
Overall Evaluation: Microsoft has a habit of writing code for the "next" generation of computers. Vista is no exception. M$ft basically wrote this OS hoping people would upgrade their hardware in order to use it. If your computer is a few years old, be prepared to upgrade it to get it to run Vista so you won't tear your hair out. If you've got a capable computer Vista runs OK on it, though I'd never describe it as "snappy".
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Overall Rating
3 Star Review
Reviewed by: dric
Updated:05-18-08
Duration of ownership:1 Years
Strengths: Latest version of OS, cheapest version of vista, less resource intensive than other versions of Vista
Weaknesses: More resource intensive than previous versions of windows, lack of support for many legacy programs and peripherals
Overall Evaluation: I purchased this software directly from Microsoft through their Technology Guarantee program. Vista is Microsoft?s latest line of operating systems, released in early 2007. It contains a host of new features as well as a new UI (on some versions) and a number of security improvements. These improvements come at a cost ? namely higher system requirements when compared to earlier versions of Microsoft OS. Fortunately, processor technology has increased and memory pricing has decreased to allow new systems to keep up with these requirements, and to allow older systems to be upgraded cheaply..I believe that Vista Home Basic (upgrade) is the cheapest of the Vista line of OS?s. Basic is probably the most similar to XP in terms of look and feel, and is less resource intensive than the other Home or Business Editions. It works well, is stable, and seems to be on par with XP in terms of performance..On the downside, it is still more resource intensive than earlier Microsoft OS?s, and if you are really upgrading your OS to this version then a system upgrade might be required as well. When I upgraded to Vista there was a big problem with driver support for much of my software and peripherals. It has taken some time, but Vista support is getting better and this has not been an issue for me recently..All in all, I was not happy with Vista early on, primarily due to support issues. That said, it has been getting better and I would not longer be hesitant to upgrade to it.
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Overall Rating
3 Star Review
Reviewed by: lordwu
Updated:05-05-08
Duration of ownership:
Strengths: Less demanding on hardware comparing to other versions of Vista. Better security settings.
Weaknesses: Lacks some of the better Vista features. Still uses quite a lot of hard drive space and memory comparing to XP.
Overall Evaluation: Got it for a bargain price and installed fine on a desktop with AMD X2 4200 and 1GB memory. Installation took longer than XP although it's still acceptable. You can't do straight upgrade from XP Professional to this version so you'll have to do a clean install of Vista Basic first (you could use the same media) and then do upgrade from there. Vista Basic does not have the bell and whistle of other versions such as Aero. You could still activate Aero by editing registry. Make sure your machine has enough power to support Aero though. I have Aero running with 1GB memory but you could hear hard drive running for swapping quite frequently. You may need 2GB or more if you want to run Vista Basic with Aero smoothly.
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Overall Rating
3 Star Review
Reviewed by: rogergraves
Updated:04-30-08
Duration of ownership:
Strengths: Has the latest DirectX 10 (if you're into games), good safeguards against doing stupid things (like running malicious code), excellent power management for laptops.
Weaknesses: Crashes a lot when transferring large files, the changes from XP are very non-intuitive (way more of a learning curve than there should be).
Overall Evaluation: After using Vista for many months, my assessment is that it is a slight step up from XP, but not nearly enough to justify actually paying money for. The biggest changes I noticed was how the My Documents are structured (totally different place and different way to get to them and use them), and also network connections (connecting to Wi-fi, the internet, etc.) Once I got used to them I liked them better than XP, but it took me weeks to figure them out completely. The big selling points I've heard in Microsoft advertisements (the new Aero look and feel, better searching/indexing) is a complete joke. Sure, Aero looks cool, but you stop noticing that in about 20 minutes. As for searching, it works fine if you search by file name, but if you are searching by file contents, it's terrible and you're better off using 3rd party programs. In short, if you're getting a new computer, I'd give Vista a try, especially if it's a laptop because the power management on Vista is good. But if you're doing fine on XP, stay where you are. The small baby step improvements will most likely be outweighed by the new negatives and surprisingly steep learning curve.
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Overall Rating
4 Star Review
Reviewed by: itsbroke
Updated:04-09-08
Duration of ownership:
Strengths: It's the latest version of Windows.
Weaknesses: It's not free but is reasonably priced.
Overall Evaluation: Search for yourself and you'll likely see that the "advantages" of any version of Vista are largely overblown and for the majority of users (like myself who own both Vista Home and Ultimate) Vista Ultimate is far more money for the very small bit of "extra" features and all the more so for the price. The first extra upgrade that I recall getting was for Texas Hold 'Em....
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Overall Rating
4 Star Review
Reviewed by: asktoknow
Updated:03-09-08
Duration of ownership:1 Weeks
Strengths: improved graphics, improved security, better interface
Weaknesses: not same capabilities as Home Premium or Ultimate; need to increase RAM for best results
Overall Evaluation: Vista Basic is pretty musch "as advertised"--not the bells and whistles of the more expensive versions, but (at least when loaded on a clean hard drive) more capable, prettier and secure than Windows XP. I ordered this for a computer that was not going to be used for heavy media work, but did decide to add 512MB of RAM to facilitate the program operation.
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Overall Rating
4 Star Review
Reviewed by: marc420
Updated:02-20-08
Duration of ownership:2 Weeks
Strengths: Next-gen operating system, simpler/efficent ways to do old tasks. Direct X 10 gaming.
Weaknesses: Memory hog, "Basic" version dosen't include Aero 3D Desktop, OS only reads up to 3.25 of my 4GB memory kit.
Overall Evaluation: I purchased Vista Basic to run on a new gaming rig I was building. The system would only be used for gaming so I needed a DirextX 10 compatible OS. This version of vista is called "Basic" and it is exactly that. It has all the perks and improvements of Vista, but is missing a few bells and whisltes like the Aero 3D desktop. Overall I am happy with this purchase. Just make sure your system has plenty of RAM because this OS is a resource hog, I recommend atleast 2GB of RAM because just the desktop alone uses close to 1GB of memory.
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Overall Rating
4 Star Review
Reviewed by: bslutsky
Updated:12-27-07
Duration of ownership:
Strengths: It runs your computer
Weaknesses: Initial tests indicate it is a little slower than Windows XP
Overall Evaluation: Vista is getting a bad rap and that's good for you. Why? This product can be had dirt cheap -- under $40. As far as I am concerned, it's pretty much the equal of XP. Initial tests rate it a little slower but newer tests with newer drivers have it surpassing XP in speed, and of course it has new functionality.Some things you NEED to know: (1) Reviews say you are in for headaches if you install this over an old OS, but since this is the upgrade version supposedly you have to install it over an old OS, right? Wrong. Read this for a way to clean install it: http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_upgrade_clean.asp. Make sure you own an old OS though so you are really upgrading. (2) Some people will tell you that you should pay more for the Premium (or higher) version to get the new Aero interface. You could do that, or you can just enable Aero in Home Basic: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Enable-the-Aero-Interface-in-Windows-Vista-Home-Basic-49713.shtml.Well worth it if you can find it for less than $40!
