Was there good reason for many people to be a little wary when Microsoft announced that it’s new operating system was far superior to the current reining star, Windows XP? Once Windows Vista was distributed and used it appeared that there was just cause for the concern. Many printers would not work with this system, games seemed to be very sluggish and perhaps worst of all were the constant popup messages stating that Vista was not compatible with your hardware/software.
Of course, Microsoft gave us the standard story about anything new is bound to have bugs or problems and they were working overtime to get them fixed. They were busy getting all of the windows downloads updated, offering computer help if they could. There were many compatibility, graphical and performance issues to be resolved. Microsoft now tells us that nearly 77,000 hardware products are supported, which is more than double the number supported at launch and that in 9 out of 10 cases when you plug in a device it should just work, with no installation disc required.
Windows boasts that they are now compatible with over 2,700 different applications, and additional applications are being added to the list daily. We have also learned that Windows Vista now supports 97 of the top 100 consumer software programs including Adobe Photoshop and AppleiTunes.
So, even with all of the issues described, does Microsoft still feel that Vista is the better operating system? When asked, they said that Windows XP is a great operating system as was its predecessor, Windows ME but with more and more people investing in identity theft products, security is high on everyone’s agenda. Their goal is to always make each new version of Windows better and more secure than the last and feel that they have done just that with the Vista operating system. So what are some of the major highlights that they feel Vista has over XP?
Maybe not number one on your list but popular none the less, Microsoft kept entertainment on the list by designing the Windows Media Center for watching/recording TV, editing videos and even to organize your favorite pictures or videos. Even with windows XP sp2, Windows Vista has a 60% less chance of being infected by malware and spyware. Another good feature is the more powerful parental controls, allowing parents to rest a bit easier when their children are online. They have also designed a way to help you “work smarter not harder,” by developing the Windows Mobility Center, Sync Center and Windows Meeting Space.
