Okay, the biggest issue I have with Microsoft at the moment is probably that their Windows Vista web site doesn’t work well in Safari. I mean – with their lack of adherence to standards in IE, not making something that renders okay in a “supported platform” is just downright obnoxious. But I digress.
Windows Vista contains a lot of new features which we’re meant to get all hot and bothered about.
Ease of Use
In essence, things are pretty much the same as in XP with regards to the Start Menu.
The scroller will make it just as much of a pain in the butt to use and I simply cannot understand why everything has to be based around their start menu paradigm. It’s like they run with it and just don’t know how to stop. They describe the XP menu as “slow performing, cascading, All Programs” view. That wasn’t part of the marketing message back in 2001! (much like “Intel is twice as fast” wasn’t a marketing message of the PowerMac G5 a couple of years ago).
Explorers
I’m a relatively proficient computer user but I find this shot of the “Document Explorer” to be a complete mess. It’s just all buttons and words and there’s no flow or context.
This looks like it was designed by an engineer who liked the way Windows 2000 did things and then he was asked to iterate a version which was “consumer friendly”. Maybe if you ROT13 that message it comes out as “add button clutter”?
Windows Aero
This entry tells you that unless you have a DirectX 9 graphics card, you ain’t going to be seeing the swooshy effects and transparency shown in these screenshots. Thankfully, it’s now a cheap upgrade for your hardware.
Do you notice how the “close” box is now the most prominent of the window management buttons. In XP, it was the colour, now it’s the colour, the shape and the size. They really want you to close down those windows. (Funnily enough I get a warm feeling when closing down Windows too). My little joke. Ahem.
Taskbar thumbnails
Looks like a slightly higher definition version of the Dock and while I like it, I wonder how it will scale. What happens when you have lots of icons in that taskbar?
I don’t think this will degrade half as nicely as some might hope!
Windows Flip and Windows Flip 3D
Sod Windows Flip. It’s the taskbar switcher now applied to open windows rather than open applications. Again that’s going to degrade poorly if you have 20 windows open. On the other hand, Flip 3D looks COOL.
I don’t honestly think it’s a patch on Exposé, but then there are lots of ways I can think of to improve on Exposé. This is a welcome development! It doesn’t suck! Or, maybe it does but til we use it, I’m going to say this is a bonus. Window management on Windows has always been a pain. Maybe now we’ll see some benefits.
I won’t say I’m not excited to see this and I also won’t declare that if they manage to get it running on Mac Intel hardware that I won’t probably have a spare hard disk with a copy of Vista on it.