Despite having posted a variety of articles on Vista, I’ve had only limited access to the new operating system until recently when I purchased a new HP DV6500t laptop. The laptop came with Vista, and as such it has offered me the opportunity to some more exploring. Having spent two weeks with Vista now, there are things I like and, perhaps obviously, things I don’t. If you’re used to XP, like I am, then switching will present a certain number of adaptive challenges; below are some of my biggest qualms.

THE CONTROL PANEL

One of the things that bugs me most in Vista is the fact the Microsoft somehow decided that it would be good idea to completely reorganize the control panel in what seems to be an attempt at making it easier to use. Well, that didn’t work; for anyone who is used to the setup and organization of XP, trying to do something simple, like adding and removing programs, can be quite a chore. In Windows XP, performing this task was easily accomplished by hitting “Add and Remove Programs” in the control panel. Easy enough, right? Well, in Vista it took me a whole lot longer to do than I’d care to admit. The biggest problem I had was getting to the right place. As it turns out, “Add and Remove Programs” has been renamed to “Programs and Features.” Who’s bright idea was that?

Another change that I honestly don’t get is the removal of “Display” from the control panel. Don’t get me wrong, you can still modify all of the usual suspects, like resolution, themes, screen savers and appearances, but in order to do so you’ll have to head over to something called, get this, “Personalize.” And once you’ve figured this out and you’ve hit the icon, you’ll notice that the trusty old tabbed dialog box no longer exists in Vista as it did in XP. Instead, you simply delve deeper into the control panel.

Luckily, the rest of the icons and settings in the Vista control panel remain pretty much the same as they were in XP, but that which has changed is quite is annoying to re-locate, especially for “old skool” Windows users. Obviously, these are only petty complaints that most users will probably get used to pretty quick, but, nonetheless, if you’ve spent almost every waking hour on an XP system for the past half decade, it’s really annoying (and embarrassing) to be unable to quickly amend settings. On top of all this, I find that the changes don’t even make it any easier to get the job done.

FILE EXPLORER

Another rather large complaint that I have about Vista is that the “File Browser,” or whatever you might want to call this unnamed application, underwent major changes as well, and once again, I’m not too happy about what Microsoft has done. If you’ve spent any time with Vista, you probably know what I’m talking about.

First of all, why the hell mess with something that really isn’t broken? As a self-proclaimed computer geek, I spend a lot of time in the XP file browser, and I’ve gotten quite used to its already simple interface. One of the most used buttons in the XP version is the “Up” button, which allows me to move up the parent folder of the folder that I’m currently in. What Microsoft has done in a(n) (failed) attempt to “enhance” my computing experience is to get rid of this beloved button, and replace is with a dynamic address bar. Sure, it might be more noob friendly, but, in my opinion, it’s easier to just keep pounding the “Up” button to get where I want to be—but hey, maybe that’s just me…

If you want to make the Vista file explorer look and feel more like the XP version, head over to the “Folder and Search Options,” found in the “Organize” drop-down menu, and try changing a few things around. The same options menu can also be found in the Control Panel, and there it’s called “Folder Options.” Is it so hard to stay consistent?

I can understand that Microsoft would like to make the operating system friendlier, but the least that they could have done is include an option to revert back to the old, “Classic” scheme, much like you can with the themes.

USER ACCOUNT CONTROL (UAC)

Wikipedia describes User Account Control as a system infrastructure that “aims to improve the security of Windows by limiting applications to standard user privileges until an administrator authorizes an increase in privilege level. In this way, only applications that the user trusts receive higher privileges, and malware is kept from receiving privileges necessary to wreak havoc on the operating system.” Translation: it’s a nuisance for the experienced user.

If you are a new PC user and Vista is the first operating system that you have ever used, then this might be a pretty good security infrastructure to keep in place; if you didn’t launch an application and UAC pops up, then you know something, somewhere is up to no good. However, there is a huge drawback to UAC. It has the tendency to pop up with every keystroke, especially on a clean install, and this is sure to piss people off. All users, old or new, will eventually succumb to “pop-up fatigue,” meaning that every pop-up will be met with the same general response, either yes, no, or ignore—think of it as having Windows cry wolf far too many times.

If you know what you are doing, you shouldn’t have too much of a security problem if you just turn off UAC; in fact, I will go as far as to say that everyone will be better off with it turned off, because the level of annoyance it creates far outweighs the benefits. Just get a good anti-virus application instead.

SO WHAT DO I LIKE IN VISTA?

Good question! Vista is slower than XP, it’s not really any user friendlier, and it doesn’t really keep you safer in any meaningful way. So, there really isn’t that much to warrant a switch from XP—besides maybe the eye-candy.

Oh wait, there is one thing. Having a search bar built into the start menu is actually really convenient. It makes it a lot easier to find a specific application or file…And that’s really about it as far as I’m concerned.