Top Five Vista Annoyances
 | by Diego on May 2nd, 2008 |
This week we asked some of our Tech community members: What are your favorite top 5 Vista annoyances? Since it’s launch, we’ve heard a lot of carping over Microsoft’s latest operating system. There is even an entire book dedicated to it. In addition to getting reactions like “OMG, only 5?”, this is what our community came back with:
- “Windows needs permission to run this program” Windows UAC (Universal Account Control) is truly a pain, I turned it off right away (as soon as I figured out how).
- Network icons are different – They used to show traffic, different connections, info on that connection, speed, etc.. no more!
- File Associations are now in the Control Panel instead of in Explorer, where they belong!
- It is extremely difficult, if you’re coming off of Windows XP to find settings for any feature in the Control Panel. It’s definitely a hunt.
- Not finding drivers or software that will run on it – It’s getting better, but still has a long ways to go.
- “You must be an administrator to run this software” But there isn’t always an option to “Run as Administrator”. And if you are an Administrator, that’s not enough. You must be THE Administrator.
- You can’t open the damn box in which the software comes in. Microsoft had to publish a how-to. Joel on Software chimes in, Network World too and you can even find a tutorial on Flickr.
And, last but not least:
Yes, that’s more that five. But we couldn’t resist. What is your favorite Vista annoyance? Tell us in the comments.
May 2nd, 2008 at 1:27 pm
What is interesting to me, as a primary Mac user, is that Vista is so similar to Mac it is almost like a bridge from Windows OS to Mac OS. I may be a bit skewed but why would Microsoft want to make the differences between the two platforms even smaller? Would that not encourage some to make the switch to the more sleek and (currently) more popular Mac system?
May 2nd, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Vista, for all it’s hype, has been a big disappointment. I don’t think it’s made anything easier, quite the contrary. I have found my productivity is down, and it takes me longer to find things, and figure out how to do things that were second nature in XP. I know it takes a bit to get used to any new software, especially an OS, but I think this one has been the hardest yet.. or maybe I’m just getting old…?? Naa….
May 4th, 2008 at 7:20 am
UAC was implemented so that “Malware,Spyware,etc” could not easily install itself. Even though you may have an Admin user account UAC forces you to run Vista in the context of a limited user.That’s why you get all the prompts any time you want to make any changes to the system or install software thus protecting the non-savvy user from allowing malware etc to easily install iteslf.
Like anything new there always will be a learning curve. Microsoft has a web site dedicated to tutorials on how to use Vista. There are also many other sites that offer Vista support.
If you don’t like Vista, stick with XP. Microsoft will likely extend support for XP until the release of the next version of windows codename “Windows Seven”.
As for the MAC platform, as long as Apple continues to enforce the use of proprietary hardware for OS X they will only remain a contender. Their hardware
is ridiculously overpriced compared to the pc platform.
May 6th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
[…] few days back we published our community’s Top 5 Vista Annoyances. Our number one was the User Account Control. User Account Control (UAC) is a new security […]
May 7th, 2008 at 9:14 am
My biggest annoyance is with the people are willing to put in ten times the effort typing complaints than they do trying to tailor a new OS or Office Suite to their needs on a forum.
Don’t be so lazy. Don’t be like the same people who need a warning label on a hot cup of McDonalds coffee. Do you really wanna be lumped in with them? I’ll admit I wouldn’t mind havin the cash from the lawsuit settlement tho…
You’re Techs for Petes sake! It’s not like you gotta break rocks to figure it out. It’s an updated OS & Office Suite not a fractal algorithm! There’s nothing difficult about it. Install it, config it, suck it up and drive on. Half the fun of new things is learning how it all works.
Don’t label it a horrible iteration just because you can’t figure it out or your too lazy to try. That’s just stupid. That’s why there’s a help menu. It’s called reading folks, give it a try. Microsoft has vast resources to assist you if you’d look on the website dedicated to that end. Same thing goes with Office 2007.
Everytime any little thing changes everyone snivels about every little detail because they got tunnel vision and brain block and don’t wanna learn or try anything new. If this were easy you’d complain about that too and say it’s too boring and lacks creativity and innovation.
Consumers like that can’t be satisfied and definitely aren’t worth the effort.
As for Mac I think that the reason it’s priced the way it is, is to keep idiots that can’t turn on their computer away. The quality is first rate and so is the OS, always has been.
That’s why Windows is gradually gravitating in Mac’s direction. They were just hoping to go slow enough that we wouldn’t notice. No matter what tho it is a good thing for Microsoft to do.