Update on my Vista RC2 experience thus far:
- SetPoint 3.10 does work, but not the volume controls. Windows seems to be handling volume control in a new way. SetPoint was assigned its own volume to control which has no effect on the "Speaker" output or the "WinAmp" output. I called them that because it seems Vista does it on a per program basis and one main. I think this is a cool feature but Logitech obviously has to catch up a little.
- IE crashes. Who didn't expect that? Occasionally when IE is seemingly fine, not even loading a new page or anything it will just crash and Vista asks if you want to restart or not. It will not return you to your current page and if you have many tabs open it is a pain in the @$$
- The 3D window selection thing (if you press Windows Key + Tab or its in the Quick Launch) is really cool. It is however incredibly impractical and could never see myself using it.
- Alt + Tab is greatly improved since you get a little preview of the windows in it. A side note would be that this is a free feature with XP as a PowerToy though.
- I don't like that Shut Down, Reboot, Standby, Etc doesn't get its own larger button in the start menu like in XP. It is just a little arrow (like >) in the start menu.
- All programs no longer comes up to the right of the start menu, it is nested inside. I really didn't like this feature because if I wanted to see all programs I want it to be easier to see rather than being in that small area. I mean, if I paused my mouse over it did I really want to see what was running in the background or did I want to see all programs?
I actually wanted to get some work done today, so I'm back to using XP SP2 for now. I may switch back to Vista again later in the week, but for now it's impractical.
Looking forward (A conversation with myself
):
Do I see myself using Vista when it comes out?
No.
Even if it was free?
No.
Why?
Because I am currently using the Ultimate version in this trial. This is the best Vista has to offer. I think that XP is more usable especially since many drivers have not come out for Vista.
Do I see myself moving to Vista ever, if so when?
Yes, when drivers are readily available, DirectX 10 is out, and Vista is reported as being more stable. I don't think this culmination will come together until the middle of next year though. If XP supports DirectX 10 and gets continued support for a while, I may not switch for years. I can explain this very simply: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
