The WOW starts now…

 

I got my new laptop this morning. They attempted to deliver it yesterday, but I was at work, so it got taken back to the depot. I wasn’t expecting it for about another five days. I guess it’s been about 3 days from ordering to arrival. Well done Dell!

So this morning I’ve been having fun with Windows Vista. Here are my first impressions:

The  good:

  • It looks great. There are lots of bells and whistles. It’s certainly better than the Telitubbies theme of XP. It could be said it’s a little over the top in the flashy stakes, but I like it.
  • The dynamic menu is cool. Much quicker than the old menu, or having to select the Run option.
  • Rolladex (Windows+Tab) is a fun gimick, but I doubt I’ll ever use it again now I’ve tried it. The Alt+Tab version is still present and is a bit quicker.
  • I’m using Vista Ultimate, so I have no idea what the other versions are like.

The bad:

  •  The first thing I attempted to install was Checkpoint Secure Remote, which I use to VPN into work. Unfortunately, it won’t install and they don’t have a production release for Vista yet. No support from this laptop!
  • Next I tried to install VMware Server, the freebie. I’d heard reports it didn’t work, but I thought I’d give it a go. The reports were correct. It doesn’t work.
  • I plugged in my webcam and it didn’t recognize it. I went onto theCreative website and downloaded a beta driver. Now it works. More of a “Phew!” than a Wow!

The ugly:

  • Nothing is really wrong with Vista. Much as I wanted to hate it, it’s pretty nice. Once all the drivers and software manufacturers catch up with this release it will be cool. It’s going to take a while to get into using the new interface. Everything it different enough to slow you down, but similar enough for you to know you’re going to get there in the end.

Remember, I’ve been using it for a few hours, so I reserve the right to freak out and hate it at any time. 🙂

Cheers

Tim…

Author: Tim...

DBA, Developer, Author, Trainer.

16 thoughts on “The WOW starts now…”

  1. there is a beta of checkpoint secure remote which you can get from the website if you have an account with them at a corporate level, need the IT department to get it for you I think.

    Same with other vpn’s they all need new versions, I use checkpoint, ciso and nortel all for work for different things, need the beta for all of them as the networking stuff is totally different.

    Personally think its a bit slack of the vendors not to have a prod release ready by the time of general availability, they have had it for months

  2. Hi.

    I saw the Vista statement from Checkpoint. I’ll have to wait until Monday to get the details. 🙁

    I just bought Parallels for £30. It already supports Vista and it’s cheap. Not as cheap as free, but close enough. 🙂

    Cheers

    Tim…

  3. I’m waiting for a new Mesh dual-core desktop for my work. Delivery time – 3 weeks! I was a bit stunned, but it was the one I wanted at the right price. It was supposed to turn up yesterday, but all I got was a webcam and wireless adapter 🙁 The rest turns up on Monday and I’m glad I read this blog first because I depend on Cisco VPN for work so I’ll need to download the beta – thanks for the tip, Dave.

  4. the thing that is baffling me is how impatient folks are to get into yet another cycle of “oh this doesn’t work, gotta pay for another upgrade…”!

    unbelievable.

  5. Noons, it was a new laptop, so it comes with Vista as standard. I wouldn’t bother upgrading an existing machine, but by the same token, I wouldn’t downgrade a new machine for the sake of it either. 🙂

    Cheers

    Tim…

  6. Hi Tim,

    Your friendly, nearly ex, Checkpoint admin has just mailed you the SecureClient beta… see how you get on.

    Cheers,

    Rob

  7. Noons said …

    “the thing that is baffling me is how impatient folks are to get into yet another cycle of “oh this doesn’t work, gotta pay for another upgrade…”!”

    I agree with you, but also agree with Tim on this one. I just need a more powerful machine (my laptop seems to be on it’s last legs – after a year!) and the Vista was just a side-effect. Having said that, I *am* concerned that this is a machine exclusively for work so let’s hope I don’t run into too many problems. I have better things to do with my time.

    And, on that note, thanks for the link Dave!

  8. dave:
    I guess that shows I’m not “people” then: last I need in my life is disruption by “new”! 🙂

    on the new box front: yup, just got a new Dell lappie at work. guess what’s in it? XP Pro, of course.
    no way I’m gonna waste my time – and the company’s – debugging silly incompatibility problems put there to annoy the competition.
    been there, done that. one of the reasons why I never ran Win95 in any of my computers.

    maybe in another 12 months or so I’ll revisit the Vista thing. until then, quite frankly I couldn’t be bothered: not enough new to make it worth the hassle.

  9. I need something like Vista to give me something to moan about. If it weren’t for Vista life would be too good, I’d be happy and people would suspect something is wrong with me. 🙂

    Cheers

    Tim…

  10. Congrats Sir.I am back :-).Ok so I guess I must Visa a try too.Lets see what it will show to me ;-)?
    With best regards
    Aman….

  11. Wait, so Vista got released without support with VPN?!?! Glad I’m holding off Vista. I wonder if a lot of people who installed Vista, and didn’t know bout available betas, reverted to older systems or reinstalled XP to log onto their companies’ VPN netork.

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