New Laptop – Wonder Vista
Got a new laptop 2 weeks back, here are the specifications for the laptop that I bought:
- Intel Duo Core 1.6GH, 2MB Cache, 533 MHz FSB
- Integrated Stereo Sound
- 2048MB (2 X 1024MB) 533 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
- GENUINE Windows Vista(TM) Business with AERO experience (Had to upgrade, it was cheap – This will be the topic of discussion later after the boasting)
- 120GB SATA Hard Disk Drive
- Internal 8X DVD +/- RW Combi Drive wuth dual layer write capabilities
- 15.4″ Wide Screen XGA TFT Display with Truelife(TM): 1280 X 800
- 256MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) Go 7300 TurboCache
Ok enough with the boasting. On to the topic. Wonder… errr… Windows Vista.
Honestly, when I first saw it I was very impressed. The AERO experience with the shadow backdrops and the ‘fogged glass’ appearance for the borders of any window open that wasn’t maximised, was genuinely beautiful. Even the taskbar had that feature, which was semi-transparent when there wasn’t any maximised window open. Microsoft outdid itself by adding a ‘widget bar’, the stuff you can get from Yahoo or Google widgets if you’re the type that heavily modifies the desktop appearance just to look good. The widgets also give good functionality and flexibility, making your desktop a true DESKTOP, complete with a clock, sticky notes, weather, calendar… I can keep going. The drawback for that was (for earlier Window versions) the amount of memory that the widgets eat into while running in the background. Trust me, anything that has a ‘3rd party’ tag to it will definitely be screwing up with memory. This time, the widgets are integrated into Vista, making the startup times bearable with all the antivirus, instant messenger, anti-spyware, firewall… blah blah blah going on in the background.
I digress. The topic that I would like to touch on is the bloody administrator / user status of bloody ‘wonderful’ Vista. It’s a veritable pain in the nether region. In addition to programs being incompatible to Vista, (as to be expected, remember the start of XP? Same shit, different day) Microsoft had to be very anal about programs accessing the system files. Granted, with today’s hackers, crackers, spyware, adware and all those warez you see on the internet, one cannot be too careful about what program and who is accessing your information, much less writing stuff into your system files. Therefore, Microsoft came up with the brilliant idea of, “Hey, why not make the administrator, who is SUPPOSED to have total control over everything, start off as a normal user status?” Now you’re thinking, hmm, the idea sounds good since I might screw up stuff that I don’t know about if I have admin status. BUT! The trouble starts.
Updating programs manually have always been a norm for programs that update themselves once in a blue moon. This contrasts a lot with anti-virus programs, which always update themselves at the wrong bloody time of the day, when you’re rushing up an assignment, or trying to access a program that eats into memory like a glutton. Nevertheless, the manual updates happen when the program finally ’sees’ an update on the developer server, and prompts you to install it else it’ll blow up in your face. In Windows XP, you happily press the update button, not caring if the update is really an update, or just your mom checking if you’re still alive. Windows Vista however will complain. It’s not the fact of it complaining or not, it’s WHEN it complains. Usually a file is downloaded onto your computer before any ‘patching’ or ‘updating’ is done. After the download, it proceeds to execute the file. Here is where the problem starts. At the end (sometimes beginning) the program gives an error message saying, “Hey, get lost and get the manager to come see me. You don’t have any privileges to do crap shit with this computer.” And there you are wondering, “Hmm, I’m the manager, what the hell is it complaining about?” Ahah. THIS is the problem I’m talking about when Vista ‘demotes’ someone down to user status when executing programs. Couple that with the frustration of waiting out the long tedious update just for it to screw up on the last percent.
A workaround? Yeap, Microsoft decided to be generous about it (after finding out they screwed up) and gave a ‘Run program as administrator’ option to users. Once a program is run as an administrator, any file patches or updates can be run without it complaining. Bottom line: If you run a program and it says, “Hey check it out, a new patch / update is available and it’s extremely important I get it”, click NO, and close the program. Right click on the program shortcut to obtain this:
Click on that, click on YES for any following irritating confirmation messages that crop up (DISCLAIMER: please check the messages first!!), program starts, and here comes Mr. Message saying that there is an update (again). NOW, you can click on “Go ahead, infect my computer with what not and let me get on with whatever I’m supposed to do.” The program should then update itself peacefully without interruptions.
Another weird quirk with Vista is the incapability of users to save any files (through programs) into the program folder. For example, if you work in Matlab (a mathematical software), the default work folder will be under the Matlab folder itself. Saving into that folder will give error messages saying you cannot save onto that folder. Picky isn’t it? This is an encouragement to use the ‘Documents’ folder (similar to ‘My documents’ for XP). I can’t say this is a bad thing, since it centralises all your information, therefore reducing the headache of remembering which folder did you save it to. Of course, you can compartmentalise your data in the Documents folder by creating subfolders in it and saving into them. Vista isn’t THAT anal to prevent you doing that. When you save files, you will be prompted for the location to save to as well as the file name. Example shown below. (NOTE: The example used PROBABLY wasn’t very good as it was defaulted to save in ‘My Pictures’ folder, which is default writable to, but this can be extended to any programs whose default folder isn’t ‘Documents’ or any subfolder in it)
By using “Browse Folders” you can search for the ‘Document’ folder faster:
Well, another roundabout way is to run the program as administrator (you can set that to permanent status by right clicking on the shortcut and fiddling with the properties) but you will get all those irritating confirmation windows that you may as well save yourself the aggravation and use my way instead.
Well, that’s Windows Vista for you. Seriously, I’ll wait for the first major patch that ultimately kills all these little annoyances before getting it for your system. By that time, quite a lot of programs will then be Windows Vista compatible that shifting over from Windows XP (or older) should not bring you too much grief.
KW
