Vista and RAM

Here's a quick update on my experience with the Toshiba Satellite Pro L300 after a month. It's a fine laptop... not perfect, but for its low asking price, it's hard to complain. In my usage I found that the screen could be sturdier, the battery life better, and the system, faster.

It came with 1GB RAM, and that's anything but enough for Vista.


I bought a 2GB SD card and used it for ReadyBoost, which didn't give dramatic performance improvements, and also upgrade to 2GB RAM, which gave an INSTANT, noticeable performance hike. It also did push the WEI sub-score for RAM from 4.5 to 4.8, and the graphics sub-score from 3.0 to 3.5. Still, I hesitate running Aero on such laptops.


With 2GB RAM, Vista now breathes much better, and finally I can really multi-task reasonably OK (like running Photoshop, iTunes and Office simultaneously). Lesson learnt: if you're running Vista, you would want to have AT LEAST 2GB RAM!

Windows: life without walls

I have written about Vista's poor public image before, and a recent innovative advertising strategy Microsoft took to sell vista, called the Mojave Experiment.

Today, Microsoft has launched a new campaign to promote Vista, which is a stellar operating platform btw. It's called Windows: life without walls, and there are some print ads available, check it out:



The concept here is really interesting, cool and funky, but more than visual appearance, I think it really captures the essence of the "Vista life". Over this year, I've really come to embrace Vista fully, as a superb and dependable OS. And you should too. I use the Mac on a daily basis, and I know of swarms of friends who have recently "converted" to the Mac too, but you know what? Vista's as great... and this advertisement says it all: life without walls.

What Microsoft promises you are a plethora of choices to select from: both hardware and software. Unlike Macs, you are not tied down to a closed system of hardware. You can choose from a million computers on Windows from so many manufacturers, including tablet PCs, and configure them in almost any way you want (often cheaper than a Mac too). On the software side, Vista offers you so many configuration options and allows for personalisation of your desktop more than the OS X does. It has awesome multimedia capabilities with Windows Media Centre, and coupled with Windows Live and the new suite of "Wave 3" software, you will be connected with friends like never before. Windows Live is a huge part of the Windows ecosystem, and exemplifies Microsoft's "Software + Services" approach as a stepping stone toward full cloud computing. Not to mention Vista is also the platform for the amazing Zune music player, which I've heard (and strongly believe) is the better device over the iPod for pure music enthusiasts.

This is what you should know about Vista. Not the lies that the "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" ads churn out, not the BSODs, or the incompatibility, or the horror stories you hear when Vista first shipped. All that's changed dramatically... no longer do I scorn on PCs the way I did 2 years ago. I have two systems running Vista at home, and use them as often as the Mac. I'm proud to be a PC user!

Toshiba Satellite Pro L300 first looks

As part of my team's win in the international ThinkQuest website design competition, we each received a laptop from Oracle! This 700USD laptop is a Toshiba Satellite Pro L300, a 15.4 inch widescreen business machine.


The model name is a bit of a misnomer... although is says 'pro', the truth is this is a simple, no frills, budget notebook. But don't get me wrong, the L300 is an affordable and serious machine with respectable features for its price.

But first, this is how it looks: grey lid, un-funky colours, very typical business laptop...












The L300 retails with a variety of technical configurations, including an AMD version (yuck) and the normal Intel chips. My model is an Intel Core 2 Duo at 2.0GHz, with a standard 1GB 667MHz RAM, standard 160GB 5400rpm HDD, and lousy integrated graphics that I can't even remember.

On the Windows Experience Index, the L300 had a (pathetic) lowest subscore of 3.0, thanks to the graphics chipset which won't run Aero well. The harddisk yielded the best subscore of 5.2, while processor got a 4.9. I'll be upgrading this thing to 3GB RAM soon; 1GB is anything but sufficient.

Nonetheless, there are some positive things about this machine. Firstly, the 15.4 inch widescreen is one of the better ones I've seen for this price range. It's big, bright and clear, making it absolutely gorgeous to view photos. There is also a SD/memory stick card slot in front! And it is blessed with 3 USB ports, a well designed keyboard and a DVD RW drive.

Battery life is average at around 3 hours, and so is its weight. While it doesn't feel heavy like stone, it is not very light either. You wouldn't want to use this as a mobile road warrior, as it is quite big in size, but I can imagine this on the office table for general usage. When I start to nitpick, I would wish this was much thinner, the screen less thick, and the mouse button less stiff. Other than that, this is your standard laptop but with solid construction, good ergonomics and some very useful features.



On the software side, this L300 came pre-installed with Vista Business edition, which is the right way to go. Although Toshiba offers an XP Pro version, I think Vista is the future and everyone should run Vista. It's more secure, has more functionality, and from an aesthetics standpoint, more eye-candy.

What I wasn't too pleased about was the preloaded junk programs. The Toshiba DVD software stuff is fine, but what isn't fine is Picasa 2 photo editing software (I'll never use that), the Google Desktop search and toolbar in IE, and some other crap that I can't remember. This is bad... these unnecessary software clutter up the machine, take up disk space, slow down performance, and I won't use those programs!! It also does come with Norton 360 60 day trial, which is more acceptable since I'd want to use that, and also Office 07, which is fine too, but apart from that, the other bloatware isn't acceptable! Toshiba should learn from Sony and allow customers to opt out of these software and just have the OS installed.

You might feel differently about the extra software, and you may like it for the added functionality out of the box, but not for me. I like to install what I want to use. But overall, this is a truly utilitarian laptop, not outstanding but gets the job done. And for the low asking price, this is perhaps one of the better 15 inch widescreen business notebooks around.

Strictly NOT for gaming!

Vista reliability monitor: all time high!

Check this out! The reliability score of my Vista system is at an all time high of 9.96! Almost perfect score if I keep this up for a few days more... hmm wonder if it will ever hit 10.00? :P


Well, for those who don't know what I'm referring to, Windows Vista has this application 'Reliability and Performance Monitor' which will keep track of how healthy your system is based on performance counters, event trace data and configuration information. It also considers errors such as application failures, hardware failures etc.

When you first install Vista, the score is a perfect 10, then depending on how many subsequent errors there are, the score fluctuates. A long period of healthy performance would give you a higher score and vice versa... it's one of those cool things in Vista that's just plain fun to look at. Btw, I don't know anyone with as high a score as mine!

Update (16 Aug): My reliability index has hit 10.00!

Survey Results: The Vista & XP conundrum

Windows Vista has been around for quite some time already. Having turned one year old, and into its first service pack, it cannot be considered as 'the new kid on the block'. Many new computers come with Vista pre-installed. I think it's a stellar operating system, but a large portion of people believe otherwise, thinking that XP is still a wiser choice.

I've written about this before, saying that it is frightening how people don't want to move on to Vista but cling tightly to XP. I said I found this trend puzzling and disconcerting, that people would actually find a dated OS more attractive than a fresh revolutionary version of Windows. Tech journalist Paul Thurrott gave his view on this problem and explained why.

In my attempt to seek first-hand answers, I decided to conduct an online survey on my friends to find out why exactly.

The survey was hosted on freeonlinesurveys.com, and most of the respondents were young people who typically use a computer on a daily basis, for school work, entertainment, online chatting, internet etc. Thus it is appropriate to survey this target audience to find out their thinking behind the choice of operating system for home use specifically, be it XP or Vista. A big thank you to all those participants, your effort was helping in allowing me to gain insight on this issue.

Analysis of Questions

Question 1:
I started with a non-intimidating question. What is the primary operating system your home computer runs on? The purpose of this is to see how popular Vista is in the Singapore market, and also, as a side aim, to see how much market share the Mac has. I was expecting the majority to be still using XP, and I was dead right.


68% of respondents run XP, while only a pathetic 16% use Vista. Clearly, XP is ubiquitous. On the Mac, things are equally bleak, but interesting: the total number of Mac users equal that of Vista users. Could this signify that Mac is gaining market share? I think so. I know of many friends who bought a Mac within this year; it's crazily popular.

Implication:
Vista is obviously not very sellable and appealing to customers, and this should worry Microsoft that Vista is not selling as well as planned. Although one could argue that it doesn't matter, as long as people buy a Windows license and Microsoft earns the buck, it's OK if they are not getting Vista. However, that isn't completely valid. By not getting Vista, customers are not "sold on the company's technological vision, and they're no longer lining up as Microsoft tries to lead them to the future", in the words of Thurrott. Thus there is a need for more marketing/positive publicity for users to be convinced to upgrade.

Question 2:
If you must choose between Windows XP or Vista, which would you prefer to run on your computer?


I expected the results to show a bias towards XP, since I have read that many detest Vista and therefore wouldn't choose to run it on PCs. However, it turned out to be a draw, or almost. Vista won by a mere 4%. Nevertheless, this trend is worrying as there is no widespread adoption of Vista, even one year after release.

Implication:
This is not the ideal situation that we should see. Ideally, if Vista was more successful, almost everyone should choose it over XP, but clearly this isn't the case. As with question 1, this shows that there is a problem with Vista such that customers do not find it favorable to use on a daily basis.

Question 3:
On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate Windows Vista in general?


The reactions to this question are widespread and not clearcut. There are 2 people who think Vista is absolute baloney, some thinking that it's average, some above average, and one respondent thinks it is flawless and deserves full score. However, the bulk responded by giving a score between 5 to 7, meaning average to good.

Implication:
This question was tough to evaluate, so I concluded that opinions are mixed, but the majority of people perceive Vista to be average to good, as opposed to exceptional. I guess this could be the reason for the slow adoption rates, as people don't recognise the brilliance of Vista.

Furthermore, XP service pack 3 will be released, and many Vista features were brought down to run on XP (e.g. Office 07, Windows Defender, Windows Presentation Foundation, .NET 3.x), meaning that XP is still not that bad an alternative and it seems logical to stick with it. In this respect you could argue that the failure of Vista is Microsoft's own-doing, and I would agree. But to add on, Microsoft has to do this as many businesses still rely on XP, and small portable under-powered laptops still utilise XP, hence there is a demand for increased support that Microsoft has to address.

Question 4:
Are you aware of the release of Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista? The purpose of this question is to gather the level of awareness the public has regarding this release.


Apparently, 64% indicated that they aren't aware of SP1, and thus I would assume they also do not know what it is about. Only 36% have heard of SP1. This is acceptable as most aren't tech savvy enough to be concerned with tech news.

Implication:
There's not much to conclude from this. I mean, the only group of people this affects are the minority of Vista users, and even so, it would most probably have downloaded and installed on their machines automatically via Windows Update in a non intrusive manner. So it is possible that people have updated Vista without even knowing what the update entails or what it is.

Question 5:
Do you think that Service Pack 1 has made Vista a more viable operating system than before? This has to do with the mentally that an OS is only 'usable' and 'stable' after the release of its first service pack (which btw surely isn't the case for Vista).


55.6% think that SP1 has made Vista better, while 44.4% disagree.

Implication:
According to Microsoft, the release of SP1 shouldn't change the 'Vista value equation', meaning that SP1 should not make extensive changes to Vista such that the user experience is dramatically better. SP1 contains security updates and system performance improvements, amongst other minor changes like how Windows Genuine Advantage works and how file search functions. However, there are no significant changes made and Vista with or without SP1 is still largely the same.

Therefore, SP1 has definitely made Vista more viable, but in truth, not exceptionally viable. Just a little bit more viable.

Question 6:
Focusing specifically on Vista users, I proceeded to ask: Do you regret choosing to run Windows Vista? This is to see if Vista is truly that inferior compared to XP.


The response elicited is very encouraging and assuring that I'm not the only weirdo who thinks that Vista is good. 71.4% indicated no regret in choosing Vista, while 28.6% felt that they made a wrong decision.

Implication:
This goes to show that although few use Vista, but those who use it mostly like it and are not disappointed with it.

Question 7:
If you regret choosing Vista (i.e. answer YES to question 6), why? For the minority who regretted Vista, I wanted to know what was the reason.


Out of the respondents who disliked Vista, they said that Vista is laggy and runs slowly on their computer, and hangs often. Also, it is incompatible with games, software and hardware. Lastly, it is 'bloated' with unnecessary software.

Implication:
This is where the survey gets interesting. Let's address the first complain of laggy performance. Basically, if you have capable hardware, you shouldn't face this issue, but if you run on old hardware, or did an upgrade from an XP-era machine, then it isn't shocking to find that Vista runs less than optimally. Therefore my only response to this is: for any OS, do make sure you have a good hardware configuration and CPU power before running the OS, otherwise it will surely be laggy.

The second issue is that of compatibility, which I hear so so often, it's frustrating. To claim that Vista is incompatible with many software is complete nonsense. In fact, compatibility on Vista is so much better than on XP when it was initially launched. Most major programs work fine, such as Firefox, Office, Photoshop, iTunes etc. When it comes to games, however, I'm uncertain as I do not play games to know if this is a problem. Hardware wise, it is also very much a non-issue as long as you do not have extremely dated hardware. New drivers have been issued for download which has increased compatibility greatly.

The last issue is that of unnecessary features. By this, I assume people are also referring to the excessive eye-candy and animations in the Aero interface. This is a funny problem: in XP people complained that it lacked features, yet when Microsoft increased the feature-set in Vista by adding in things like the Sidebar, 3D flip, Windows Meeting Space, DVD Maker, Mail etc., people complain that it is bloated. So it appears that it is hard to please the customer whatever Microsoft does. It seems to me that people are just getting back at Microsoft any way possible.

Question 8:
For existing XP users: Why won't you upgrade your computer to Windows Vista, or buy a new computer with Vista installed?


This is perhaps the most important question in the entire survey, as it tackles the root of the conundrum: why are users so comfortable with XP such that they will not upgrade to Vista? The results confirm my initial speculation, and also Thurrott's theories: that people avoid the upgrade as they are contented and satisfied with XP and see no urgent need for Vista. This is the single most outstanding reason!

Apart from that, the number two reason is that these XP users have read negative reviews of Vista and have influenced them to believe that Vista sucks. Other reasons for not upgrading is due to the perceived compatibility issues, and the fact that Vista runs slower than XP on an equivalent hardware configuration.

Implication:
Why people aren't upgrading is more of an issue of human nature rather than anything else. Because people have been sticking with XP for so long, they get contented with it and will not throw it away just yet. It's back to the analogy of the 'old sweatshirt' that Thurrott describes, and boy is it true! The saying goes that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Similarly, if XP has no big flaws, then continue using it. Now that some Vista features have been ported down to XP, there are not many compelling reasons to upgrade. The only reasons I can think of now is because of Instant Search, improved security (UAC) and the fanciful Aero interface.

But nonetheless, Vista is superb, and if you're getting a new desktop/laptop, try to run Vista (on capable hardware) and I'll assure that you'll like it!

Let's move on: Vista SP1

To me, it's surprising how so many people don't like Vista. I was at a bookstore last Sunday, and a quick read at the content of computer magazines showed a similar and worrying trend that claim Vista to be lousy, buggy, and a memory-hog. Many of these magazines do not do justice to the amount of effort the Vista team has put in, and definitely do not portray Vista accurately. They all claim that Vista is slow and requires expensive hardware to run well, that it is buggy and unreliable, that UAC sucks, and that it is inferior to XP.

Yes, Vista might run slower, that's true. But hey, when XP first released, wasn't that what people said about XP over Windows 2000? I mean, we can only expect each successive OS to run on more demanding hardware than before. How can a new OS, with more advanced features and UI, run better on slower hardware than it's predecessor? It doesn't make sense. Furthermore, what these magazines and articles miss out is the fact that you're trading the slower performance for more security, a better looking interface (Aero), and new features, such as Instant Search. To me, it's a fair trade-off. Vista is indeed more secure than any other version of Windows. I don't know how to put it, but it's frustrating how people simply dismiss Vista saying that it is worse than XP. Even close friends of mine are sticking with XP, and that baffles me. For me, I use Vista because it's the future of Windows. XP was the past, and it's no good clinging onto something so dated. It's high time for us to move on and adopt Vista. It's the best version of Windows yet I believe.

But why aren't people moving on? Paul Thurrott alludes XP to a comfortable but dirty old sweatshirt that you've been wearing for years. You know it's old, but yet you aren't willing to throw it away because you're too attached to it. And that's the biggest problem with Vista: they delayed it too much, in an attempt to release a polished OS, such that people get too familiar with XP and they become contented with it.

Well, now that SP1 is out, it may be time to reevaluate your stand. I've been playing around with SP1 recently, it doesn't offer significant visual improvements, but improves performance such as time taken to move files etc.

Let's move on. Vista is the future of computing, not XP.

"Writing like in high school"

So it's the holidays now, and today I was at home all day, with much time spent on the computer. Recently, I got a new Seagate FreeAgent 250 GB HDD solely for backup purposes, and I've been sitting in front of two computers literally transferring tons of gigs of data into the lovely Seagate, deleting useless files, updating old files with newer versions and organising data into folders.

Thankfully I'm kinda done, phew!... and just 5 mins before this, I decided to do some 'random surfing'. I launched Safari and randomly typed in 'windows vista suck' in Google (just for fun, but I believe in the contrary), hit search and landed myself on some random website: http://www.desktoplinux.com/articles/AT8288296398.html.

Goodness, this is one of the most horrid professional reviews of Vista I ever read. Yes the article is dated, but it is one very unfair, inaccurate review of a superb OS, in fact it was so horrid that I had to stop reading half way to blog about it now. I don't care if Vista sucks or not, but this guy sure sucks. He is a clear advocate for Linux (come on, the website is desktoplinux.com after all), and writes about Vista in a very intolerably negative way.

Knowing that his guy should be lambasted by the Windows fans, and also highly praised by the Mac/Linux community, I decided to check out the comments or talkback, as written on the webpage. True enough, some people did agree and like his review, but most commented that Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols did not do enough research upon writing this biased review.

One reader wrote this that I especially like: You write like you're in high school.

Really, honestly, he does, go read it. But the point I want to make is that as tech journalists, we should always be accurate, reliable, trustworthy in order to gain readership and reputation. Of course, using good language is also a must. That's why I trust the winsupersite a lot for accurate and up-to-date Windows news.

Don't just trust any article that you Google!

SP1!

Time flies.

It seems as if it was just yesterday when Windows Vista was released, and now Service Pack 1 is already taking shape, with an initial beta version going to be released soon. According to the Windows Vista Weblog, rumour has it that July 29 would be the date for this release. This news wouldn't excite the consumer market much, because no consumer really cares about bug fixes and Microsoft allowing Instant Search to run in the background together with third-party search softwares (like Google Desktop Search) etc.

Nevertheless, this is my advice to all those who are planning to purchase a new computer sometime soon: If possible, hang on until SP1, it will be worth it, though it still looks very much the same as before. No point getting a new system only to be deemed outdated in a few months time...

Windows Live OneCare 2.0 (Beta)

What other people are thinking of Microsoft and OneCare: Hey, they are releasing a product to compensate for the inadequacies of another of their product! They are using another product to make their original product (XP/Vista) more secure. LOL!

Why can't they just include it in Vista for free?

ReadyBoost and the ribbon UI - finally we see Redmond innovating!

I frequently lament about how Microsoft, from its products, does not seem to have innovation in its work culture. I know that I have been rather mean and rude at times, calling Redmond brainless imitators and unoriginal bastards who blatantly rip features off the Mac OS.

Well, for a change, I shall offer a different viewpoint today, by providing specific examples where Redmond is finally innovating and tapping on the creative and imaginative juices of their developers.

Let’s begin with the much talked about Windows Vista, which is the hottest release now for PC fans (not a lot out there sadly). One new and notable feature which Microsoft seems not to be advertising a lot is ReadyBoost. I feel that they should be boasting about ReadyBoost instead of other not-so-impressive features like IE 7 and Windows Media Player 11 (which is available on XP too).

ReadyBoost basically allows you to use your compatible USB 2.0 thumb-drive or flash memory key as extra RAM when plugged into your Vista machine, thereby improving system performance.

Well, it doesn’t exactly work like true, genuine RAM, but instead functions as additional memory cache, which is memory that the computer can access much more quickly than it can access data on the hard drive. ReadyBoost relies on SuperFetch, significantly improving system responsiveness.

So what are the benefits for end-users? Firstly, this means that you can save quite a sum on buying extra RAM, and secondly, this means that you can have instant performance hikes without you getting your hands dirty opening the CPU to insert more RAM, as and when it is necessary.

In the words of Microsoft: "It's easy to use Windows ReadyBoost. When a removable memory device such as a USB flash drive or a secure digital (SD) memory card is first inserted into a port, Windows Vista checks to see if its performance is fast enough to work with Windows ReadyBoost. If so, you are asked if you want to use this device to speed up system performance. You can choose to allocate part of a USB drive's memory to speed up performance and use the remainder to store files. "

Yup, this is essentially what it does, and isn't it a truly brilliant and remarkably ingenious idea that really deserves our WOW? Features like Photo Gallery and Calender, which has obvious similarities to iPhoto and iCal, should not be aggressively advertised, but it is ReadyBoost that Microsoft should proudly proclaim.

The next example is to be found in the new Office 2007. Everyone who uses it will immediately notice the brand-new, completely redesigned user interface, which they call the ribbon UI.

For the majority who still uses the 2003 version of Office, a screenshot of Word 2007 would show you visually how the ribbon looks like:


Office developers claim that this new UI will help to improve productivity by reorganising certain buttons to help achieve tasks in fewer steps. Personally, I have yet to get my hands on Office 2007 running on Vista, but I have participated in the online test-drive, so I can say that the ribbon is indeed a useful, innovative way of creating a UI. The ribbon is a revolutionary invention, replacing the age old toolbars. But whether the ribbon will take-off as a fresh form of UI in all other future software and stand the test of time is a matter of speculation as it is too early to conclude anything.

However, from what Microsoft claims, Office 2007 is surprisingly selling well, and people are responding well to this new interface, saying that they will take some time to get used to the ribbon, but believing that in the long run, this will be an important productivity improvement tool.

So, very briefly, these are two creative features that Redmond has churned out, and people should pay more attention to them instead of believing in those SBS bus ads which read: Let there be 'Wow', and then have this catch phrase which reads: Pump up the volume of your favourite tunes, or something to that effect. These ads do not properly justify why people should purchase Vista, and advertising for ReadyBoost (as a speed enhancer) and the ribbon (as a productivity improver in Office 07) should be the stuff that's on buses and MRT stations instead.

Vista hands-on

Just a few hours ago at VivoCity Best Denki, I got to play around with some Vista laptops, and managed to shoot some pictures (using my camera phone) at the same time. There were only 3 notebooks running Vista, with the rest running XP/XP MCE even though the sticker reads "Windows Vista Capable". I think they just can't bother to upgrade all the machines.

This big board caught my attention as I entered the store:

The Vista welcome login screen:

Vista desktop (Home Basic edition):

A laptop running the Home Premium edition:

The much celebrated 3D Flip, activated by pressing Windows + Tab:

Oh! And not to mention Office 2007, the impeccable and highly popular productivity suite, is out!

Lastly, I got to see this super minute tablet PC, which is just too puny and slow to function as a good tablet, but it's still worth a second look:

So...Vista is out in stores now! All you pee-cee users, check it out!

Are you gonna give em that WOW?

I share a somewhat similar view with what Julio Ojeda-zapata writes in an article entitled Vista's pretty, but it's a shameless Mac OS X imitator on www.twincities.com: "I praise Microsoft's new Windows Vista operating system, and I also curse it. "

On Thursday (tomorrow), Vista will be comercially released to all home users in Singapore!



Will you give Microsoft (and Redmond) the WOW?

I'll give them a half wow, because after waiting for half a decade (!), I expect something more advanced than just features that Tiger had for 2 long years. Yet we can't deny that Vista is aesthetically beautiful!