| ![Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium FULL VERSION [DVD] [OLD VERSION]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41ZyH809azL._SL500_.jpg)
| From: Microsoft Software
List Price: $239.95
Buy New: $74.99
You Save: $164.96 (69%)
New (10) Used (1) from $74.99
Rating:  206 reviews
Sales Rank: 1109
Format: Dvd-rom
Platforms: Windows Xp, Windows Vista, Windows 2000
Media: DVD-ROM
Edition: Full Version
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Operating System: Windows Vista
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3
Dimensions (in): 6 x 2 x 8
MPN: 66I-00002
Model: 66I-00002
UPC: 882224172981
EAN: 0882224172981
ASIN: B000HCZ9AW
Release Date: January 30, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 206
 A lot to like, but it is still Windows February 24, 2007
pm444 (Okemos, MI USA)
29 out of 44 found this review helpful
First of all, just because Vista tries to look like a Mac, this is still Windows. So if you would really rather have a Mac, buy one. I was not willing to pay the extra $500 to get a Mac that's comparable to the PC I just bought, so I decided to go with Windows again, and I'm not disappointed.
Here's what I like about Vista:
1. The interface is a lot more appealing and overall, more intuitive. Aero looks cool, but the best thing about it is that you can view a thumbnail of open windows by running the cursor over the taskbar. You can also see thumbnails by cycling through ALT-TAB, or view larger windows by using the Windows key with TAB, or clicking on the taskbar icon that does the same thing. My guess is that most Windows users will opt for the improved taskbar view or they'll use ALT-TAB, but it's nice to have options. The gadgets are also cool, but since I don't normally see my desktop except when starting up the PC, I haven't played with them much.
2. Vista connects to your wireless network much more quickly, and requires virtually no input from the user. My new laptop connected to my wireless router without any prompting from me, it required no settings, and Vista is also much better at dealing with interruptions in wireless connectivity.
3. Vista also connected with my wireless printer with no problems, and didn't need to donwload a new driver.
4. The new search function is very fast and it looks as if it has the potential to make life a lot easier, but I haven't used it much yet.
5. Vista seems more stable. I've only had one program crash, and it did not bring down the whole system with it. Instead, I exited the program, and was able to launch it again immediately, without restarting.
6. Unlike some reviewers, Vista on my new laptop is much faster than XP was. Of course that's at least partly due to the increased processor speed and the larger amount of RAM on the new PC, but some users with new PCs are still complaining about Vista being slower than XP. That has not been my experience.
My only complaints are minor:
1. The pulldown menu no longer displays navigation information (folders and drives arranged hierarchically). Instead, it displays recent locations, just as in Internet Explorer, including websites you've visited. I don't normally want to access a website when I'm browsing a folder on my C drive, and am so accustomed to navigating with the dropdown menu that this is one change that takes some getting used to. However, Vista does display navigation information in a panel on the left of each window (you can turn this feature on and off). You can also use navigate by clicking on the names of items that are already visible in the dropdown menu. So it's not a bad change, just a change.
2. While Vista recognized my PDA with no problems, getting things to synchronize properly took some time and effort. I was so familiar with ActiveSync in XP that the new Sync Center took a while to get used to.
3. In spite of the new interface, every so often you'll encounter a clunky looking element that was obviously overlooked when it came to the face-lift. It is no big deal, just a reminder that for better or worse, this is still Windows.
4. iTunes is not yet fully compatible with Vista. It will work, but be prepared for problems (incorrect cover art, some songs purchased from iTunes do not properly import even though you've paid for them, album flip works slowly at times, etc.) Apple claims that a new version of iTunes will be available soon, but meanwhile, I'm not even synching my iPod until things are fixed.
 What a Disaster! February 2, 2007
J. Pepping (Sierra Madre, CA)
24 out of 45 found this review helpful
I installed Vista Home Premium - it took 7 hours to complete the install. None of the trick features, such as Aero, work: not enough ram and my video card memory is too small. It never tells you this when you run the Vista compatibility program. AOL is not compatible. You can download the AOL 9.0VR, but Vista won't let it install. AND, you cannot uninstall Vista. What a disaster!!!!!!!!!
 Microsoft Takes Six Years to Hit a Foul Ball August 23, 2007
Slim Pickens
24 out of 25 found this review helpful
Background: I am a computer scientist who makes his living as a software engineer and database administrator. I have significant experience with MS-DOS, Windows, Unix, and Linux. Unlike some geeks, I do not hold any particular bias for or against Microsoft.
My honest, objective opinion for now is that Vista is a waste of time and money. As far as I can tell, MS either released it in an effort to generate revenue or to obsolete its competitors software products. There's nothing wrong with generating revenue, but Vista doesn't bring much to the table that improves computing for users. All those billions of dollars and brilliant minds at MS and this is what they come up with? It smacks of a complacent company that is becoming the IBM they once deposed.
A few months ago I upgraded our family computer, but decided to stick with XP. This turned out to be a wise decision. About a week ago, I purchased a new HP laptop pre-loaded with Vista Home Premium. At first it seemed alright, but as I've worked more with it I've come to be quite frustrated by its quirks. As far as performance goes I don't have any real complaints, but I haven't tried gaming on it. The boot and shutdown times are acceptable and application performance has been good once I removed all the HP bloatware. My laptop has 1GB of RAM and for basic laptop computing it seems okay. I'd like to list some of the problems I've encountered as it may be instructive to someone who reads this:
1) Had trouble copying files from a Windows 2000 machine over the network to my laptop. It simply refused to copy one of my files, giving a cryptic "Destination Folder Access Denied" message. I got around this by copying the file to an external drive and then to my laptop!
2) Annoying confirmations. Vista asks you to confirm everything. I turned that "feature" off. The Apple ads are close to true on this score.
3) Had difficulty getting Linksys QuickVPN client software to work. I foolishly attempted installing the version that came with my RV082 router and it didn't work. Unfortunately, it did do some kind of half-baked install and since Vista couldn't uninstall it, I had to do manual registry hacks to remove it from the installed programs list. I then installed a newer version of QuickVPN and it still didn't work. Never had any such problems on XP.
4) My HP 9300 Deskjet has no Vista driver and HP says they won't be releasing one.
5) Wordperfect 2002 refuses to work with Vista. It seems like it's working, but when I click File>>Open or File>>Save it immediately locks up. Vista's compatibility mode (like XP's) didn't help.
6) Had difficulty getting my computer to find other computers/resources once I did get a VPN client working.
7) Have had encounters with several strange and cryptic error messages when attempting to accomplish what in XP were mundane tasks like installing printers and searching for computers by IP address.
Not only is Vista fairly incompatible with software from the recent past, it also doesn't get along all that well with XP. All these incompatibilities would be tolerable if Vista was a quantum leap forward like XP was over previous consumer-grade Windows (95, 98, Me). But it isn't. It isn't more stable, it isn't faster, and it doesn't allow the user to accomplish new and greater tasks.
Update: 9/8/2007
Three weeks with Vista now, and if usability is the metric, Vista is really bad. I've had way too much trouble with many basic tasks. None of my configuration efforts seem to go easy. In particular networking has been a bear. And I'm not writing about just the fact that things are named different and moved around. I'm writing about the fact that nothing seems to work right, easy, well, or consistently. XP was a great release by MS. Vista makes me want to consider other options as my primary OS. It makes me feel taken by MS.
Update: 9/19/08
Another year now and Vista has been improved since then. I've especially noticed improvements to the wireless networking. Re-reading my original words, I think the line about it being a "waste of time and money" is a bit harsh. It would've been better to state it was "not worth the upgrade." I still wouldn't look to buy Vista if I had a fine computer running XP. If I were looking today for a new PC I suppose I would get Vista. Just don't expect all your old softwares to be compatible.
Don't Waste your money February 6, 2007
Patrick G. Cannon (Benicia, Ca USA)
19 out of 30 found this review helpful
Wait to purchase this overpriced money vacuum! Microsoft is not advertising the fact their "new" operating system is incompatible with almost every preexisting software NOT manufactured in Redmond, Washington. I installed the Vista Home Premium operating system today. After more than an hour with the technology support people who gave up and told me they would call me back in 36 hrs with my problem, I have the operating system installed and running and discovered I cannot sync my brand new Palm Treo 700w Smartphone with the"new" operating system. With XP now problem using the Active Sync software. So I even go so far as to load a Microsoft Mobile PC Sync and even it is incompatible with Vista. I'm going back to my Macs and I am staying on them. Of course I won't go into the fact, I had to remove about four other programs including Norton internet security software and a Data Security Suite I had previously installed on my computer. I am afraid to try and install any other software or programs to my laptop in fear of throwing more money down the drain due to incompatibility issues.
I keep trying to like it... (and its getting better) May 17, 2007
David K. Hanley (Island Lake, IL United States)
19 out of 21 found this review helpful
First of all, I'm no beginner here. I've been a computer professional specifically in the support of PCs for well over fifteen years now. I've been doing this as a hobby for maybe ten more. I've built over 50 computers from parts and installed and used every MS OS from DOS 3.0 throgh Vista as well as various flavors of Linux, Novell and most others I won't go into.
I built a brand new computer to game on at home in my dwindling spare time and installed XP on it because Vista wasn't out yet. It ran like a champ. Ungodly fast, stable for weeks, smooth and easy. When Vista was released I figured here I go! This is how I make my money, I might as well jump in with both feet!
I have to say after 3 months or so of using at and trying my best to like it... it is THE worst operating system I have ever used. That statement should be adjusted for time of course. It may, in fact, be better than ME, but that's close and this is what? seven years later!??
All I can say for it is that its pretty.
The security is intrusive and annoying. If you turn off the bits that are annoying you're left with XP level security. Driver support is horrible. Stability is questionable. It will run my hard drive for an hour at a time and claim there are no processes running at all. 3 of the 4 games I play on it crash within 10 minutes of starting on anything but the lowest graphics settings. So... to sum up:
Cons: Darn near everything.
Pros: Its pretty and the error tracking system in the control panel is actually pretty slick. Which is a lot of fun since it throws so many errors all the time.
Recommendation: If you're buying it on a NEW computer and you intend to use it for schoolwork, web browsing and email then by all means. Get it and enjoy how pretty it is.
If you're a power user of ANY kind. If you're going to game, edit video, use wireless connections, well... anything but type and check email actually, then STAY AWAY!
Not to say it won't be useable eventually but everyone I work with has removed it from their systems but me for now. Their plan and I'm sure mine as well soon is to try it again in a year.
Good luck to you all and I hope, if you have the misfortune of paying for this OS, you have better luck than... well, just good luck.
etrnldrmr
3/1/2008 Update:
It is still at the bottom of the barrel for systems I have used but after several months of patches and various driver updates the system is stable. Still not as fast as the same system running Windows XP, not even tested with a 2 or 4gig flash drive dedicated to the "Readyboost" function. But it has improved. With the ever increasing speed of the systems coming out the inefficiencies of Vista should become less and less relevant.
Currently, on a very clean system, it is running about as stable as any XP system I've worked on or supported. I was just about expecting Vista to be ready for prime time now when I noticed that Dell still lets you choose Windows XP on their machines and not only that the selector when customizing a machine DEFAULTS to Windows XP.
So, I am getting closer to being able to offer my own recommendation of Vista even if Dell is not.
Good luck to you all once again!
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