Meditations on Vista

Windows Mail

Who approved this garbage for shipping? He/she should be fired. Instantly. Without peer review. This software could only be written by a group of spider monkeys roasting on acid. The exit interview could be something akin to, “Hey man, thanks for coming by. You suck. Sign here.”

Words cannot express my disappointment in Windows Mail. If you’re planning to use IMAP with Windows Mail, get thee to www.mozilla.com without another thought. You will run toward it - screaming like the bitch you’ve become. Otherwise, expect to spend plenty of time in the world of unknown hexidecimal error codes, black magic with Internet Explorer’s connection settings, accounts that suddenly and needlessly go pink side up.

This is one of those times I wonder if I’m just too negative. I spend an hour or so in the morning wondering if my father was right: “Son, you’re just too negative.” Am I really?

No. This is just garbage. Complete and utterly useless software.

Windows Photo Gallery

Finally, some software that looks interesting and fun to use. Too bad it’s not innovative at all. Obviously, someone spent a lot of time mucking around iPhoto and Picasa, because Windows Photo Gallery is a direct rip-off of both.

Update: It’s interesting software, but not very useful. As a light table/organizer, it’s not too bad. It browses your photos and sorts them logically by date of shooting or whatnot, then asks you for keywords. But when you start getting into adjustments or fixes, it falls flat. It starts to get back to that “rushed” feeling. It’s that… “upper management has ordered us to put together an iPhoto clone, we must do this ASAP” feeling. If I recall, there’s roughly only four options to fix/adjust your photos. One of them is red eye fixing - la, and the angels sang. Whatever. Get off my hard drive.

Aero/Glass/Presentation/Whatever

It’s pretty, but honestly, your eyes start to get sore. I’m not saying your eyes get sore because of the beautiful look of the interface, it’s because the interface is too busy. Vista’s windows are absolutely jam-packed with information - too much information. Each “Computer” window or “Documents” folder screams with juicy icons screaming for your attention. If you have ADD, expect your productivity to decrease by leaps and bounds. I tried to think of some way to express that mathematically but I suck at math.

Windows Media Center

Finally, something ravingly positive about Vista. This is a nice, nice application. It integrates the schedule, records well, serves recordings well, browses your existing media well, etc… and it even worked with my Hauppauge PVR150. Good stuff here.

Too bad Apple already had this in the bag for the most part - minus the direct TV hookup. I’ll miss this bit of software, as I’m already backing up files to format this GARBAGE OFF MY SYSTEM!

Vista’s overall rating: F for friggin’ disaster. The bell tolls for you, Microsoft. Your dominance is at an end.