As most of us know by now that amidst all the hype of Vista, Vista, Vista... in both national and international markets, it was finally launched in India last month.
Windows Vista was launched with the promise to "wow" consumers with the new user interface (UI), greatly enhanced security, integrated search, and improved overall performance.
Although, Vista has not yet reached considerable number of hands, it has surely managed to grab the attention of every single person who has some interest in new computing technologies. And that includes a vast set of people, ranging from students to professionals to enthusiasts.
We spoke to a cross section of people (consumers, OEMs, and dealers) to get a drift of what they thought about the newly launched system, and whether it is living up to all the hype.
Right at the start of our small survey, we realized that as a result of the hype, curiosity, and the cost factor, most people have downloaded the beta version. And since its Microsoft's flagship product, it is getting rave reviews from those who have used it.
Taking the users' point of view, we spoke to one Madhuker Sinha, Software Engineer from Siemens, who said, "Windows Vista is the much-anticipated next version of the OS produced by Microsoft. Its upgrades are easier to deploy, and less expensive to maintain than earlier versions of Microsoft Windows. And what I would want from an OS i.e. a great graphical user interface, better security, and more user friendliness, I got from Vista. So I can say it is near to my expectations, but not bang on because of its hardware configuration and cost."
However, he is reluctant to switch his OS to Vista as hardware requirements are much higher than previous versions of Windows. Sinha added, "But still, I think all the hype created by Microsoft is to an extent justifiable because of Vista's new interface, faster search capability, and better security."
Sharing his viewpoint, Ashish Saxena, Branch Manager - Consumer PC Division, HCL, one of the OEMs shipping Vista-ready PCs, said, "In terms of hype and demand, I can say its really good as a lot of inquiries have already being generated. But as far as sales are concerned, they are not as high because customers are still apprehensive about the product because of its cost factor. However, we have managed to liquidate all the Vista-ready PCs we had in stock, and the volume will definitely rise but that too will take another 6 months to a year to create a good impact."
"Windows Vista, however, is not going to replace Windows XP or any other OS. Yes, it has some advantages over the existing Windows OS in terms of Quick Search, Data Management, and virus protection, amongst others, which I think will help it in positioning itself in the market. Vista is not up to the expectations of the consumers, but the transition will happen - but it will take time," added Saxena.
Keeping his expectations high from Vista, Navinder Singh Chauhan, Rashi Peripherals, said, "Yes, we also do have high hopes as an industry, as it is going to be a unique experience for everybody. Though at the moment it's not directly available to users, but those who have used the beta version are giving good reviews about it."
Another IT vendor, Gulbir Bhatia, Proprietor, Prime ABGB, in his unique way, explained, "It's very simple. Those who have money will go for it and those who don't will stick to their existing OS. Only tech savvy people are going the whole hog. The fact is there's not that much excitement about Vista. But we still have sold a couple of Vista-ready units, and that too Ultimate edition and not Premium/Home Basic/Starter editions. I think gradually the system will make its place in the market."
After taking the industry view point, we thought it's also necessary to know what the younger generation has to say about Vista...
Once again we found students have mostly used the beta version, and are of the view that without doubt Vista is more secure as compared to Windows XP, at least while using the Internet. It is the visual display that has managed to appeal to most of them.
According to Vasant, a Final Year Bachelor of Engineering student, "To run Vista (Beta 2), you need RAM of more than 512MB, so you need a PC of very high configuration, and the requirement of a backup of 11GB adds to it. Moreover, it does not support some of the popular games and applications. Therefore, I would like to stick to Windows XP as its user friendly, and can be loaded on computers with low configurations."
Considering all view points, one thing can be said with utmost surety that Vista is the most secure OS till date. But when it comes to practical application it seems that it might not be able to replace XP (at least) in the near future.
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With luv!!!!
Rishi... http://www.rishimalhotra.blogspot.com/
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