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| Windows Vista Home Premium with SP1 | 
 enlarge | From: Microsoft Software
Category: Software
List Price: $269.99
Buy New: $145.00
You Save: $124.99 (46%)
New (39) Used (4) from $145.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  117 reviews
Sales Rank: 168
Format: Dvd-rom
Platform: Windows Vista
Media: DVD-ROM
Edition: Home Premium
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3
Dimensions (in): 0.1 x 0.1 x 0
MPN: 66I02387
Model: 66I-02387
UPC: 882224661256
EAN: 0882224661256
ASIN: B0013O54OE
Release Date: March 19, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 WIndows Vista Pros and Cons April 3, 2008
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
I wanted to come back and edit this review. I have found that converting to Vista has 2 problems. One is that it is not compatible with "older" hardware, and 2 it is not compatible with "older" software. The good news is that you can load Vista in a dual boot environment, and boot to your Windows XP operating system, or Vista. (Requires having the XP disc of course) All you need do is partition your existing drive, and reload, or add a second drive. My latest excitement is getting Vista 64 bit which is of course the wave of the future and partially here now, and then you can run existing 32 bit programs on XP. Every generation has this problem. Old DOS days, and the evoution of bits, ever increasing capacity, and incompatibility with the old. Ok, enough of this, on to my original review.
The thing I like the most about Windows Vista Home Premium is that it is touted as the pinnacle application to run your media center through. I have the ATI All in Wonder TV Tuner Card, and although AMD has acquired them, and totally revamped the software that accompanies it, it still is not as easy and intuitive as the media center that is built into Vista Home Premium. After all Media Edition Windows came out several years ago in XP, and Microsoft has had plenty of time to mature it, and take advantage of user feedback to improve it.
I am fully aware of the annoying pop up windows for security, and the incompatibility issues with hardware and applications not specifically designed for it. The issue of hardware problems is of course solved by using, or acquiring a new system. My IBM Pentium II 300 will not load Windows 2000 because of the hardware issues, and my applications that are more advanced, such as Photoshop CS2, and Dreamweaver will not run on an AMD K62 500 machines. I have newer more powerful XP machines for that. I do not throw away old machines, I add on, and network them.
We can look at Vista as a hardware hog, or we could look at it as an operating system that is designed to be running your DVD with over 4Gigs of data to process, while surfing the web, and possibly have a scheduled television show go into auto record at the same time. You need 2 Gig of ram, even though 1 Gig is advertised as the minimum.
My excitement is in the media center. There is a movement toward the tv converter boxes. With the government supplying $40 instant savings coupons, that you take to Best Buy, or Circuit City, or Radio Shack, and plop down the 10 or 20 dollar difference, and walk away with your new converter. Most of the stations are already broadcasting digital along with the analogue signal. I saw weak stations that are snow on the screen, turn into a super clear signal by turning on the box. Auto record your TV stations? I have the Ultimate TV service, which is like Tivo, and don't want to watch TV without out being able to record what I like, and being able to skip over the commercials. Now you can watch auto record shows, and skip commercials right in Windows Vista media center. With the converter box, I wonder what the motivation is to purchase satellite or cable service, other then some specialty channels. I am getting into Podcasts, and video broadcasts from all the major stations available online.
Is Windows Vista have it detractions? Yes, but go into any Circuit City, Best Buy, or any computer store, and play around with a new computer with Vista on it, take it for a test drive. You will find it is easy to use, and intuitive. I think the overwhelming problem that most people are having is trying to use it on hardware, or software that is not compatible. Of course some of the existing hardware, and software does work with it, but what does not work is more apparent then what does not.
I have experienced the change, when new operating systems don't work with everything that I am used to, but I found Vista to be very close to the XP look and feel, with the option to go to a classic mode which is even more like XP.
A couple of supplemental hardware items you may want to consider; The Logitech Logitech diNovo Mini which is a great media center remote control, that is an actual mini keyboard. With the push of a single button you can toggle between keyboard, and media center remote control. With Blue Tooth technology, you can operate your media center up to 30 feet away.
Another item that I am having a love affair with is the Wilife DVS800I LukWerks Indoor Starter Kit that enables me to set up cameras, and use my PC as a security system. That is another reason to use 2 Gig of ram. Try as I might, I realize that larger hardware capacities are here to stay as long as you plan on expanding into some of the new capabilities that are becoming commonplace in the PC platform.
Just looks different April 3, 2008
It looks different on the outside, but it looks like an imitation of Mac OS X Tiger. They have some flashy add-ons but there just doesn't seem to be a compelling enough reason to upgrade from XP. As someone who works with the web, I need to see how things will look and act on Windows configurations. However, if its solely a choice over which to run on, I find Mac OS X much enjoyable with more useful features. There were many steps it had to go on to be installed and it took quite a while. Windows OneCare is a much needed add-on but should come as part of the default OS installation.
Pretty yet not very efficient April 2, 2008
First off, the box that the DVDs came in were made by the devil himself, it took me a good 10 minutes to figure out how the hell to get the damn thing open. I did not upgrade with this version as I had problems with Ultimate, something will undoubtedly go wrong. If it isn't the graphics card then it'll be something else. Backed up all of the information on my laptop and went to work doing a nice clean install. Took around an hour to do a full install with all the restarts.
It took me a while to get aero working, after you've installed video drivers it doesn't start up by itself, you have to go through a few steps to get Vista to check if your drivers allow aero to run and then it begins after the check. Start menu is nothing special and I'd say the old one was an improvement over this one, not convenient at all. The sidebar is a nice touch, check the weather, calendar, make notes, but this is something that has been around for a while already.
I'll reiterate that the most annoying feature of Vista is that practically anything you want to do, be it an install, moving files from one folder to another, replacing one file with another, etc, gets you an annoying pop up message asking you if you're sure this is what you want to do...and at times you get more than one message for the same procedure. Overall, it's a nice new OS, is it worth the money? Truthfully, I'd say I think it is over-priced at the moment. Vista is defintely the resource hog you've heard it was, I have 2 gigs of ram and it's using 59% of that. I had a lot of problems with Nero, make sure you have the right version if you intend to use it with Vista.
Looking back on this whole 'experience' I'd say that you should reserve an entire day for this wonderful process of upgrading. Microsoft should have made it less of a resource hog and much more intuitive and user friendly. As a friend of mine put it "The Way I feel, is that they traded in the versitility and stability of XP for a spit-shine version." Bottom line, this version does not have anything that you NEED, it is an upgrade in terms of looks but it leaves much to be desired.
 Did Clean Install and it Seems to Work April 1, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
I must admit I was one of those that avoided Windows for years. I finally tried it with Windows ME that came with a computer I bought. I heard a lot of bad, but since all I did was check web sites, e-mail and play games; it was perfect for me. I did not change again until I went to Windows XP Pro years later. So I was nervous when I installed a different version of Vista last week on my backup computer. Normally I would normally wait until Vista had its SP2 release before trying it out.
Since a clean installed worked so well on my other computer, I decided to do a clean install again. Vista does want the hardware it wants, and is not happy with all my XP hardware. Even though I far exceed XP requirements because I game so much. I have a very good video card and 1GB of Ram. But I do not have a dual-core system. But it had no trouble installing at all.
With XP Pro everything ran great and fast. On this computer Vista is running bit slow. But this I attribute to my computer so will not blame the software for this since I expected it. But I do love the Media Center functions of Windows and the Aero interface. Plus it allows you to place Widgets; I guess Windows calls them Gadgets, on the sidebar to allow better control of projects or various options on hand. Actually too many options for me, but I am sure many will love the options. I mean I do not really need to know the temperature outside. I live in the tropics where it is always hot. But it does let me use all the keys on my new keyboard and that I nice. Though I usually forget they are there and try to load things the old way. I guess I will learn.
What I cannot stand the constant security pop-up messages. If I have installed a program and ran it should know I will continue to want to run it at other times. I prefer the way XP handled my Pics, but that may be because I have not used Vista enough yet. I cannot figure out how to change the size of my photos yet. I would stay with XP Pro until you have to upgrade or if you are really into new technology and/or Multimedia networking.
But what everyone says is true; Vista wants the hardware it wants. So if you do not have the recommended hardware, do not get this software. If you have all the requested hardware then go ahead and get this. I did not have all the loading problems of those I read on various threads. But I would like to say once I again I did a clean install from CD. I do like the new look with Vista and will take some more time to get use to it, but so far so good. As of today two of my computers are running a version of Vista and working well.
 Unable to upgrade as opposed to a full install. March 31, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
After downloading the Microsoft Upgrade Advisor, and removing all the possible problem software I had. I was unable to choose the upgrade option on the installation. After selecting the radio button for upgrade only, it would allow only a full installation. Because this is my main home PC used for telework as well, I did not want to loose all my existing applications and set up.
The manual in the Windows Vista Home SP 1, did not indicate that their were limitations on what OS could be upgraded. My existing OS is just XP.
I ended up having to restore all my settings to the previous set up. I will wait to re-try this as a full installation once I plan to replace my motherboard in several weeks. I could not be certain whether the OS would allow me to reinstall Vista if the motherboard changed.
I am still disappointed that this install did not allow me to just do an upgrade as opposed to a full install which would wipe out my existing software.
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