Windows Vista A to Z

How-Tos and Advice

Get hands-on help for Vista:

Top 10 Vista hacks
Itching to make Windows Vista behave the way you want it to, not the way Microsoft does? Try these fun and useful tweaks.

12 unnecessary Vista features you can disable right now
Tired of Vista's bloat? Reclaim your PC's performance by turning off a dozen wasteful features.

Giving up on Vista? Here's how to downgrade to XP
For some PC users, what's old is new. They've tried Windows Vista, don't want or need it, and they're ready to turn back the OS clock and reinstall XP. Here's how to do it.

Top 10 free Windows tools for IT pros
No Windows geek or PC support pro should be without these must-have utilities -- and they're all free.

The ultimate tweaker's guide to Windows
Our tips, tricks and hacks will let you customize Windows XP and Vista in a multitude of ways.

Must-have Windows utilities for 20 essential tasks
From file management to encryption to system-maintenance tools, these handy applications will help you do your job and keep your PC humming.

How to prevent Windows Vista's 'green ribbon of death'
Successor to the well-known Windows blue screen of death, the 'green ribbon of death' crashes Vista when the progress bar freezes an Explorer window. Here's why it happens and how to make it stop.

Teach XP and Vista to play nice on networks
Vista has some nice networking features, but it takes some manual tweaking to get a mixed Vista/XP network to work properly. Here's how.

Five ways to bend Windows Vista to your will
Got Vista already? Make it your own with these five easy customization tweaks.

Hands On: The essential Vista upgrade guide
Can't wait to get your hands on Windows Vista? We'll help you decide which upgrade path to take and walk you through multiple methods of installation.

Blogs/Opinions

Computerworld's bloggers and columnists weigh in on Vista:

The five best things about Vista SP2 -- Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
Microsoft's biggest blunder: Vista or Windows Me? -- Preston Gralla
Vista-to-XP downgrade suit: Wrong, wrong, wrong -- Preston Gralla
How Vista's total failure hurt Linux -- Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
How is Microsoft with Vista like the Big Three automakers? -- Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
Has twenty-five years improved Windows? -- Preston Gralla
Microsoft "caved" in to Intel in Vista "Junk PC" scheme -- Preston Gralla
Ballmer says skip Vista -- Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
Why good people make bad OS choices -- Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
Has Microsoft given up on Vista? -- Preston Gralla
Vista R.I.P. -- Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
Reconsidering Vista -- Robert L. Mitchell
Five reasons why Vista beats Mac OS X Preston Gralla

Reviews

Our experts weigh in on Vista's features and interface:

Microsoft Vista SP2 beta: Nothing obviously new
Microsoft's new beta of its Vista SP2 operating system offers a group of fixes and updates, but nothing radical or visible, according to reviewer Preston Gralla.

OS Smackdown: Linux vs. Mac OS X vs. Windows Vista vs. Windows XP
Forget market share -- which desktop operating system is truly the best? Four experts defend their OS of choice in an opinionated free-for-all.

Hands-on Vista SP1: Better but slower?
The final version of Vista SP1 kills the Kill Switch and adds many under-the-hood improvements -- but on at least one system, file copying is actually slower.

A hard look at Windows Vista
Five years in the making, Windows Vista has reached its final form at last. It's an ambitious release, from an ambitious company.

Visual tour: 20 things you won't like about Windows Vista
It's time to take a long, hard look at what will become the next version of Windows.

Visual tour: 20 reasons why Windows Vista will be your next OS
After writing "20 Things You Won't Like About Windows Vista," Scot Finnie admits that there are still plenty of reasons to recommend Microsoft's next-generation operating system.

FAQs and Analysis

Get details and insights into Microsoft's new operating system:

Vista may still have its day -- just like XP (eventually) did
All of the griping about Windows Vista and the instant nostalgia for Windows XP obscures the fact that XP also was slow to catch on with users -- perhaps even slower than Vista has been.

The verdict on Vista
Despite the synergies between Windows Server 2008 and Vista, the new server OS doesn't seem to be changing many minds about its desktop counterpart. Here's where eight IT executives stand on Vista.

Developers explain why they're avoiding Vista
11 out of 12 programmers surveyed don't devote time to writing Windows Vista-specific apps.

Is Vista good for gaming?
Upgrading to Windows Vista now will mostly bring frustration. But over the long run, gaming in Vista is likely to transcend gamers' wildest dreams.

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