The Norse Star

The Time is Now to Upgrade

Tuesday, October 20, 2009 By Kyle Herbert

The newest version of windows has been released and that means Microsoft’s operating system Vista should be cheaper than it was. The school’s computers have been using XP since I can remember. I think that now would be the time for an upgrade to a newer operating system. Vista is so much better than XP. Windows Vista contains many changes and new features, including an updated graphical user interface. Cameron Laws, junior, said, "Yes we should upgrade from XP to Vista, because it would be a highly logical thing to do." You can worry less about security issues with Vista. The bundle includes, parental controls to help keep your kids safe, Windows Defender, and Windows Firewall help protect your computer from external threats attempting to harm the computer. This operating system also allows people to enjoy more of their computer without all of the hassle of running through unnecessary startups. There is an instant search, which allows you to search your entire computer for a certain file with just the click of a mouse. Windows Photo Gallery, Windows Media Center, and Windows Movie maker have all been upgraded to make the process of making movies and slideshows that much better. Windows Vista is considerably faster than its predecessor XP. Applications on the operating system run much smoother and allow for higher loading speeds. This means that if you are using a program that uses a significant amount of memory, it won’t slow down the computer as much as its predecessor. After the first month of its release, Vista sold an estimated 20 million copies, which is double the amount of Windows XP sales within its first month. Even with all these new features and security improvements the operating system does have some negative side effects included with it. Some of the things wrong with the highly acclaimed Windows Vista is that it has high system requirements, has more restrictions due to licensing terms, and requires minor upgrades on the computers and programs for use. Something that gets really annoying sometimes is the number of authorization prompts for User Account Control, basically that means you have to authorize everything you do in order to protect your computer from unwanted visitors. Despite these few minor incompatibilities, the Vista operating system would be a great choice in the time of need to upgrade our computers.