The Installation

I must say, installing Windows Vista was easier than I thought it would be and it was certainly easier than using XP. Of course, it doesn't yet check for updates or ask you for which components to install. Still, it did take 40 minutes to install which is twice as fast as Microsoft is aiming for. The installation consists of a few parts. First, you boot from the DVD, enter your license key, select your language/region, and choose which partition to install it on. Then, it installs it. When it (finally) reboots, it provides you with a neat aurora effect behind a Vista progress bar. What it does here, I don't know, but the aurora effect is pretty cool. The screen goes black, and it restarts again. This time, the "energy Vista effect" appears on screen the first time (it reappears at every boot), you enter your time zone, and create a new user account. Finally, you select a desktop background from the default Vista list and it logs you in.

The login/loading desktop screens are both much cooler than XP's. They have also changed the text so that when you are logging in, it now says "Preparing your desktop...". I also noticed a quick effect they must have thrown in the help show off the new graphics technology that sort of looks like a little paper airplane curving upwards and leaving a trail behind it.

I'll be writing more about Windows Vista as I work with it.