My Week with Windows Vista

Starting on the 6th of Monday, I will restrict myself to using only Windows Vista on my machines, for the period of exactly one week. Has it been done before? Of course. Many reviewers have looked at the Windows Vista operating system in such a manner. However, these reviewers often neglect certain audiences (mostly because their audience consists of home users rather than administrators).

Those of you who know me in person know that I vehemently promote the use of Linux as a desktop and server operating system. While Linux has its issues, I do prefer having the ability to learn from a completely open platform, rather than be restricted to a platform that may someday be non-existent.

Despite my personal preferences for operating systems, Windows is still the most widely used OS in the world. It is for this reason that I will try and test Vista from a (hopefully) neutral point of view. To ensure this, I will establish the basic rules / guidelines for the week in advance.

1. I will not resort to Linux to fix my problems, no matter how tempted.
2. I will not theme Vista or modify Vista in such a way that the OS is no longer visually identifiable as Vista.
3. I will evaluate the Vista experience not just as a general user, but as an administrator, and as a gamer.
   
4. I will also detail hardware platforms and various tricks I'll use to get things working.
5. I won't mention the video of Steve Ballmer dancing like a monkey while screaming "Developers!" to a scared audience. I also won't compare Vista's use of a clock in the bottom right taskbar to Ballmer's promotion of Windows 1.0's full screen clock.
   
6. I do reserve the right to link to aformentioned hilarious videos on the youtubes for reader enjoyment purposes.

And finally, to keep from going completely mad from the experience, I will try to have a sense of humor.

Grey Hat has been delayed, I know; I will finish the ARP poisoning tutorials after the Vista week.

Check back on Monday for Day 1 of the Vista week!