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I hate things that are over-complicated. Simple is always good. Easy is always good. Clarity is always good. These are the very reasons that Windows Vista (the next release of Microsoft's operating system) will be so... well, good.
Before I give you my pitch, I should first give you full disclosure. Less than 2 months ago, I joined Microsoft as a Product Manager working on the Windows Vista launch team. Therefore, everything I tell you about Windows Vista will inevitably come with some biases, but take comfort in the fact that I won't recommend anything that I don't actually believe in myself. Furthermore, I promise to try to keep everything I write about regarding the new operating system, simple and easy to understand. There are plenty (too many?) detailed technical blogs and resources on the internet written by gurus and experts, neither of which I claim to be.
But I digress. So why is Windows Vista worth the upgrade? Simple - because it's easier to use. The core of the "useful ease" you will experience with Vista is in its search centricity. If you are familiar with and use Google Desktop or any other desktop search software, pretend like this capability has been enhanced 10x and put that at the core of everything you do on your PC. Okay, I know... too technical already. I'll try to simplify.
Here is "old Windows" (Windows XP Professional) running on my desktop:
Yes I still use the "classic" menu view setting because I never could stand the bright blue, red, and green candy color XP interface. If you are anything like me, two clicks are two too many. In XP I preferred to open programs (and anything else, for that matter) by using the "Run..." command in the Start menu (close up provided in image below).
This was a very convenient feature, especially for solitaire addicts - just type in "sol", press return, and up pops your favorite PC game. Still, this is not intuitive to the end user because these commands must be typed exactly as the file name appears in the Windows directory (which in this case is sol.exe). If you try to type in "Solitaire" - no dice, you will get an error.
This is where Windows Vista really wins big. Not just for solitaire, but for finding and/or opening anything on your computer (this feature is even better when combined with 2007 Office). In Windows Vista the "Run..." command has been replaced by the "Search" command in the start menu.
Close up...
Not to fear... it works the same... actually, it works much better than the Run command in XP. With Windows Vista I can type in "Sol" or the much more intuitive "Solitaire" into the Search box, and not only will I get a list of programs with that string in the file name, I will also get any files, e-mails, or even websites containing the same string of characters either in the file name or in the file itself. Even cooler, the results are narrowed and refined in real-time with each letter I type.
*pause for effect*
You will not fully appreciate this "feature" until you begin using the new operating system. I have been using Windows Vista Ultimate for the past 2 months now, and Search has fundamentally changed the way I use my PC. Everything is faster, everything is easier, and I am more productive. The best part is, I get to use it before we have even launched the product. This means that right now (albeit for a limited time) I have a competitive edge when it comes to personal productivity. And you know what, this is probably good since it just might give my new employer that extra push to get to general availability by January. ;)
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