Windows Vista icon
Windows Vista icon

Windows Vista

Windows Vista is the successor to Windows XP and is introducing a slew of new features some of the more notable are Windows Aero, Windows Sidebar and the new Windows Shell structure.

Windows Vista screenshot 1

Cost / License

  • Paid
  • Proprietary

Application type

Alerts

  • Discontinued

Platforms

  • Windows
Discontinued

Mainstream support ended on 10 April 2012. Extended support ended on 11 April 2017.

-
No reviews
47likes
9comments
0news articles

Features

Suggest and vote on features
No features, maybe you want to suggest one?

 Tags

  • nt-based
  • microsoft-system

Windows Vista News & Activities

Highlights All activities

Recent activities

Show all activities

Comments and Reviews

   
 Post comment/review
Top Positive Comment
Reprotected
1

Quick summary: OS is not as bad as people say it is. Speed is OK, it's very usable, and it's simply Windows. It is though slower than XP in some areas, and will slow down (much like any other OS) once it gets clustered.

Pros: More secure from those 2006 and older malware than XP Working OS Stable (at least with SP2) DirectX 10 and 11 Large compatibility to Windows software, not too many incompatibilities Looks WAY nicer than XP

Cons: Driver compatibility is not great with 2006 or older hardware/devices Slightly slower than XP (not too notable) Slows down dramatically once clustered

Ola Johansson

Vista after a couple of service packs is definitely better then XP. But i don't really see any reason not to spend some money on Windows 7 that i think is pretty awesome.

Top Negative Comment
Cora
1

Does a one-star rating even require an explanation for this commercial disaster?

OAKSIF0
-1

Really fast and Virtualbox friendly useful for running Windows Programs on Linux through Virtualbox. Just get the .NET Framework 4.0 or above and you are good to go! Oh and a web browser like Opera or Firefox because internet explorer is annoying to use.

Shoji
1

it is failure windows, it is heavy and bloated

SaltyMarshmellow
1

Although Windows Vista is not as terrible as some make it out to be, it still uses RAM inefficiently (hence the "slowness"), and is not worth any compatibility that might come with it... just use Windows XP Mode for Win7.

Use Windows 7. That is the best advice I can give... Unless you want to use a Linux distro.

souzaperez

It would be a good alternative to try Windows Vista SP2 if support does not end this year. The version is lighter than Windows 7 and booting is faster.

colbyj
0

Vista is horrible. the only decent features, start menu search and aero, have been in various linux distros for years. it slows down your coumpter, installs spyware, and pesters you with a half-baked permission control that prevents you from installing software and burning a cd, but not destroying your hard drive with incorrect partitioning. get windows 7 or kubuntu if you want a nice ui.

Review by a new / low-activity user.
pcwiz11
2

I don't see why everyone hates it. It's pretty fast on my laptop and has a load of new useful features over XP like search and the Aero feature is very good.

Show more comments
7 of 9 comments

Featured in Lists

A list with 5 apps by Shojimeguro without a description.

List by Shoji with 5 apps, updated

What is Windows Vista?

Windows Vista is the successor to Windows XP icon Windows XP and is introducing a slew of new features some of the more notable are Windows Aero, Windows Sidebar and the new Windows Shell structure.

Windows Vista is based on the codebase of Windows Server 2003 and is a new major version (6.0) of the NT systems.

Windows Vista information

  • Developed by

    US flagMicrosoft
  • Licensing

    Proprietary and Commercial product.
  • Alternatives

    164 alternatives listed
  • Supported Languages

    • English

AlternativeTo Category

OS & Utilities

Popular alternatives

View all

Our users have written 9 comments and reviews about Windows Vista, and it has gotten 47 likes

Windows Vista was added to AlternativeTo by Xure on and this page was last updated . Windows Vista is sometimes referred to as Vista