NEW SYSTEM, NEW PROBLEMS
UPGRADING TO WINDOWS VISTA IS A GAMBLE THAT COULD DOWNGRADE YOUR COMPUTER TIME, SAYS LEUNG WAI-LENG

So you have read about the wonders of computer giant Microsoft’s (MS, or M$ to its detractors) latest operating system, Windows Vista. You know the new Aero interface is prettier, with glass-like windows. You know it comes in-built with security features like firewalls and spyware protection. You know with its compatibility with DirectX 10 technology, your games will look even more realistic than whatever the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 has to offer. You know its compatibility with mobile devices like MP3 players and smartphones will allow a more convenient way to exchange MP3 files and photos between devices. The handy new search functions will allow you to find and play the content more easily, too.

And after all that, you actually considered joining the five people who bothered queueing up for Vista. That’s all right, nobody’s judging you. Nut. Ok deejay, cut the love music. Aside from the fact that you will probably need an expensive new computer with a horribly expensive top-end graphics card to enjoy the promised land of photorealistic visual splendour, it is also incompatible with some programs, like iTunes. There are also possible security issues with Vista. A researcher managed to hack into Vista before it was even launched. Thousands of hackers and script kiddies are also currently trying to become the next Gigabyte the virus writer famous for writing viruses in C-Sharp, the language of MS’ .Net platform, while being female of Vista. The novelty and instant notoriety of being among the first to pioneer a major virus or exploit for Vista means they are working doubly hard. And those too lazy or too rich to bother can always head for the hacker’s black market, where Vista exploits are on sale for up to US$50,000 (S$76,690). But let’s talk about the most important loss of security that of your computer time. You see, Vista comes in-built with Parental Controls too. Which allows your parents to make Vista automatically log you off after an hour, no matter what you are doing. And they can find out which websites you are visiting, programmes you are using and even who you are chatting to in MSN Messenger then block you from all of them. At least Big Brother just watched. So you can say goodbye to four-hour World Of WarCraft raids and work on explaining yourself to annoyed MapleStory party members after inexplicably logging off while fighting Horntail. No more talking to that cute guy or girl from the class next door with an inappropriate MSN nickname either. So think twice before begging your parents to upgrade to Vista. You might actually end up using the computer to do your homework.

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