Father forgive me for I have sinned. I continue in my unholy liaison with Windows Vista and, worst of all, I’m finding it useful and, at times, enjoyable. There, I said it, its off my chest and I can relax now.

So what am I finding to like about Vista versus Linux and what annoyances am I finding? On the enjoyable side lots of stuff just works. File shares (from a Linux box running SAMBA, I’m not so crazy that I would run a Windows server) are always there, there is no funkiness with CD drives or pluggable media. I have even grown to like WMP 11 except for the fact that there is no way not to show the URGE link in the top menu.

The features I really like are:

Offline files – Yes that was in XP, but its nice in Vista too. It is especially helpful to point my Documents directory to an offline file share on a server that is regularly backed up. This way all my working files are synchronized and backed up.

Links and Junctions – Vista supports hard links, symbolic links, and directory junctions. Very helpful for file management. The junction thing is what the Documents directory uses to point to an offline enabled share.

Annoyances:

Outlook 2007 – This program is, to put it bluntly, a dog. It’s slow, IMAP support is dreadful (although less dreadful than previous versions) and its way too expensive. That said, its just about the only game in town if you want a integrated Email/PIM solution that syncs with a Palm device. This program, like Vista, will greatly benefit from an SP1 (I hope).

Screen Saver — Won’t start when the laptop is plugged in to my port replicator/dock. A solution eludes me.

Lack of Support for Programs – Right now I can’t install Palm software to my hand held because the Palm quick installer is not supported under Vista. Ditto for Pocket Tunes, it does not work with WMP 11 and Vista. Both of these companies need to get off their duffs and get the updates out.

Community – I have gotten used to a helpful community that can help me solve problems. Haven’t really found one for Windows.