Windows Vista equals Windows ME

I have a long history of using Windows and Linux systems at my place of work. I'm not into Windows bashing as the operating system and other Microsoft software historically has been a much needed standard for the business world. When my workplace had a choice of either installing a Windows 2003 server or a Linux server to support administrative functions, I chose Windows over Linux. However, as much as I wanted to see Windows Vista succeed in the office, I just don't see a future with Vista. Vista reminds me too much of Windows ME.

I am fast approaching a year of running Windows Vista at home. While my family also uses Linux and the Mac's OS X, the primary operating system for our house this past year has been Vista. However, I can't help but think my experience with Vista shows that it is the offspring of Windows ME and not Windows XP. My Vista experience has not been a step forward from Windows XP, but instead feels as if it is a step back in time.

Windows ME brought us some good ideas of what an operating system should be like, but in the end ME could never deliver on those promises. It really wasn't until XP that you understood what system restore in Windows should actually do for you. It wasn't until XP that you really understood what leaving DOS behind was really all about. I'm not the only one that felt this way as many others, until recently, considered Windows ME as the worst version of Windows. Microsoft never quite admitted to the mess they made with ME, so I have doubts they'll ever claim the faults of Vista either.

It's not that Microsoft isn't trying. However, even the must touted "wait until Vista SP1" push continues to have problems. Take this InfoWorld article as an example:

Responding to reports of endlessly rebooting PCs that flooded support newsgroups last week, Microsoft said on Tuesday it had pulled an update designed to prep Windows Vista for Service Pack 1.

Although the update -- actually a pair of prerequisite files that modify Vista's install components -- has been temporarily pulled from Windows Update, Microsoft has not yet produced a fix for users whose machines either won't boot or reboot constantly.

In defense of Service Pack 1, I've been running my PC on Vista SP1 RC1 Refresh with none of the problems being reported in the article. In fact, I have noticed the release candidate of SP1 I've been running actually did improve system performance. For about six months I was constantly in need of rebooting Vista after being disconnected from the Internet and SP1 seems to have solved or at least decreased the issue for me. However, the operating system still feels bloated, potentially buggy, and just plain depressing.

With Windows Vista, I get none of the same warm fuzzy feelings I get when running Linux and even Windows XP. I haven't felt this removed from positive emotion when running an operating system since I ran Windows ME on some of my systems. Thus, this is why I conclude from an emotional level that Windows Vista equals Windows ME.

Admit it Microsoft, Vista is a lemon and all we're getting served with this operating system is some really bad lemonade. I only hope Windows 7 equals Windows XP + 1...