Productivity Portfolio

The virtual lab concept is great. You can log onto a system that is hosting Vista and see how the operating system performs. It’s not an ideal test, but it’s as close as you can get without installing the software yourself unless you hop down to a computer retailer.

The Test Drive Setup

As with most virtual systems, there is a latency issue. It won’t be as fast as if it were on your computer. Microsoft does explain this and connection issues in the Important Notice pop up box. This pop up box also lists the requirements for taking the test drive:

• Internet Explorer 6 or later
• Broadband connection
• Screen resolution of 1024 x 768
• Ability to install ActiveX components

I was comfortable with these requirements and limitations. This information helped set my expectation. I knew I would see a close approximation, but not all the functionality and speed would be present.

The process starts by providing an email address. A privacy policy appears at the bottom if you want to read it before giving your address. The service then does a quick check to make sure you meet the installation requirements such as having Java Script enabled. Most people will need to install the Virtual Machine Remote Control Advanced ActiveX control. The installation is easy, but some users may be in a business environment where ActiveX controls are not allowed.

Taking a Spin

Once you get on, you see a nicely organized screen. Rather than seeing a new desktop and being left on your own, Microsoft tries to guide your demonstration based on defined feature sets. These include safety, efficiency, connectivity and collaboration. You can click a button to see related tasks that might interest you. These items are some of Vista’s selling points and address many issues users had with previous versions of Windows.

Click to enlarge

For each of these tasks, the user has two choices. They can see a demo or try the feature themselves. I opted to see the demos and then do the test drive. The 18 demos are good, but are not without annoyances. As a user, I got tired of seeing the opening animation for Windows Media. Once was enough, the rest of the time it annoyed me since I had already seen it.

Another annoyance was the video playback window resized and didn’t fit my browser window. The requirements state my monitor should be at 1024 x768, which is what I was using. As you can see in the screen snap below, I have a horizontal scroll bar.

Click to enlarge

Here’s the interesting part. When I do reviews, I use two computers. On one PC, I create my article and screen captures. The other I use to duplicate my steps or review notes. In reviewing my steps, I noticed my notebook showed different behavior. Although it is also running IE 7 at the same resolution, I didn’t see either of these annoyances. The notebook resized the video window perfectly and didn’t display the Windows Media animation clip.

I’ve logged in several times from each machine and get the same results. I don’t think this is a hosting issue, but something different between my two computers that is causing the differences. This may explain some of the user comments I saw on various blogs and forums.

Tempting Vista

The video demos are good and provide audio as opposed to captioned text. Even if you’re not thinking of Vista, you might want to watch the ones about IE 7. After viewing some of the demos, I wanted to try the features out for myself. There are two ways to do this. One way is to click the Test Drive button next to each task. A second way is provided through the Jump to Exercise button in the lower left. This is where the system failed. In each case, regardless of which computer I used, I was greeted with an error that stopped me cold.

Click to enlarge

Usually, these errors are temporary although it’s hard to say with this one since Microsoft is not sending the full information for security reasons. After two days, I’m still getting this error page. Because of the generic message, it’s also difficult for me to see if the problem is on my end.

When I run into these errors, I like to let people know. At the top right of the most pages is a link to provide feedback. I clicked the link figuring I could let Microsoft know of these problems. No, the feedback page is unavailable too.

Click to enlarge

After spending sometime on the site, I can’t say I’m more inclined to purchase Vista. Certainly, the video demos answered many questions. I now know more about the product, which was one of my objectives.

I also can’t say that the errors would discourage me from buying Vista. I can say that this web experience was not what I wanted. It left me frustrated and questioning if anyone was monitoring the site. Were other users having the same problems? That’s not what I would expect from Microsoft.

If you’re interested in Microsoft’s Vista, I would check this site before purchasing the software as it contains useful information in the videos. Hopefully, your test drive will be more productive than mine. For those planning an upgrade using their existing machine, you should also use the Microsoft Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor. This is a 6.5 mb tool you can download that will evaluate your hardware and which features of Vista you can use. This download does require .NET.

Update January 29, 2007: The previous problems I reported appear to have been corrected. I was able to perform exercises this evening and open the feedback page.

URL: http://www.windowsvistatestdrive.com/
Cost: Free
Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3 of 5 stars)

Related References & Articles:

Term to learn: ActiveX
Office 2007 Trial Makes Sense