It's Microsoft's version of an OS babysitter...the most annoying feature in Vista if you ask me. Everything you try to do...UAC (User Account Control) will ask you if you're sure you want to do that. So it takes multiple steps to do simple things...like deleting a file. To turn it off..got to Control Panel and then choose users. If you turn it off...Vista will tell you that your computer if not secure...just go to Control Panel then Security Center...and on the left panel click on "Change the way Security Center alerts me" and click on "Don't notify me and don't display the icon". Make sure you have a good antivirus program (AVAST is a good free virus program).
Get at least 2 Gigs of RAM....I run 2 of my vista systems with 2 Gigs and I just bought a new pc with 3 Gigs. The 3 Gig system feels a little faster than the other 2...but it is a Quad Core and the other 2 are just Core 2 Duos...so that may be a factor. Opening multiple programs while browsing the internet, and playing movies, etc has not been an issue.
Here is something Vista users can do to reduce memory usage by about 7-8%. Notice that transparent glassy-looking frame around the window panes? That's part of Windows Aero, a GUI, and is controlled by Windows Desktop Manager. It shows up as dwm.exe in the Process Tab of the Task Manager if you look. It uses about 75K of memory. If you have a memory intensive program you are using, say for example, Esignal, you can greatly reduce the amount of memory dwm.exe uses while Esignal is operating. To do so, right click on the short cut you use to start Esignal or any other program, click on Properties; click the Compatibility Tab at the top of the window, and check the box that says Disable desktop composition. Click Apply, then OK. Now, when Esignal runs, Aero is disabled, and dwm.exe memory usage goes down by about 90%. When you shut down Esignal, Aero re-starts, and everything goes back to the way it was.
You may need a 2G Quad to run Vista, but you don't need Vista to run a 2G Quad. To me it seems like a waste of precious machine resources to run Vista on it instead of XP. The machine will run twice as fast with XP, certainly with the latest SP3 that is now in RC/beta. No one has yet explained to me what the benefit of using Vista is. I see only disadvantages.
Dunno, do some searching yourself. I remember paying less for it then for the OEM version included in a 'pre-installed' Vista. You might check your dealer, some will add a OEM version of XP with your order, even when it already includes a Vista. Other brands offer pre-installed XP or, as HP does, a 'downgrade' disk to replace Vista with XP. We have several unused XP versions for the coming years, so that we won't be forced to use Vista. Also, obsolete XP's on older machines can be re-installed on the newer ones, using the original reg-codes. Usually this works fine, sometimes you need to check in with M$ to restart your code, since it sees a different machine than before.