Windows Vista doesn't work!

Bold statement yes, incorrect? No! I have got myself a copy of Windows Vista and loaded it onto my Asus V6000 (I think that's the model number). I usually expect new software to do something better than previous versions and when Microsoft spends $6 billion on developing ONE piece of software I expect it to be good.

The improvements were not surprising, Vista looks better, sounds better and has more functionality and features than XP. I don't particularly like the side bar but that is down to personal preference and the fact that I don't have a wide screen laptop. Things like the search function from the Start button are nice integrations, however they lack the ability to be customized to use other software such as Google search.

Undoubtedly, Windows Aero is the biggest improvement - and I use that word cautiously - over XP. The shiny task bar and glistening buttons are all rather flashy and I must say, nice, but the amount of system resources it uses to produce these graphics is astonishing. If you're looking for a non-technical description of this well I have one. My laptop is running hotter than ever before! Then fan which is stupidly noisy is now ALWAYS on when it used to come on intermittently with XP. After several months of using Aero I've now switched it off to try and stop the fan from coming on.

Coming back to the search function, put simply, Google Desktop Search is better. Hit Ctrl twice and away you go, far better than the Microsoft alternative. Perhaps a little cooperation here would yield good results?

So I must say my expectations of Windows Vista were not met. I would consider it a good improvement over Windows XP, however it fails in one crucial area. It is a very poor upgrade. My hardware does not handle it well and it makes it disappointing. The Asus V6000 is fantastic with Windows XP but it is obviously not made for Vista and I understand this but I feel a new operating system should cope with older hardware a lot better than Vista does.

Now finally I just want to finish by making a comment more on the way in which Asus is providing support for this model of computer. Where is it? My Fn buttons do not work and I'm unable to find a way to make them work which is driving me crazy. If I had paid for this computer I would be angry (my old laptop of a different make broke and the retailer replaced it with this, but that's a different story)!

If anyone finds a fix for the Asus V6000 Fn buttons comment me!