What's Vista really like on a new PC?

I read a lot of crazy stuff about Windows Vista, most of it negative. Sure, I've had issues with Vista too, of course, but I've never found the OS to be any more problematic than previous Windows versions, and it's certainly got its share of improvements over XP. But this morning, something popped into my head: Exactly one week ago, I purchased an HP Tablet PC so I could update a few mobility-oriented chapters for the revision to "Windows Vista Secrets." And in that time, I've done what I always do when I install Vista for the first time on a machine (or, in this case, just get Vista preinstalled on a new PC): I installed all my applications and just used the machine on a daily basis. I wondered, what has Vista's reliability been like in this first week?

Well, wonder no more. Here's what the Reliability Monitor shows for this machine's first week of life: Perfect 10's across the board.



That's right: It had no problems at all. No hiccups. No crashes. No blue screens. No weirdness coming out of sleep. No troubles at all. The little yellow triangle you see there? That's the day I installed all my applications (and removed some crapware): It's a string of text that reads "success" a mile long.

I realize that one PC does not an OS success story make. I urge you to understand, however, that the reverse is also true, and that any customer service expert will tell you that you tend to hear 10 times as many complaints as you do accolades. My experience with Vista has been great. My experience with Vista on a new PC, however, has been perfect.