Customisability and Looks- Can't say I'd disagree with much on this, Flip3D is pretty pointless. I never use it, and I can't see why it's something Microsoft would advertise as a great feature.
Ease of Use- Flip 3D can be clicked on, and scrolled through with a mouse wheel (not that I use it anyway, just saying). Crysis seems to not want to create shortcuts, or that's how I remember the demo installing. Nothing else I've ever installed on my computer has EVER done that. I'll assume that it's unique to Crysis along with the other game you mentioned, but like I said nothing else has done that.
Multimedia support- I'd agree that the base programs within Vista won't do much. Free downloads of several programs can add all the capabilities you'll ever need though. iLife may be free with Macs, but it's not free by any standards. Can't say that's a bad thing, but it's technically not base software. From what I've read on Apple's website, I can't see that iLife literally comes with OS X (meaning that it installs automatically from the same disk as the OS). Essentially, you may get it directly with your new computer, but it is an add-on.
Security- Can't comment too much here. Windows is by far the least secure operating system. However, the User Account Control does do its job. At times it can be annoying, but I haven't had anything happen thus far that I haven't approved.
Annoyances- UAC is a bit annoying, and I wish that you could say "Don't ask me again" for those common applications that get used a bit. But, as I said in the Security bit, it does its job well. Driver issues..Only one was messed up for me (Alcohol 120%) but that's it. I've installed ~100 programs so far, and that's the only thing that had any issues. Many programs that didn't have Vista compatibility support worked without issue. As for hardware, no problems as of yet. Haven't had to install too many things (Printer, USB cards, external harddrives, mouse, TV tuner, headset, all not including what was pre-installed (video card, dvd burner 'super drive', screen, etc)) Only time I've BSOD'ed was when I had trouble with the aforementioned bad driver. Sidebar was removed first day. Can't see any use for it, though several of my friends like it for whatever reason. Crysis is a highly strenuous game for any computer, so tuning down settings isn't exactly something that is surprising for anyone. I can play it fine on my laptop (256 mb Nvidia graphics card) but the ultra-high detail mode isn't exactly the smoothest operation you could ask for. Turn down a few settings, and it runs quite smoothly.
All in all, I can't say that I can compare Vista to OS X, or Ubuntu (I've used Ubuntu, but never for an extended usage period.) Working on a hackentosh, but at any rate, I haven't really used a Mac. I'd like to actually use one, if not just to try it out. Thinking of buying a Mac, as I haven't found too many people who truly hate OS X, but annoyances don't keep them enthralled 24/7 either. In short, I can't do a full comparison of Vista to other OS's, but I do know it's not as bad as it's made out to be. I'd still like to be able to compare to other operating systems, but until then I'll have to just say that Vista works.
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