I just got my new computer today, a brand new laptop with Centrino Duo, Bluetooth and the whole shebang. And, it came with Vista preinstalled.

My first impressions of Vista, however, is rather negative. I’ve spent the last four-five years getting Windows XP to work pretty much just the way I want it. I have it set up to the point where there are very few annoyances left. I have a personalized start menu, which allows me to find anything I want very, very quickly, with a superior overview.

Vista changes all that. It’s like they’ve tried to solve all my problems, which I have already solved, in a less efficient manner. And in the process, they’ve thrown in a lot more eye candy, which is neat, but mostly it just clutters the view. Semi-translucency is way cool, but it actually serves very little purpose and it actually distracts.

And beyond that, it’s just eye candy on top of Windows. My personal impression is that it’s just getting harder and harder to find what you want.

Then again, it’s all brand new, and it takes time to find your way in a new setting. Maybe I’ll get used to it, the same way I got used to Windows XP. But so far, the “Wow!” factor eludes me.