Can you still use Windows Vista in 2026?
(7 April 2026) Released in 2007, Windows Vista was initially met with harsh criticism upon its launch. But with its program integration unmatched by any other version of Windows except maybe Windows ME^2 (or, as Microslop calls it, Windows 11), and its beautiful UI, how usable is it in 2026? Can you play games on it? And yes, Portal, but without Steam. Don't ask why.
Watch on YouTube
Software used
- Paint.NET 5.1.11
- Audacity 3.7.7
- DaVinci Resolve 20.3.2
Music (in chronological order)
- RhythmOrganyzer by Noir Et Blanc Vie, YouTube Audio Library
- Cipher - Electronic Light by Kevin MacLeod, CC BY 4.0, YouTube Audio Library/incompetech.com [1]
- Global by Emmit Fenn, YouTube Audio Library
- MydNyte by Noir Et Blanc Vie, YouTube Audio Library
- Never Sleep by Gunnar Olsen, YouTube Audio Library
- Puppy Love by Bad Snacks, YouTube Audio Library
[1] Cipher - Electronic Light by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100844
Artist: http://incompetech.com/
Works Cited
- [1] "Windows Neptune", BetaWiki. Last edited 16 February 2026, accessed 12 March 2026. https://betawiki.net/wiki/Windows_Neptune
- [2] "Windows Vista", English Wikipedia. Last edited 14 February 2026, accessed 12 March 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Vista
- [3] "Development of Windows Vista", English Wikipedia. Last edited 12 March 2026, accessed 16 March 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Development_of_Windows_Vista
- [4] "Windows Longhorn Explained by Dave Plummer - Retired Microsoft Engineer", Dave's Garage. YouTube. 26 March 2025, accessed 12 March 2026. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpRZ8BQiiMo
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- [8] "the Stupidly Big Windows Longhorn video", petabyteag. YouTube. 14 July 2025, accessed 12 March 2026. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6oKPjDaTO8
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- [12] "Windows Vista Home Premium Review", Robert Vamosi, CNET. 24 January 2007, accessed 12 March 2026. https://www.cnet.com/reviews/windows-vista-home-premium-review/
- [13] "Microsoft Windows Vista", John Clyman, PCMag. 29 January 2007, accessed 12 March 2026. https://uk.pcmag.com/migrated-3765-windows-10/24462/microsoft-windows-vista
- [14] "Vista first look: Bugs and confusion", Thomas C Greene, The Register. 14 February 2007, accessed 12 March 2026. https://www.theregister.com/2007/02/14/pricey_beta_bugger/
- [15] "Mojave Experiment", English Wikipedia. Last edited 9 April 2024, accessed 16 March 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mojave_Experiment
- [16] "SUPPORTED_SYSTEM.md", Notepad++ GitHub page. Last commit 1 February 2024, accessed 23 March 2026. https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/blob/master/SUPPORTED_SYSTEM.md
- [17] "Prototype OpenOffice.org gets ribboned", Dong Ngo, CNET. 6 August 2009, accessed 26 March 2026. https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/prototype-openoffice-org-gets-ribboned/
- [18] "Microsoft Office 2007", English Wikipedia. Last edited 5 January 2026, accessed 26 March 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Office_2007
iMedia used
- Acer_Ferrari_1000_with_Windows_Vista.jpg by Scott Beale / Laughing Squid, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/deed.en>, via Flickr - https://www.flickr.com/photos/laughingsquid/334601574
- Farm-Fresh_freebsd.png By FatCow - http://www.fatcow.com/free-icons, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47386953
- GNU_Compiler_Collection_logo.svg.png By Free Software Foundation, Inc. - From http://gcc.gnu.org/img/gccegg.svg, with tweaks, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2388847
- MacOS_original_logo.svg.png - The logo is from the following website: http://apple.com, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=34249068
- Msdos-icon.svg - Microsoft Corporation, MIT <http://opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php>, via Wikimedia Commons
- The_Register_logo.svg.png - Vectorised by VulcanSphere from https://www.theregister.com/design_picker/fa16d26efb42e6ba1052f1d387470f643c5aa18d/graphics/std/reg_logo_no_strapline.svg, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=67227482
- ThinkPad_X61_Tablet_-_Vista.jpg by Jakub Steiner, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
- Windows_7_Logo_and_Wordmark.svg.png By https://betawiki.net/wiki/File:Windows_7.svg, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=73545020
- Windows_2000_logo.svg.png By Microsoft.com, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57458766
- Windows_Server_2003_Logo_and_Wordmark.png By https://microsoft.com, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70984310
- Windows_XP_logo_and_wordmark.svg.png By https://betawiki.net/wiki/File:Windows_XP_logo_and_wordmark.svg, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=73545809
- Windows_Vista_Logo_and_Wordmark.svg.png, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=73486366