[dubie]

It sucks and I hate Vista. I installed RC1 yesterday and only used it for all buy 20 minutes and knew I would never use it. YUCK!!!

[tubebender]

Vista ping...

[Jake The Goose]

Resistence is futile - you will be assimilated.

Vista will rule - every time Microsoft goes through a major platform upgrade - it takes the world at least 18 months to get on board.

Next year Microsofts sales numbers will be down as the world hesitates in order not to be first on the block to take the plunge.

VISTA will ultimately not be an option for most - new applications will require it.

This process takes a long time in our 3 minute society.

[The Great RJ]

Businesses and individuals who have just grown accustomed to Windows XP will not be standing in line to buy a whole new operating system with unknown problems. Look at the history of XP and the major service packs needed to fix a host of initial flaws. Gates and company would do far better to definitively fix XP before moving to another OS product.

[Turbopilot]

I may buy new computers for the office right before the Vista launch. We don't strictly need them but I'd really like to avoid converting for as long as possible. Despite all the grief it gets, a properly set up XP system is really quite good and I'd much rather see MS engineering effort going into releasing XP updates than into a whole new OS, even though it won't happen because there's no money in it for them. I'd almost rather them release "XP2" and charge for it; I'd rather pay for that than pay the same amount for Vista.

[Publius6961]

So here's a modest proposal: Boycott Vista. Keep your old Windows XP PC around. Don't buy a new one. That's the only way we have to let Microsoft know Vista is an overhyped, late, and pointless update to XP - a perfectly fine operating system.

This proposal sounds great, but it raises a multitude of questions.

Most of us are happy with XP and would be satisfied with continuous improvements and bug fixes, indefinitely. But Microsoft has never given us that option.
Since it is unlikely that MS will ever release the source code, no on else is able to maintain it indefinitely.
What happens when Microsoft decides to stop supporting it?

Will the machines made to run Vista run XP? How about Windows2000? DOS?

Will Microsoft make it impossible to run Linux?
So many questions!

[mysterio]

It's going to be so big that it will make my new computer run like an overloaded 386 trying to run windows 95. That's my guess.

[ShadowAce]

[djf]

I think Vista will bomb. Too much of a hardware investment needed to run it.

I don't see how they can justify it without some sort of added value.

Look for XP to be supported for a long, long time. In fact you will probably see an XXP type of release.

[goldstategop]

I won't upgrade to Vista - why Microsoft spent 5 years overpromising and the not delivering is one of those mysteries held only by those in the know in Redmond.

(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo! )

[martin_fierro]

Am slowly getting acclimated to Linux (Ubuntu, Freespire).

Was even able to get PuppyLinux to install to a bootable 4GB USB drive the other evening.

[Echo Talon]

i think it funny that everyone bashing Vista here will have it within 2 years because XP will become long-in-the-tooth and you will want the extra features functionality of Vista when the new processors come out.

[Poser]

We don't get our operating systems at the store anymore. The OS comes with the computer and I'm sure that I'll be using Vista on the computers I buy next year.

[DaGman]

I'll follow the same rule I've been following since Win95, wait 6 months. If there are no major problems, then take a look at it.

The old rule of thumb used to be never buy a Microsoft product whose version ended in a 0.

[Doctor Stochastic]

There's no such thing as an "upgrade," only a "change."

[MarkL]

The company I work for is still primarily a Windows 2000 shop. One of the simplest reasons is that the licensing changed between Windows 2000 Professional and Windows XP. Win2K came with a Terminal Services client license, whereas with XP you need to buy one. So, if my company were to upgrade their workstations from Win2K to WinXP, they'd have to buy both an upgrade license for XP AND a TS client. That would be rough for a place with about 2400 workstations, and 120 Windows 2000 TS servers.

Mark