[aft_lizard]

The only OS of Microsofts I would consider a failure would be WinME. Otherwise the only errors I have had are errors caused by me and 99% of the time I am able to fix it w/o doing much if anything to my OS.

Microsoft is cheap when compared to Apple, which if you want to go Apple you simply cant just pop in an OS and reformat your HDD you have to buy the whole system, hey and lets not forget if there is an update you have to pay for it, not with Windows you just download the SP1's or 2's.Heck to upgrade to Win95 when it came out was $109, same with Win98, but Vista Basic is only $99 and the only thing you sacrifice is eyecandy and MCE, wich was a seperate more expensive version for XP.

Vista itself is not buggy, not in the least, You will hear stories about compatibility's but thats an issue with hardware manufacturers not updating there drivers.

If you had to upgrade your hardware to use a new OS chances are you would have had to in order to use any program you planned on using in the future anyways, so an upgrade is/was a waist of money for you if you want to look at it that way.

I could go on but I have to get up early.

[Quix]

Thanks for your perspective.

Alternate reality checks are good.

[Southack]

"Vista itself is not buggy, not in the least, You will hear stories about compatibility's but thats an issue with hardware manufacturers not updating there drivers."

Are you still in college? Because you aren't in a secure workplace. VPN's DO NOT WORK with Vista. Do you even know what that means?

Vista isn't backwards compatible. It won't run ACT! It won't run "Windows" video games.

The printer driver issues are tame...minor in the grand scheme of the massive Vista failures (e.g. modem driver failures).

Vista isn't failing like Windows ME...it's failing like DOS 4.0.

Once you give up backwards compatibility, customers have no further need of new versions of Windows OS's.

GAME
OVER

[HAL9000]

Microsoft is cheap when compared to Apple,

The cost of the initial purchase for a Mac is higher sometimes, but you get better hardware with more features. The expense of operating a Mac is cheaper than Windows after the cost of PC repairs, anti-virus subscriptions, etc. is factored in. And the resale value of Macs is better than PCs. Overall, Macs are a better investment.

which if you want to go Apple you simply cant just pop in an OS and reformat your HDD you have to buy the whole system,

Actually, you can just pop in OS like Windows or Linux on a Mac. Macs can run more operating systems that ordinary PCs.

hey and lets not forget if there is an update you have to pay for it, not with Windows you just download the SP1's or 2's.

Sorry, but you are misinformed on that. Apple has issued eight free updates to the current operating system (from 10.4.0 to 10.4.8) - plus several free security updates - plus numerous free application updates for iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, QuickTime, Safari, iChat, Dashboard, etc.

And let's not forget that Microsoft is very slow to release updates. Will they get SP1 for Vista released before Christmas? Who knows?

Apple will charge for the next major update - Mac OS X 10.5 ("Leopard") - but it will probably cost less than Vista Home Premium upgrade. And they will have a five-user family pack, probably for $199 - much cheaper than Vista.

[Southack]

http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=10
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6162313.html
http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/1743/vista_bug_cannot_connect_web_sites
http://bugs.sun.com/bugdatabase/view_bug.do?bug_id=6432317
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=402

[Southack]

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929490

[steve-b]

Vista itself is not buggy, not in the least

Vista is a flawless operating system! We will roast the stomachs of Mac OS and Linux in hell!

[antiRepublicrat]

The only OS of Microsofts I would consider a failure would be WinME.

MS-DOS 4.

Microsoft is cheap when compared to Apple, which if you want to go Apple you simply cant just pop in an OS and reformat your HDD you have to buy the whole system

You may be able to get a Windows machine cheaper for home use (although your price goes way up to get Vista Ultimate, the closest thing to OS X), but forget it for servers, where Windows can have a server costing thousands more than the Apple equivalent.

hey and lets not forget if there is an update you have to pay for it, not with Windows you just download the SP1's or 2's.

Windows' service packs are minor, as are Apple's free updates. Apple's paid upgrades are the equivalent of going from 2000 to XP, which Microsoft also charged for.

Vista itself is not buggy, not in the least,

ALL software of that size and complexity is buggy. Now add in the extensive backwards compatibility and application-specific hacks to make it even more buggy.