Posted on 03/03/2007 7:11:05 AM PST by aft_lizard
I have decided a short guide is in order for anybody who is wondering about Upgrading to Vista or purchasing a new PC with Vista. I will do this in a question/answer format to make it easier on my pre-coffee morning mind.
The very first question everybody should be asking themselves is, Do I need to?
If XP is working fine for you and your computer is working fine, don't upgrade. Adopting early on usually means that you will have to deal with the craziness of incompatibilities with some of the older software you may have or some of the older hardware.
Gamers right now shouldnt even think of switching to Vista until the DX10 games really start coming out and nVidia and ATI have solid drivers for Vista, this is one my biggest peeves as is noted on a previous vanity a few weeks back.
What do I need to check if I want to upgrade?
The very first thing you want to make sure of is that you beat the minimum recommended specs. Microsoft has an upgrade advisor that you can download that will check your PC for its requirements.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/buyorupgrade/upgradeadvisor.mspx
If you receive any errors back don't upgrade.
If you have software you want to port research the internet well, there are growing lists of software that is supported and software that isnt.
If you have hardware you want to use on Vista make sure you can find proper Vista drivers.If you can't find drivers check and see if XP drivers work if they don't, wait before you upgrade to Vista.No use in waisting your hardware or keeping it locked up until drivers are ready.
What about HDCP and DRM?
This is the bogeyman that all computer libertarians scare you with. THe truth is you are still allowed to rip cd's, watch movies and everything else you were able to do with XP however as long as you are doing it legally. To test this I downloaded about three songs off of limewire and received no notice or inability to play them.
HDCP is for hardware only and only pertains(so far) to Blu-Ray and HD-DVD players. The secret is that if you purchase one of those players and you dont have an HDCP enabled monitor and video card then your video will be down sampled, not disabled(in so far as I understand it). On a small PC monitor you won't notice the difference. One of the misinformation that the anti-Vista crowd likes to say is that you cant use Vista w/o the HDCP Monitor and GPU, not true. I am using a non-HDCP card and Monitor as I type on Vista.
OK I decided upgrading is fine, its for the future. But isnt Vista expensive compared to the past OS's from MS?
Yes and no. There are two versions of Vista that most home users should worry about, Home Basic and Premium. If you wish to maintain the basicly same experience as XP Home then Home Basic is all you need. Home Basic provides everything that Xp Home +Pro has and its upgrade and/or OEM disc are the same cost or cheaper as every home offer that Microsoft has ever offered,$99 or &97 dollars OEM. If you have XP MCE then Premium is your best choice as it offers everything or more than MCE does at &159 or &121 OEM.
One thing to note is that if you have XP Pro and you wish to do the upgrade path then you must use at minimum Vista Business which is $199 for the upgrade, however the OEM is $153 dollars. Besides if you are smart you will just buy a cheap part at an online store then it will qualify you for the OEM purchase of Basic or Premium and it won't bother to check your current OS.
The Ultimate version tends to be the highlight of every Vista bashers day, its what they quote for being too expensive. The truth of the matter is nobody unless you are a power user who likes to have the best of everything should get Ultimate, end of the story. It is simply the top model for people who dont mind spending 3000+ on a new PC.But there is something that actually makes it cheaper than the rest of the choices, if you plan on upgrading three computers to Vista then the purchase of the Ultimate Edition Upgrade + Family Pack for $309 is the way to go. Essentially You will be allowed to install Ultimate on one computer and premium on two other computers, doing the math that makes it $103 per computer. Doing further math that comes out to less than 33 cents a day for the first year of use, not bad for the life blood of your computer.
In conclusion I am adding a chart of functions of each version of Vista, the chart contains what is different in each one.
And please really I dont feel like arguing today about Mac versus Linux versus MS.
Like that's going to stop the zealots. They'll look on that request as a challenge.
When this Dell dies, I'm moving to Mac.
Well for right now OSX is probably better for many reasons, most of which has to do with Apple's hardware and software compatibility restrictions also OSX's currently being newer than XP and having been around awhile tends to make the OS better. But there are many reasons for most people to stick with the PC which can be discussed at a different time.
(don't tell the Apple people I agreed with you, shhh I have a reputation you know)
Both PC Magazine and Maximum PC highly recommend against upgrading. Finding drivers that work is nearly impossible in some cases. One article said some versions of XP require specific versions of VISTA to upgrade. Wrong version = wasted, unreturnable purchase.
If you are going to upgrade, get the full version. With an upgrade version, save your XP disk. If you ever have to reinstall, the Vista upgrade requires XP be re-installed first, then the upgrade. Got a little time on your hands?
A software salesman told me the new PCs have Vista versions built specifically around those PCs. Some audio drivers just don't exist yet. NVidia and ATI are having trouble getting their drivers to work correctly. I recommend waiting 6 months.
Your welcome, there are some things I missed I am sure, I will add them later if I remember.
Yep, I actually put that into my post. Also you dont need to even have an OS on your PC to use the upgrade, there is a simple work around. When installing and it asks for your old cd key, ignore it and continue it will continue to install. After its done installing you reboot and do a reinstall and then put in you cd key for your Vista. IIts a little more involved than that but thats essentially what to do.
HEres a more in depth article on it.
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_upgrade_clean.asp
I also forgot to add the songs I downloaded were songs I already have on cd's I already purchased but had not used on Vista.
First, the computer is an HP pavillion in the dv2000 series (not sure exactly which one). The *&^%$(#! HP registration keeps popping up and won't go away even after I have filled it out and registered. It is driving me nuts! Any cures?
Also, my HP 750 printer from 2002 does not seem compatible with vista. I tried installing it and it says it can't find the correct operating system. Do I need to buy a new printer too?
I just hate change, hate it. Any feedback would be appreciated.
HP has rudimentary Vista drivers available for alot of printers on there homepage, thats where I got mine at, go to www.hp.com and find the link to software and drivers downloads and see if they have the software. As far as for the HP activation issue, I would call them.My activation went through painlessly w/o a hiccup so I just don't know what to tell you.
?
Good article, and it should help some people.
Until you try and access certain websites that use Internet Explorer... then you will need Windows. Then you need to Buy Windows Anyhow. So, Why not just Buy Windows In the first place. OR if you want to play games.
No I dont, I am actually pretty terrible at upkeeping lists and pinging people, however if you wish to create one, sign me up.
I don't even know what (((PING))) IS someone told me about it yesterday. I think you type in (((PING))) or something?
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Well an old ping list I kept awhile back was simply a collection of names in the to format
ie: aft_lizard;Barrett 50BMG;somebodyelse;etc....
Then save the ping list either in word or some other place, perhaps your personal page here on Freerepublic.
Vista has the basic print and scan driver for lots of printers already installed, these drivers are perfectly fine and I actually like them better than most of the bloated full fledged "drivers" that the manufactures actually come out with anyhow.
oh ping is like a buddy list, but saying (((PING))) doesn't add you to the list?
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