Are you Ready for Windows Vista?

Hardwarezone.com ^ | Sunday, 15th April, 2007 | Vijay Anand

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Introduction

Microsoft is understandably touting its new Windows Vista operating system with as many superlatives as they can fit in a sentence but the response from consumers seems to be rather muted so far. Half a billion in marketing dollars can certainly make a flashy entrance but for all the publicity generated in the weeks leading to its 30th January release date, there hasn't exactly been the kind of maniacal rush that we had witnessed when tech gadgets like the new Sony PlayStation 3 were initially released.

There wasn't even a decent queue of any sort when CompUSA organized a midnight launch in the US , a somewhat disappointing turnout compared to the success of previous versions of Windows. Similarly in Singapore, there was no hint of a queue when we turned up for the official launch

, in stark contrast with the Windows XP launch here in 2001, which saw shoppers queuing for up to six hours to get their hands on it. It seems that despite the massive publicity promoting Vista's new features, the public is not biting yet.

************************SNIP************************

So how would your ageing systems perform when upgraded to Windows Vista? Would you be better off continuing with an existing operating system like Windows XP? To answer these questions and more, we have configured three systems that span the performance spectrum from an Athlon XP to the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processor. But before we see how they fare running Windows Vista, let's first review the 'minimum' system requirements listed by Microsoft.

[TomGuy]

3.3 Vista Woes Continue

I'm now getting at least one email every day from disgruntled Vista users. For the most part their complaint is the same: some of their software and/or hardware simply won't work with Vista. I'm in the same boat. I had to remove Vista from the one PC in my office that passed the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor [1] test. Vista worked just fine, but about a third of the utilities I tried out on this test bed PC didn't work. I've now re-installed XP from a drive image and moved Vista to a Virtual PC running under VMWare Workstation 6 beta.

from Gizmo's Support Alert newsletter, April 2007

[ShadowAce]

[Duke Nukum]

The popularity of linux made MS think the public wanted a bloated OS where it took two weeks just to figure out how to install thunderbird.

And for the people who can’t figure the new interfaces for the Office suite, they probably made it more Mac-like. People who aren’t OS zealots who know how to use Windows will walk two miles on campus to find a Windows machine because people don’t want an OS to tell them how to use a program, they want to use it the way it works. But maybe not anymore.

Vista sounds like Coca Cola’s New Coke. Linux and Mac couldn’t bring Windows down but MS had that power all along.

After only two weeks I finally figure out how to use yum and w/o ever having to read one of those awful, godawful, horrible, ugly, usless man pages, though I did run into a lot of OS Zealot idiots in the message forums who’s only advice was “man yum.” I hate those people, they should be in prision with GGW guy trying to bribe guards for bottled water from a hose while other inmates drag them around by their frufru pony tails.

So if someone like me who demands and OS that is easy to use can figure out someting as insane, stupid, and userunfriednly as linux, probably others will follow.

But I still have XP at home and will for a long time to come, it seems.

[sourcery]

I've been building my own custom Windows boxes since the late 90's (you order a motherboard, CPU, memory, powersupply, graphics card, ethernet card, disk drive, cd/dvd drive, case, mouse, keyboard, etc, separately, and assemble them into a PC.) Often, instead of buying all new parts, I reuse some of the parts from a PC I already have.

About a year ago, my motherboard failed, so I replaced it. That's when I discovered that Microsoft uses the motherboard to determine whether the consumer is installing Windows into a "different" PC. You are only allowed a certain number of installations of Microsoft Office onto "different" PCs, as defined by the motherboard (and apparently other components also.) Note that even the exact same make and model of motherboard counts as a "new PC," if the serial number is different.

Since I had also upgraged other parts of the system since initially installing Windows XP (including a new motherboard, CPU and memory about a year before,) the new replacement motherboard put me over the maximum limit imposed by Microsoft for installations of Microsoft Office onto "different" PCs.

I contacted Microsoft, but they refused to permit me to activate Office. So I ditched Office, and switched to OpenOffice. I also made an irrevocable resolution to never buy any Microsoft product ever again, for any reason. So when it comes time to get a new computer, it will be either a Macintosh or a Linux box.

[FlyVet]

I’m running the free version 7.0 on XP MCE. So far no problems in two weeks. Could be they fixed the bugs before I downloaded it.(?)

[TomServo]

Interesting. I didn’t know there was a Vista Version of MS Office.

[TomGuy]

I was planning on buying a new laptop. Can’t find a new one without that on there.

I bought a new laptop just a few weeks ago because it was a close-out at a good price and because it had XP Home. I wanted to get one before VISTA was the only OS being sold on new ones.

I heard too many stories about VISTA beta versions not working, creating errors and shutting down legitimate software and hardware, and allot of digital management rights recognition problems.

[Dallas59]

I’m afraid we’ll have to get a LPTP for every OS.

[supercat]

In a year or two a gaming company will release a DirectX 10-only game that will force my upgrade.

What is DirectX 10 going to offer to developers that existing versions do not?

[Silly]

Don't waste your time with Vista. Too much trouble. Save your money.

Here's your plan for purchasing future computers, if you're low on money:

1. Buy a Mac Mini for $599 (or $15 a month -- can't afford that? Log out and go get a job!). You can use your existing peripherals (screen, mouse, keyboard) and get the entire Mac experience. With a KBM switch, which is very cheap, you can toggle between both environments easily. (Swordmaker, I'm doing research to find out if there is a way to use the Mac Mini in conjunction with a PC laptop... could use your help.) Use the Mini as long as you want (Macs have an extremely long life), and start saving your money for:

2. A notebook or desktop Mac, starting at $999 for an iMac ($24/mo), or $1,099 for the MacBook )$26/mo), either one an excellent choice at a great price. Your Mac Mini will still be very useful... you can use it to play DVDs, or as a Tivo (that's cool), as a external storage and/or secondary home computer.

However, I must warn you: After using the Mac Mini for such a cheap price, you may become completely bored with your PC, and want to jump into a higher performance range of Mac (not that you'll need it -- the Mini is about as much computer as any regular consumer needs). Upgrading is aasy to do, to the Mac Pro (desktop model) or MacBook Pro (its notebook counterpart).

Or, if you're really ambitious and have money to throw around, would you like a computer that can handle up to 3 TB of memory? Yes, you heard me right, terrabytes.

Terrabytes are no longer the future. Apple has brought them into the present. Terrabytes are today.

Years from now, when PCs make a big "splash" selling computers with TBs, Mac owners will do what they do every time some big PC improvement is unveiled:

Yawn.

[Boundless]

> I’m running the free version 7.0 on XP MCE.

The free version doesn’t have all the features
(and bugs) of the full paid-for ZASS.

Also, XP behaves differently than Win2K,
which is what I’m on.

> So far no problems in two weeks. Could be they
> fixed the bugs before I downloaded it.(?)

No. The current version is still 7.0.337.000,
which is still the subject of extensive user
complaints.

Once taxes are done, I’m doing a cold-load
reinstall to see if it’s any more stable.

But back at the thread topic, because Vista
is being billed (true or not) as more secure
than XP, Zone Labs’ sales may be nose-diving,
and if so, support for the installed base may
get its funding/staffing cut, and it may not
get fixed.

[sourcery]

I’m afraid we’ll have to get a LPTP for every OS.

A Logic Program Theorem Prover? (LPTP)

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Another interesting article from this website:

Blu-ray and HD DVD: Is Your PC Ready for it?

It is a Vista related topic....

[Dallas59]

You got my SRCSM!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Or just download a version of BSD Unix or Linux for ones older hardware.....

[Porterville]

My XP’s works great... my 2000’s work great... my linux ubuntu’s work great.... and I can swap parts from each...

My macs suck. They are a sloppy mess of over expensive cartoonish systems.

[Porterville]

My XP’s works great... my 2000’s work great... my linux ubuntu’s work great.... and I can swap parts from each...

My macs suck. They are a sloppy mess of over expensive cartoonish systems.

[Porterville]

Mac? Right... looks like you can swap out nothing from the box. Looks overpriced, and the interface is garbage.

[conservativepoet]

I’m running Vista Home Premium and I’m really enjoying the experience. Here are some of the programs/hardware I’m successfully running on Vista:

Supreme Commander, C&C 3 Demo, BFME2, AVG free anti virus, UltimateDefrag 1.48, Nvidia 7900 GS (latest driver 101.70), Audigy 2 beta driver, latest FirstDefence ISR beta for Vista, PerfectDisk 8, Vista Firewall (public profile), Linksys WRT54G router, Brother laser printer, FireFox 2.03, IE 7 in protected mode, K9 BlueCoat web protection (love this program), and a little more.

[proudofthesouth]

It came with my new Compac laptop. BTW, in the Vista internet explorer version the “Stop” and “Renew” features have been removed. Why I don’t know!