Posted on 01/30/2008 10:17:19 AM PST by XR7
Microsoft released Windows Vista to the world one year ago with ads likening the new PC operating system to such awe-inspiring moments as the first American spaceflight and the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Charles Walling just wants it to work with his printer.
The retired Seattle warehouseman has spent hours on the Dell tech support line, installed all the drivers and, yes, double-checked all the cords and plugs. No luck. The cause of the problem isn't clear, but Walling knows one thing: The same printer worked with Windows Vista's predecessor, Windows XP.
"You can see the frustration," Walling said this week, sitting at his desk after Windows Vista displayed an error message in response to an attempt to print.
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates recently called Windows Vista the "best new product of the year." The company says more than 100 million copies of the operating system have been licensed since it became available. Outside experts say Windows Vista is a major advance in security, and some users say their experience has been smooth.
But a year after its glitzy retail launch, Windows Vista has developed a reputation as a source of frustration for others.
The effects of that reputation are apparent in the habits of PC buyers. At the computer store Quidnunc in West Seattle, for example, owner Bill Hibler estimates that 40 percent of people ordering computers through his shop still ask for Windows XP.
"I'm still stocking almost as much XP as...Vista," Hibler said. Based on his experience, the only other time people have been so reluctant to choose a new Microsoft operating system was when the company released the widely panned Windows ME.
One of Vista's challenges is the explosion of hardware, software, devices and networks that the operating system has to work with...
(Excerpt) Read more at seattlepi.nwsource.com ...
Don't confuse cost with price.
i bought a bootleg copy of Vista in Moscow last year, a month before MS released it. (have no desire to use it).
I had the same choice recently.
Went with a Mac. Works like a champ. With VMWare, I’m running WinXP on the Mac as well as OS X.
Then with Apple bringing out the Time Capsule as the back-end for Time Machine (the backup facility under the latest OS X), hey, backups are about to become pud-easy.
The other thing about Vista that I don’t like is the DRM crap. I run a legit shop, and being treated like a felon is simply offensive.
Well, I know Mac users tout the wonderfulness of their desktops, and I haven’t worked with a Mac too often. But when I have, I have been very frustrated by the lack of a right mouse button and a delete key.
As for Vista, after having bought a family computer with it installed last year, my own opinion is that XP is much better.
I just recently helped my mother-in-law buy a desktop, and I ordered her a Dell business model because it was the only one I could find with XP available instead of Vista.
I’m only glad my trusty laptop Charlene has XP instead of Vista.
I don't expect to spend a lot of time in a Vista environment, but as time goes by, I think it may be nice to have. And games aren't going to work well in a virtual machine, so the host will be useful for that.
Ugh.
It hurts just to read your post.
Again with this.
Why don't you use a mouse with two (or three...) buttons then?
Instead of complaining, why don't you plug one in?
It's not that complicated.
Don't know what you mean about the delete key - my keyboard has two of them.
In addition to me, my business has three partners. All of us have brand spanking new computers, but I was the only one to insist on the XP operating system for mine.
Whose computer do you think functions every day, without any problems? You got that right.
Like ME, Vista should be cast on the dung heap of software history.
How so? Which part troubles you?
Heh...that one keeps getting mentioned. Currently, I have a Dell mouse and Kensington trackball connected...more buttons than I know what to use for!
The main problem with Vista is Microsoft treats its users like children, slapping their hands and scolding them whenever they try to do anything Microsoft has determined they’re too stupid to do, like install software or move a file.
Well, I only know from the experience I’ve had using my mother’s Mac dektop and my friend’s Mac laptop.
Things that I am used to doing on the PC with a right mouse button and a delete key were not available on those machines. If there are options available that include these features, that would be fine, but I’m sure you can understand why I wasn’t going to buy new hardware for Macs that I didn’t own and only rarely use.
I have no pain:-)
My new p.c., a made in the USA Systemax, which I bought last May, came with XP Pro (SP2) and Vista Pro loaded (no extra cost), but NOT running, XP is the OS.
I have three years (length of warranty) to turn Visa on. All I do is call Tech support - also in the USA at the factory - and they run me through the steps of making Vista the OS.
Knowing the issues with Vista they were pretty smart doing that and the only p.c. manufacturer that gives you XP and Vista (to my knowledge).
(And I wouldn't take a Mac on a bet, let alone buy one.)
Digital Rights Managment integration into Vista has doomed it -at least until a service pack can remove it. XP has been quite secure in my experience. I remember it had a 6-month period of reluctance when it came out but Vista is worse and for good reason.
XP works fine for me. I’ve never been the type to need the “latest and greatest” just because.
xp works great. theres no way im upgrading to vista. if it aint broke, dont fix it.
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