Vista at one year: Progress and painWindows upgrade fuels revenue and frustrations

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer ^ | 1-30-2008 | Todd Bishop

[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...

[Pablo64]

We bought a Mac last year, although we also have a pc running XP, as well. I have to say, that even though it was a little pricier, we have not had any problems at all with it. It wasn't even that hard to get used to (especially when we bought the "Missing Manual" for any of the really big differences). We bought an iMac (and I was able to talk the wife into letting me spend the extra for the 24-inch screen, woo-hoo!) and I love how sleek it looks, how quiet it is (no loud cooling fans) and how maintenance-free it is. No more purchasing anti-virus software, etc.

So far, our switch to a Mac has been very pleasant.

[D-fendr]

Right mouse works like on a PC, context-sensitive etc..

Mac sells a two button mouse, but without buttons. It knows a right click/left click without a button. Also has very cool scrolling with a small ball on top. You can scroll horizontally and diagonally as well as up/down.

If the mouse was your desire, it’s better on the Mac.

[Roses0508]

I work for a company that provides IT support (desktop, network, routers, firewalls, etc.) for small to medium size businesses. When Vista came out we told our customers. Do not purchase Vista and until the Vendor of your mission critical software package tells you its a go. So far the number of customers who have made that switch is exactly (wait for it) zero. There are software and hardware compatibility issues and a lot of software vendors just are not in any hurry to go there. They are just beginning to offer “patches for Vista”. My customers tend to view anything labeled a “patch” with intense suspicion.

Most of the people who buy new PCs are buying through Dell and buying XP. Other hardware vendors are offering XP in their business models now also.

[TruthWillWin]

I have 2 computers for my business. One with XP and a new laptop with Vista. I wish my damn printer would work on Vista.

Just the opposite with me. I purchased an HP officejet L7580 and networked it with 3 computers, 2 vista, one XP. The printer worked fine with the 2 Vista computers, had a heck of a time getting it to work with XP. For some reason the software did not want to load properly with the XP machine. I had to go to HP's website and download software, minimum requirement install without all the crap, to get it to work...Took me a half a day to get that printer to work on XP, no problems at all with Vista.

[Womp Rat]

I have two systems with Vista, and I am very happy with them. No problems. The hand slapping as someone above called it was kind of annoying with Windows questioning you on every action you take, but if you disable those safety features it works pretty well.

I have not had good experiences with Macs. In addition to the mouse issues mentioned, it just seemed like they were really designed to completely prevent the user from having any control, which many users find very annoying. To be fair, it was about five years ago when I last used one, and they may have improved the usability since then. That was in a Physics lab in college. We were all engineering students and were used to Windows (and other cryptic OSs), and most of us had a hard time using those machines. There wasn’t even an eject button on the disk drive!

Anyway, they may have improved substantially since then, but I have not had any problems with Vista.

[dsc]

I bought a laptop with Vista because that was all they had.

It’s a farging nightmare.

I had to go through and change permissions on every directory and subdirectory that I wanted to save files to, one by one.

I still can’t save files to the root directory.

It won’t network with my two XP machines.

I can’t print from Vista.

On and on and on.

[XR7]

if it aint broke, dont fix it.

I was just waiting for someone to say it.
It's the American way!

[Turbopilot]

XP for me and my company. We’re standardized, stable, and happy, and I see no need to rock the boat, especially considering Vista’s replacement is scheduled to come out late next year.

Dell still sells systems with XP preinstalled. I got myself a great laptop last month with it - under $1k out the door with all the bells and whistles.

[rom]

I switched to the Mac almost exactly 1 year ago now (wow, time flies!). After that wonderful experience I managed to convince our programming department at work to start switching to Macs. I think we’re about 50% (Mac Pros and Macbook Pros) Mac/PC ratio right now.

There isn’t a single thing the PC does better. Instead of spending time fighting the OS, we’re getting lots of stuff done.

Unfortunately I had to start working with Vista again. The reason is that the XBOX 360 development kit requires a Windows PC, and even though I could virtualize it, I wanted a DX10 platform to work on some Direct3D code on the PC.

I started to remember all of the little niggles that I hated on Windows. Vista takes about 2 minutes to reconnect to my wireless network after waking up from sleep, the UI is atrocious, and constantly in your face. The indexing service doesn’t seem to be 100% correct. And I can hear it index in the background.

I could go on and on about Vista. It’s a piece of garbage.

I am seriously thinking of downgrading to XP on this machine, but if I want to do DX10 programming I have to use Vista. Thanks a lot Microsoft.

I will never buy another Microsoft product again. After my 360 died with the Red Ring of Death (and was replaced by Microsoft) I haven’t touched it much since I got my Wii.

[brityank]

Microsoft has thus lost sight of who their customer is.

Not really. Mi¢ro$oft's customers are the Purchasing Managers of large corporations; the individual market may be larger, but it is fragmented. The PMs are a cohesive, easily identified and led group that spends millions at a stroke of the pen, not a couple of hundred for an individual that requires almost as much hand-holding as their large clients.

[XR7]

Funny. Isn't it?
I hear a lot of folks who never owned one saying "Macs suck" etc., but whenever someone actually goes out and buys one - they say they'll never switch. Heard of a lot of folks switching to a Mac, but not the other way around. Is it just me?

[dubie]

[XR7]

Dude looks pretty cold.

[CedarDave]

For your PING! list.

[ctdonath2]

You too have lost sight of who the customer really is.

[rlmorel]

Well Done!!!! Great web site!

Remember Arcade and Tempest?

[KEVLAR]

“Digital Rights Managment integration into Vista has doomed it”

A computer is there to do your bidding. Why would one pay for software that is doing another entities chores, eating up resources you paid for?

It’s like a built in virus.

[TruthSetsUFree]

I just recently got a HP laptop with the full intention of removing Vista and installing XP. But I decided to give Vista a chance first, and I’m glad I did. I’ve been very happy with it. But there are several things I’ve done to ensure that satisfactory experience:

1. I made sure I got a laptop with 2GB of RAM, which I’ve read is the key to Vista running at top notch.

2. I turned off “User Account Control” because the alerts were about to drive me crazy within 1/2 hour of turning on the computer.

3. I turned off the Windows sidebar, which you can’t see anyway when you have programs open. It was just a memory drain.

4. I downloaded and ran PC Decrapifier which removes all the the extra “crap” that companies install on new systems. You can get it here: http://www.pcdecrapifier.com/

5. I further downloaded any other programs that I don’t use, and won’t ever use.

6. I ran Windows updater until it had installed everything it wanted to.

My several year old HP printer works fine with Vista. I did have to download new drivers for my TV USB tuner, but that was painless.

The only gripe I have is the slow transfer of files to an external drive. I’m not sure what’s up with that but will dig into it further one of these days and hopefully find a solution. If anyone already has one, I’d be delighted to hear it.

[Womp Rat]

I wouldn’t be opposed to trying one. When I bought my laptop a couple months ago it was about $400. If there was a Mac in that price range, I’d be willing to give it a shot, but somehow I imagine all that will get me is an iPod or an iPhone.

Seriously though, if they actually had some affordable models, I could risk trying one out. I used to waste a lot of money on keeping up with the latest and greatest computers, but I now tend to buy on the lower end, as I know that things will be completely different in two or three years.

Are there any affordable Macs? Where is the best place to shop for them? Thanks.