Vista or XP?

[Knightmare]

I didn't know where to put this, because it could be posted in 3 forums that I know of. So I put it here. Please move if needed.

Our lab got a new Dell computer for the new autoclave monstrosity thingy. Our computer guru was away for vacation, so guess who got to set it up? Me.
Anyhoo, I noticed that I came with XP instead of Vista. And that got me to thinking; I've noticed that when Vista came out, most of the advertisements for computers showed them having Vista as the OS.

Now I'm seeing more ads touting XP as the OS. In big bold words. I was looking through a computer magazine yesterday, and about 60% of the ads were for computer systems with XP.

Is Vista really that bad?

[JustADude]

Is Vista really that bad?

It's not bad at all. It's got some major improvements on things that haven't changed since the days of Win95. It also has plenty of nifty little features you don't really appreciate until you've used it, as well as a big "OOOOooooooh, Preeeety" factor. People just don't want to touch it because it consumes as much more in the way of resources than XP as XP did over ME and 2000, and they haven't come out with new drivers for everything yet.

If you've got a robust system (~2.5GHz processor, a couple gigs of ram, and a good AGP graphics card) you'll be able to run Vista Ultimate with all the sparklies turned on with no problems. In fact, I've actually noticed that Full Screen games tend to run faster with Vista. I guess it has something to do with DirX-10 or something. If you turn the sparklies off, you shouldn't have problems even with a weak system, since the Aero interface is the main resource hog for the OS.

People just don't like the fact that the system is completely different, even though those differences fix a lot of the grips people have had for years, and that they can't run it full-tilt on El Cheapo systems built for XP.

[ditchdj]

I got Vista from a buddy and installed it on my computer from scratch and it's great. When I first tried it I had the beta version and it sucked up a lot of memory and a lot of programs I have wouldnt work. Now everything works and the ones that didnt I was able to install some driver updates that allow them to work on Vista. The regular Vista that I now have is more stable, doesnt suck up as much memory, and lets my computer run more smoothly. However, I made sure I upgraded my RAM from 512MB to 1.2 GB.

[lordlundar]

Is Vista really that bad?

Remember when XP came out, and only about 5% of computers could run it smoothly? Same situation here. Vista is such a system hog that there's a good chance it won't run. It's sad when the system requirements for an OS are higher than a graphics intensive game from 4 months ago.

As for it operational success, I see it as Windows ME all over again. Looks pretty, but behind the scenes, a fair amount of stuff just won't work.

If it's your first machine and you don't try anything stupid, I could see it as a viable choice. I wouldn't "upgrade" to it though.

[LostMyMind]

Our lab got a new Dell computer for the new autoclave monstrosity thingy. Our computer guru was away for vacation, so guess who got to set it up? Me.

I'm guessing the new computer is more of a server type computer than a simple desktop. Nobody is trusting Vista to be a server yet. Everyone is watching someone else to see if they'll do it and how badly it'll crash.

Vista is not bad, as long as you got the lastest everything. Anything that's 3 months old will give Vista full on crash (well, maybe not that bad).

Personally, I dislike any OS that requires more than 100k of memory to be an OS. Even 100k is too much. (I only say 100k because of the graphic/fonts the OS has to hold in memory). Vista takes 512+ meg, that is just insane. You can custom XP to take very little memory. You wouldn't believe how little memory use, you can drop Win9x down to.

[Pezzle]

I'm of the opposite opinion, as I think vista is bloody horrible. I hate how I feel... surrounded by digital feathers, like a baby.. everything is softened so I don't hurt myself. Love being able to turn the CANCEL/ALLOW bs off tho, that makes it 10x better. I love the fact that there's no administrator account and reformatting and putting XP on a retail vista machine is hell becuase of the lack of drivers made for them by the companies. I love how XP can't find a hard drive because vista is on there. WOO HOO FUN STUFF GAIS KEKE.

So basically having to do maintenance on vista machaines makes me hate it with every shred of my being. SP1 plz. Oh and the whole "Windows Explorer has stopped working" thing that sucks at life already and has a virus to exploit it, wooo more fun. I haven't figured out how to stop it short of nuking the system

[MadonnaC]

the only (MAJOR) problem I have with Vista is DRM

I purchased the hardware for my own use - why should someone decide that they feel that the features are incompatible with Copy protection, and TURN IT OFF!

Yes - You read that right, Vista can disable hardware. If I only run games, it doesn't matter - Someone has decided that my hardware can circumvent the copy protection on 22 Foot Amazon Woman vs. Killer Bees from Pluto, so they can disable it.

So Not Going to install vista - Perhaps I'll wait for '7', or perhaps I'll keep XP for games, and use Ubuntu for everything else

[MadMike]

I haven't really used Vista enough to really say I like it or hate it. However, from what my son and I saw when we played around with it on one of the display machines at Circuit Shitty, I didn't really see much of any kind of improvements. Certainly nothing that would compel me to run out and spend the money on it, along with whatever new hardware I'd need.

While I don't know much about the DRM that supposedly comes with it, the bits and pieces I've heard trouble me. I just ordered the parts for my media center and its corresponding server, and I ordered XP for those. I know what to expect with XP, and the rumors that are flying around are enough to make me reluctant to get Vista.

Yes, a lot of the same grumbling goes on every time a new version of Windows comes out. However, I think it might be a little more than that this time. The fact that some companies have decided to offer XP again, as well as Linux, says something. After all, nothing like this has ever happened before.

There might come a time when I reluctantly upgrade to Vista for whatever reason. However, another message board I frequent had a post about the next Windows already being in the works. The rumors are already flying that it's going to be even more of a hog, the DRM is going to be even worse, etc. But the one that troubles me most is that it could be subscription-based -- i.e., instead of paying for the OS once, you pay so much per month. If that's the case, I am so done. I've played around with Linux, but haven't made any kind of effort to switch over to it. But if Microsoft pulls something so incredibly stupid as that, I don't think I'll have much choice.

[Rapscallion]

I suspect half those rumours about the post-Vista windows are probably speculation at best. The problem is knowing which half.

The other problem is that they could give Microsoft ideas...

Rapscallion

[Kiwi]

I am not switching over to vista simply because it is new... I would rather wait until it has been out at least a year or two so all of the bugs and patches have been worked out. When other people have tested it and lost precious data and I know its relatively safe... then I will switch

until then my xp is suiting me just fine.

[technical.angel]

It's the lack of backwards compatibility that's driving me crazy. The "this won't work" or "this may or may not work, we really have no bloody clue" messages just drive me bonkers.

The rolodex style window chooser is cool. I do wish I could figure out how to change the color of the task bar though. The black is a little... depressing.

[MadRocketScientist]

post about the next Windows already being in the works.

I'm afraid Vista might be another Windows ME (eeryone remember Windows ME? no? Lucky you, I keep trying to forget.)

There needs to be a Vista Geek version where everything that makes Vista irritating can be stripped out or turned off. I've already started collecting registry hacks and whatnot so when I do upgrade to Vista someday, I can have a set of scripts ready to make all the changes I want rapid-fire.

[Mr. Rude]

As you may know the shop in which I work does custom builds. And to date since the release of Vista we have installed it......4 times

Not a single person, owner, tech or sales guy, runs it at home

Nuff' said

P.S. Probably because we all game

I need to update my sig.

[digilight]

I personally wouldn't do Vista, strictly for the fact that I run a fair amount of legacy equipment that would not have drivers available for Vista. My B/W high speed scanner is no longer made or supported for any OS after XP, the same thing with my robotic duplicator and my CD printers. I also have software that I have to use that is several years old and wouldn't be supported under vista.

This is where Microsoft screwed the pooch. I have friends who are in other printing related fields, 1's a screen printer, another owns a trade color printing shop here in town and a Large press outfit in the San Fernando Valley, and not a one uses vista at all.

Its due to the fact that we all run expensive software and hardware that we couldn't afford to replace just to run on a vista box.

[Gravekeeper]

A friend was asking the rest of us yesterday evening if he should upgrade to Vista "for cheap" because he could get a good deal on it through school or some such. I believe my exact response was:

"I could run to the store and pick up a razor and slit my scrotum open with it for cheap too. Doesn't mean its a good idea."

Yes, I have a way with words. ( A terrible, terrible way. ) -.-