# Windows Vista Opinions



## nodakoutdoors.com (Feb 27, 2002)

I'm really looking for some Windows Vista opinions, those who have or are using it. It seems everything is selling Vista now, with no option for XP (all I buy is Sony Vaio's now anyways, so I'm not looking far.  )

My first Windows Vista experience wasn't pretty. Our company was doing a presentation in front of a large group of people who traveled across the globe. We had it connected to the projector, clicked on a iTunes file, and got the blue screen of death (go figure, a Mac file :lol: ). It wasn't retrievable and had to be wiped. The computer was only 3 weeks old.

I understand stuff happens, but I need reliability.

Also, is it tough to network with XP for those who have tried? I have a lot of XPs running here and I don't want to mix for incompatibility.

Maybe I should just buy a Mac and install a dual boot operating system using XP, then I wouldn't have to worry about all this. :lol:

Sorry for the ramble, I'm just looking for Windows Vista opinions.


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## bmxfire37 (Apr 26, 2007)

as far as vista... i hate it... xp is the best...vista will work, but you need maga ram, and plenty of prossesing space.... i spent $700 on my computer and it still wasent enough i got a whole gig of ram and dual 400 gig hard drives.... just to many errors....

i say give it another year or 2 untill the newer versions come out with no more bugs.... but thats just my experiance

vista would lock up on me, and just be dumb!


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## buckseye (Dec 8, 2003)

I like it better than XP but I've only had it for a month or so.


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## TANATA (Oct 31, 2003)

Vista hasn't been mastered yet. My uncle got it on his $2000 dell laptop and has nothing but incompatibility problems. I like to stay old school and XP seems to work fine for me.


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## Sparky477 (May 4, 2004)

My wife just bought a new Dell laptop with Vista, I haven't had any problems networking it with my other computers running XP or a network printer.

I personally am not real fond of it, it's just too hard to find things, maybe I'm just too used to XP.

My wife likes it though.

Haven't had any compatability problems with anything, and it seams stable enough. I'm not a real power user, but I haven't seen any real improvements over XP.....other than some flashy graphics and stuff.


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## wyogoose (Feb 11, 2006)

I hook up internet to computers everyday and I say that Vista sucks. I have had much better luck and heard much more good news on XP.


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## jtillman (Oct 31, 2005)

I bought my wife a Gateway desktop (yikes) last spring when MS made the jump to Vista. After reading the reviews and everything prior to the purchase, I knew I needed a computer that was heavy on processor & RAM. I don't remember what the final configuration was, but I essentially tripled the minimum requirements. When I bought it, all of the computers still had XP hardware running Vista software and was killing the performance (according to reviews)....this may have changed now, but I think the biggest problems right away were under-built computers....In all with a 21" flat screen cost us a hair over $1200 I think.

Verdict....couldn't be happier with it. We have had no problems whatsoever (except two which I'll detail below that are minor)....we don't run anything hardcore on it, we don't do any type of gaming, each of us have some programs running on it that are work related with no compatibility problems.

Problem #1. The user interface with the new office products. Much different interface than XP and older that made things 'harder'.....but in fact was much easier if you don't think so hard...it's difficult to explain, the menus are so different you need forget everything you learned (menu related) of XP, 2000, NT, 98, etc....and perhaps think like a Mac user???

Problem #2. When saving Office files, if you plan on sending them out to others that don't have Vista, make sure you save them as XP compatible (from the Save As menu).


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## h2ofwlr (Feb 6, 2004)

Everything that I have read from IT guys trying Vista since it came out is this: *RUN way from it a fast as you can*. A PIECE of junk. Maybe in another 6 months to a year they'll get it right, but AI have read nothing but negative from the IT guys. So us regular Joes do not stand a chance in dealing with all the quirks it has.


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## nodakoutdoors.com (Feb 27, 2002)

Well this is about what I've heard too. It's kind of a pain to buy a new laptop with Vista and then have to wipe it and load XP and then do all the service pack updates, etc. etc. etc.

If you look at new laptops, a lot of the ratings are low because most of the cons have been aimed at the OS.

Anyone do any networking with Macs and PCs? It may be time to look more at a Mac.


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## Booster (Sep 8, 2003)

Chris, you can't go MAC...that is just wrong. They are just wrong! vista is and will become a lot like windows ME. It will be out for awhile and then poof, it will be gone. If you remember, Microsoft has a deadline for when they have to come out with a new OS. This is just a deadline requirement that Microsoft came up with to fulfill their obligation. Trust me, stay with XP and they will come up with a solution with vista. It will either be "vista, bigger and better then before, or some other OS."

just my 2cents.

booster


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## R y a n (Apr 4, 2005)

Booster said:


> vista is and will become a lot like windows ME. It will be out for awhile and then poof, it will be gone. If you remember, Microsoft has a deadline for when they have to come out with a new OS. This is just a deadline requirement that Microsoft came up with to fulfill their obligation.


This is not true. They have no hard deadline to fulfill an obligation.

Vista was released before it's time in certain ways. With any new operating system, there is going to be an initial user trial and acceptence period, whereby earlier adopter (read: techy geeks) install the code to be on the latest and greatest. They tend to discover a majority of the bugs/issues early after release. Given the staggering number of environmental (different brands of computers, bios's, hardward brands for peripherals, software versions ) combinations that exist in the world, there are bound to be issues. That being said Vista is amazingly stable. I've not had an issue with mine once I got the proper updated drivers installed. NOTE: Since it's release there have been hundreds of drivers released that fix 90% of all known issues.

As others have noted here also, it is CPU & RAM dependent. If you are going with a brand new system, I'd suggest you give Vista a shot provided you are going with top of the line options across the board. This means you are buying the latest components at the time of purchase and not skimping on lesser options to save $$$

If you buy a laptop that has dual 1.8Ghz or better processors, and you buy a laptop with a minimum of 3GB (4GB preferred) for RAM you should be fine. This is becoming standard with new systems now, so isn't a huge leap.

I'm currently running *this* system. I have never been happier with any computer in my entire life. (I've owned several dozen overall and 5 different ones in the past few years). It is a IMB Lenovo x61 Tablet Thinkpad running 64bit Vista Enterprise on a dual 2.0 Ghz processors with 4GB RAM. I made the decision to run 64 bit everything, and thus have had to spend a bit of time tracking down 64bit drivers for various things. I could have stayed with 32 bit everything, but this system was designed to take advantage of the benefits of using cutting edge stuff.
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/...000165:&smid=329576204C9E42289967E79E0E7C9A2D

As others have mentioned, there is nothing wrong with Windows XP. It has come to be regarded as a solid operating system now that we've had a few years/service packs to get all the issues worked out. The same thing can and will be said about Vista 2 years from now after we've had a Service pack and the general public has upgraded to a new model computer. Much of the bad press has been people trying to put race car fuel (Vista) into their 1980 Station wagon (Old 900 Mhz 512 MB RAM PII machine)... Of course you will encounter issues if you try and step on the pedal without tuning up the engine. 

Overall the OS is kickass. However just like all new OS's there will be a period initial time for a Service Pack to be created. If you are at all hesitant, I'd suggest to wait until the first Service Pack is released. That should be coming out early in 2008.

Good luck.... Let me know if I can get you any more info..

Ryan


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## Booster (Sep 8, 2003)

with every OS there will be opions that are both bias and grand, just like one man's junk is another man's treasure, you say potatoe I say...well you got the picture.

have a good day!


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## drjongy (Oct 13, 2003)

I just bought a new Dell laptop a couple weeks ago and was still able to get XP installed.


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## bmxfire37 (Apr 26, 2007)

just buy a computer and get the xp package pre loaded


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## bmxfire37 (Apr 26, 2007)

mac....you know....the apple... the one that goes sour


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## walker (Sep 27, 2007)

Chris Hustad said:


> Anyone do any networking with Macs and PCs? It may be time to look more at a Mac.


Linux; mature, free, and very powerful.



R y a n said:


> As others have mentioned, there is nothing wrong with Windows XP. It has come to be regarded as a solid operating system now that we've had a few years/service packs to get all the issues worked out. The same thing can and will be said about Vista 2 years from now after we've had a Service pack and the general public has upgraded to a new model computer.


Very, very true. I have full intentions on moving to Vista soon. I just hate spending the bucks.


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## bmxfire37 (Apr 26, 2007)

spending the bucks? xp is free.... is this what im understanding?


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## walker (Sep 27, 2007)

bmxfire37 said:


> spending the bucks? xp is free.... is this what im understanding?


I meant for Vista. I never heard of XP being free, though.


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## bmxfire37 (Apr 26, 2007)

it is.. i mean well if it came with your computer u get the dsik free all the SP updates are free through microsoft.com.... ive had it for 8 years now...not paid a time


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## Bobm (Aug 26, 2003)

this thread reminds me of "press 2 for english"


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## itchy (Aug 15, 2006)

Got Vista in June for my new laptop. We are networked. I am the only Vista on the network. No compatility issues. IMO, people experiencing problems did not have large enough RAM or hard drive. If you do, the MF'r really flies. Once the new service pack for Vista comes out, most issues should be taken care of. I do have to say when I first got it I had to laugh at MAC's ad with the matrix guy saying "allow" to every question, they did their research well, but with a little tweaking, that went away. Also, when loading Vista you want the 32 bit, not 64 bit option when first starting up. Once you pick one your done and a lot of the compatibility issues arise when using the 64 bit.


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## curty (Sep 18, 2003)

Bobm said:


> this thread reminds me of "press 2 for english"


 :rollin:


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## walker (Sep 27, 2007)

Bobm said:


> this thread reminds me of "press 2 for english"


Why?


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## R y a n (Apr 4, 2005)

itchy said:


> Also, when loading Vista you want the 32 bit, not 64 bit option when first starting up. Once you pick one your done and a lot of the compatibility issues arise when using the 64 bit.


This is not a true blanket statement either. It depends on what your needs are. Using a 64 bit system is about actually doubling the amount of data a CPU can process per clock cycle. Servers and high-end workstation have been reaping the technology's benefits for years. There are now more and more desktop/laptops that have the ability to benefit from the tremendous gains of 64 bit technology.

It's true a 64-bit desktop computer won't make your word processing program run faster (sorry, you're the bottleneck in that equation). But a 64-bit chip has the power to dramatically improve the performance of your more demanding applications, such as audio and video encoding, complex engineering programs like CAD, and--of course--games.


*<begin geek speak>*
(Background for the geeky ones on the forum)
The "Bit" types are simply the amount of data a chip can process at once. There is a fundamental difference between today's 32-bit desktop processors--like Intel's Pentium 4, AMD's Athlon XP, and Apple's Motorola-made G4--and future 64-bit desktop CPUs. The 64-bit CPUs can handle more memory and larger files. "_The advantage of 64 bits is it gives you a larger address space, which means it lets you address more memory," _

Today's 32-bit Intel and AMD chips can address up to 4GB of memory (an Apple G4 unit can address 2GB). In Windows-based machines, that 4GB is split between the operating system and the applications. *That means the most memory any given application can access is 2GB.*

A 64-bit processor will improve both the encoding and decoding of video, too... Better still, when you view a video file on a 64-bit desktop, you'll see a very noticeable difference in speed, resulting in more frames per second and a more film-like playback.

I know I certainly have seen and benefited from all these things!!
*</end geek speak>*

I realize 64 bit isn't for everyone. There are numerous challenges whenever you work with cutting edge technology, and driver compatibility is something you have to constantly be aware of... however I'm kinda sorta techy I've been told, so I see it as something of a fun challenge 

Here is a good place to start researching when deciding to go with 64 bit over 32...

http://www.microsoft.com/servers/64bit/overview.mspx

Enjoy!



Ryan


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## itchy (Aug 15, 2006)

From my research prior to installing Vista:
Think how many times you have ignored that warning that a certain hardware driver is not properly signed. With vista x64, if your driver has not been blessed by Microsoft, it will not work. Forget about it. Trying to get around this by booting with the F8 option Disable Driver Signature doesn't make a difference.

However, the lack of 64-bit drivers for many hardware devices typically leaves users without any chance of burning DVDs or listening to audio. Networking devices and card readers were frequently not supported as well. Vista x64 is pretty but it's not very fun without network access or audio.

Vista x64 is the turning point for operating systems as they transition to 64-bit. Currently, however, the majority of users will be very disappointed by installing Vista x64. The lack of 64-bit drivers for most current hardware will be very disappointing and frustrating to most users. Why push for 64-bit now anyway? The performance gains promised by 64-bit will not be seen for years until 64-bit compiled versions of software is the norm.

Ryan, no offense, but going to Microsoft will not get you a bias free opinion.


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