Windows Vista Strikes Again…
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And I don’t mean that in a good way. I am so very fortunate that I have choices and that I’m not stuck with it as my primary OS. My philosophy on operating systems can be summed up in this statement: “an OS should enable you to do your work, go about your business, and just stay out of your way.” Windows Vista, in my admittedly biased viewpoint, does just the opposite. It keeps jumping in front of you; throwing up obstacles to getting your work done. My XP box just keeps plugging along — everything, and I do mean everything, I throw at it, it seems happy to tackle with a minimum of fuss.
What prompted me to write this post were several recent experiences I had with clients that had Windows Vista PCs.
- Client #1: Just got herself a BlackBerry and wanted to sync it with her Microsoft Outlook. Not so fast, BlackBerry Desktop Manager has a bunch of issues with Vista. Granted, you can download the latest version of the BB Desktop Manager software from the support site, but there will still be some lingering issues even once you get it synching.
- Client #2: I was trying to remotely install and configure Outlook 2007 for one of my clients that I have set up with Hosted MS Exchange. I use Fog Creek’s Copilot remote control system for this, and Vista’s User Access Control kept preventing me from doing what I needed to do. Perhaps somebody from Microsoft would look at this and declare this is what Vista was designed to do — this is a core security feature. Core security feature or not, it prevented me from doing what I needed to do, and now I’ll have to go do it in person.
- Client #3: This one I felt particularly bad for. She had just splurged on a shiny new HP Pavilion dv6451us laptop that had Windows Vista Ultimate. I think that the “Ultimate” part stands for Ultimate Pain in the Ass. I was instantly reminded of that TV spot from Apple with John Hodgman (aka “I’m a PC”), poking fun at Vista with the guy in the dark suit and sunglasses doing the “allow or deny” bit for every single action he took. It seemed like everything I did would result in a dialog box questioning my actions. I know all about the security concept of “Least Privileges.” But come on… how annoying can an operating system get before you feel like getting out the circular saw? I got the impression that Microsoft was merely overcompensating for all the security shortcomings of previous versions of Windows, and the end user was left with the short straw. The other issue with this client was that he had purchased some very expensive digital embroidery software that was simply not compatible with Vista. For those unfamiliar with this type of software, you create all sorts of elaborate embroidery designs that can be written to a special type of memory card, which then gets placed into a special sewing machine that then stitches the design directly into your material. Think of it as CAD/CAM for sewing machines. I think the software cost around $500. It utilizes a special USB dongle (HASP) that acts as a copy protection mechanism. And this is where Vista reared its ugly head — when the software ran, it failed to communicate with the USB Dongle. Personally, the client should have done more research, but she was actually aware of the potential issues, and she simply couldn’t find any place to buy a brand new laptop with Windows XP (not without significant hassle and expense). This client lives in the same household as her daughter and son-in-law, so I am considering suggesting that she swap her new laptop with her son-in-law’s Windows XP laptop. My other impression was that Vista was S.L.O.W. I mean, this was a pretty beefed up laptop, and booting up and logging in was a horribly slow process.
I will be the first to admit I am probably not the best judge of Windows Vista. I personally have limited exposure to it… but from what I’ve seen, I am in no hurry to make my main workstation a Vista box any time soon. My livelihood depends on my PC’s productivity. The more an OS gets in the way, the less productive I am.
I played with various pre-release versions, but purely on a tinker basis. Now that I have clients with Windows Vista, any pain they feel becomes my own pain, and let’s just say we could all use some Vicodin. Perhaps when Vista SP1 is released, the pain levels will drop.
[tags]vista problems, windows vista, vista sp1[/tags]
12 Comments
Mike Nelson
August 21st, 2007
at 1:20am
$500? That is cheap, we paid almost a grand for my wife’s program. Since she works for an embroidery place, and they upgraded she could pick up the old version for 2 grand. She tells me that the program will wash my truck and rotate the tires in one step (she has to give examples that I understand). I can’t financally swing it right now, so if anyone has 2 grand just laying around collecting dust, I would be glad to put it to good use, rofl!
Randy Knauf
August 21st, 2007
at 6:13am
Matt, I agree that an operating system should be the foundation of a working enviroment and not be a hinderance to productivity. In my own case, Vista came out in January and couldn’t communicate with MS SQL which is the database that we use for our business. How could Microsoft role out a new OS that wouldn’t work with it’s own database software? The answer comes to me with a review of computing history. Throughout the history of commercial software development the push ahs been to develope new versions for the sake of sales not productivity. How many true changes has Adobe really added to the last two or three versions of Photoshop? This being said, I remember when XP came out and all of the problems it presented, especially the security issues. As a result, I can sympathise with MS for their over reaction with Vista and building in over protection. How much bad press did MS take for the security issues? How much did it cost them in tech support calls for issues that resulted from sloppy computer practices, not bad software? I’m not saying that Vista is a good thing, it is a new thing. Like all new things, the bugs need to be worked out. As for your HP Pavilion client, she could have easily bought a Dell with XP installed, but she probably saw that shiney new HP at a Best Buy and just had to have it now. As a result she has a $500 software package for a door stop or she goes out and buys a copy of XP. Once again sloppy computer practice from the end user, not the OS.
Eric
August 21st, 2007
at 1:17pm
It amazes me how people have spent 9 months attacking Windows Vista like it’s the anti-christ of operating systems or something. The reason that Windows XP just keep chugging along with all of everyone’s things is that it’s already been through SIX YEARS of updates, patches, annoyances, and more. We now have less than three years before Vista will be replaced by Windows 7 (due in 2010). Then we’ll go through the exact same trash talking blogs about Windows 7 instead of Vista. I’ve migrated all of my office computers to Vista Ultimate with minimal issues for a brand new OS.
As far as Vista’s boot time, it’s extremely hardware intensive, and every Vista computer that I’ve worked on with “speed and performance” issues was due to the crapware that computer manufacturers load their machines up with. Install a fresh copy of Vista Ultimate on any machine, and it’s generally fairly quick, assuming it’s got the hardware balls to run Vista in the first place.
Matt Wilkinson
August 22nd, 2007
at 10:25am
I have taken to heart the comments about all the Vista bashing going on (my contribution above included). And I agree with those who have reminded us all of the similar complaints we all had when Windows XP first came out.
I am not Vista Bashing for the sake of Vista Bashing. I am pointing out what I consider to be a crappy situation… that despite being officially on the market for six months, that comapnies like Palm and BlackBerry are just recently getting Vista compatible versions of software and/or drivers out there. Is this any different than when XP came out? Maybe not. I know that Microsoft cannot (and should not) be criticized for when other hardware and software makers drag their feet in having new versions at the ready when a major new OS is released. But that doesn’t make the situation any less crappy.
Is the whole system broken?
Dingo
August 23rd, 2007
at 3:51am
It’s not actually broken, just a bit creaky in my experience.
Yes, my main machines are XP and will stay that way for quite some time but…
A test system runs Vista Ultimate and does so very well.
The down side is that that box is very much bleeding edge itself.
MSI dual processor AMD64 mainboard (due out 4th quarter 2007)
Dual AMD64’s (I don’t even know their specs - it’s been removed from the casing)
4GB RAM, 1GB graphics card, add-in USB card because the mainboard ones are not supported in Vista yet, SCSI3 Fast ‘n’ Wide.
So, if you have the right access or can throw lots of money at the box then yes Vista will work well.
A pity about the rest of us mere mortals, I guess we’ll just have to stick to XP
Dingo
August 23rd, 2007
at 4:09am
Decided this really should be a seperate comment.
If you are running Vista, even if it is Ultimate, be prepared for a very enlightening and entertaining experience once you get some of the latest 3G phones near a Vista box.
The security in Vista (even Ultimate) just isn’t up to the job of dealing with a phone that can automatically synchronise with Windows AND then provide a fast broadband connection to the world.
Who needs an ISP ? These things don’t !!
My own phone is 3G with Symbian OS, won’t work in USA but does in Europe and Australia. It must have thought the Vista box was a happy playgriound considering how badly it trashed the security and access control.
kiko
August 23rd, 2007
at 4:55pm
I suppose it’s entertaining for you to complain that Vista can’t handle a PROGRAM that was worth $500…( and $500 for a program means that the developers have the target audience by the short and curlies so they should be on their knees doing whatever to make more sales..)..damn Bill Gates for not writing those drivers into the Vista OS!!!…perhaps try it on a Mac that EVERYONE loves to say just works….what? you say it doesn’t support Mac OSX…DAMN Steve Jobs for not writing that driver into Max OSX !…has it ever occured to you that it could possibly be the obligation of the SOFTWARE DEVELOPER to write a driver to work with an OS? - perhaps they should try some OLD technology - like the telephone - where they call MS or MAC and say - ” I want to write a program that will work with your OS - what do I need to know?” - I believe they both offer SDK’s….it’s like “you know I took a driver’s test and failed - DAMN General Motors for not making the car like I like to drive….”
kiko
August 23rd, 2007
at 5:34pm
anyway I have noticed ( like they got the word from on high) that the whole lockergnome channel is presently devoting itself to Vista bashing - is it because Chris can’t get his PC to work right? - hmmnnn…what could it all mean? - in the blogospherian sense…?
GiM
August 23rd, 2007
at 7:43pm
Men, everybody must understand that in the last 4 years Micro$oft is intrested firstly in money… Windows XP was 2 versions, Vista is 4, and I believe that next Windows will have 8 versions: Red for Madam, Pink for Missis, Black for Mister, Blue for… Any time they could had a FIRST product VISTA (only a version, last cry - for business and power users) and a SECOND product - like XP (also only a version, but a cheap one). But no, they did their best to have the crap equally distributed between the rich and the poor. Sh…
After all, except the support for BlueRay and HD DVD devices, and some more transparency effects, which is the real difference between XP and Vista? Can somebody told me?
Do you know that many software (designed only for a workstation install) does work very well on 95(!), 98(!), 2k, XP Pro, work with problems on ME and never on XP Home? Why? They sliced it just to be different from the Pro version (network conectivity - they said), but by error they cut it too much.
Why Vista lack drivers? Because Vista need ONLY certified versions to be able to control the DRM propagation between devices. Do not allow you to copy a Blue ray DVD or a HD DVD to a disk, or maybe to another DVD… This is the second reason of the Vista versus XP. As I know, a 720p DVD is a better quality than a 1080p HD DVD, since the last one is croped at NTSC level and transfered between devices to a lower quality to prevent the possibility of interception from the source to display. Eventualy before display it is enhanced again to 1080p. Do you belive it re-gain its initial quality? I do not!
GiM
August 23rd, 2007
at 8:07pm
News Flash - I just find out:
Micro$oft changes of policies: If you have Vista Business or Ultimate, you can downgrade to XP Pro (ofcouse, your diligencies), but if you have Vista Basic or Home, you are not alowed to downgrade to XP Home (I guess M$ realize at last that XP Home is not a quality product!)
The rich for the rich…
Magnus
September 19th, 2007
at 2:08am
Hi!
I’ve experienced the same problems with Vista not being able to communicate with a HASP. This only happens when using remote desktop to the machine on which Vista is running. It’s worth noting that this works PERFECTLY on XP. Damn you kiko for taking sides with the commercial warlords ;)
GiM
October 20th, 2007
at 8:06pm
kiko, you a RIGHT and you are WRONG.
Right, yes a developper can write a driver for Vista, but Wrong, since in Vista any “intelectual rights” are not permited to be writed on any memory support. At least, not as identical COPY!. DRM will not allow to have a “perfect” “copy” of the “original” “information”. This is the core of the Vista and DRM! Micro$oft will never accept to “signs” this kind of drivers and let you to be able to install them on a Vista machine. DOT!
What is happens, is something like this:
You download a “picture” from your photo camera, let say a BMP type, or even you create it with the… Adobe Photoshop. Now you will see it on monitor and try to save/copy to a SD card. Vista will make a… JPG file, not to compress, but to protect the author rights and the “real” original information, transfer between devices, then recreate the “original” image as a BMP type, but not identical, just with a little “definition” down, some lose of information. On your monitor it should look OK, but the sewing machine cannot be fooled like your eyes, and will crash since it is a digital machine and will never accept if the “codes” are not the proper ones… This is happening when apply DRM to an intelectual work, and it is exctly how it should work! YES, IT SHOULD WORK! (Well. on a Vista machine…) This is why Chris’ all-in-one scanner/printer driver does not work, since he could make “perfect” copies using a Vista machine, and so it is possible to break the DRM, since Vista do not know that he is the author and he want to copy his work, or just try to steal it from other author! At Hollywood they will never use a Vista machine to copy/print DVDs, BlueRays…
This is why Micro$oft agree to downgrade from Vista Business to XP Pro, they do not want to kill all the business in the world… All they want to kill… is pirating a digital information, since from the first computer and operating system, the COPY command was implemented.
The error is when Hollywood started to use digital support for his “intelectual property”, and descovered that it is imposible to stop copying it. They are trying now on our souls, but the problem is false since always computers will find a way to copy any information. By the way, they use some to burn the DVDs… But if you try to copy a software in Vista, it will create an nice “image” if the software is associated with DRM. Nice!
My advice: buy a machine which work with what you know and what you need. The problem is that on the market you will not find a new machine, IBM PC like, with XP. Just what is now in stocks of few commerçants, and they will charge for…
Why Micro$oft Office 2003 does not wotk on Vista? Ask Micro$oft!
My last opinion: The Micro$oft named wrong Windows Vista. It is no longer Windows. It could be “FRAME” Vista, but Micro$oft will lose a big lot of money if people found out the new os is not… Windows… They are trying…