IT Professionals

Willing To Look At Vista Again – After SP1 Goes Mainstream

Posted by on Sep 24, 2007 | 6 Comments

Please do not misunderstand, I have zero intention of leaving Ubuntu – I find it very reliable once you ‘defrag’ your brain from what you have been taught in the Windows world. But I work in a world of many operating systems, so this means it is worth it to boot into it with Windows (via Parallels) for work reasons on occasion.

I have been over this post a few times and I must admit, I agree that some great improvements have been made. Looks like a number of bug fixes have been implemented and this is just awesome for those of you who rely on Vista for your day to day tasks. Especially considering the shoddy wifi issues which have now been addressed it seems.

I will admit, I may be able to delete my image of XP finally and just use my image of Vista if these fixes work as promised. Just need to make sure my virtual machine option is the one I want to use. That or run a separate box altogether, which is certainly doable.

So what do you think? If you are holding off on Vista and remain with XP, will SP1 be enough to push you into an upgrade? Hit the comments, tell me about it.

[tags]Vista, XP, upgrade[/tags]

  • Allan Thompson

    Looking through the list of changes in Vista SP1, there seems to be nothing of real value here. The report that you linked doesn’t give much factual information. It reports that several actions appear to be quicker and more reliable – but there is no evidence to actually support this.
    My main issues with VISTA are incompatibility with existing hardware – like connecting Vista machines to existing networks which include printers, and the appalling User Access Control that is forever prompting ‘Are you sure you wish to continue ?’ type messages. There is nothing in the SP 1 description to deal with these issues and SP 1 seems to only promise ‘hidden improvements on performance and reliability’ – hidden that is from the user. The only change visible to the user is something to do with ‘Search’ on the menu bar – which I don’t use anyway.
    From the description of SP 1, I doubt that there is much in SP 1 to change many impressions of VIsta as a behemoth that tries to be too controlling..

  • Earl Taylor

    Quote: “I find it very reliable once you ‘defrag’ your brain from what you have been taught in the Windows world.” That world is what Ubuntu and others emulate. I fail to see what the hoopla of Ubuntu (I have it as a dual-boot on this computer to try out) is all about. If you like it fine, but its just like clothes or cars or houses; make your choice and go on without trying to push it off as the OS “must have” on the rest of the world. I grew up with DOS and to me using Ubuntu or others like it insted of Windows is egressing to an OS that just isn’t ready for mainstream “real world” in terms if usability for everday use or the average Joe or Sue user out there.

  • Michael

    For PC gamers, Vista may be required before long. As Microsoft comes out with games for Vista only, and pushes more developers toward the Vista OS, it will become a requirement, rather than an improvement.

    Michael

  • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/tomfarley Tom Farley

    I decided back with Windows NT that I would ALWAYS wait until an SP1 was released before an upgrade. I waited until SP2 to upgrade the office to Windows XP Pro.

    We just received a new laptop in the office that shipped with Vista. The Domain wouldn’t take no matter what I tried, so this laptop will become a dual boot with XP Pro until at least Vista SP1 comes out.

    I judge my upgrades on professional reviews like your and Chris Pirillo’s. I read a lot of the reviews and when it seems safe for 90% of the population, I upgrade.

    I have wanted to try MAC for a while. Our first barrier was our software. We rely heavily on AutoCAD which is a Windows based program. Now that the Parallels program is out there, that shouldn’t be a hurdle anymore. But the costs involved in switching the entire office over are a little beyond our means right now. My next personal purchase will be MAC.

  • bruce

    Personally I will only upgrade to Vista when it is required to run a game I want to buy and then it will be installed as a dual boot for use only when necessary.

    I have to agree with Allan Thompson above that there are just too many hardware issues involved for me to use Vista as my only OS and with Michael above in that I will consider Vista a “requirement” to play the games I want rather than an “improvement” over XP. I really don’t see any improvements over XP that justify spending the kind of money MS wants for Vista. In fact, I believe a lot of the so-called improvements are things you can find online for XP and many of them are free.

    The problem for me with Vista besides the hardware compatibility issues is that all the “selling points” are, for me, completely unnecessary. I have never liked the XP desktop, start menu, control panel, etc. I still use the classic mode as I prefer it. For me, it’s easier to use than trying to remember what icon I’m suppose to click. And, from what I’ve seen, I wouldn’t use Vista’s interface either if it could be avoided.

    The bottom line is that I see no need whatsoever to get Vista until it is necessary to run a game I want that requires it. I also have to admit that I will have to think long and hard as to whether the game is actually worth the investment. Requiring Vista will definitely cut into the amount of game dollars I spend.

  • barry

    Earl Taylor – you should come out of the Microsoft fog. Actually if Ubuntu is and others are emulating Windows, then why does the Power Shell have Unix like shell scripting features? Why would some Microsoft blogger put a comment that Power Shell includes an MOTD just like Unix. Why does the exchange 2007 make more extensive use of the power shell options then a GUI?

    And to say something like using Ubuntu is like egressing to an OS that isn’t ready for main stream show a very narrow view of the computer world. So it is not ready in terms of “usability for everday use or the average Joe or Sue user out there”, according to you. Computers should be getting smarter to use, not dumber to use like the new Vista