Everyones waiting on a good crack for it.
$300 + for an OS is too much especially in a multi computer house when there is no need to upgrade from XP. Everything works in XP, to go to vista you need to upgrade HW and SW.

I tried loading Vista on a Dell D600 hoping it would at least work. Unfortunately I had wireless issues with it cutting in and out. After realizing I would also need a new version of SAV I just gave up. Back to XP which runs perfectly fine on this “older” system.

I gave up on Vista earlier this year. I’ll wait for that day probably when there is a big feature I would like or that time where I MUST upgrade.

Hi Gavin,
Thanks for sharing your experience with us. And I appreciate you taking the ime to comment.
Regards, Ron

Loaded Vista on my Dell 6000D about a month ago (Upgrade install). Other than a few initial driver updates, smooth sailing including Aero functionality. I did upgrade memory to 1 gig. Wireless connected first attempt.

I had been using my older Windows XP machine for 5 years and finally decided it was time for a new one. I ordered it online with Windows Vista.

I was skeptical at first because of all the bad press I had read. I’m an IT systems engineer for the number one gaming & hospitality corporation in America, so I know my stuff about technology.

All I can say is that I have not had one single problem with Windows Vista. The Aero interface is lovely and so are most of the added graphic elements. The software I run varies from graphical to audio tools and are quite intensive in nature.

Microsoft has really done a good job on making this OS very user friendly. Simple things built into the OS such as automatic sliding horizontal scroll bars really make my work more productive.

I would never go back to the older Windows XP.

I originally put Vista on by itself and found a few programs it didn’t like so now I have it dual booted with XP so if a prog doesn’t work on one OS it will on the other. Most things like dvd writing and graphics progs definitely work better in Vista.

If it were a cheap upgrade I’d probably go for it, but XP works just great for me and I see no reason to upgrade for $$, especially if I need new HW.

Hello Tom and Greg,
It is good to hear that Vista is working well for you both. It seems that some people are actually enjoying using Vista. Thanks to you both for your comments.

Hi Susan,
Like you I am also dual booting for now. Thanks for sharing your experience with us.

Hi Dale,
I think that there are many like yourself who feel XP still works great. The high HW requirements are keeping some from taking the plunge. Thanks for your comments as well.

Thanks once again to all of you for your comments. It is appreciated. Ron

Microsoft hasn’t given me any real reason to upgrade. I’ve always been an early adopter on OS upgrades, but this time I just don’t see the need. I haven’t heard of any real benefit and I’m tried of chasing peripheral makers around for new drivers.

There’s also a cost issue. We have 4 computers in our home. It’s way too expensive to upgrade them all. It gets really bad when you then upgrade Office as well.

BTW, what was Microsoft thinking when they put Powerpoint in the Home & Student version and took out Outlook?

If Microsoft wants to regain momentum they need to look at how they address the multiple ocmputer home.

I’ve installed Vista on my 3+ year old Dell Inspiron 8600, and it runs great, Aero included. Not a speed demon by any means, but it runs. I made sure to download Vista driver updates before installing (upgrade style) on this system.

Also have Vista running with no problems two 8-month old Dell XPS 400 desktops; 1 of these an upgrade install over XP Media Center, and the other a clean install. Again, no problems - but I ensured driver compatibility before making the switch. The only hardware I’ve had trouble with is a 2+ year old Dell 962 AIO printer, no driver for it yet.

My fellow IT cohorts think I’m crazy, but I really like Vista.. enough that I spec’d it for a Thinkpad I ordered last week.

Not a necessary upgrade for everyone, but I really like its file management and UI enhancements. Everyone’s mileage… will vary!

I have two MCE 2005 computers and three Linksys Media Center Extenders for a very nice network PVR system. It is my understanding Vista does not work with MCX’s. I would not see changing my PCs that support these linksys extenders. I paid too much for the extenders and they are silent. Not like those xbox 360 howlers.

I will probably get Vista with my next laptop but I am nervous about getting my wife a new laptop and having to support her learning Vista when she’s got two kids to worry about and has about 10 minutes a day for email and Microsoft Greetings Workshop card maker app.

Hello Brian,
Thanks for sharing your experience with us. It seems that Vista is working out well for you. Great comments. Thanks again, Ron

Hi Ken S,
Good point. Home users with multiple computers have been forgotten by MS. I don’t believe that realize how many families are using more than one system in the home.

Thanks for your comments as well, Ron

Hello MCX fan,
I understand your situation. It would be quite expensive to upgrade in your position. As far as a learning curve goes, Vista is different, but for a computer savvy user it is minimal.
Thanks for the response, Ron

I am waiting on hardware,software,and patches for vista. Then I will consider it.

Hi Warren,
I’m still waiting for a sound driver as well.
Thanks for your comment, Ron

Loaded Vista on my Main PC on a separate HD. To slow. I echo the multi-home users PC households, to expensive. I’m hatching my bets and seriously moving to Linux just in case, the millionaires at Microsoft think there prices are just right. So at home 6 PC’s will stay with XP, The home Server will go to Linux as does one desktop and the iMac has parallels with XP. What bugs me the most about Vista is the DRM and in the final analyses it is a show stopper for me.

Hi Albert,
DRM does have a lot of folks upset. If you wish to try a easy to learn Linux distro may I recommend Ubuntu or Kubuntu 7.04 which has just been released. Its a Live CD so there is no need to install it.
Ron

I maintain around 50 remote, unmanned machines installed with XP and have started to experiment with the move to Vista. I have learned that

- Moving from NT 4 to 2000 slowed down a computer by about 10-15% but resulted in way better stability.
- Moving from 2000 to XP resulted in no noticeable slowdown but gave decent stability and easier usability.
- Moving from XP to Vista slows down the machine by 25-50% (depending on whether you run Aero).
- Vista is no easier to use than XP. In fact it’s a little more difficult.
- Vista is more difficult than any of the preceding OSs to set up for unattended server-type use.
- Apache http server (both 2.0.x and 2.2.x) works more reliably with Vista than XP or 2000.
- Many video cards certified to work with Vista have beta drivers that don’t (I tried 3 separate - 2 from NVidia, one from ATI).
- Vista “this device isn’t functioning” wizard is just as useless as XP’s.

Most importantly, I learned that the fastest, most reliable hardware you might buy will run faster and more reliably on Windows XP and will suffer a considerable performance hit under Vista.

“As far as a learning curve goes, Vista is different, but for a computer savvy user it is minimal.”

My thoughts exactly Ron, my wife is not computer savvy. She just wants to use her computer to do what she needs to do. That is why I am not looking forward to the Vista upgrade for her.

I have had Vista Business installed on a Dell Latitude 120L since it was released publicly (first adopter and living on the bleeding edge of technology). As far as it working, it does..and pretty well, if I might add. Microsoft released their version of Flash player in Vista and it doesn’t work about 75% of the time. I have tried to install the “real” Flash player, but it seems MS has blocked that from happening. So therefore, I have installed VPC 2007 and installed XP Pro so in case I have to do something that Vista won’t do. Vista reminds me a lot of OS X in that it will work about 90% of the time everything Internet but there there a couple of things that it won’t do that requires booting VPC and using XP pro. Not bad really, but also, very far from great. But it works. Most of the time.

Hello Brian,
Thanks for the insight on your experience with Vista vs other Window systems. I found your assessment interesting. Thanks for sharing this with us.

MCX fan,
I understand.

Hi Dale,
When I hear terms like ‘pretty well”, “it doesn’t work 75% of the time”, “will work about 90% of the time”, “not bad really, but also, very far from great” and “But it works. Most of the time” it appears that your experience has been less than stellar.

Thanks again, Ron

Dale, you might want to try running Firefox as your web browser if IE7 is giving you issues with flash and such. Firefox has it’s own plugins, and uses genuine Macromedia/Adobe flash, instead of MS’s oddball version.

I’ve been using Vista for about a month now, and I’ve gotta say it’s been pretty good to me, I have yet to order my 64bit disk, but I’m hoping there won’t be any problems once I get going on that.

Hi Cysec,
Good suggestions. And for those who want Firefox to look like IE 7, there is a Theme called myfirefox available as well.
Ron

I bought Vista Ultimate with a new Dell 690 workstation with dual quad processor and 4 gigs of RAM. Everything, and I mean everything is working exactly as it is supposed to work, and I was able to start using it in my web design business three days after receiving it. My main software dependencies are Photoshop, CuteFTP, and several HTML code editors and all have worked fine. The only change I had to make was replace an aging HP scanner which the Vista evaluation program had told me before buying Vista. I think this system will surpass XP in stability and security when it has had a chance to integrate into the market place and get SPs to make people think “It must be fixed now.” In fact - “it ain’t broke!”

Hello Carl,
Well with a system like that, Vista should fly. Glad to hear it is working well for you. This is exactly why I posted this article. To get some real world answers on how well Vista is doing out in the wild.

Thanks so much for taking the time to post your comments. Ron

One thing I’m having a hard time understanding is all these people that seem to think they either have to upgrade ALL of their home computers to Vista all at once, or else never upgrade any of their computers at all.

It seems that people who believe this also believe the only way to buy Vista is to pay full list price for the full-install Ultimate version, as if they never heard of shopping for discount prices on the Internet and they can’t settle for an Upgrade to a lesser version (Home Premium, Business, etc.) as opposed to a full version of Vista Ultimate.

For example, Gavin said “$300 + for an OS is too much especially in a multi computer house” Yet, right here in my Best Buy ad, I see Vista Home Premium Upgrade on sale for $20 off: $139.99.

I suppose even a measly $139.99 is more than some people can afford, but it’s still less than half of the “$300+” number that people are always throwing around when they’re making excuses for not upgrading to Vista.

On my home network, I have two computers running Vista pretty much full time - both have dual boot capability, so we can go back to XP if needed, but rarely do (because Vista works great!). I have three other computers running XP and one computer still runs W2K, with a dual boot option for Windows 98! I also have a server running W2K3 SBS. Running 98 is somewhat troublesome in this environment, but running a combination of Vista, XP and W2K generally works pretty well. There is nothing mandating that I upgrade/replace these older computers to make everything run Vista.

If someone doesn’t want to use Vista, that’s their choice. I just don’t understand why they have to make these lame excuses for not upgrading, instead of just saying “I don’t want to do it.”

Rick

http://www.Hogans-Systems.com

Hello Rick,
Thanks for your comments and observations. People with grade school thru college students, can also qualify for academic software. Home Premium Upgrade is only $69.95.

http://www.academicsuperstore.com/market/marketdisp.html?PartNo=784207

“If you’re a Student or Parent of a Student currently attending classes from Kindergarten through College, you can buy most products at a special academic discounts! The Student is the eligible customer and orders may be billed, shipped, and charged in the Parent’s name.”

Ron,

Wow! $69.95 - that’s a bargain! Makes it even harder to justify the “$300+” per computer argument, at least for people who can qualify for the academic version!

Rick

http://www.Hogans-Systems.com

Hi Rick,
Heck at these prices it would make it worth wild to go out and adopt a kid!

Ron

I built a new machine and put Vista Ultimate on. Since an old PDA was not supported, I created “VirtualBox” and put XP Pro in the box. I Use Pinnacle Studio 10 in Vista but use Studio 9 for one feature that was dumbed-down in 10. Studio 9 went into the Box. I am very pleased with the new operating system after a few days of tweaking - glad I made the move.

Hello Betty,
I am glad to hear that Vista is working well for you. It seems my post has generated a lot of positive feedback. Thanks for your comments.
Ron

Good discussion and valuable feedback, however all the positive Vista experiences lack comments with compelling arguments for buying it. If Vista’s so much bigger, more horsepower hungry and more expensive than XP, is there anything at all that makes it worth buying?

Hi Goldfinger,
Basically there are none. One could argue that Vista may be more secure, but UAC is kind of a joke and more of a annoyance than a help. You also forgot to mention the cost for some who have to upgrade their software as well. The only thing anyone can say about Vista is that it is prettier than XP, but that is about it.

Of course this is just my 2 cents. Some would argue other benefits, but lets face it, after spending big bucks to upgrade, who is going to admit they wasted their hard earned money on a pretty GUI?

Trully Ron, I have been on the vista track since beta. When it first came out the only thing i could think was omg here’s another longhorn like failure….then different betas came out and it got a little better byu the time it reached RC1i would say it had a 50%-60% improvement. I’ve had basically every microsoft OS ever since Windows 3.1 and on my opinion were all faulty in some way or another the option of whether you ugrade or is yours….and on my opinion MS reached it’s peak of reliability on any system when 2000 came…but i’ll give into XP after a while it worked pretty well, it’s stable and easy to use, but vista just looked like a sore looser to me…it didn’t change it’s a resource hog, tho it looks better(which is lost on the other issues), the HW compability with older stuff happens to any OS but Vista’s is magnified and UAC is a sad attempt to copy the security linux uses when root permissions are needed…so on my most true opinion of it all either get a nice mac or if you’re not familiar with linux get a ubuntu or kubuntu even maybe my favorite Fedora Core FOR FREE! the money cost with vista go to amazon.com or the nearest book store and get “*linux OS* for dummies” and do some light reading and u’ll be in better grounds.

Well well, been running Vista for about three months. It looks like this may be the next best thing since the ME work of art. Vista is just not ready for the public or may never be. My box is a Pentium Duo 2, Intel Mobo, all SATA, 1g ram, 600 watt, resource hog no doubt, its like your running a Celeron with 32mb. Also does not work well at all with SBS 2003 Terminal Services. This OS needs a SP in a bad way, back to XP until Vista gets a SP.

Hello Gustavo and Buddy,
Thanks for your comments. They are appreciated and I am sure they will help those who are riding the fence.

Regards, Ron

Vista

Just recently purchased a new Asus laptop (core2duo 2.0ghz, 2gb ram). I was hoping I would like Vista, but the fact is, I have grown to despise it. Look around the internet/forums, and you too will see that many users are switching back and getting rid of this “upgrade” for now (although it is a pain because my laptop does not have a floppy drive, so I am still at the stage of getting xp to properly install due to laptop having a SATA drive). Way too many running processes even after killing off many that are not needed. My firefox crashes (known issue with vista/firefox). It just tries to do too much that most users do not need and will never need. Seems like they just released a newer beta, but wanted to make some money for their time spent in Vista’s creation. I could care less about DirectX 10 support, it is not worth it for such a resource hungry OS. My system is not slow, but I know it could be so much faster running on XP. I wish microsoft would release a new SP3 that had SATA drivers (to slipstream) in order to do installs for those of us that do not wish to go the Vista route yet. My “personal” opinion and advice is to stay away for Vista for now; maybe it will mature in the next year, but for now it is not worth it at all.

Hello Alex,
Thanks for sharing your experience with Vista. Your comments are appreciated.
Ron

I bought a new laptop with Vista installed, same as most I run a multi PC, multi OS fully wired/wireless household. I found that Vista is REALLY built for multi core processing,
Vista is super fast, super smooth in every way, online video is awsome!

some of the down sides toVista are, it doesn’t play well with the less secure XP boxes sharing all my hardware.
Microsoft has released various link layer addons for XP to improve these issues so things are getting better.
Vista has several compatability modes for older software and I’ve had mixed results (mostly bad) except for MS’s older programs, of course they’ve done a good job supporting the software wev’e paid them so dearly for.
MS does have a Vista addon called virtual PC that brings up a console window inside vista that lets you add other operating systems inside Vista (vista hates dual booting). I run XP inside Vista including printing to a network and web browsing!

I have had to add a Vista compatible printer to my network hardware, support for the older stuff sucks because the hardware vendors don’t make money updating divers.
Overall I love this machine and OS but updating a single core machine to Vista would be a huge waste of my money,time and patience.

I recomend anyone thinking of upgrading, just buy a system with the OS preinstalled, it ends up much more cost effective not having to update to Vista compatible hardware (driver support issues) and you’ll get a multi core system that Vista was designed to operate on.
My best advice is buy as much video memory as you can afford, to much attention is being paid to RAM, few people mention that Vista is a HUGE video hog.

With the right hardware anyone would love this system (we didn’t learn DOS in a day) anybody that has experience with Windows or MAC OS10 can learn this system in a few minutes.

The previous posters mentioning Linux are in for a serious learning curve, I started with PCM and moved to DOS then windows 2.0 and so on. Linux took me several days to get running and several months to get used to, I’m still not good with it, to many builds, graphical interfaces, extensions and broad disagreements in the user forums (the only real support). It comes easier if you know UNIX programming.

The Vista Naysayers never gave Vista more than a few days, give it a month and you won’t even look back!

Hello KenM,
“I recommend anyone thinking of upgrading, just buy a system with the OS preinstalled”

Good advice. Thanks for the comments.
Ron

It’s not so quiet out there now — if you find the right forums.

The magnitude of problems being experienced seem like a flashback to the days of Windows 95, 95, Me.

Personally, I bought a new PC with Vista installed. As a Microsoft user since the beginning, and as a power user was enjoying the stability XP SP2 to a degree that my productivity was no longer impeded by operating system problems and distractions — I feel that Vista is train wreck.
- Demands on my time to get over 125 programs working right
- Demands to unlearn years of knowledge about how to resolve problems, and adopt too many new habits that interupt productivity
- Demand to, ultimately, have to purchase new software, especially all the Office products I’m perfectly satisfied with, which, despite, contentions to the contrary, don’t work so well in XP SP2 compatibility mode.
- Help searches and Knowledge Base searches that lead nowhere.
and so on…

I’ve been having a great deal of empathy for the average user who understands nothing about windows op systems infrastructure, yet whose searches for help are leading, too frequently, to suggestions to change registry setting.

I know that all new op systems have taken time to stabilize — but in this day and age and with XP working so smoothly, the changes seem like the developers are disconnected to the majority of users.

The whole UAC dimension may be fine for network systems — but as the owner and sole user of my computer, and someone who knows how to secure my system and online use against invasions, I have longed for a Button whereby I can click:

“I know what I’m doing, and don’t need your invasiveness and security controls that make me justify and self-approve so many actions I take.’

In actuality, I moan not so much for myself — although I am outraged at the productivity loss I’ve experienced while trying to get everything running somewhat glitch free — but for the many, many users who are pleading for help about a continuing cascade of problems. They are posting on serious, bona fide boards.

I’m going back to XP for PC-dependent work, and gradually migrating to the Mac for whatever I can. I’ll keep Vista, and use it for a few things, and look forward to SP1. But I no longer trust Microsoft. Like politicians, they need to get out among the people and out of their bubble.

Hi Aaron,
I agree. During the past several months since I originally wrote this article, things have changed. There seems to be more growing dissatisfaction with Vista. Even MS is going to allow more XP installs by the OEMs.
Thanks for your comments.
Ron

[...] Lockergnome is wondering why Vista news is so quiet. [...]

Hey, why not Vista XP for MS’s next OS release? Combine the best of both operating systems and see what we get….

Hi I-user,
Thanks for the comment.
Ron

Windows Vista. Oh yeah, WGA. Windows Genuine Activation. The bsod is now the BLACK screen of Death. For those who have legal copies too. What was the reason for WGA? OH yeah, so those who PAY money for it won’t get shut down. That’s right. Good going MS.

I use a variety of OS’s including Windows 2k, Vista Home/Pro and even…(gasp!!) ME ( I got one of the few good ones…). Vista has too steep of a requirement in hardware and not enough of a gain in performance. Too high a price for the good version (Vista Ultimate), not enough of a security advantage over 2k/XP, runs slower then 2k/XP, still doesn’t have a service pack and has its successor right around the corner.

I’m gonna wait for Windows 7. As far as I’m concerned Vista never happened.
It’s all just a dream…it’s all just a dream…
It’s all just another MS nightmare.

Now excuse me while I go play with my Linux, Mac OS X and Pre-Vista Windows boxes….lol

Vista Home Premium came with my new HP machine. Had to find substitute drivers for a printer, get a parallel to USB printer cable but otherwise most of my older stuff worked. I had some problems with USB devices not working after waking up from sleep mode. An HP techie guided me through a MS hotfix and we are evaluating the situation - it has improved and I am enjoying the new machine and like VISTA so far. The UAC is less of a pain than I feared (so far). With a big screen I like the gadgets on the side.

Hello Harold,
Thanks for sharing your experiences with us and for your comments.
Ron

A couple of things:

1. I didn’t read all the posts but if people are complaining about the price, just buy the upgrade. If you do a clean install then upgrade the install, the product key works. There is no reason to buy the full version yet.

2. XP couldn’t be just “serviced packed” with the new vista features. Vista changed most of its structure in order to help with performance on computers in the “higher echelon” (computers that have dual core and quad core etc.). These “higher” computers are now being mainstreamed and most have become standard. This is because most older computers are being phased out with new dual, quad cores; vista is one part of this new generation of computing. If you own a slower computer then stick with XP and don’t complain how vista won’t run on your computer.

3. Running old programs and trying to make them work on Vista. This is an issue that Microsoft had to deal with. Users standpoint: Running compatibility is annoying and frustrating (since they won’t work most of the time). Programmers standpoint: Absolute nightmare (considering, every new OS they come out with, they have to make all their software “backwards compatible”). I think the idea here is to break in software that eliminates the older software by forcing Vista compatible products to replace the out of date software. I agree somewhat with people who are upset with Vista for being completely compatible with older programs, but I don’t want to be bogged down by saying “Vista is horrible” because it won’t run my old You Don’t Know Jack game from 1997.

Overall I just think Vista is for the new generation of computers and programs. It isn’t meant to be a perfect system, but it was meant to be a system that could adapt to the new fluxuation in technology we have been having the past couple of years. Since Vista must compete with its predessor (XP), it is likely that its advantages to most users won’t be seen until the next OS comes out. Once that happens, then the cycle will continue.

i’ve been using vista for nearly 11 months. Now i was stucked with it, I never go back XP. With Vista I can play games-music-etc, coding with visul studio dot net and do more with IIS7 for my web server. Vista bring to me a new world of interractive and sercure until now.

My system : core 2 duo 1.8 ghz, 1 gbram, motherboard giga 945

I have a pc at home and I know that sooner or later it will be time to update. Thanks for the read.

I have a a few issues with vista home basic
1) itunes popped up all the time no matter what i was doing, all on its own which was realllly fukin irritating.
I fixed it by running in administartive mode.
Pretty much any program that your running should be run in administrative mode.
Almost any
Its kind of a pain becuase it asks for permission everytime you run the program in admin mode and it gets annoying.
also, dont run with 512 ram
its a bitch
i just ordered a 2gb upgrade from crucial.com
heard great things, cant wait to see how she does.
other than that vista is pretty sick
im pleased