If people want to keep paying for this nonsense when free alternatives are more than [adequate|superior|more hardware compatible], then they obviously have money to waste and no concern for fair play, competition or innovation. The most amusing thing is companies who hire “techies” on the cheap who only know Windows, will only learn how to upgrade versions of Windows, and are effectively keeping themselves there being paid (for being busy doing absolute nonsense) because they’re costing the company they “work” for unnecessary thousands in the tie-ins. It’s kind of “Company Accountants meet the ‘me-too’ techies”.

I say congratulations to Microsoft, because many people are really as stupid as you take them for.

We every innovative release of windows, we see the same thing happen in the initial months of its release. Hardware compatibility, driver issues, BSODs etc. This is always par for the course when using Microsoft’s operating systems and other high end utilities. Whilst after several month and sometimes longer, things start to come together as the problems are ironed out. Eventually, we end up with a reasonably reliable operating system and most people that come along and use it after these things are sorted out, do not even know that it had major issues.

Ask the majority of people that use XP why they like it and you will probably be told that it is the best OS that there has been from microsoft and that these users have had little or no problems with XP. The reason for this is obviously that they did not start using it, until after the release of SP1 or even SP2 and by that time the bugs had been virtually ironed out. It is only the early users that will remember the trial and tribulations that came with XP when it was initially released.

I really do believe that this will be same for Vista as it progresses through the updates that will carry on coming thick and fast for the next couple of service packs. People need to remember that we now live in a time when the majority of operating systems are based mainly on eye candy looks, that attract most buyers to them. This alone creates many of the problems with a new OS as can be seen when comparing issues with the DOS environment compared to windows 95, 98, 98SE etc. DOS presents few problems when you know how to use it, because you are in control of the vast amount of its operation. Whereas a point and click environment like windows 95 etc relies on the operating system taking the control away from the user and has to know in advance how to handle the fumbling users ability of clicking on something that he or she should not have done so.

It is highly improbable that an operating system will come along that is not going to fall over at some stage of its use. If we had to wait for one that was 100% perfect, it would never see the light of day.

It is a shame that an OS like XP may come to an end and while it is still available to the public, it should and must be offered as an alternative to Vista as long as the buyers are told that its life span is coming to an end in a year or so.

Once we see the SP1 release for Vista in place, i am sure that a lot more people will use this relatively new operating system, embracing it and also wondering how they ever managed without it…

Vince Andrews

I’m still using win2K pro, and it is more than adequate for my needs. I’m not a power user, basically just surf, e-mail, and play with photos. I am retired, and personally I can’t see a large magority of the population worldwide trying to keep up with the “latest.” The business world probably changes more often, however if they have something that works and serves their needs why would they change.

I can see a compatibility problem in the future with the third world and the rest of us, as we all have access to the internet. By that I mean the rapid change in the past decade with all the OS’s and the inherent difficulties accompanied by them.

As a Lockergnomie for years from the Netherlands, this is my first comment in all those years. I hope my English will be no trouble. I really have had it with Vista and Microsoft! In my home network of 4 PC’s, I replaced one with a new one and Vista OS. I share my printer in the network off 3 other XP-home PC’s. Only the Vista machine could not print via my XP-server and ICS. I searched all the Internet and found hundreds of people with the sam problem. I tried all the solutions! No one worked.
I bought an extra printer for the Vista PC to end this.
This is in my opinion a terrible mistake of Microsoft. I have been a Microsoft customer from the late eighties, but now I have had it.
My only hope for the future is more open source and Linux software that can match the easyness of Microsoft for addicts like me. Please release me, let me go, because I don’t love you anymore!

From where I sit neither Vista, XP or OS X are a suitable OS solution. Seems that the Linux movement has pasted you by. Linux may not be for everyone, however it is a refreshing change from a Microsoft or Apple OS. The reasons are just too numerous to list here, however I invite you and anyone else to give Ubuntu Linux a spin. You might find a new love.

Scott
Didn’t they just extend XP’s life another 6 months? As it was when my son wanted to build in ME, I took 98SE instead because of the bugs reported. Now on XP, I’ve yet to have a BSOD and I put way too much stuff on my computer, says my son.
But I ride herd on it and clean it out from time to time so it still seems faster than some of the ones I’ve had.
Vista is still in BETA as far as I’m concerned. Thought it’d be OK now but it has more drawbacks for those of us that like to “try out” products than any previous OS. XP seems stable and I’ve had so much good Dell help that I could install XP Pro if I felt like it. (They sent me all of the disks including wrong OS, but rectified it rapidly, as I’d lost NTLDR files!)
Good article and I’ve been reading you guys for5-6 years when Chris was in Des Moines.
Tom