Vista- yay or nay?

Rob Babcock · « **on:** 2 Feb 2007, 06:05 am »

Alright, any techies wanna chime in? Is Vista the wonderful OS that the press is saying it is or just a load of hooey? A few IT guys in my aquaintance say it's all show and no go, but several mainstream rags say it's more stable than XP with better security. The latter especially appeals to me if it's true. So is it worth the money to upgrade, assuming I have the horsepower?

JohnnyLightOn · « **Reply #1 on:** 2 Feb 2007, 07:12 am »

If upgrading to the best version cost $100, and I didn't have to reinstall the 50 applications I have on XP, I would do it. And I would definitely get it on a new PC. But to get the great search function, the superfetch which will make my most-used apps load in an instant, plus the eye candy, that's just not enough to mess with something that's working well already.

Woodsea · « **Reply #2 on:** 2 Feb 2007, 01:48 pm »

It is going to rock, but it is not worth it yet. Just let the early adopters be the new beta testers. Wait for SP1. Stick with XP for another couple of months. Then upgrade to a DX10 graphics card, for the dx10 games that will finally be out at that time.

Tirade · « **Reply #3 on:** 2 Feb 2007, 02:11 pm »

The answer is... it depends.

Ive been running the beta for 6 months now through my technet subscription and running the release for about a month now.

What do you use your PC for? If the answer is CAD/3D, Gaming, or other types of Graphics related tasks, then the answer is STAY AWAY from Vista.

If you just surf the net, do some office tasks, manage your music library then I would say go for it. The new aero desktop is slick and has a great feel to it. Its more secure for you and your family when you are online and its great for settings parental controls to keep your kids safe.

There have been some reported probems with Vista and Itunes, so be sure to check that out if you use Itunes.

fajimr · « **Reply #4 on:** 2 Feb 2007, 02:16 pm »

just heard in a report from the CBC (canada) that Vista has already hit the market in china and is selling for a whooping $3.00 or something like that.

jim

JoshK · « **Reply #5 on:** 2 Feb 2007, 02:22 pm »

Based on a lot of past experience I will wait till SP2. MS uses its customers as its beta testers and guinea pigs. At work, they simply refuse to adopt till SP2 and I find that following the same protocol really works well.

What exactly makes it safer and why didn't they do that to the existing software? I think if I were to buy a new PC, I'd get a mac. If I build another PC, I'll play around some more with Linux.

ctviggen · « **Reply #6 on:** 2 Feb 2007, 02:42 pm »

If you want a search function, you can get google desktop. I use this at work and it's great. I do not use it at home, however, as I do not search for anything.

bpape · « **Reply #7 on:** 2 Feb 2007, 02:45 pm »

The additional security would be the only thing that would interest me. Any performance advantages will only happen with a 64bit machine and with 64 bit apps. I'll also likely wait for at least a year to let them get the bugs out. I'd also likely only put it on a new virgin machine as a fresh install - not try to upgrade an existing OS.

Bryan

Cacophonix · « **Reply #8 on:** 2 Feb 2007, 03:12 pm »

I bought the vista, ultimate edition thru a friend of mine at a mega substantial discount

Thats the only reason i bought it ... i'm quite ok with the xp i have installed.
I'll know how good or bad it is in the next couple of weeks. I've a 64 bit athlon processor with 1G RAM but a 128MB AGP graphics card .... hopefully i don't have to upgrade any hardware in the near future.

boead · « **Reply #9 on:** 2 Feb 2007, 04:07 pm »

I’ve owned WindowsXP 64 for over a year and tried Vista64. They are just not ready for prime time. Actually, the OS is ready but no body else is. Its been a LONG time and still few manufacturers have proper driver support.

I’ve been running Vista Ultimate 32 since November and its great. Unfortunately, video game support is still not available from ATI. I’ve tired all the most recent drives and they STILL don’t work!! What’s funny is that the Microsoft driver for my ATI X1900xtx video card works fine while the official ATI driver doesn’t. Also, ATI completely dropped the ball for OpenGL support. nVidia didn’t, their Vista support is good.

Until just last week I was still missing driver support for my wireless Logitech keyboard and mouse and a few other things but they came through this past week and all is working well.

What I don’t understand is why so many manufacturers have not gotten their acts together. Vista is over a year late and there has been plenty of time for drivers to have been developed and released yet still giants like HP are tardy with driver support.

I ran the WindowsXP beta too back when and it was not very much different. Lack of driver support from manufacturers, people complaining and saying how Windows98se was still the best thing on the planet. Anyhow, Vista is going to be great – Viva, La Vista!

BTW: iTunes works fine and my 3G iPod works fine too.

mizzuno · « **Reply #10 on:** 2 Feb 2007, 04:08 pm »

I think what we should all be worried about more than performance is the encrypted portion of the hard drive used for DRM that you cannot access. Can't wait til people start seeing down rezed video (on high def) due to lack of license or lack of HDCP monitor. This OS was made primarily for DRM and the will be one of the first operating systems with a section of the hard drive that is off limits to the user, good luck.

ctviggen · « **Reply #11 on:** 2 Feb 2007, 04:11 pm »

Quote from: Cacophonix on 2 Feb 2007, 03:12 pm

I bought the vista, ultimate edition thru a friend of mine at a mega substantial discount
Thats the only reason i bought it ... i'm quite ok with the xp i have installed.
I'll know how good or bad it is in the next couple of weeks. I've a 64 bit athlon processor with 1G RAM but a 128MB AGP graphics card .... hopefully i don't have to upgrade any hardware in the near future.

I thought you needed 256MB graphics card? Hmmm...maybe not:

http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry360.html

Levi · « **Reply #12 on:** 2 Feb 2007, 04:17 pm »

I have been testing Vista Business edition 64bit version for a month or two now and it sure looks really pretty. It is stable as XP Pro but with more features. It sure is a memory hogg that is for sure! I would stay away from the 64bit version for now if you don't know your way around computers. There are not many hardware manufacturers specially HP Printer drivers support. You also may stay away from Vista if you are using VPN software or other secure gateway access and such.

I would wait around second quarter of 2007. You definitely need a good computer for the Vista Professional no doubt.

Tirade · « **Reply #13 on:** 2 Feb 2007, 08:35 pm »

Just found this today.. if you own XP and wanna upgrade to Vista, you can now install the upgrade as a clean install instead of as an upgrade using this MS approved method.

DailyTech has confirmed a new workaround proposed by Paul Thurrott (via Microsoft internal documents).

This workaround allows users to perform a “clean install.” The process is a bit tedious, but is not hard at all to complete. Users have to perform these simple steps to perform a clean install of Vista without a previous version of Windows installed with an upgrade DVD:

Boot from the Windows Vista Upgrade DVD and start the setup program.

When prompted to enter your product key, DO NOT enter it. Click "Next" and proceed with setup. This will install Windows Vista as a 30-day trial.

When prompted, select the edition of Vista which you have purchased and continue with setup.

Once setup has been completed and you have been brought to the desktop for the first time, run the install program from within Windows Vista.

This time, type in your product key when prompted.

When asked whether to perform an Upgrade or Custom (advanced) install, choose Custom (advanced) to perform a clean install of Vista. Yes, this means that you will have to install Vista for a second time.

Once setup has completed for the second time, you should be able to activate Windows Vista normally. You can also delete the Windows.old directory which contains information from the first Vista install.

Levi · « **Reply #14 on:** 2 Feb 2007, 08:47 pm »

Thanks Tirade for the information.

However, It is extremely important install and run the Microsoft software and hardware compatibility test prior to doing any Vista installation. This Windows upgrade advisor is readily available here http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/buyorupgrade/upgradeadvisor.mspx

Goodluck.

Levi

Tirade · « **Reply #15 on:** 2 Feb 2007, 09:08 pm »

Quote from: boead on 2 Feb 2007, 04:07 pm

BTW: iTunes works fine and my 3G iPod works fine too.

Did you check all your songs or just the software? Here is apples official press release regarding Vista and they are saying not to upgrade until a new version of itunes comes out.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=305042

Here is a snippet

"Compatibility with Windows Vista
Apple is preparing to address a number of iTunes compatibility issues in the next release of the software.

Some currently known compatibility issues with iTunes 7.0.2 and earlier versions include:

iTunes Store purchases may not play when upgrading to Windows Vista from Windows 2000 or XP.
iPod models with the "Enable Disk Use" option turned off may be unable to update or restore iPod software, and make changes to iPod settings.
iPod models configured to Auto Sync and have the "Enable Disk Use" option turned off may require being ejected and reconnected to resync.
Ejecting an iPod from the Windows System Tray using the "Safely Remove Hardware" feature may corrupt your iPod. To always safely eject an iPod, choose Eject iPod from the Controls menu within iTunes.
Cover Flow animation may be slower than expected.
Contacts and calendars will not sync with iPod."

Pez · « **Reply #16 on:** 2 Feb 2007, 09:32 pm »

My Fiance and I have decided that we are going to upgrade to OSX!!! To H3LL with windows, I've had it. I've had more problems with IE and Outlook viruses than one person should ever have to deal with.

mjosef · « **Reply #17 on:** 2 Feb 2007, 10:39 pm »

I will probably wait until later in the year to buy the then revised OEM version (SP1?). It sure is pretty, but uses about 300-400Mb of RAM by default. I will continue to use the beta release until it is disabled by MS.
My 'new' computer build recently experienced the first dreaded BSOD, after running/sometimes-limping for about 4months...I was having driver problems with my video card(7600 w. 500Mb ram), but the BSOD seemed to be related to main DDR-2 RAM.
Driver support is so-so.

Tirade · « **Reply #18 on:** 2 Feb 2007, 11:00 pm »

Apple just released a repair tool for Vista

http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/itunesrepairtoolforvista10.html

Double Ugly · « **Reply #19 on:** 3 Feb 2007, 12:00 am »

Quote from: Pez on 2 Feb 2007, 09:32 pm

My Fiance and I have decided that we are going to upgrade to OSX!!! To H3LL with windows, I've had it. I've had more problems with IE and Outlook viruses than one person should ever have to deal with.

Smart move, Jason.

After living w/ and working w/ Windows the past 20+ years, I bought my first Apple (a Mac Pro, actually) about 6 months ago and couldn't be happier. Absolutely no issues of any type thus far, and my wife (a Microsoft-based Network Administrator) is mightily impressed w/ the speed, stability and flexibility of the beast.

That's not to say the switch was seamless or painless; it wasn't. But most or all of the issues I dealt w/ were due to my ignorance of the platform and behavioral differences, some of which seemed significant at the time. With most of the growing pains behind me now, I wouldn't trade my Mac for a dozen top-of-the-line PCs.

That said, my wife thanks God for Microsoft every day. Says if it weren't for their incompetence, she'd have no job security whatsoever.

-Jim