Microsoft Vista

Steamhead (in transit)

and everyone I've talked to, says to wait for the first Vi$ta service pack. Yes, there will be a service pack- Micro$oft originally said there wouldn't be, but they have had so many issues with Vi$ta that a service pack has been unavoidable. For those of us who haven't been around a while, this is typical of Micro$oft- their stuff is never really done until at least the first service pack, and usually the second.

I bought The Lovely Naoko a new laptop when we were in Japan last summer- it was tough to find one with XP even then, but we did and are glad we did. XP Service Pack 2 is pretty stable.

BTW, I hear there will also be another service pack for XP. And you can still buy copies of XP online. Might pay to buy a laptop with no OS and install XP on it.

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Paul Rohrs_7

considering a new laptop

and everything (PC)has the new Vista operating system. I'm hearing good and bad ranging from versatility to lock-outs.

This is an informal poll. Good experience or bad experience.

Thanks,

Paul

Leo_9

Windows

I have had Windows 95, 95, XP, and now Vista. I mainly cruise the net or use the Word Processor. To me all the versions are about the same but I am not a computor guru. My Vista came pre loaded on a Toshiba Lap Top last summer. I have another Toshiba six month older with XP, to me they are equal. The older one qualified for a Vista Upgrade and a computor guy told me the upgrades were prone to problems.

Leo

Rich L.

Vista

Just got a new PC at home and it came with Vista. No complaints. I spoke with an IT guy at work and he told me the biggest issue with Vista is that it requires so much ram. My new home unit has 3 gig. So far so good.

J.C.A._3

Paul,

I doubt you can find anything without Vista now. I heard rumors that the leftover Dell systems with XP were becoming a hot commodity, a while back.( and pricy too!)

I know Scott had a few problems with a switch to Vista from XP when he replaced his office computer, but I'm also told MOST of the bugs have been worked out. (Heads, you win...Tales I lose sounding)

Good luck. Chris

kpc_14

get a Mac...

steveex

Vista has only one problem as far as im concerned, its downloading softwear, i always need to do it 3 times for it to except. I love the voice activation program built in. Runs very smooth with 4 gig.

Bruce M

XP Service Pack 3

XP service pack 3 is available in beta format which means that a final version should be out soon. XP is a newer version of windows NT and is a very stable OS. Vista is much less stable and requires a lot more memory resources. A MAC with the newest OS has none of the problems.

Jim Bennett

Vista

I just bought a new Dell notebook two weeks ago. I got Vista and so far I like it. Requires a lot of memory though. 1 Gig is minimum, 2 Gig is recommended.

Some retailers offer a downgrade to XP, Dell is one. It's only a matter of time though, eventually they will quit supporting XP and then you no longer get software updates and such.

Happy shopping,

Jim

Harold

Some manufacturers will provide XP if you ask (although MS is effectively stopping that). Given hardware requirements and incompatibilities, I am staying with XP until the Vista replacement shows up. And then I will decide if it is necessary to stretch XP until the next MS OS. I used NT until XP. XP SP3 seems to include most of the security and meaningful (?) parts of VIsta. It may also bring more obnoxious DRM from Vista.

I have no interest in upgrading at significant expense to see some new flashy graphics.

[Deleted User]

Get a Mac...

and put Vista on it, cause you can't find any old programs anymore...

ME

Unknown

Still afraid,

to get my feet wet, so I`m running XP.
I`m partly sure Vista is OK. ,I`m just waiting for a little more feedback.
Old habits die hard.

Dave

albandjann1725849

vista -- not

Not that we're always fond of following the government lead, but Vista is currently banned from most (and maybe all) federal computer systems. Concerns about security holes, OS stability, support issues, productivity hits, etc.

XP Pro, if you can get it, is much better at this point.

ME's suggestion of a Mac with XP is a good one.

Al Corelli_2

Vista

Got a new Vista machine last year to replace an XP job.

The only problem I had was all the peripherals (printers, Pocket PCs, cameras, and worst of all, hard disks) that needed drivers and the items that caused nightly crashes and blue screens. So, after three months of frustration, I got the bugs worked out and now it works flawlessly.

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Mike T., Swampeast MO

I'm nearly positive that Dell still offers Windows XP with new computers.

I've been using Vista since it was first available on my work computer (it replaced XP) and other than some intial hardware compatibility issues I haven't had any problems.

Some of Vista's security features are a bit annoying, but you get used to them.

Yes, Vista uses vast amounts of memory but I have not noticed any negative impact in performance--in fact it seems significantly faster than XP was on this machine when I'm running numerous large programs simultaneously.

Steamhead (in transit)

In effect

you were used as an unpaid beta tester for Micro$oft. For what one pays for Vi$ta, they should have had the problems worked out before it was released.

Wait for the service pack, gang.

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Larry (from OSHA)

one consideration

Something to think about and check first is will your favorite program, the Knight Smart System software run on Vista.

Larry

Harold

For those that want it, MS has announced price reductions on Vista to try to get more people to buy the pig.

They are just discontinuing sales (I think they may still be available to big buyers, but I don't remember for sure) but there will probably be inventory somewhere for a while. There are those that have been selling XP at a premium because of Vista. Support was extended because of popular (read big corporate users) demand. Vista uptake, especially among big users, has been fairly low. They just don't need the grief. Maybe SP1 will help. With SP4, XP seems like it will pick up all the security and enterprise features from Vista, without (hopefully) the rest of the baggage. Few want to spend money on a new computer just to get pretty screens. And of course, XP has all the drivers.

Microsoft typically changes a whole bunch of the paths to get to controls that do things. In a whole bunch of cases, for no obvious reason, but you have to relearn a whole bunch of stuff to get back where you were before the release.

MS has never really, in my opinion, got the idea that there are whole lot of people (and especially corporations), that really don't care if the screen is prettier; they care about performance (worse), compatibility (worse), reliability (worse), and resources (as in do I have to buy everyone new PCs) (worse).

According to some reports I have read, MS released a product they new was not releasable, and they mislead users about what machines it would run on, so Intel could meet their chip goals.

RonWHC

Last I heard

Bill Gates is discontinuing XP 6/30/08. Will only offer Vista.

ChasMan

Vista

Vista is better than XP. They sold over 100,000,000 copies of it last year and sales are expected to be up this year. I think it needs 2GB of RAM and a core 2 processor. On a machine like that it will easily outperform XP because it makes much better use of resources. Dont buy it if you are looking for a 300.00 laptop.

Mark_46

Running Vista Home Premium on a Dell duo core 2.1 GHz with 2 GB of RAM for almost a year now. No problems! Vista is a bit of memory hog though. You'll need a machine with a fair amount of memory...1 GB (or more) is recommended for Premium / Business / Ultimate versions.

Bruce M

Show us som Documentation

I would like to see some proof of that number of Vista sales that you have posted. Here is a link to document some of the many problems with Vista Service Pack 1. Vista has been documented to have many problems that XP does not have. It is also a resource hog.