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Impressions of Windows Vista after One Month of Usage

philoking.com — Chronicle of my use of Windows Vista for a month. Lists software apps that work and any issues I have ran into so far. Notables are Firefox and iPod issues.

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  • Gir53457, on 10/12/2007, -16/+83I've been using it for a few months now and I can tell you that aside from a few bugs with certain programs, there is no need to worry about upgrading even if you have the minimum requirements.
    • PimpinOnWelfare, on 10/12/2007, -56/+9But its so pretty!!
    • zybch, on 10/12/2007, -8/+34I think he meant that you can upgrade from XP to vista (for example) without any worries, even if you only have the minimum requirements vista claims to need.
    • Alegis, on 10/12/2007, -9/+36Been using it as well since early betas, and I'm a big fan of the RTM version.

      People shouldn't wait for a service patch, vista is solid and drivers are great. I wouldn't go back to XP
    • CreepingDeath, on 10/12/2007, -31/+16Alegis,

      However knowing Microsoft's track record, and knowing that Vista adds /nothing/ to the game for me; I won't be picking up a copy ever probably, and at least until SP1 if I'm forced into it for one of the MMORPG's I play.

      I suggest you at least go listen to the last 2 Security Now Podcasts (#73 and #74) where they talk about some of the uglyness done to vista in the name of HD content protection; and the cost to us as users even if we don't ever plan to hook a blueray or hddvd drive to our pc's.

      Nope, I'll keep my Linux/XP dual boot thank you. (Xp for certin games that don't play nice under WINE and Linux for everything else)
    • Jugalator, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8"I've been using it for a few months now and I can tell you that aside from a few bugs with certain programs, there is no need to worry about upgrading even if you have the minimum requirements."

      Yes, the only reason I can really see if you're unfortunate enough to not have drivers developed for your hardware. That's by far the greatest caution I think one should take with Vista, and it can be well used time to do some investigation here first, just like you may do with certain Linux installs.

      Hardware requirement-wise, there seem to be little to worry about, and the excessive req's put on Vista seem to have largely been blown out of proportion (as usual with Windows operating systems), and 1 GB is my minimum recommendation both for Vista and XP. Heck, include a stock Ubuntu install there too. It often makes things just so much smoother, and you'll have the memory for reasonably advanced applications. And if you bought your graphics card the last 4-5 years (that is, at about the time you bought XP), it's also likely to run even the best mode of Aero graphics as well.
    • essjay, on 10/12/2007, -22/+7He lost my respect as soon as he says theres no need to upgrade because "XP is solid as well". Presumably he means solid to use. Or maybe solidly hard to secure?
    • vbsurfer, on 10/12/2007, -11/+10Yay! I have a Mac pro and I prefer doing a lot of my programming work on the windows side. Leopard + Vista...yum
    • SeBBBe, on 10/12/2007, -26/+13He said XP is solid. Now I know I cant trust the rest of his review. Sorry.
    • buckynekkid, on 10/12/2007, -16/+9@Alegis

      Don't wait for service patch? That is possibly the worst advice I've ever read. XP is secure now. After years and years of patches, MS has brought XP's security/compatibility to a level that Vista won't be at for some time. I'm sure they used a lot of their XP knowledge to make Vista better out the gate than XP, but sometime in the next year we will read about a horrible security flaw in Vista. When that happens, you will be glad you waited for the service patch. Besides, what's the rush?
    • wafflez, on 10/12/2007, -6/+10lol no opengl =(....well anyways, i installed on a p4ht 3.2ghz with 512 ram and 256 vid ram from a radeon 9800 pro...no lag issues or bugs whatsoever. and that's a 2 year old computer. THEN, i installed on a one year old laptop with equal/better specs and it lagged like hell....major heating issues so i wouldn't suggest installing on a laptop...at this point, anyone into games should wait for opengl support, microsoft is trying too hard to push the directx10.

      oh, and also, certain drivers like my creative soundblaster 24bit Live! PRETEND to work, and then you find out that the microphone part doesn't work 0_0.....at this point, it's just an issue of drivers, but i love the os.
    • Alegis, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3@buckynekkid

      And when that flaw comes, it will be addressed with haste. I've seen too many quotes from people assuming driver support and security is bad and thus one should wait a year 'at least' for vista. It is not true.
      There is no extreme hurry, but many advice to even wait until Fiji is out before getting Vista. If you want Vista one shouldn't just wait for SP1.
    • Gir53457, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Most people buy a Dell or HP computer, and any of those recent enough to be able to run Vista already have the drivers made for them. Chances are, the only upgrade that they did to change the hardware was taking it to a computer shop for more RAM or a bigger hard drive. The people who will have problems are white box builders using obscure hardware,
    • aznboi04k, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1vista is trash. aero glass is butt ugly. the transparency is way over used. the window borders are ridiculously thick. the menu buttons are completely out of whack. it hogs ram like a damn pig. the driver support for video cards and mobo is terribly right now. hopefully, things will improve in the next 1/2 year or i'll just wait until blackcomb comes out.
  • dominasian, on 10/12/2007, -10/+48Summary- its good, pretty, efficient, and photoshop works
    • schestowitz, on 10/12/2007, -61/+42There is also plenty which fails to work. See:

      Life with Vista - Is this dogfood really for the dogs?

      ,----[ Quote ]
      | # Vista is not ready for primetime. By that I mean that Vista still
      | feels like a beta. That's right. It has so many compatibility
      | problems with existing applications that running anything other
      | than stuff from Microsoft that specifically says "for Vista Build
      | XXXX" makes me feel like I'm taking my life into my own hands.
      |
      | 1. Games - don't even get me started...
      |
      | 2. Visual Studio 2005 - I can't find the words to express the irony...
      |
      | 3. Virtual PC - worthless. Don't even attempt on Vista.
      `----

      http://dotnetaddict.dotnetdevelopersjournal.com/vista_dogfood.htm


      Visual Studio vs. Vista: What's going on here?

      ,----[ Quote ]
      | * Visual Basic 6.0 (supported)
      | * Visual Studio .NET 2002 (not supported)
      | * Visual Studio .NET 2003 (not supported)
      | * Visual Studio 2005 (supported, but will have "compatibility issues"
      | until some nebulous set of post-SP1 fixes ships)
      `----

      http://www.theserverside.net/news/thread.tss?thread_id=42426


      Windows Vista: Work In Progress

      http://www.microsoft-watch.com/content/vista/windows_vista_work_in_progress.html?kc=MWRSS02129TX1K0000535


      SQL Server 2005 SP1 won't work with Vista

      http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=71


      Vista Breaks Applications

      ,----[ Quote ]
      | The big secret at Redmond is that existing applications and new
      | products will not work with Vista.
      |
      | Microsoft really doesn't want you to know this, but many of your
      | existing applications won't work with Vista. In fact, some brand
      | new products won't work with Vista.
      `----

      http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2062318,00.asp


      http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=2237


      Lack of Internal Talks at Microsoft, Google

      http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/15/lack-of-internal-talks-at-microsoft-google/
    • jamend, on 10/12/2007, -5/+23Visual Sudio 2005 SP1, SQL Server 2005 with the latest build of SP2, Virtual PC 2004 SP1, and the latest build of Virtual PC 2007 all run fine for me.
    • j_h_o, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11Given the appropriate video drivers (and video card hardware) games aren't a serious issue, from what I've seen.
      Visual Studio 2005's compatibility issues have been due to UAC - and primarily with the fact that you're not logged in as a local administrator. This is a workaround until the SP is released.

      The latest CTP/betas of SQL 2005 SP2 are fine under Vista.

      Virtual PC 2004 SP1 and 2007 work fine.
    • Promantarius, on 10/12/2007, -5/+14Microsoft could have worked on it for years longer and there would still be programs that didn't work on it and people would still be writing about them. I wouldn't say it's perfect, or that it's a great upgrade, but you might notice not a lot of people are writing about the applications it does work with, just those that it doesn't. I know, it's a fan boy law to write about all the negative aspects of the OS you don't like for whichever reasons you have, but it's getting silly. A few applications not working through a large alteration of the OS (on the back end at least) isn't that big of a deal. They'll work eventually.
    • Jugalator, on 10/12/2007, -10/+3"Virtual PC - worthless. Don't even attempt on Vista."

      I recommend the same as for XP too. :)

      Use VMware instead. It works on Vista too, and as a bonus, you'll have a vastly better performancing and OS compatible VM tool as well.

      Just say no to Virtual PC. It's often worthless on XP too, depending on what you try to use, and otherwise it's instead merely "bad".
    • MioTheGreat, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Visual Studio 2005 with the Vista SP1 patches works fine for me. SQL Server 2005 SP1 also works fine for me.
    • vbsurfer, on 10/12/2007, -8/+3Could someone test PS3 Beta ?
  • zzyzx57, on 10/12/2007, -6/+31I have also been using Vista for a couple of months and I really like using it. I haven't had it crash yet and it seems pretty well put together. 99% of programs that worked on XP seem to work with it too, with the only exception I have found being Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Overall I am pleased, but I don't know if I would pay hundreds of dollars to own it.
    • jer2eydevil88, on 10/12/2007, -18/+7I'm not sure if I like the DRM and the constant security checks myself. To each their own though, I'm sure it's going to help the more ignorant users... but at what cost? The better the software the better the idiot's will get.
    • PayneX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11Not to be one of those "it worked for me so it must work for you" people....but GTA:SA works for me in vista.
    • Jugalator, on 10/12/2007, -5/+16"I'm not sure if I like the DRM and the constant security checks myself. "

      If you don't like the DRM, you just don't use DRM protected media. It's not like it will affect you otherwise. If you're talking about, say, HDCP and reduced quality HD-DVD output on non-compliant monitors, well, surely Windows XP, OS X, or Ubuntu isn't better alternatives as for that? If you're unlucky, such content will not even be supported in reduced quality, and these OS'es definitely don't hack your video in the background to somehow avoid the DRM and play in full quality.

      I'll personally take an OS that supports DRM than not anyday. In that case, if I have some brain damage (or if a godlike movie is released where I wish to support the movie company) and start using DRM content in the future, I'll at least be able to play it. If not, I won't even have a choice.
    • sirloin, on 10/12/2007, -15/+3Well one it uses energy and power that could be used elsewhere.. STudies say on thinngs like ipods you lose 25% of batt life due to drm, so my powerbill will include a surcharge to make sure i am not pirating.
      SUre vista is the only hd drm compatibile os and they had to put in all this crap too keep the industry happy but it will bite them.
      People that try to upgrade their systems will discover they will be nickled and dimed to death just to play content they already and legally own. ALso what about sound cards? No i would rather voice my opposition to the constant path towaards removing ownership and fair use from contant. And if that means using a drm free os that has zero chance of supporting hd-dvd and blueray, then so be it. rather that than to have to buy a new monitor to replace my less than a year old monitor to play this dvd i bought only to find out my brand new vid card doesnt have the drm in it to play it anyway.. and what do you mean i need to use on board sound.
      No screw the power tax, and screw the "you are a theif until you prove you arent" drm.
    • TonyCubed, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16I couldn't give a rats ass about DRM, Windows Media Player 11 allows me to rip CD's in MP3 format. All my other files like Video and stuff work perfectly fine.
    • captainzerocool, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I didn't have a problem getting GTA: SA to install or play in Vista.
  • dgcrazykid, on 10/12/2007, -2/+25i have had zero problem with my ipod, and Firefox works great.
    • jer2eydevil88, on 10/12/2007, -17/+3How bout that Zune? oh actually I think there is a fix, just be sure to have an internet connection before you attach your Zune to that Vista computer.
    • geoken, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7"just be sure to have an internet connection before you attach your Zune to that Vista computer."

      Do you guys ever give up? They relaesed the app and it didn't work with their unreleased, new OS. Months before the OS is released they make an update to the Zune software and everything works fine and you guys still bitch because you need to download the software.
    • MioTheGreat, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5"just be sure to have an internet connection before you attach your Zune to that Vista computer."

      If you have a Zune, odds are you're going to buy music online, or download music from somewhere. Besides, who doesn't have an internet connection?
  • shm1, on 10/12/2007, -89/+35No way is M$ going to get any more of my money. I finally realized that if I want something like a Mac, I might as well buy a Mac.
    • DoubtfulSalmon, on 10/12/2007, -79/+18amen brother, say it

      (and ignore the downmodders, they're lame!)
    • Bleeblaow, on 10/12/2007, -8/+52Didn't know this article was about Macs. Did I miss something?
    • im12env, on 10/12/2007, -15/+42Oh Here come the Mac Fan Boys.... If you want to be APPLE inc's. Bitch So be it, but dont Flam Vista untill you try it... :/
    • padfoot, on 10/12/2007, -21/+24Have tried it.. And I have been using all the same features in OS X for longer.. Sure Vista is nice but, oh wait, I don't want to start a war. I'm just gonna leave it at this:

      I have tried both, and I prefer OS X.
    • dkm201, on 10/12/2007, -6/+45You totally changed my whole way of thinking when you wrote M$.
    • CBTF, on 10/12/2007, -10/+9No kidding. Nobody cares about what OS you use. Shut up.
    • eyreka, on 10/12/2007, -10/+3Perhaps you MS lock-ins think VISTA is just the best thing since sliced bread but you really should check out
      http://www.grc.com/securitynow.htm and
      http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.txt .
      VISTA Does have a hidden price tag and my fear is that with the hardware requirements re HD content it'll have repercussions for those of us on other OSes too.
    • Vermifax, on 10/12/2007, -2/+17I'm a Mac fanboi/Applebitch of the highest order, 21 years and counting. I own 6 Macs and will purchase a new one if Cupertino rolls out an 8+ Core Mac Pro.

      That being said, I dugg this article up because it seemed like this guy gave a n honest and fair "1st impression" review of Vista without flaming, trolling or Winboisms.

      I've been trying Vista (RC1 & RC2) for the last for months and I agree with this reviewer. Vista's very pretty. The "Are you sure" messages are annoying but, as more developers step up the software to really exploit what all Vista might be capable, it could be very formidable over the next year.

      My main problem with Vista is the rumored NSA's involvement in Windows. I don't trust it.

      The Star Wars Lego game ran fine on Vista. On the Mac mini.

      He's right, though. Get Vista on a new machine. Don't put it on an old one.
    • shm1, on 10/12/2007, -17/+3oooh, the MS Fanboys are digging me down. I scared! I better run and hide.
    • MioTheGreat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Those High-Def DRM things are requirements of the standards for the high-def content. There is no way to get around not implementing them. Apple is going to have to do it too.
    • msgyrd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2The NSA was involved with SElinux. Except, the difference is with opensource, if I'm really that paranoid, I can go look at the source code and see if SElinux has any backdoors, eavesdroppers or phone home functions, or simply not use SElinux at all.

      With OSX and Vista, you're just screwed. Good luck petitioning Apple, Microsoft or the NSA to tell you what was included.
    • TenebrousX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I like how you complain about giving "M$" more money, yet prefer to pay a premium for a Mac (hardware & OS)
    • shm1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1When you buy a Mac, you get what you pay for - a stable reliable system. Shove that in your pipe and smoke it.
  • Ninjin, on 10/12/2007, -5/+43What I got from this article:

    Programs work in Vista.
    Some things maybe won't work.
    It looks pretty.
    Vista uses lots of memory while idling.

    Not that astounding, in my opinion. I'd rather hear about how Vista eats babies and lights homes on fire.
    • zybch, on 10/12/2007, -4/+17Nah, it doesn't eat them. Just bites off their heads. Don't you know anything?
    • HsoKinees, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2bite their heads off?
      when i read that, i automatically thought of Frubes (http://www.itvt.com/TWTV-Frubes-2005.jpg), you know, those yoghurt things.. you bite their heads off and suck out their insides XD
    • cody50, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9apart from lighting your house on fire, I heard that Vista siphons the gas out of your car and sleeps with your wife. well, in the enterprise edition anyway.
  • Junkyarddawg, on 10/12/2007, -3/+33Is it just me or does this article kick in the wide open door to Captain Obvious' office?
    • smallwang, on 10/12/2007, -5/+39This isnt a omg Windows sux, screw M$ article that the Diggers usually bump to the top, so that in itself is amazing.
    • mark1372, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5That article read like some grade-eighters essay.

      'It runs fantastic!"
    • mark1372, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I mean "eighter's."

      /irony
    • snorbaard, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2You, ah, meant "8th-grader's", perhaps?
    • Gir53457, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Probably some weird English way of talking, you know, the unnecessary vowels...
    • andrewrchambers, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1In England we don't refer to a level in school as a "Grade". We would just say "Year 8" if you were in your eighth year of school.

      I find the more I watch TV and read the Internet, however, the more I use more Americanisms. I keep referring to the new "Season" of Family Guy, rather than "Series", which will normally get a laugh and a punch in the arm from a friend. *sigh*
  • Xiol, on 10/12/2007, -7/+34I've just done a fresh installation of Vista on my home PC a few days ago. Despite a shaky start (bluescreened less than 30 mins after install due to some dodgy graphics drivers - my fault) everything seems to be running fine now.

    It's just a pain in the arse shuffling the 300GB of data I've got off my Linux partitions to Windows ones.

    Vista is good. Office 2007 is awesome. The next statement may get me modded down to oblivion, but I think Microsoft may have got closer to getting it right this time.* I'd also just like to state here that the new fonts in Windows look ***** amazing. I seriously have a boner right now from these fonts.

    (* - DRM issues aside).

    [/Long time Linux user, advocate, sysadmin]
    • MrLunar, on 10/12/2007, -4/+10I agree with you wholeheartedly. IE7 looks and works so great in Vista, I haven't even wanted to switch to Firefox yet (Firefox not look so good in Vista by comparison). I haven't got round to installing Office 2007 but I ran the beta in XP and I know how good it is. The only downer is my College still runs the previous Office, obviously, so you lose some of the effects when you have to open documents from there.

      My major problems with Vista seem to stem around Vista x64. Running x86 is a breeze and encounters no problems, but x64 just seems a little, i dunno, 'buggy'. Maybe it's just my hardware.
    • GMorgan, on 10/12/2007, -8/+9Unfortunately the DRM is a killer drawback. Vista doesn't really offer anything new, stability and security is what's needed to get you in the game for my desktop, not a killer feature but a basic requirement. WinFS would have been a killer feature but they dropped it, the one thing that might have convinced even hardcore MS haters that they have done something good and they cut it out.

      Also they are still using bloody rubbish NTFS when they could have used anyone of a million superior FS at no cost to them. Fragmentation FTW then.

      Still a huge raft of legacy code that will eventually lead to exploits in all likelihood. Security is after all proven in the hell fires of use not declared at release.

      Anyway it's still far too early to make any claims of success in the security department.
    • Murdats, on 10/12/2007, -2/+22here we have it. the paradox that microsoft faces

      here we have someone bitching that all the legacy code in windows will cause security holes
      scroll up a bit and you see people bitching that not 100% of their programs work in vista and it sucks for breaking them

      the only solution microsoft has is to change the laws of physics, no matter what they do, people bitch about them (and no matter what apple does, people praise them (im getting so buried by the apple zealots for that one))
    • TonyCubed, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3Wasn't WinFS meant to be coming in Vista SP1 or something?
  • avatarpalin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Hmmm I might sound like a bit of a downer but it besides a few apps that were able to run the piece was a bit short of 'user experience'

    • sishgupta, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12No kidding. This was an amazingly weak blog post...even for a blog post.
    • IloveGOD, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9I agree. Kinda like saying that "the new Mazda is excellent - been using it for a month and it needed no repairs, fueling up worked (!), and I could even wash it without the paint coming off - oh, and it smells nice and new on the inside, everything shiny..."

      Being an IT guy, I would like to know how much of the stuff users call me to solve for them this OS prevents (or makes easier to solve). Does it do anything significant that XP (or 98SE) doesn't? (hmmmm, did XP do anything significant that 98 SE didn't ?)

      I remind you all that the average user runs XP for a 6-18 months, not 1, before hitting the light-blue "memory dump because of a driver blowing up" / "can't find ntldr" / "your registry just got flushed down the toilet" / "hi, i'm your newly installed malware, and i took advantage of a new 'feature' in this OS that no one yet know about to get in. Your PC will shut down in 60...59...58" (remember the messenger service, activeX, msblaster and what not?).

      I would like to know how Vista behaves when you want to re-install *just* the OS, and not kill your own files, settings, etc. What does the system restore *not* restore this time? (try getting your registry hives back in XP's system restore...)
  • waffledad, on 10/12/2007, -7/+14sorry, this doesn't inspire me to spend my hard earned money on Vista when XP is running quite fine for me. Besides, when I upgrade, it will probably go with Mac.
    • silverj, on 10/12/2007, -11/+6Your loss. I've been testing out Vista for months and it hasn't crashed yet and the performance is much better than XP for me.

      All you have to do is a buy a new computer with vista pre-installed. Don't have to worry about buying the full version or upgrade.
    • Vermifax, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6silverj's wrong. You won't lose anything with a Mac. Plus, you can run Vista on a Mac. Best of both worlds or something...
  • zhulien, on 10/12/2007, -14/+5I am yet to see a negative review on Vista in a Print Magazine anywhere. I know that some people can legitimately like it, but having been using it for about 2 months (pre-RTM, RTM etc) for development at work, I cannot say much good about it. I honestly am the type of person to criticise anything bad in 'any' OS. Vista is a giant leap BACKWARDS from XP. From a Windows perspective I'd say 98SE and XP were the two best Windows so far, XP winning only by the fact it didn't crash as often. Almost all the additions in Vista are horrible from the aweful GUI (even when you put it in classic mode, you still get a horrible new Explorer - thank god for 3rd party replacements). The firewall sucks, the browser sucks, the media player sucks, the anti-spyware (if you trust it) sucks. M$ lost the plot with Vista instead of making the computer a better experience for us Geeks, have chosen to attract newbies or non-technical people with their crappy DRM and security features. I am sure at this point in time, at home I will NOT buy, copy or use Vista (work: that's not my choice).
    • silverj, on 10/12/2007, -13/+8It's Microsoft and NOT M$. Blocked for being so childish.
    • brindon, on 10/12/2007, -9/+4The people who made my soundcard (a high end card that does on the fly 5.1 and 7.1 DTS and Dolby Digital live re-encoding) won't be making a Vista driver, as the old 64 bit XP driver works fine.

      That is, it DID work fine with the pre-RTM Vista. M$ decided to make signing/approval/whatever mandatory for their drivers. Now, I have to press F8 each time I start vista, and I get a horrible warning about how the driver is unapproved. M$ can deprecate support for this at any time.

      Thanks a lot M$! You've converted me from cheerleader to critic in one fell swoop. (I reformatted my harddrive and now use a nice clean copy of XP).
    • g3r4, on 10/12/2007, -10/+5@silverj

      Blocked for being a cockbag.
    • willgill, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7"From a Windows perspective I'd say 98SE and XP were the two best Windows so far"
      Are you 85? In a cave? High? I started to write a comprehensive list of Vista improvements over 98SE but it's like comparing a Chrysler 300C to my son's Lil' Red Wagon.
  • Inverno, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2What I really want to know is, how're the dvd ripping software titles holding up? If I can't back up my dvds I'll go to a 64 bit enabled linux distro.
  • Fairly, on 10/12/2007, -16/+7Oh PUH-leeze. I'll give you "observations" you wallies.

    http://www.rixstep.com/2/1/20070112,01.shtml

    Swallow this you tards:
    - 11% of computers online contain botnet code.
    - 250,000 new Windows systems get botted every day.
    - 80+% of all spam is generated through botnets today.
    - The 'one billion spam messages per day by a single ISP' mark was reached in December 2006.

    That that's ONLY Windows machines, you tards. I am so sick and tired of you royally screwed up people.

    http://www.support-intelligence.com/

    I do NOT want to hear any more nonsense about "IE7 looks great." You people are just too too much.
  • TechCF, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Well, I'm in Vista x64 (RTM of Retail Norwegian version) - And I'm not very happy about driver and software support from third parties. I only have stereo out, even with two surround capable sound cards. Even the nForce4 drivers on the Vista DVD is crippled. Neither of my two webcams work. iTunes kinda work, but slow (even though my machine has a rating of 5.0, 5.9, 5.9, 5.8, 5.9).

    BUT, I will not go back to XP :) Funny thing is that just now the hardware support is just as good in Ubuntu AMD64 as in Vista x64 :D
    • GMorgan, on 10/12/2007, -7/+4Hardware support in Linux walks all over Vista at the moment. Vista will end up only allowing signed drivers exacerbating the problem.
  • deadbaby, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Here's what I've learned using Vista RTM for one month:

    The BAD:
    -Lack of RDP in Home Prem. is annoying as hell. Feels like a downgrade to me.
    -MCE, which is what I primarily use, is really not any different from MCE2k5. UI looks a little better but the functionality is exactly the same. The TV functions seem like they have major performance problems. My guide takes about 15 seconds to come up, and when it does, it:s not really usable for another 10-15s.
    -Sluggish even on 1GB of ram at times.
    -UAC is such a pain in the ass but I'm too paranoid to disable it.
    -Still many incompatibilities on the 64bit build.

    The GOOD:
    -Explorer has some much needed upgrades.
    -The theme isn't so bad once you disable transparency
    -The Snipping Tool is pretty handy
    -The search functionality seems to work as advertised
    -No more shutdown hangs, sleep seems to work. (had many issues with XP on this hardware)

    It's your typical Windows release. Not that bad, not that great. Meh.
  • zodieman, on 10/12/2007, -9/+3Has anyone read Peter Gutmann's review of Vista re: DRM and drivers?:
    http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.txt
    Great read but scary stuff.
    • BillehBob, on 10/12/2007, -8/+3Yep. The whole DRM thing is the only reason I won't downgrade to Windows Vista.
    • Soulhuntre, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2It's intended to be scary stuff. Its a lame attempt at FUD by someone desperate for attention.
  • sirloin, on 10/12/2007, -16/+1pirates week in vista hell.(umm heard this from a friend of a friend)
    Downloaded a aio copy of vista and a copy with added programs like firefox.
    both worked fine in vmware.
    both would seeem to burn to dvd without error, but the dvd would never work to install, no matter what program or how slow i burnt the dvd. I now have a whole stack of coasters, my woodwear is well protected.
    SO network install it is.
    Well many hours later i have vista running. There are 2 cracks for wpa that i know to work. One were you replace key files with older versions from a previous beta and another that you create a fake kms server and activate using that, a bit more legit but you have to reactivate every 180 days.
    So i try the kms server. installing vmware in vista it gave me a warning that it wouldnt work, i ignored vista and vmware started just fine(stupid os), then i ran vmwares update to grab any fixes, vista crashed(ok maybe the os knew something) I grabbed the vista ready beta of vmware of their site. It is a pain to get the kms server just right and it didnt work anyway(not yet) because i installed ultimate vista and the kms server trick only works on the business versions. This is beginning to feel like a game of wow. the file replacement trick worked, vista says it is activated. I reboot and watch some morning tv. A few hours later i see a pop up. Vista is complaining I am a pirate. Damn wga.
    well i hose that install and reinstall, this time vista enterprise and the kms activation crack. I turned off autoudates and simply refuse to down wga, untill i get a working work arround.(havent really tried much)
    View after a week. OSX is really looking cool these days.. have you seen parrells? the new beta rocks.
    The acs drm is very very scary crap as well. The mpaa and riaa cartels need to die.
    • mobilehavoc, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6Love it - complaining that pirating Vista is annoying. What a ***** loser...stop trying to be a freeloader and pay for ***** you use. Dugg down.
    • willgill, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4So you're running pirated Vista in VMware and having issues? no kidding
      What is "parrells"? I've heard of parallels. Parallels is mainly used for running Windows inside of OSx. I call Parallels secret obsession software.
    • sirloin, on 10/12/2007, -6/+2you are free to express yourself as you see fit. Just sharing the info, that maybe it is difficult. I didnt complain about the pirate protection at all, simply complained about the effort to get around it.. If you notice i suggest OSX at the end, which lol is a might bit harder to pirate. And this was just an experiment. If i choose to use vista, i will be buying it.

      Last this is also a good point becuase gates has even stated previously that he left things easy to pirate for expanded acceptability. Now they they own the market share they nolonger felt he need to allow their software to become easy to pirate.


      Further on the drm issue, they are locking down the machine, kind of like apple, you will only be able to buy approved componants. This is a far greater complaint than any priacy issue.
    • sirloin, on 10/12/2007, -6/+2NO i didnt have any problems with vista in vmware.. works great, i highly suggest it for testers.
      I did have a problem with installing vmware on vista.. it crashed when i ran update.

      Parrellels is the vmware of macs.. or vmware has a mac version but yeah it is the virtualisation app for the mac. The newest beta lets you break out of the virtualisation window and run your apps side by side with interactive functions like drag and drop and cut and paste. SO now you can run linux, windows and mac apps from the desktop. It is slick and skippy. And runs much better than past solutions. Looks mega cool.. and macs are going to opposite direction of ms, they are becoming more open while windows is becoming more closed.
    • wolf08, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Neither macs nor apple is moving towards openness. Reports are that the iPhone will be closed down, etc... On the other hand, windows is becoming more closed also.

    • sirloin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1mac is heading towards openness only slightly with the change in hardware.. i didnt mean to suggest that they are becoming more open than windows, just the direction of the openness arrows is opposite.
    • MikeCerm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The switch to Intel isn't a move towards openness for Apple. If anything, it's a prime example of just how closed they are. They put DRM right on the motherboard! They could just remove 2 lines of code and instantly allow OSX to run on beige boxes, and they won't! What could possibly be less open?
  • mobilehavoc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I bought a Sony laptop with XP Pro in December so I'm just waiting for Sony to ship me my FREE Vista Business copy in the next few weeks. You can't complain with a FREE upgrade now can you? Besides if the release is anything like the betas then I'm looking forward to it.

    FYI...I believe most OEMs are offering a free Vista upgrade for any PC/laptops purchased since last Oct/Nov if you aren't aware.
    • shm1, on 10/12/2007, -10/+1Heh - good luck rolling back to XP when your shiny new machine slows down to a crawl.
    • lacronicus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3will someone please release a benchmark showing that vista runs fine on decent specs and non integrated gfx. wait, whats that you say? they already have?

      STFU MS haters. you and your tin foil hats. and you say windows users are ignorant
  • tmilam, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1When I tried out firefox in vista I had a serious problem with firefox 'jumping' up and down. Made the browser less than worthless.
  • jellygraph, on 10/12/2007, -12/+3Marked as lame because it doesn't touch on the fact that Microsoft is ass-raping us all with Vista, if they can have it their way, with DRM...

    Don't you realize that Microsoft has spent so much time trying to shove a large pole up Vista's ass with all the content protection subsystems and "plugging the analogue hole", that your PC is going to turn into a frustrating pile of crap and your Blueray/HD-DVD drive can disable itself at Microsoft or MPAA's whim? Stuff like that!

    Don't you realize that Microsoft has spent all this time, delaying Vista and cutting most of all the cool promised features, because they were busy adding this ( http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.txt ) stuff?

    There's no way in hell I'm getting Vista. And there's no way anyone in my family are either. If I find a PC with it on, I'll convert it back to whatever... even Windows XP is better at this point.
    • lacronicus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3really. two steps forward and one step back is still a step forward. at least i can play blu ray and hddvd. if i remember correctly, anything that does not have this support wont play them at all, so get over it. at least you can play it. i personally wont buy either format for a while, so it doesnt beother me, and i fail to see why anyone else would want to either. you have a 50% chance of picking the right format, otherwise your out a few hundred bucks. not all that great. so just wait a while. vista needs this to play either format, and it doesnt even affect the os when your not playing a movie. ignorance!!
  • topnotchnet, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Pentium 4, 2.8ghz, 1 gb memory, no video card, built about 3.5 years ago

    using vista32 for about 1 month
    normal process' on start up with xp 18-20, with vista 35-37
    (of course currently dont know which ones are needed and can be turned off)

    programs that worked without any problems
    anydvd, clone dvd, dvd shrink, dvd decryptor, utorrent, office 2007, photoshop, paint.net, dreamweaver, contribute, iso buster, firefox, imgburn, foobar, winavi

    programs i had problems with
    autogk would force vista to reboot halfway thru either a memory issue or video card
    it did tell me to turn down the acceleration on video card when i clicked yes to "search for solutions"
    which is another new feature that should help a lot of folks

    nero was a pain to install (but when isnt it) and even after it did install it would recognize dvds and burn them but the cd burning was not recognized, vista/nero says the new version is compatible but i dont agree

    vista def needs memory 1.5-2gb anything les i wouldnt bother till you upgrade
    this is an old system so i wouldnt upgrade unless you have a newer system (dual core or core 2)

    as far as usability, you def wont want to go back to xp (unfortunately i had too. it would reboot at least once a day,
    and i need my autogk and nero) but ive been waiting to buy a new pc when it actually ships so come feb i will be upgrading to a new system, i really dont know why anyone would buy a new system this month

    its a lot faster, the way programs are listed in the start bar will be alot easier for people to use, the search is amazingly fast, and 10xs prettier than xp, but since i didnt have a video card really wasnt able to fully see all the eye candy,

    my 2
  • looke, on 10/12/2007, -10/+2Im just waiting for the day everyone switches to linux.
    • JamesSaveker, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5You will be waiting a long time.
    • CBTF, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Better take a seat, then.
    • buk110, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3As soon as people learn you can watch wmv files in the browser *cough -- porn --- cough* and that wine does let you play WoW they will jump over.

    • whiteguysamurai, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8HA!
      You think troubleshooting a Microsoft product is hard, try troubleshooting a Linux problem.
      When something goes wrong with Linux, there is no predictable way to fix it, and with the high learning curve and no one wanting to do anything about it, imagine reading paragraphs of scripts to a lady over the phone.
      How long do will that last before she says "I'm going back to Windows".

      Well, it's happened to me, when i tried to get the Snohomish/island school district to go Linux for "cost reasons".
      It was a disaster.

      Windows may have it's problems, but Linux is no better, No, It's much worse.
  • bleutuna, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4[sarcasm] OMG! HE LIKES VISTA! HE MUST BE A PLANT! MICROPOOOOP! [/sarcasm]
  • jeffgtr, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4This is pretty sad. An article describing how Vista actually works, hasn't crashed in a month. An article about how you can actually install Vista on a computer and you a handful of programs actually run without issue. Gosh, you can actually install XP and have it running without any crashes.What is so revolutionary about this?
    • Topher06, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Thats the same sentiment people had when Windows XP came out. Why do I need it over Windows 2000? And when Windows 2000 came out, why do I need it over Win98Se. And when Win98 came out, why do I need it over Win95, etc, etc, etc. But you see, Windows 95 compared to Windows XP is a POS of the highest degree, so in some way, Microsoft is ever improving their OS version after version.

      Say something new.
  • jamima69z, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1yeah,crap article.

    as much as i cringe at the thought,i'm just going to have to learn linux. there is no way i'm going to sign on for all that drm nastyness,plus all that stuff that's there that we haven't found out about yet. not to mention all the pre sp1 bugs and holes.

    *shakes head*

    command line crap,giving a ***** which kernel version i have,manual package installs/dependency issues.....damn you to hell m$ for making me do this.
    • whiteguysamurai, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Or you could just use xp/2k...
      Those seem to work great.
    • CrazyZ, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8If you actually want to use your computer for anything multimedia in the near future, you will have to deal with drm in some form or another. Sorry, but that's just how it's going right now. Whether it's Apple, MS,or someone else. If you want to be locked out of HD content etc. then use Linux or wait for it to be cracked but either way, you're experience will be less, or you will be doing it illegally. It's sucks, but until content providers change their tune (the consumer isn't having much affect on them right now) the OS makers are going to comply so that they are not locked out. That's why OS X and Vista are DRM laden.
    • orbit1979, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"damn you to hell m$ for making me do this."

      Oh come on know, quite acting like a ***** child. Microsoft is not making you do anything.
  • CrazyZ, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10Been using Vista RTM since it was available on MSDN. Pre RTM's were useless to me, couldn't even install properly because of my hardware. The RTM is night and day different. Install without a hitch, in about 35 minutes. Installation was simple. Asked about 5 questions and pick which drive, walked away and came back to find the login screen waiting for me.

    Vmware workstation 5, though it says it won't work, installed and works fine. Visual Studio 2005 sp1, SQL2005Express works fine, Quicken 2006, Firefox, AVG, Office 2003, DVDShrink all work flawlessly. The only thing I had trouble with was Battlefield 1942's punkbuster client. I had to manually update it the first time and the new version works fine with Vista RTM.

    Speed wise, it's faster than XP in some area's and a little clunky in others, but overall I am impressed, considering that my workstation doesn't meet the Vista minimum requirements for processor or video, and I am running the default Aero theme. Visually, I am not "crazy" about the Aero theme, but the font's etc. are killer imo.

    I like some of the new multimedia features such as the new photo gallery, Dvd maker, etc. thought 3rd party apps will most likely be better.

    Networking is much easier than XP, and though I've read some people are having problems with drive mappings, I am having absolutely no issues mapping to my media pc or my wife's workstation.

    File and share permissions are a breeze and though I have everything locked down, and I am running as a normal user, the prompts for escalated privileges are not that intrusive or I've gotten used to it. If you use Ubuntu, it's about the same as being prompted for sudo whenever you try to do something at the "system" level. I actually like it, but I don't know if the typical "end user" will.

    The OS itself has been 100% rock solid for me, and I have only been able to crash it by trying to install applications I know wouldn't work, and even then the whole OS was never brought to it's knees. I'm pretty impressed so far.

    Is it worth upgrading from XP? Tough call, depends I guess it depends on how "secure" it actually ends up being in the longer run. Is it better than XP? IMHO yes it is, but saying that, If I didn't have MSDN, I'd wait till I bought a new PC that came with it, or built a new one and purchased an OEM version at hopefully a discounted price.
    • thespacepope, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Thank you, CrazyZ. That was better written and more informative than the original article.
  • Vermifax, on 10/12/2007, -11/+3Leopard.
    • Topher06, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Sure, Leopard runs on my PC you say. I'll grab a copy when it comes out. Oh, it doesn't...its a hard sell when a $130 OS costs $3130 because you need new hardware to run it on.

      Why not just say "Ubuntu"!. I mean, Ubuntu is safe, secure, and has low overhead. Ubuntu also runs all the PC games and software I want to play and use right...

      Think before you yell out an OS name.
    • iindigo, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3"Sure, Leopard runs on my PC you say. I'll grab a copy when it comes out. Oh, it doesn't...its a hard sell when a $130 OS costs $3130 because you need new hardware to run it on."

      Way to exaggerate costs. Macs range anywhere between $599 to $3500+ in cost, it all depends on what you're looking for.

      And please, stop humping your little custom-made PC box. It's really not all that special.
    • wolf08, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1@iindigo

      Not that special? It's special because it's the way I want it. If I don't want something, it's not in there. If I want it, it is. That's enough to make it priceless for me. I don't want tpm, I don't want drm, I don't want to be limited in fair use. I don't pirate dvds, and I'm not going to pirate hddvd/bluray dvds. That's what I get by building my box - my way - my decisions.
    • Vermifax, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@Topher06

      "Sure, Leopard runs on my PC you say."

      No, I don't say and couldn't care if Leopard runs on a Dell or whatever. As long as Leopard runs on any of my 6 Macs, I'm more than good.

      "Think before you yell out an OS name."

      Hmmmm, I thought about it for over 18 months: Leopard.

      Games...? I just got thru playing a demo of "Prey" from Aspyr.

      So, I'm thinking.......Leopard.

      I've had Vista on my Mac mini for the last three months. I only use it because I actually like to USE things before I critique them.

      That being said......... Leopard.

      @wolf08

      My Mac Pro is exactly how I want it. I still want 8 cores or more though. I'm a "Core Whore". :-)


      (Sheesh, I wish Digg "carded at the door"!)
  • UbuntuFedora, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0The 1st gen ipod shuffle worked fine on vista for me
    Hp dv1660se 1.66Mhz Intel Centrino duo, 1GB of ram, and 80GB hd, 251Mb available graphics memory
  • ThirdPrize, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1An article that didn't say that much followed by 90+ comments that state the obvious. Remind me, just what is the point?
  • Topher06, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9As a software developer for Windows, I can say that Vista isn't the end of the line for Windows OS'es, but a beginning. I equate Vista to XP as Windows 95 was to Win3.11.

    Cosmetically it is very different from XP for the most part, and so its the one thing people key off of when talking about Vista. Those naysayers say "Ohh, all they did was make the UI transparent" and then feel safe and secure in their bias against Microsoft products. Those that hate Windows continue to hate it because, even after never using Vista, they have some form of validity that their anti-microsoft statements about UI that looks like Apple's OSX on crack. But its the same trite and unoriginal commentary that has been said over and over again for every Windows product release since people started bitching online.

    From a programmer's perspective, Vista offers lots of new and exciting features, as well as finally introducing a consolidated API that is uniform and robust. While not dead yet, the idea of writing an application using a mix of Win32, MFC, ATL, COM, and a slew of other half-assed implemented API's is over. .Net 3.0 consolidates all these features and a heck of a lot more into a central API. Vista's new presentation foundation offers a dramatically new way to design applications, allowing graphics artists to design the app of their dreams and programmers the ability to easily connect the front end to the back end code. While I am sure initially we will see a slew of overwrought application UI's with sliding this and fading in and out that, eventually these tools will lead to innovations that no other OS can offer yet, not in an easy to use API. Apple might offer Core Graphics an Core Animation tools, but ever write an Application using Objective-C?

    So many people are questioning the need for Vista now. I don't see Vista as an upgrade for computers 2 years old, I see it as the necessary OS to drive PC innovation forward 2 years from now. I don't recommend anybody upgrading to Vista unless their new computer either comes with an express upgrade, or they have access to Vista through channles like MSDN subscriptions. If your new computer comes with Vista enjoy it. It might not be the most secue OS out their, but it is certainly a heck of a lot more secure then XP and Microsoft will lock down any problems a lot quicker on VIsta then on XP.

    Anyways, the naysayers having never used Vista are all warmongering and yelling out OS alternatives like they have Turrets syndrome, unable to prevent themselves from speaking before they think. If you have had a chance to objectively use Vista, you will find it both a decent and welcome upgrade to XP, if your a programmer for Windows applications, you should be seriously looking at .Net 3.0 and the power it can add to your applications. But, I am sure 3 years from now the biggest thing people will bitch about is why its taking Microsoft so long to develop their next OS, because they just want to put a hate on something new.
    • iindigo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3You speak as if Objective-C is a bad thing. I really don't see how this is true, as I've worked with it, and it's powerful while being simple and easy to grasp.
    • BlackAdderIII, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1"As a software developer for Windows, I can say that Vista isn't the end of the line for Windows OS'es, but a beginning. I equate Vista to XP as Windows 95 was to Win3.11."

      It's funny you say that, because I remember windows 95 being a complete nightmare, and lots of people staying away from it like the plague for as long as possible.

      In the cases of some clients, until windows 98 itself was released.

      "Anyways, the naysayers having never used Vista are all warmongering and yelling out OS alternatives like they have Turrets syndrome, unable to prevent themselves from speaking before they think. If you have had a chance to objectively use Vista, you will find it both a decent and welcome upgrade to XP"

      I've had a chance to look at it. If it I found it was Good, I'd say so - if I thought I should recommend it, I would, because I have integrity and am fairly savvy - like so many people on this site who get continually characterised as "warmongers" and "fanboys" because they dare to say things that make some people get overly defensive.

      I can't recommend it, because in almost every important feature it's not a patch on the other stuff out there. Many of the issues with it seem to be the result of conscious decisions, pretty much every whizz-bang feature is pinched from mac or linux, and is done better elsewhere anyway. What would I be advising people to pay hundreds of dollars for? No, I couldn't do that and have a clean conscience - and I hope you realise there are perfectly nice decent programmers etc. who would agree that aren't just "bitching" about it.

      As for a new Vista variant of win API, it's really not going to be lucrative enough for me to throw away support of most platforms. It's all very nice, until you have to do something else with the code, then it's rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, which for my work, would happen too much - but hey, knock yourself out.

      I can see why .Net/Mono are interesting, I really can, and of course I've paid my pennance dicking around with them, but too many folks want nice and safe or "future-proof" portable code these days.

      There's also a complete set of perfectly good technologies that are cross-platform and can do everything you're going to need without using .Net.

      So you see personally, I couldn't recommend windows for its platform-exclusive bits any more than I could recommend an mp3 player for its non-standard earphone jacks - it's just drawing a smiley on a wart and saying "hey! Check out this cool new 3D emoticon".

      Just some thoughts. :)
  • jsusanka, on 10/12/2007, -6/+3I can have all that now on linux - and I can audit the code if I see fit and I have military grade security too. and I run a number of virtual machines that run websites and ftp sites.

    I also didn't have to buy any new hardware.

    troubleshooting linux is much easier that windows anyday. although you will have to do it less with linux.
    • lacronicus, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5"troubleshooting linux is much easier that [sic] windows anyday"
      that made my day. I spent over a half an hour trying to install my video drivers on ubuntu, and it still wouldnt load them. not cool, especially when windows makes it a five minute process.

      I installed linux after my vista beta ran out, thinking that it would be a perfect time to try it out. install was ok, but after that, trying to load anything that wasnt on that software list was a pain. even wine, which was on there, was far from an easy setup. xp was better in most everything. true, there were a few things i loved about linux, but i switched back to xp in the next few days. say what you will about linux, its definitely not easier than windows. considering that i do have decent hardware, ill likely be upgrading to vista in the next few months, and all things considered, ill prrobably be happy that i did.
    • iindigo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3@lacronicus:

      I don't know what you're talking about, because I installed Ubuntu Edgy 6.10 on my PC and WINE was a breeze to set up. I just installed it via the Add/Remove Software panel and started running Windows applications... no real setup was required. On top of that, Ubuntu came with drivers for my PC's sound card that Windows didn't come with at all (which actually shocked me).
    • Funguar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Getting things like wireless working in Linux is still a pain though. It still has a *little* way to go before being easy enough for regular people to use. (Part of the problem is 3rd party driver support though.)
    • BlackAdderIII, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I love the way troubleshooting is supposed to be so much harder on Linux, when error output is largely top secret and/or cryptic on windows, and the slightest real problem with a software or driver is "End Of Road reinstall me and/or wait for a fix in two versions' time".

      So, it's easier in windows to give up in desperation and just reinstall stuff when things go wrong ("windows end user troubleshooting").

      Oh, well w00t.
    • jsusanka, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"that made my day. I spent over a half an hour trying to install my video drivers on ubuntu, and it still wouldnt load them. not cool, especially when windows makes it a five minute process.

      I installed linux after my vista beta ran out, thinking that it would be a perfect time to try it out. install was ok, but after that, trying to load anything that wasnt on that software list was a pain. even wine, which was on there, was far from an easy setup. xp was better in most everything. true, there were a few things i loved about linux, but i switched back to xp in the next few days. say what you will about linux, its definitely not easier than windows. considering that i do have decent hardware, ill likely be upgrading to vista in the next few months, and all things considered, ill prrobably be happy that i did."


      that makes my day - I have installed numerous proprietary drivers on ubuntu and it works just fine and was easy as can be - oops I forgot you have to actually change file and nv to nvidia in it. ya you never have to do that windows (cough cough registry).

      wine was joke to setup on ubuntu - apt-get install wine - or use the add/remove programs.

      can I have your old hardware when you upgrade to vista - because you know you will have to buy all new hardware to have the 3d effects and I am sure your current can more than do it on linux now. and I am sure all those apps you have to buy (cough cough) will have to have new hardware to run decently - because of all the innovation that is in vista.
  • imac79, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I don't do impressions.
    • vbsurfer, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Surely you can't be serious.

      I am serious... and don't call me Shirley.
  • SystmBetatester, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2firefox has worked fine for me other then streaming WMP videos not working, and the ipod works alright its jsut the itunes software is pretty retarded and lags up adding my 5000+ library all at once, not to say xp didnt have the same issue its just vista takes it to the next step and locks the system then crashes
  • orbit1979, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Wow. Finally an un-biased user review of Vista. Usually these reviews are written by Mac-fanboys or Linux zealots who haven't even used Vista and are hell-bent on bringing Microsoft down regardless of what they release.
    • BWhaler, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1For the love of God, if you think that is true, do a Google search and find thousands of reviews by pro-Windows people & organizations.

      Keep your hater comments to yourself, Idiot.
  • thx11384eb, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3well what do you expect with 5 years development from hundreds of programmers and billions of dollars spent. You think with that much time spent they would have something revolutionary. He said vista runs fine when he has it crippled, so hes basically running a souped up xp. Microsoft has no sense of balance anymore since they feel as though they can simply buy there way into any market. It was discovered earlier this year some poor programming in xp cause power management to malfunction and it was estimated it caused billions of dollars in wasted electricity expenses. The Linux and Apple release cycles may be shorter but at least they can add more to the operating system in the long run instead of trying to build from the ground up. Vista was suppose to be the motherload but now since most of the software has been back ported to xp it lost much of its appeal to those whom wanted it. Vista will fail as it alienates its customer base as well as developers whom would rather use something that has to be crippled or meet microsoft standards
    • miker71, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2How can Vista 'fail' when it will come pre-installed on about 200 million PCs over the next 12 months or so?
    • CrazyZ, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Seeing as linux's power management is horrible to non-existent, how much electricity would that OS be wasting if it was installed on as many PC's as Windows? Seriously? I've been using various distro's for over 10 years, and power management has never worked right for me on numerous workstations and laptops.
    • damentz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Thats the failure, its being preloaded. All PC's should not be preloaded. Just give us the damn computer, the OS disc, and driver discs. ***** anyone who cant install it like that. They should learn how to so they aren't aggravating me.
    • BlackAdderIII, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Thats the failure, its being preloaded. All PC's should not be preloaded. Just give us the damn computer, the OS disc, and driver discs. ***** anyone who cant install it like that. They should learn how to so they aren't aggravating me."

      Haha, sometimes I feel like that - long for the good old days, when men were real men, computers were real computers, and small blue furry creatures from the crab nebula were *real* small blue furry creatures from the crab nebula - and we traded vast collections of software and stuff through BBS and snail mail, and looked forward to having computers with 512k one day in the future.

      People who couldn't use a computer used to leave us alone back then, and everyone you spoke to about computers, online or offline, knew what they were talking about, or respected you because you did. Oh well, egality, freedom to get at information and all that. :)

      Every time someone makes me sit and fix the wireless connection on their windows laptop because they had a "random clicking seizure" and messed it up, for no money, I silently curse IBM for instigating the spread of the home PC.
  • pabster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Well, once nVidia gets off their asses and releases a G80 driver for Vista...

    Oh, and once Creative makes some X-Fi drivers that work reliably under Vista...

    And once Dell has Vista printer drivers...

    Otherwise the OS itself is great. I just can't use it until the drivers are ready.
    • orbit1979, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Given that Vista has not even been released to the public yet, I'm sure the vendors will have the drivers ready, unless they decide not to support older models of hardware. In those cases, that is not Microsoft's decision, but I'm sure people will bitch them out anyway.
    • damentz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Thats all? You forgot they ***** with the control panel and all other options, it takes 3x as long to find something now. I cant even change my ***** font.
  • jchandler, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1I hope Vista beats Leopard to become a more used system, because it deserves to be.

    Josh Chandler
    http://www.josh-chandler.blogspot.com
    • Vermifax, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Mediocrity almost always outsells genius so, put your worry-head to rest.
      Vista will ruin....(ahem) RULE the World as you wish.
    • ShrimpCrackers, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1@Vermifax

      Explains the overpriced and overhyped iPods then. You know how especially ***** iTunes and iPods are if you listen to non-English music with it?
    • Vermifax, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@ShrimpCrackers

      I said "almost". And, I'm glad I didn't attend YOUR high school.

      Non-English music......is that like American music......?

      Jeez, I wish Digg carded at the door...
  • mattc908, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Only 512mb Idle speed used of ram, wow thats not bad (sarcasm), WTF thats pathetic for a OS.
    • kheldorin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Read up on SuperFetch. Unused memory is wasted memory. Superfetch basically learns what programs you usually run and load parts of it into memory. So when you finally start the application, the loading time will be minimised.

      Current memory management is kinda crude. When you leave your desktop for a few hours and comes back to it, everything is slow.
  • digitallysick, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I agree if you have a dualcore proc, and at lest 2gb of ram, and an areo compatible vid card, then go for it. It will run great. I see some lag with a non dualcore, and the x64 seems to take up almost 50% of my 2gb of ram =(
  • dgblackout, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1i'm a mac user, but i'm exited about vista.
    it's going to be more secure, so more people will get better software and less crashes.

    kernel patch prevention is nice, in the 64 bit version.
    i like the 64 bit version of vista, but the 32 bit one is alright as well, and a boost on top of what microsoft's already offering. shame they had to rebuld the stack on it.

    that puts in a lot of what ifs and bugs.
  • BWhaler, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2It's so odd that I may never use Vista.

    It's just a personal bellwether for how the IT industry and buying habits are changing. I am no fan of MS, but I am not a hater either, and have bought every version of Office since the 80's and every version of Windows (except for that joke Windows ME)

    But I am passing on the new office and windows. It really is no interest to me whatsoever.

    Again, just one data point. But I think I am not alone.

    (But the next version of OS X and iWork has me excited beyond words and I will buy them on the release day. Again, not a hater, it's just interesting to me how my buying habits have changed over the past couple of year.
  • No.Gov, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The only problem I have with Vista is that it isn't out yet, which means that almost every program i've used has had some bug in it. Windows Mobile Center Beta, Opera, Firefox, IE 7, Media Player Classic has a problem when the Aero interface is on, several other video players simply don't play video at all when the Aero interface is on. Oh and Creative's beta drivers for sound blaster have proven useless, in fact I've resorted to using the onboard mobo sound output (limiting me to two of my 5.1 system).

    One feature I found that get little mention is that Vista will actually allow you to use the mic and line-in sound inputs to output audio to the center, rear, and sub speakers. Of course, I've tried everything to get this to work and all I get is an extremely annoying his from the mic input coming out of my rear speakers.... Anyway as I said, once Vista is released and the majority of manufacturers release non-beta drivers I think the problems will be ironed out. Especially the sound issues since Microsoft completely reworked how sound is handled in Vista. Oh and if DirectX 10 wasn't Vista-only I still don't see the value of forking down the $$$ for Vista (Ultimate or any other version). I'll agree it's a step up from XP, but 5 years and I get nothing to write home about at all, just a search function that works better than but was ripped from OS X, a nice GUI which Stardock's Object Dock and WindowBlinds could do just as easily, the 3D alt+tab (nothing but eyecandy), I don't even get directX 10!!! Hell there are barely even any graphics cards that support directx 10, there aren't even any mentionable games other than Crysis that use directx 10 and that won't come out for months >:-|

    If you don't play games, and don't mind paying a little extra then just buy a Mac, there is no other reason not to, hell even that isn't really a reason anymore with parallels and bootcamp you can play your games on a high end Mac just the same.

    What's that? You want to be able to use Media Center to stream your content around the house? You want to use Windows Server when it comes out? Ok I'll admit AppleTV isn't looking all that hot but so what. Get use a mythTV box (you can even buy them prebuilt) and you'll have everything in Media Center and more.

    So there's my two cents. And yes I'm going to keep using Vista, I'm too used to it to switch to anything else, but I do plan on buying myself a Mac as soon as the cash comes in hand and mythTV is just one Terabyte raid array away for me :) Don't forget that my problems/gripes may be application/hardware specific so don't burry me just cause your Audigy ZS works fine, etc. etc. Please feel free to rebutle.
  • seansshack, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Will wait for proper drivers to come out first. Speed tests on a few new PC's with Vista were showing it to be a lot slower than XP (which may or may not be a driver issue)....
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