Vindows Vista, your thoughts

[Tom Schindler]

Vista is a gorgeous operating system. The graphics are stunning and it has a bunch of neat features. For the average know nothing, likes all the gadgets kind of person, Vista would be fine. For people like me that hates anything flashy when I need top visit a website just to get some information could care less about an onscreen clock, rss feed, or moving pictures. IMO, it is nothing but wasted CPU calculations that could be used to perform other, more important, tasks.



But hey, that is just me. I am sure we all enjoy watching a java app load everytime we want to check the weather on the weatherchannel.com website.



Windows Vista has so much crap running on it, it has no choice but to run slow.





Tom

 

[Nick Smith]

You might want to upgrade the memory to at the very least 1 gig, 2 gigs would be better. The woot board said the machine only had 512mb of memory which is inadequate for Vista. You can go here, http://www.crucial.com/, to scan your system to find out what type of memory you have. You can buy the memory from them as well but I would check out Newegg's prices, the last time I ordered memory they had the cheaper price.

 

[WXMotorSports DecalsPartsAccs]

Haven't tried it since my legacy apps are not compatible.

 

[Bill V]

The computer now takes about 1 minute to shut down. What's that all about.

Wait a second--your computer shuts down in a minute, and you're complaining? My work laptop takes about 3 minutes (Windows 2000), and my home PC takes about 5 minutes minimum (XP). If you're doing it in a minute, I'm envious!

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Bill V,



All other XP machines in my house shut down in well under a minute...usually 20 to 25 seconds, tops. My Win2K machines takes a couple of minutes.



The Vista laptop my wife has is the PC in the house with the most horsepower, and it shuts down the slowest. 1 minute minimum, sometimes longer. One theory is that it is installing updates, but if it is, unlike XP as it shuts down it isn't telling me so. Yes, XP can take a few minutes to shut down if installing updates, but as I said, it tells me when it does that; and when it doesn't it shuts down in about 20 seconds. Vista just takes a long time.



TJR

 

[Tom Schindler]

Nick,



got 1 gig of memory.





Tom

 

[Dre L]

I'm holding out for Vienna end of 2009.

 

[Scott Tanner]

if you right click on the desktop, and go to themes, just choose the version of windows that you're comfortable with, WindowsXP, Windows Classic, etc..... showed that to my dad, now he's a happy camper... HTH

 

[WXMotorSports DecalsPartsAccs]

Win XP with AMD 3800 with 2gigs of ram. Bootup about 20 seconds. Shutdown about 20 seconds. It's over clocked too. Fast box.

 

[Nick Smith]

Ok, though it never hurts to add more.

 

[TomT]

If the memory is being shared by the on-board video card, then I would have at least 2 gigs. That would be a cheap way to boost overall performance.

 

[Nick Barber]

No one likes a new OS. When the next one comes out everyone will be raving how Vista was better.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

NICK, I have to say that though I agree in general, XP was a step forward when compared to Win Me in so many ways. XP was rough at first, but got stable really quickly. Vista is almost a year old now and its maturation and adoption rate both indicate major problems.



TJR

 

[Bill V]

OK, so....



If I'm looking for a new home PC, and I'm not wanting to build one from scratch like some here propose (I might have the interest, but don't have the time), should I hold out for something that has XP on it? Or will I be satisfied, perhaps even impressed, with Vista? I'm not doing anything major in the sense of computing speed, graphics, etc. Mainly, it's for photos, internet, Word, music, and Excel--in that order.

 

[Tom Schindler]

Just order it with XP. I am not impressed with Vista.





Tom

 

[Bill V]

Let me ask that a different way--If I see a computer that seems just right for what I'm looking for in every way, including price, but it has Vista, and its manufacturer doesn't offer it with XP any more, is it enough of a concern for me to walk to someone else?

 

[Tom Schindler]

Try it out in the store. Decide for yourself.





Tom

 

[TomT]

If you want XP, do it before the end of the year. Microsoft will stop licensing new computers with XP in January.

Vista is fine but it's a memory hog and other then Direct X-10 it offers absolutely nothing that you can't get on XP now by installing a few third party apps. It's kind of like buying an 03 Trac instead of an 02. That's why MS can't get anybody to switch unless they drop XP.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Bill V, reasons to walk away might include:



1) You have several software applications that are a couple of years old, or older, that you have paid a lot of money for and you need/want to use them on the new Vista PC; rather than purchase new, updated versions of the software that are "Vista Compatible."



2) You have a printer that is over 5 years old, and don't want to purchase a new one...chances are the drivers won't be Vista compatible.



If either or both of the above reasons fit your situation AND you consider yourself a PC novice or the type of person that doesn't want to spend a lot of time figuring out how to make stuff work, then pass on Vista.



If, however, you like to tinker, like to learn about the latest OS, and/or are willing to upgrade some of your apps and your printer if needed, then "GO FOR IT."



TJR

 

[Tom Schindler]

I have a home network here at the house. Consists of a server, ebay shipping center, laptop, and play PC. XP will connect to the network right away. It took me a good part of an hous just to get Vista to recognize the network and find everything. Talk about a pain.



This is not progress. So far, Vista is a failure. I rate it right up with Windows ME.





Tom