I haven’t kept up with the debate, really. Does Vista still include the stifling DRM provisions? Is it still buggy, slow, and ugly? Have any of the initial issues been addressed? What say ye? I’m wanting a new desktop, but it’s difficult to find the one I want with XP.
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I’m sure those with better knowledge will be here soon. I just bought a new Vista laptop even though I was trying to avoid it.
I’ve had no problems with it. There are a few programs it won’t run, including one piece of work software.
Still, it is fine for me. I’ll probably try to actually learn all the details of the OS. I haven’t done that since I eagerly read books on Windows 3.1
I’ve been running Vista for quite awhile, and I never had any trouble. I run my system pretty hard. I have several 3D applications that utilize all four cores and is constantly being pushed with complex renders and millions of polygons being modeled. I play games that tax the bejeezus out of the processors and GPU. I have a powerhouse multi track audio recording setup that is hell on my system, and I run it all flawlessly.
I think that all the trouble (for the most part) in the beginning for Vista was that for the first time in Windows history the operating system just requires that you are running a more stable hardware platform than you might have gotten away with in the past. If you put your system together yourself, or if you have a system made up of quality electronics (power supply, mainboard, RAM), you’ll likely have no problems with Vista.
If you want a true multi-core solution and DirectX 10, Vista is likely going to be your only option.
How about the restrictive digital rights management stuff? Does this become a giant issue? No, I’m not a pirate, but I strongly object to corporate invasion of my computer use.
The Vista DRM lets you play content protected by the publisher that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to play. That’s it. If you have a problem with that don’t buy the protected content in the first place.
Lemme put it this way. Vista hasn’t improved. The service pack didn’t do much for it.
People have written better drivers for products, but… if you can get XP, get XP.
I don’t use Windows but my SO has Vista, so I’m missing the finer nuances here, but:
My SO encountered problems with Vista playing nicely with USB devices. His machine crashed while playing a game, and then would not restart as long as he had any USB devices attached. He had to remove them all (about 4-5 of them), and then reattach them one by one and wait for Vista to be able to see the devices again. My recollection of the issue is Vista will do this if on startup there are any USB devices attached that might be used as a boot device.
A bit of online research showed that he wasn’t alone with his USB/Vista troubles. He hasn’t had any problems since then, but he still hates Vista and wishes he could get XP back.
He built his computer with gaming in mind, so it’s not some crappy factory thing off the shelf from Wal-Mart or anything.
It’s kinda sad that MS took forever developing this OS and still released it with problems with what’s got to be the most ubiquitous interface on the planet.
Isn’t that their standard operating procedure?
I consider myself an “average” user. I’ve been using a Vista with a new laptop for about 3 months now and haven’t had any problems. The machine came with only 1G RAM which was not enough. A $49 upgrade to 2G and all was better.
It still runs a little slow IMO but I’m told there are major tweaks out there to make it a faster machine. I haven’t had the time to research that yet.
So, what about ass-backward engineering? Might there be hardware problems if I wiped the Vista machine and installed a copy of XP?
if you like to do your own computer administration, XP is the way to go.
As a technical support specialist, Vista gives me a head ache.
Vista is still worth avoiding if you can. Even Microsoft is admitting they screwed up and plans for a next Op System that runs cleaner and easier on hardware is due out by 2010 at this point, maybe even 2009.
I am using a Vista Laptop as I type. I would prefer any of my XP machines. They all work better and do everything I need them to do. Vista does not work with my work VPN, it only partially works with my work OWA and it interfers with other basic software and requires me to look for fixes.
Jim
Biggest problem would be getting XP drivers for hardware the manufacturer never expected to be used with XP.
Never mind.
And these days, there’s still XP drivers for everything. And nobody is really using DirectX10. Only maybe two games are DX10 only. Halo2 and Shadowrun.
I’ve never built my own system. How tough is it? I’ve had a string of Dell systems dating back to 1996, and they’ve all been great. Dell has a couple of XP options, but they’re kinda also-ran systems, with limited choices.
Pretty much any Dell system can be ordered with XP instead of Vista, if you are persistent enough in asking for it. You may have to ask for a supervisor; the first-level order-taking drones are not interested in an option like this that does NOT add $ to the total order cost.
And, yes, continue to avoid Vista. The only good thing about it is a real nice Mah-Jong game that seems to be Vista-only.
Not that hard, provided you make sure everything’s compatible. A nice Nforce i750 chipset motherboard, Core2Duo processor… Think we should assemble a nice set of parts for Ogre from Newegg?
Edit: The trick for Dell is to go to the small business section, not home. More reliable computers, anyhow.
I have 2 otherwise identical HP dv9000. My xp one plays world of warcraft flawlessly, plays netflix with nary an issue, never drops the wireless connection. I can use my VPN disc and use it to work on.
I cant even play world of warcraft on the vista box, I get the funky video issues of the player characters being invisible and sllllooooowwwwwllllllllyyyyyyy fading into sight, if I go on a long flight, half way there the landscape vanishes and the game locks just about a minute after that and i have to do a complete restart to get back into a functioning game, in general netflix gets the blocky digital breakup at lest once every 10 minutes. The VPN connection drops if a gnat in the next town over sneezes, but it is a pretty interface, and the virtual tibetan prayer wheel gadget is spiffy.