The VISTA question?!

[Switch]

My girlfriend is buying a new laptop and want a real opinion on vista. I have done a bit of a search on site but want to know people's real opinion. Is it worth getting as it will become the new operating system, Microsoft is not going to turn around and say change of plans. Also don't want to get into the whole apple is better garbage, that is not the question. Those who are using it, are you happy? any opinions or advice? and also opinions of Office 2007. Would really appreciate some insight as Farkers are generally on the higher end of the intelectual spectrum

 

[kjf]

The laptop im on now has vista basic home edition, which is...basic.

It all depends on what model of vista it comes with, i hear vista ultimate is awesome.

I dont seem to have any compatability issues that people said would arise, everyting works, all my programs.

Vista is good, but it will take about a week or so to fully get to know it.

I personally think it is a good OS

 

[Binaural]

My girlfriend is buying a new laptop and want a real opinion on vista. I have done a bit of a search on site but want to know people's real opinion. Is it worth getting as it will become the new operating system, Microsoft is not going to turn around and say change of plans. Also don't want to get into the whole apple is better garbage, that is not the question. Those who are using it, are you happy? any opinions or advice? and also opinions of Office 2007. Would really appreciate some insight as Farkers are generally on the higher end of the intelectual spectrum

For a basic level laptop with the basic level of Vista there is not really any point - it will run a fair bit slower and need more resources. Plus, there should be some sharp details going on Windows XP machines without the latest fashionable OS, but XP will likely be fully supported for the working life of the laptop anyway.

 

[Ev]

I picked up a new laptop last week which is running Vista Home Premium,
I wouldn't say its any better than XP professional (at least not yet anyway), it appears to be mostly asthetic features such as 3D graphics etc..
Vista does seem to require slightly higher specs than XP, which isn't a problem for most current model computers.
The security pop ups are far more numerous and can get kinda annoying, but are very handy at the same time i think.

If you can find a good deal on a computer with XP, you're not going to lose out on much.

As for Office 07, i just installed it tonite, so i havent really had a chance to check it out yet, but a few friends of mine have hadit for a few weeks and say its fantastic..

 

[Dicky]

We sell Microsoft stuff at work...

While I haven't had a decent tinker with it yet, I'll be sticking with XP for a while.

Beta testing hasn't finished yet - that's what the first wave of consumers that just NEED the latest thing are for.

 

[treggs]

I've mentioned this in another thread but,

Tried it (Vista Ultimate), several of my apps weren't supported, graphics are over the top (especially the aero) so I switched back to my XP Pro setup. Fairly large performance hit with Vista and Aero made it painful. An operating system alone should not cause a machine to struggle. And this is a machine I build 18 months ago for video editting so it ain't slow.

Just for interests sake basic specs are,
3.2 Gig Athlon
1GB RAM
250 Gb SATA HD (7200 rpm)
256Mb Radeon 9600
etc etc

XP on that system flys .... Vista with aero enabled made resizing windows painful.

Yeah it's pretty but I couldn't get any work done.

Haven't tried it on the Lappy (Much newer and faster) basically because it runs very nice with XP so why strangle it.

My 3 cents

 

[moorey]

FWIW, just bought a HP2607 with vista home premium. I talked to most local stores, they ALL contradicted each other on pro's/cons etc, but basically they agree it tales a LOT of RAM to run vista compared to XP for example.
I ended up going for less than SOME say you 'need' (2-4gig, I'm not made of money ). Definiteny don't use with less that 512meg RAM
Mine has:
core duo 1.60GHz
120gig HD
1 meg RAM standard ($200 more upgraded to 2meg)
etc
I was happy to spend more, but really don't think I need anything more than that this time round

 

[Sewer Cider]

My word of advice is go with Vista, as XP will stop being supported at some time in the future. This will be when virus and other problems will not be fixed or patched. Depends how long you will have the Notebook for.

Also, does anybody know how pervasive the DRM (Digital Rights Management) is in Vista - no one seems to know much about it?

 

[Cave Dweller]

My laptop can with vista basic pre-load.

No more features then xp on the vista basic platform, the only time i went "wow" was when i saw the operating system took up over 6gb and chewing up my ram

Final straw was when it wouldn't run some software i needed to use and i couldn't download a firewall for it and no instructions on how to set up vistas.

Installed Xp and im a happy man.

 

[Rik]

My word of advice is go with Vista, as XP will stop being supported at some time in the future.

At least another 3 years time I'd assume. Haven't used Vista yet but am pretty damn happy with XPSP2, it seems that all the "features" Vista brings to the table are a step sideways for MS. I'd wait another few months at least, or even until SP1 is released, before making the change. No fun in being a guinea pig.

 

[Gordo]

<** warning braindump approaching **>.

My vista pain timeline...

Installed Vista 64 bit rc1

No sound
no wlan nic
no tvcard
no usb talky to ups

clean build of Vista 32bit Ultimate rc1

sound now !!
no wlan nic
no tvcard
no usb talky to ups

clean build Vista Business 32 bit

sound still works but..
still no wlan nic
no tvcard
no usb talky to ups

dlink dwl-g510 Wlan nic is allegedly on the M$ supported list but doesn't even get discovered even with any of the vast array of drivers I have tried.

tevion tvcard is an cheapo aldi job and although not on the supported list others have it working - not me worked great under XP sp2

usb to ups comms not super important but would be nice.

The good...

super fast internet
fast startup/shutdown
very bling look and feel
fast searching, indexing is nice
no BSODs.....yet

the bad

Eats resources like a hunger crackho.
Had to up the ram from 512mb to 2gb to make it usable on an intel d820 2.8ghz dualcore system.
Only got lowley 64mb pci video so performance score sits at 1.0. as advertised (/warned) it needs grunty video (eg 256mb+ DDR2 PCI-e ) for all the extra vista bling. Turn all the bling off and it's usuable with povvo cards.

As far as M$ "changing their mind" woiuldn't think so. Vista will be the only OS on OEM desktop M$ boxes not too far down the track (weeks/months ?)

Gotchas

Friends have been caught using "almost legal backup software" being uninstalled by Bill's 1984ish legit-only software spyware. be warned. nothing to report on that front though...yet.

Last word

If it's got a "made for vista" sticker on it like your GF's potential lappie then it's supported by your OEM provider then go for it.. but make sure you have got $$$ to get 1 with enough grunt to make it worthwhile...all a big fat IMHO on that one.

 

[Octane_Matty]

generally every new computer you buy these days will have a vista read sticker

the point is that you can run it, how fast is a totally different story

basically vista doesnt have an advantage when you consider how compatible windows xp is and how stable it is when a good user is behind it/maintaining it

my advice is get a high end laptop...with xp (you can change to vista in a year or so when its better supported etc)

personally if theres one thing i hate...is people who put themes all over their computers to make them look nice...slowing their computer to half snail pace!

 

[Viv92]

Basically good laptop get vista, el cheapo or el cheaper get XP.

Or you could just have a linux one which would run 20 million times faster.

 

[Ben_9]

Get vista it has Inkball!!

 

[Alec McJo]

1 meg RAM standard ($200 more upgraded to 2meg)

Haha, I think you mean gig


From what I've heard, Vista is all athsetics (or whatever the word is, visuals) and is actually slower than XP due to needing more power. This was actually the reason I didn't get Vista, as when I was buying my computer a short time ago although I knew its specs were a reasonable amount higher than needed, I figured that in saying that its about 10 times whats needed for XP and that would mean XP is gonna run a hell of alot faster. I also didn't want to buy a first generation Microsoft OS

Just buy a Dell XPS laptop with 2 GHZ Duo Core Intel n 1 or 2 gig of ram and a 256MB video card and choose it with XP, bam.

 

[treggs]

Just buy a Dell XPS laptop with 2 GHZ Duo Core Intel n 1 or 2 gig of ram and a 256MB video card and choose it with XP, bam.

Nah get the 9400. When I bought mine, with both systems speced up their was about 1000 bucks different. Only difference was the 7900 GTX instead of the 7900 GS (which I overclocked to similar specs anyway) and some pretty flashing lights.

I was pleasantly surprised when it gave my mates top end athlon with SLI'ed 7800's a run for it's money.

 

[fatboy247]

vista sucks

well i am having all sorts of trouble getting vista on my pc! i bought an upgrade of vista home pro and it won't upgrade!

It tells me that i can only do a "clean" install, which is fair but then it won't go on because the hard disk is formatted as fat32 not NTFS

So i followed the instructions on what to do and now it won't go at all, it won't even boot from the disk

i will get it going but this is just dissapointing as it should have just upgraded and be done with it!

 

[partyanimal]

Vista Q

Vista caused me a load of trouble. i hate it!.

This is the Computer setup i'm running:

Intel QX 6700
4GB of Corsair
2x Nvidia 8800GTX in SLI
Nvidia 680i mobo
Antec 900 gaming case
2x Raptors in raid
2x Seagate(ooo)320GB

When i put our lovable new OS(Vista Ultimate no less) on my brand new Firecracker of joy the stupid thing wouldn't boot. I wipped out my old XP pro loaded it on and after 15 mins installing i was playing a game.

In my opinion Vista is SH*T.

partyanimal

 

[Alec McJo]

Intel QX 6700
4GB of Corsair
2x Nvidia 8800GTX in SLI
Nvidia 680i mobo
Antec 900 gaming case
2x Raptors in raid
2x Seagate(ooo)320GB

Fucking Jesus!

How much did a beast like that set you back?

 

[cressa]

**sneaks up when no one is looking**

"MAC!!!"

**runs like the wind**