vista or still use xp

magick

Well i think XP really hit the nail on the head, dont get me wrong Vista is very beautiful to look at but i find theirs too much crap on the screen. Firstly the huge icons (yes the size can be changed) but the gadgets on the size of the screen are not v helpful. Dont get me wrong im sure improvements will be made over time but i think some of the optional eye candy could be calmed down

5uspect

Yep, I'll stick with XP for the foreseeable future. If I wasn't pretty visuals and gadgets I'll buy an Apple.

There seems to be considerable resistance to Vista in companies, noy just home users. Certainly where I work Vista and Office 2007 are not recommended or supported by our IT department simply because there is no practical reason to upgrade.

superdudeman007

I've had my Vista for 5 days and it's perfect. You adapt to it really quickly. The virus warnings ae a bit annoying at first though.

5uspect

Oh I don't doubt that Vista is easy to use or is any way inferior to XP (or even 2000), its just not worth the upgrade, yet.

vista is good, but it uses up alot more ram than xp. Ububtu is good, anyone use it?

Creamy Goodness

LittleNipper wrote:

vista is good, but it uses up alot more ram than xp. Ububtu is good, anyone use it?

vista utilizes ram in a totally new way than what xp does.

if you have a specific need for vista or you like to have the latest everything or you a getting as part of a system build then get it, otherwise there's no real point spending the money.

ethernet

With XP and other prior version, it was common for the system to slow down over time. This is not meant to happen with Vista. Don't ask me how.

I read on Slashdot today that Dell will be acquiring OEM copies of XP [on some systems, at least] until the end of the year when Microsoft will no longer be dishing out XP.

I'd say go for Vista if it supports all your hardware.

PixelTrawler

Just set up dual boot and you have more options...

dak

My sister bought a dell laptop that came with vista and only 512mb ram. I used it to set wireless broadband for her. The computer ran unbelievably slow . It was more like an old 286/386 pc. I told her to contact dell and buy more ram as while microsoft say vista will work on 512mb it is recommended you get 1/2 Gb

Anyone else have vista and 512mb problems?

SeanW

For most people with existing systems using XP and don't have DX10 graphics cards, I'd say stick with WinXP. Only if you're getting a new setup should you consider Vista if your software and hardware will work on it.

-

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

iremex

got a duo core 1.6ghz, 1gb ram and at this time and moment with outlook, IE7 and Access open its at 68% ram usuage (cpu 1 @ 5%, CPU 2 @ 7%)

been using vista for about 8months now and since the only problem i've had was with adobe(fixed now thankfully)..

personally i wouldnt go back to xp. the search engine (apple ripoff) is great and its just a more pleasant experience as a whole

Tivoli

i had vista on a x6800 with 2gig of ram for 2 months, and reinstalled xp yesterday, its such a breath of fresh air,
so much faster to boot or run apps
much more colorful, everything is dark brown in vista
all my apps and hardware work again,
no more BSOD's,
pc sits quitly when i am not using it
no admin security pop ups, i bet everyone just okay's them without reading them

5uspect

Tivoli wrote:

i had vista on a x6800 with 2gig of ram for 2 months, and reinstalled xp yesterday, its such a breath of fresh air,
so much faster to boot or run apps
much more colorful, everything is dark brown in vista
all my apps and hardware work again,
no more BSOD's,
pc sits quitly when i am not using it
no admin security pop ups, i bet everyone just okay's them without reading them

I can imagine moving to Vista (I suppose I'll be forced to eventually :rolleyes: ) when all those annoyances are ironed out. Alternatively if I buy a new machine I'll stick my copy of XP on it and stick linux on this old thing.

DonkeyStyle \o/

Yeah I'll buy Vista right after I sign up for second-life. :rolleyes:
Anyone for hype?

Glazun

I dunno, I mean I'm willing to give Vista a shot, I have to use it eventually because of Direct X10..

But jeez.. the fact that MSN messenger doesnt work is a bit odd..>:/ The entire graphics view is a bit odd.. I really thought that if I got Vista I could strip away all the useless stuff and have it on a XP theme.. o_O but nope.. it looks like windows 98 if you go into classic mode. Also dont like the start menu how all the programs are so oddly laid out.

philologos

LittleNipper wrote:

Ububtu is good, anyone use it?

Use kubuntu all the time.

OMcGovern

I bought a PC on adverts.ie with Vista Ultimate installed.
I really didn't like Vista, the icons really dumbed down everything.
I switched the interface back to the "classic" Windows look for menus, control panels etc.

Now and again, a program wanted to display a simple message dialog box, but for some reason Vista first asked me to change display modes, brought me to a blank screen with the original programs dialog box, I clicked on it, and it brought me back to the Vista desktop window. Absolutely Horrific....

Booting up, I was left with a blank screen for a worryingly long time.
At least XP has a logo / splash screen to show it's doing something....
I've a 3.2Ghz Intel P4, 1.5Gb of RAM and a X1900 graphics card, it ain't slow.

I accidently messed up the Vista install, when I tried installing XP on another partition, but I don't miss it at all..... am back using XP Pro.
I don't have Vista DVDs so I can't reinstall.... but it's no great loss to me.

zod

afaik if you buy a PC with Vista .. you are licenced to run an older equivalent OS without licencing issues??. It was this way with Office anyway.

If it's true.. then you can buy vista, install XP and upgrade the OS in a years time when another 2GB of RAM is 50c

Gurgle

Ive got:
XP Pro on my home desktop - Athlon XP 3200+ / 1.5Gb RAM
XP Home on the laptop - Celeron M 360 / 1.5Gb RAM
Vista Business edition in work - Core Duo 1.86GHz / 1Gb RAM

Not to put too fine a point on it but Vista sucks. Slow as fcuk to boot, to open anything, even to use the most basic applications.

Having said that though, the Vista one is a Dell which hasn't yet been churned through the crap cleaner.

kaisersose77

Running vista home premium fine, nearly all the everyday programs that most ppl are only going to use work fine. Firefox, Nero, Autogk, Windows Media Player, Vlc etc. Boots fine for me, have the media center to startup when i turn on pc and its up in no time. If i knew someone who was getting a laptop/pc and didnt play games then i'd tell them to get vista with it as there gonna have to get it sometime.

maidhc

kaisersose77 wrote:

If i knew someone who was getting a laptop/pc and didnt play games then i'd tell them to get vista with it as there gonna have to get it sometime.

Perhaps not. XP will be supported until 2011 IIRC, Vista really seems to be only a stop gap operating system and probably won't have near as long a life as XP. As such we should see another new Microsoft OS before the support life of XP runs out.

5uspect

In an interview I read with Bill Gates (of Hell) in New Scientist recently he was already trying to promote the vista replacement!

Tivoli

i read here that they started working on it before they realised vista, but if vista does an "xp sp0" they will have to push put their deadlines


so they want us to buy vista even though it has nothing new over xp (compare to 2k->xp), and then buy its replacement, fook them, i might go back to win95

kaisersose77

Just like there working on the next version of the xbox.....

Ppl were probably saying the same thing when xp came out. For the average user, vista will probably work for 100% for everything they usually use their pc for by the end of the year if not already, so why bother getting xp if you get vista with your new pc. XP could be supported till 2020, doesnt mean every program that comes out in a few years is gonna have an xp version or support xp. Give it a few yrs and everybody who thinks vista is heap of junk, will be running it waiting for the long delayed next OS.

maidhc

kaisersose77 wrote:

J
Ppl were probably saying the same thing when xp came out. For the average user, vista will probably work for 100% for everything they usually use their pc for by the end of the year if not already, so why bother getting xp if you get vista with your new pc.

A lot of people never moved from Windows 2000! I have one such computer that is doing exactly was is required of it and it will never see XP or VIsta.

Indeed I was using a 486 laptop with Windows 3.1 up to 2003!

Each successive version of windows seems to require exponentially more processing power to do the same work. It makes no sense to upgrade if what you have does what is asked of it.

SeanW

I've been reading that there have been some problems with Vista, and some posts on this thread about Vista troubles don't surprise me.

XP works - and very nicely too, it does just about everything most people need it to do and I expect it will continue to do so for some time to come.

Like I said, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

As for me, I intend to continue using Windows XP for the forseeable future. There is no need for me to 'upgrade,' though I might consider it after upgrading my hardware.

DonkeyStyle \o/

I've just had a read through Microsofts 100 reasons page, and I can't find a single compelling reason why I should get Vista... at least not until they eventually drag me, kicking and screaming, with DX10.

Tabbed browsing... wooOOoo innovative :rolleyes:

Tivoli

I have to apologise, me pc kept blue screened while converting 5 42min divx files to dvd (was only going to take 45mins thanks to the x6800)

anyway ran a few checks and found me memory was giving problems, so i plugged in the fan in the side of the case and its converting fine now,


guess the bsod's were not vistas fault (it was just harder on ram)

sebastianlieken

THe advice I will give to anyone, is wait until after Christmas for service pack 1 to come out for vista. with that, vista should be up to its game. but for the time being, xp is a far better choice because there are just too many problems with vista at the moment. (i was running vista ultimate for a while, as much as i love it and think its so much sleeker and modern, its just not firing on all cylinders as as of yet)

so stick with xp till cristmas, and just get urself some themes for xp if you're getting bored with it

Sam Vimes

DonkeyStyle \o/ wrote:

I've just had a read through Microsofts 100 reasons page, and I can't find a single compelling reason why I should get Vista... at least not until they eventually drag me, kicking and screaming, with DX10.

Tabbed browsing... wooOOoo innovative :rolleyes:

some of those reasons are about IE7 which you can get on XP. how is that a reason to switch to vista

DonkeyStyle \o/

Commander Vimes wrote:

some of those reasons are about IE7 which you can get on XP. how is that a reason to switch to vista

I know! I lost count of the number of times I responded (in my head) with "yawn, I can already do that... neeext."

Scruff

As i've said in this thread here ive to buy a laptop (dell) for complete computer novices who will only be using the laptop for office type work, internet and maybe music and the odd dvd.

Am i better getting them one with XP or Vista?

joe_chicken

Running Vista Premium for about 6 weeks.

For the most part it's been great.
Things I like:
- I'm a sucker for the flashy UI design (I like the big icons, copying files animations [I look at these a lot, see below], the application previewer in the task bar...)
- The Network browsing seems 1000 times faster than XP
- Being able to view and edit start-up programs through Windows Defender
(maybe not the best anti spyware program, but to have it built in is nice)
- The system score thing, very handy for people to quickly see if they can handle requirements for games and software.

Things I don't like:
- Copying files, it seems to take an age.
- A handful of BSODs, to be expected with a new OS and device drivers, not Microsofts fault.

Anyone saying Vista is just a stop gap and you should wait for the next OS should remember that XP in itself was just Win2000 repackaged... and yet that's lasted 6 years.

Would I recommend buying it just to upgrade from XP; no.
Do I think it's potentially a better OS than XP; yes.

sebastianlieken

'for complete computer novices who will only be using the laptop for office type work'

in that case go with vista. it is whether anyone agrees with me or not, the way of the future. its coming, theres no avoiding it, and its actually pretty user friendly, and its good for office type work. and when service pack 1 comes out, it will be as near as makes no difference to being 'perfect'

VISTA....YEAAAAAH!!!....

joe_chicken

sebastianlieken wrote:

'for complete computer novices who will only be using the laptop for office type work'

in that case go with vista. it is whether anyone agrees with me or not.

I agree completely.
Looking long term, it'll be a lot harder to get support in the coming years for XP.

Support for XP Home and Media Centre will end April 2009

Capt'n Midnight

zod wrote:

afaik if you buy a PC with Vista .. you are licenced to run an older equivalent OS without licencing issues??. It was this way with Office anyway.

If it's true.. then you can buy vista, install XP and upgrade the OS in a years time when another 2GB of RAM is 50c

Vista HOME does not allow you to use an earlier version of windows

the cost of upgrading in a year is probably more than getting OEM Vista business or premium now , and downgrading to XP or 2000 Pro until you decide to use the Vista license

POI - windows 2000 server license did not allow you to use NT4 server
most OEM office licenses have not had downgrade rights , just the retail and volume ones

rabbitinlights

I just bought a new sony laptop that came with Vista Business, 2ghz/2gbs ram/256 Nvidia 7400.

It runs like a dream, the only problem I have is with getting nero to run? It just seems to stop installing half way through?

I thought this was very funny:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=VuqZ8AqmLPY

SeanW

Windows Vienna (codename) is expected to be released in 2009.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Vienna

jahalpin

I have been using Vista Home Premium since the middle of Febuary (I would have gotten it sooner but I had to wait for Microsoft to send it out after the launch at Croke Park) and I haven't had any problems with it at all.

It installed drivers for all my hardware automatically, except for the Creative XFi-Xtrememusic card as Creative only had beta drivers until around the middle of March and even the beta drivers worked perfecty when I installed them.

Vista is by far the best OS that Microsoft have ever released and is probably the best mass-market desktop OS ever.

I have used a Mac on a few occasions (free internet in Apple store in San Francisco) and I find the UI terrible. As for security Apple are releasing security updates quite regularly these days. Apples' market share is around 4% whereas Microsoft Windows has around 90% so of course hackers are going to spend considerably more time trying to crack the market leader than some also-ran OS. Linux is also terrible as a desktop system as it is not very user-friendly and hardware support is patchy at best.

System Spec: Dell 9150, Intel Pentium IV 630, 3GB DDR2 RAM, 160GB HD, Sapphire X1600pro with 256MB, Creative X-Fi Xtreme-music soundcard

unkel

I suppose it depends on what you use your pc for and how your personality wants to deal with a change of environment. I had enough tbh after nearly 6 years of XP and I fully migrated to Vista last year

Perfect transition? No, but not bad - nearly 100% functionality except for a wait of a few months for a vista driver for an ancient Samsung parallel laser printer (and a silly AVG anti-virus login issue). The vista total upgrade went better than my last attempt though: xp32 to xp64 about a year ago which was a disaster

maidhc

jahalpin wrote:

Linux is also terrible as a desktop system as it is not very user-friendly and hardware support is patchy at best.

I actually switched from XP Pro to Ubuntu on my laptop. I had to do a bit of fiddling to get my broadcom wireless to work, but I am delighted with the results. It is very efficient, the UI is sensible, and if you like eyecandy that is also on offer if you install Beryl.

I still have an XP partition, but I can honestly say I haven't used it in a long time. I still run XP on my desktop, I might migrate when I have more time, but for now XP is ticking the boxes.

I can't ever see myself upgrading to Vista. The way MS is going with rights management, and licencing suggests following a MS operating system is not viable in the long term.

maidhc

maidhc wrote:

I can't ever see myself upgrading to Vista. The way MS is going with rights management, and licencing suggests following a MS operating system is not viable in the long term.

Agreed. I also find it too slow at booting up, if I were using it permanently I'd be hibernating rather than shutting down. I'll probably go the Apple route again soon and use XP and Boot Camp to cover anything that won't work.