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Why do you want Windows Vista ?
(Read below about my
experience with Windows Vista)
With Microsoft announcing that Service Pack 1 for Vista will be
released in late January 2008, (now
Mid-March 2008 and just realeased to Manufacturing), a lot of
folks think that Vista will be
"fixed" and ready to run on their computer. Not so fast, as the
Service Pack will only fix the known "issues or bugs" that Microsoft
has admitted to. Remember, you do NOT have to buy a new computer
with Vista preinstalled. Ask your computer vendor if they will
sell you a computer either without Vista, or with Windows XP.
Microsoft has already said that Windows XP will be supported through
the year 2014. Unless you just have unlimited funds to
spend on a new computer system, new printers and other peripherals, new
software, then you will want to STAY AWAY from Windows Vista.
Forget about the DRM schemes and the constant monitoring of your
computer, (to make sure that you're not doing something that Microsoft
doesn't like), the simple fact that Windows Vista slows your new
computer to a crawl is what upsets me the most. When you buy a
new computer system you would expect it to be a lot faster than your
old system, right? Not so with Windows Vista, which will make you
seriously wonder why you spent the money in the first place. I
read a great article in a trade magazine the other day that was about
small repair shops that specialize in taking Windows Vista off new
computers and installing Windows XP in it's place!
Just remember, you do
not have to accept Microsoft Vista on your new computer!
Check out BadVista.org
A few months ago,
(June 2006), Microsoft sent me a
couple of evaluation copies of Windows Vista Ultimate, the flagship
product of their next generation desktop operating system for PC's.
(There will be at least 5 different versions of Vista). Over the
past month I have loaded both evaluation DVD's, (32bit and 64bit), on
several different computers with mixed success.
I loaded the 32bit
version first on a
fairly high-end computer that is 2 ½ years old. This computer
normally has Window XP Pro on it. I switched a new hard drive into
it, turned the computer on, and popped the DVD in. I sat back over
the next 45 minutes, reading the instruction screens and answering
the appropriate questions while Vista finished loading onto the hard
drive. I immediately got on the Internet to find some anti-virus
software to install. Microsoft has gotten into the anti-virus
software business recently with it's One Care line of products. Imagine
my surprise when the Microsoft website told me that MS One
Care doesn't support Windows Vista! I regrouped, went to Google,
searched for free anti-virus programs for Windows Vista, found and
downloaded Avast. After installing Avast, and updating it, I felt
more comfortable test driving Vista.
I hooked up to the
Windows Update site
and downloaded 12 patch files, rebooted the computer, and had
nothing. No boot screen, no Windows “splash” screen, just a
black screen with a flashing cursor. Inserted the boot DVD back into
the drive, rebooted the PC, and followed the instructions on
repairing the Vista installation. 20 minutes later, after the
“repair” failed, I still did not have a functioning computer. I
wiped out the installation, re-installed Vista, and 45 minutes later
was back to loading the patches first, before loading anti-virus
software. After loading the patches, and rebooting, the computer
still worked. Could it be an incompatibility with the anti-virus
software? I forged ahead, this time loading the new MS-Office 2007
program so that I could test the new Word and Excel programs. After
rebooting from the MS-Office installation, I again was staring at a
black screen with a flashing cursor. OK, the problem is NOT the
anti-virus program, as I hadn't loaded it yet. Tired and confused, I
decided to get some sleep and try again the next day.
The following day, at
my shop, I
finally got everything loaded and working, for around 8 hours before
Vista decided to return me to the black screen with a flashing
cursor. Houston,
we have a hardware problem! Frustrated and tired, I
decided to deal with the mess the following day. Rather than
spending time trying to figure out the problem, I did the “easy”
thing and pulled out a backup computer that I have, stuck a new hard
drive into it, and started to load Vista. This computer is a year
newer than the other one, but is rather a mid-range computer. To my
surprise, Vista loaded without a glitch on this computer. So did
MS-Office 2007 and the virus protection. Great, now it's time to
play. I use my computers to write web pages, do photo manipulation,
surf the Internet, and email. Tried to load my “old” and trusted
web development software, but got an error message saying that it was
“not compatible” with Windows Vista. It was the same fate with my
older version of Adobe Photoshop. OK, so now if I want to use Vista,
I will have to buy new versions of the software I use everyday. Ouch!
Having other work to do, I left the Vista machine on and
running, and went to work in the shop fixing client's computers.
Arriving at work the next morning, I found the Vista machine would
not “wake up” from sleep mode. I hard reset the computer, and
once again was confronted with the black screen and flashing cursor.
Both of the computers that Vista had problems with, run Windows XP
Pro and Kubuntu
Linux without any problems.
After taking several
days off from
Vista to cool down, I decided to load the 64bit version of Vista on
my newest computer, a six month old Intel EM64T Pentium 4. Vista
loaded fine, MS-Office loaded fine, and so did the AV program. This
computer has now been running Vista for about 6 weeks and all is
well. I can't do much with the computer, because most of my old
software won't work, but it has allowed me to put Vista through the
paces. I have also test loaded Vista on a series of brand new AMD X2
64bit computers without any problems.
Conclusions:
I'll personally stick
with Windows XP Pro
on
the one computer I have running Windows, even after they have Service
Pack
1 available for Vista, (supposed to be end of January or early February
2008, now Mid-March 2008 and
just realeased to Manufacturing). If
you have a 32bit computer, (most of us do), then stay
with Windows XP, you'll be a lot happier and less frustrated.
Don't forget, you may have to upgrade some of your
other software to run on this latest offering from Microsoft.
Most of what I see new in Vista is eye candy, (Areo Desktop, etc), but
not
much in function for over 5 years of development.
With Vista, Microsoft
is trying to move ever closer to a
more “secure” desktop operating system. However, the underlying
fundamental problems with all Windows OS products since Windows 95 is
still there.
Vista is still essentially a single user operating system, which just
invites spyware, viruses, and malware. When
only Microsoft knows the code, only Microsoft can “patch” it. You will
still need industrial strength anti-virus, and anti-spyware
software, and still be vigilant in keeping the security updates
downloaded and installed.
If you just have to
get Vista Ultimate,
buy a new computer. Nothing less than a 64bit computer with at
least 2gb of RAM, a 200gb or bigger fast hard drive, DVDRW drive,
(Vista will only be shipped on DVD), at least a 256MB video card,
and a TV Tuner. Microsoft will ship 5 different versions of Vista
for the US, and you will need a lot of horsepower to run all but the
lowest end “Vista Basic” version. In other words, your low-end,
bargain basement computer from that name brand company, probably
won't be able to run anything but Vista Basic effectively. The new
Aero glass desktop is missing in Vista Basic, which is really nothing
more than Windows XP Home repackaged.
As some of you know, I
transitioned
from Windows operating systems to the Linux operating system over two
years ago on both my
work and
home machines, and couldn't be happier. If you use a computer to surf
the Internet, send and receive email, type letters, listen to music,
play with digital photos, then by all means, start to think about
switching from Windows to Linux. You'll love not having to spend
your hard earned money on expensive anti-virus software and
anti-spyware software. I deal with broken Windows computers
everyday, all day in the service area of the shop, so the change to
Linux for me is
refreshing. I found learning to use Linux to be a fun, not a tedious
task. Here is something new for me to learn and work my mind. For
me, Linux isn't any harder to use than Windows, it's just learning
how to do things differently!
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