Anyone tried Vista?

[McClef]

I have only seen the glossy presentations of it and not observed it in actual use.

To begin with it would mean doubling my computer memory. Secondly over here the pricing is relatively much more expensive than it is in the US. Thirdly am going to wait for the bugs to be sorted. Fourthly I am very happy with XP.

But I expect that MS will at some stage withdraw support for it as they have their earlier versions...

A friend has just bought a laptop which includes a free upgrade to Vista. He has to wait for the disc though as it didn't come preinstalled. It looks likes the cheapest route to go is installed with a new machine. Once he gets the disk and installs it I will then take a closer look.

[Livingston]

Not until I absolutly have too. Which means when I buy a new system and that won't happen for about 2 years.

[bubba]

I just bought a new computer so I got Vista like it or not. It seems to run very well but it takes alot of getting used to after using the 98 type OS. The email program in it is buggy and the junk mail folder is locked up so I can't delete anything in it. I downloaded Pegasus mail to get away from that. Drivers for printers and such will be problematic for awhile yet. If you have XP don't bother.

[Mike1]

I've heard it has some issues with some of the currently available nvidia drivers, as well.

Everybody thinks Vista is the future, but how many of you ran Windoze ME? We thought that one was progress, too.

[GallowHill]

While I usually avoid the OS debates (along with religion and politcs), there are some times when you must not let blanket misconceptions go unchallenged.

First off, I firmly believe in competition. Therefore, I love the fact that OSX is around to push MS to improve. I also love Linux for the same reason. Heck, I loved OS/2 when it was out. OSX has some great features, as does Linux, as does Vista.
I don't keep up as much as I used to, it's not part of my job anymore, but it used to be and I still like to keep myself as informed as possible.

Vista can be brought down by malicious SOUND files on the web. It is completely insecure, bug ridden, and is being completely lambasted by all of the real geeks whose opinions actually mean something.

While I don't consider myself a real geek whose opinions matter, anymore...I used to be.
To say that Vista is completely unsecure is a bit over the top, isn't it? I am assuming the sound file bug you are referring to is the voice recognition exploit?...which does not bring down the system. Yes, there will be some bugs to get worked out, but people conveniently forget the bugs OSX had when first released. It's part of the process now...for every software company to release early and fix it later.

It is, honestly, an extremely poor copy of OSX version 1.1 that somebody lovingly reverse engineered and broke trying to cram all of the Windows spaghetti code in to.

Not sure where this comes from. Perhaps you can name a few things that MS stole from OSX? It's funny to think that OSX didn't steal from Windows...that Linux didn't steal from OSX... that Vista didn't steal from Linux...etc...etc. but there is no need to reverse engineer anything.

And read the fine print about using it. By using it, you agree to frequent inspections to your computer and your files by M$. For reasons they don't have to reveal, but it is for your own good. I'm pretty sure when the dust settles they will use the smoke screen that they are only checking for child porn and pirated files, and the only people complaining about the lack of privacy MUST be criminals.

Vista is the new spyware, malware, and Sauron's Evil Eye all rolled in to one buggy little package.

Wow...I think those cute Mac commercials are really having an effect.

I haven't had a chance to really read any of the user agreements, but I would suspect the language would be similar. I do know that MS reserves the right to check if you are using a pirated version of their software. It is widely available on the internet, as are usable key codes. I don't think that Apple has to worry about that too much. Linux is free, so you only adhere to the open source requirements.

To wrap up...I use primarily use windows because I have to, at work, for gaming, for software choices, but so far it is still the best option for me.
I choose not to buy proprietary systems, such as the Mac and certain PCs. The last I read Mac had about 5% of the market. That puts a real disincentive to software companies to develop for them, therefore there isn't as much software to choose from. Same problem with Linux, not alot of software, and not quite there in the desktop world, but almost.

Scott

[Dreadbelly]

I haven't had a chance to really read any of the user agreements, but I would suspect the language would be similar. I do know that MS reserves the right to check if you are using a pirated version of their software. It is widely available on the internet, as are usable key codes. I don't think that Apple has to worry about that too much. Linux is free, so you only adhere to the open source requirements.

Scott

With Vista, it is DRM issues and M$ getting in to bed with the RIAA that is the problem. M$, along with the RIAA, will treat you as criminals with out you ever doing anything wrong. I do not need a computer being a tattletale or reporting my electronic activities to homeland security.

There is actually a great deal of anger over Vista and some of the user agreements. Go read on some of the geek news sites like Slashdot or other places. It is not about checking for pirated copies, M$ is now data mining the contents of your hard drive and spying on you. For creative types, people that forge code for a living... This means that M$ can sneak a little peak at your top secret project and they have the rights to any media stored on your computer using Vista. Any data stored on your machine is not actually yours. M$ has left a backdoor for innovation in Vista, instead of just open source, they now have open theft.

There is some bad voodoo going down and most people are completely blind to it.

[starbkjrus]

...snip...

Everybody thinks Vista is the future, but how many of you ran Windoze ME? We thought that one was progress, too.

That one drove me right to OS X and I'm not going back.

<--Yyyyaaaannnnnnnnnnnkkkkk--> Back to Graham's original topic....

I use XP Prof at work and it works just fine for me. I would not consider Vista unless I were upgrading the hardware. You won't really have a choice then (unless you change operating systems). So why go through the pain? Wait AT LEAST until Service Pack 1 is out. If not longer.

[ckelly327]

I'm looking at buying a new PC soemtime this year as mine is dieing a slow death and needs too many repairs that I have put in over the last year. That said, I will be saving my XP Pro disc and purchasing a barebones so that I don't get stuck with the newest thing to hit the market. It seems like every time MS puts out a new system, it is either dead or revised within 1-2 years. I'll watch what happens with Vista but won't be putting it on one of my PC's any time soon.

[Bob C]

I'm not going to install Vista on any of the machines that I've got running XP, but I'll probably buy a new machine this year and I'm looking forward to the new OS.

Don't get me started about Macs. I'm typing on one right now because they force me to use it at work. They're crap. The Safari browser is a joke.

[Dreadbelly]

M$ is banking on the fact that most users aren't tech savie enough or know enough of the legal terms in their EULA... Sort of like Sony and the Root Kit fiasco. The common desk jockey had no idea what the big deal was, or why the root kit fiasco was such a big deal... Sony was just protecting them, right? Right?! Not exactly the same thing here, but close enough to make a point. The common person is going to think M$ is just looking out for them, and wont know that they are being screwed.

I'd also like to address a few myths here... Macs actually have more software now than Windows. Since the move to Intel chips, Macs can now run ALL software. They can run OSX and Windows at the same time, easily switched between the two by tapping the side of the screen. OSX can also compile any and all intel based nix apps and run them. The Mac can run Windows Vista, and can actually do it better than most comparibly configured machines, faster and more stable. The freedom to switch between the two OSes at the same time with no rebooting means that you can freely use both environments with no time lost switching or rebooting, meaning you can code for both nix based systems and windows based systems at the same time, or any number of other apps where you need to split your time between the two. Windows does not yet have this feature, and probably never will. M$ is deathly afraid of the open source movement, it is destroying M$ and their business model, because you can not compete with FREE. More and more people are actually buying Macs now to run Vista on, or even previous versions of Windows, simply for the stability that the Mac hardware offers, and the value of being able to run a system that runs both environs.

As for the market share myth and the whole 5% thing, bollocks. Those are sales of new machines. Many Mac sales are actually used, for better value. Macs don't need replacing as often. The fact that there are 10 and 15 year old Macs out there still doing their jobs as web servers or in rendering farms, or any number of other tasks, still chugging away with out fail speaks a lot about why not as many Macs are sold. They don't break down as often and have a much longer product life.

As for the reverse engineering claim, that was actually leaked out during the beta. Specifically, the window manager was experiencing the exact same sort of glitch that the window manager in OSX had during the 1.1 release, something that was fixed at a later date. (Jag) The only way to have this specific sort of bug was to have the same sort of flawed coding used in a window manager app. I don't fully understand the technical aspects, but I appreciate the humour involved here, as Windows 1 when it very first came out had the exact same type of issue... They had copied the window manager from a previous Mac system and had the exact same bugs... From a couple of years ago. History repeats it self.

The courts said it best. M$ has not innovated one single thing... Ever. Nothing they have created is actually their own. They either buy up emerging technology or steal it outright, and with Vista, it will be much easier for them to steal from emerging technology because they will have express rights to any medium created on their OS platform. The solution of course is to move your coding to open source or to another OS, which people will be doing in droves.