I just finished the install, it’s beautiful… the 2 1/2 hours to download, burn to a dvd, and install it were long and boring but it’s well worth it. I got the Enterprise edition from my university’s website. 
thats messed up =( i can’t wait for MS Windows Vista to finally be released into “open season” because right now I have one laptop that needs a OS to be re-installed and I don’t want to have to spend -X- amount of dollars for a CD-Key when Vista will hopefully sometime soon be available.
sigh I was just speaking to my uncle who’s been into computers since the tube days, when it really was a series of tubes, and he’s switching to a mac.
I think that its inevitable that Vista will:
-be hacked soon enough
-have to be patched somehow
-have horrible issues
-etc. etc.
Plus, someone has already posted up video showing Mac OS X can do what Vista can, just that mac has done it for a few years now.
I don’t mean to be a cynic or anything of that degree, I just think its time to abandon the Windows bandwagon and move on. I mean, I’m running Ubuntu Linux right now with an aero style interface (courtesy GNOME art), and its able to do EVERYTHING that windows did for me when I ran Windows XP professional. Now sure you will need windows for CAD and Inventor and other goodies, yet at the same time I think Linux has some equivalents that are worth looking into (prolly this: http://oss.sgi.com/projects/inventor/). Some minor limitations aside, which I have faith will be eliminated soon enough, I think windows users can migrate to ubuntu linux or mac safely now.
-Joe
Please, do not make any comparison between different OS. Everyone has there own preference as to which solution is best for them.
One thing I am still disappointed about vista is that it has 6 different versions. This causes lots of customer confusion for people who not technically savvy. Even right now, some people ask me what version they should order. What’s even worse is that I have heard that retailers will be trying to push the most expensive versions of vista (namely the extreme edition) because they have higher margins then the rest. I believe that this is somewhat wrong, especially when a consumer only needs basic functionality.
I have been using Vista for a few months now and I think it is a way better OS than XP. The downside and upside is that it requires a more powerful machine. Other than that, it has many advanced features and useful upgrades.
I think Microsoft has tried to provide exactly what the customers need. If you go on their website its very self explanatory about what each version is. Besides, its about time people start getting computer savvy - at least a little bit. On the downside however, I don’t like any of the basic/specialized editions of vista other than vista ultimate. It does not contain all the applications people would normally use. This is a good thing for small and large business’s though, employees don’t have the tools they want to mess around with. Now, will Vista have problems? Yes, already has. Will someone hack it and boast about it? Yes. Will I still use it? Yes.
I personally thought that Vista was a little annoying as it would not work very good on my laptop. I have an ok if not bad processor with a Celeron M 1.6ghz and very nice memory with 1 gig. 40 gig HD at 5400rpm. And yet it still ran very, very, very slowly on my computer. I couldn’t run half of the programs that I use a lot of the time such as AIM Triton (I use 6.0 now) and Lego Mindstorms. When ever I would play a DVD, if the picture was not studdering, the sound was, also no matter how quiet of an area you were in, you could barley hear anything that was happening with the sound turned all the way up. I even adjusted all of the settings to get it to be louder, but still no luck. I loved the Media Center that was included with it, but only when it didn’t stutter around. I was not impressed at all with Windows Vista, and I highly do not recommend it to anyone. I reinstalled Windows XP and now my laptop runs fine again. I believe that I will buy a Mac before I upgrade to Vista and this will probably be the end of my PC’s that I will ever have (My laptop that is). Just as a side note, I was using the last release of Vista that was offered.
New operating systems are designed to utilize the power provided by new hardware. You can’t expect a computer made in the mid-XP era to run Vista flawlessly. My laptop has a 1.66ghz core duo processor and 1gb of ram and it runs Vista pretty good. Some of my other programs have a little bit more “lag” in them than before, but it’s nothing more than I expected and I’m not switching back to XP because of it. If you want an operating system that does not slow down your computer at all, you should go get Windows 3.1.
It seems like Vista would just drain the battery on my laptop and heat it up. I don’t see any reason to switch. What’s cooler than XP in vista? The media center? I don’t use that. The interface? I’m happy with XP’s interface. It’s more Apple-like? Yuck. I don’t see anything I don’t like in XP, and I like that I can idle it/watch a DVD for 2.5-3 hours on a single charge. If Vista is really that intensive, which it is judging by Schnabel’s post, then I doubt I am going to get that same battery life. And my fan will be on all the time.
Vista? No thanks.
JBot
I get about the same battery life on my laptop as I did with XP. If you guys don’t want Vista, don’t get it… don’t discourage others from getting it though, you may not like it but they may. I personally enjoy working in Vista more than I did in XP.
It sounds like you people are trying to run the Aero Glass theme (which contains video-intensive desktop effects) on hardware that doesn’t have very strong 3-D acceleration. So your video card and processor are trying as hard as they can to run the effects, leaving little power (both in the electrical and the computational senses) for anything else. Turn Aero Glass off, and try it again.
I’m not trying to pick a fight, I’m just curious: why do you like Vista better? What’s there that’s not in XP–what am I missing? I haven’t tried Vista; I got a license key but didn’t download the disc image until too late; they closed the evaluation period thingy. So, why should I get vista?
JBot
What you guys have to realize is that not every computer is the same. 1 laptop may run vista like its a joke… and another laptop maybe have a bit different specs on it… and may run like crap…
that explains the battery life for the dvd and games… and the laggage u get on programs…
every1 has something to complain about… and im not being offensive… i remember when people were complaining about 95 to 98… truly… u have to try it your self to find out if u personally like it for ur needs…
I like xp … and im stticking to xp… maybe in a few months when the real version of vista comes out … i’ll try it… and if i dont like … then i’ll switch back… but dont try and tell ppl not to buy it …
Aero is nice, the searching is so much better, not sure why but my wireless connects a lot faster than before I used to have to wait 15-20seconds for it to connect but now it’s up within 3 seconds of logging in, the start menu is faster, Windows Mobility Center puts everything you need for your laptop in one place, if you’re really into security Vista has BitLocker to protect your drives, many security flaws from XP fixed, and everything is a lot easier to navigate through and do.
It would be nice for my wireless to connect faster but usually it only takes 4-5sec to connect anyhow. And that seems like it would be the fault of the wireless driver, not the OS–I could be wrong though. Nice to know some of the things that are there in Vista. I personally will not be using it anytime soon. Until I outgrow the OS I’m on, I’m not switching. (hehe, I’ll probably ride with XP until Microsoft discontinues MS Updates for it! I just got off of 98SE last summer…:yikes: )
JBot
How is Vista now?
Right now I think Vista is overrated. I have Vista on my desktop and it looks neat and run like my macs OSX (kinda). It has a bunch things I don’t like over XP.
-
First we get Aero Glass which is cool and 3d/translucent. But, if I goto a certain web page or run a certain program Vista turns it off, then it’s XP with new front end.
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Second I had to go digging around to turn off all the protect you from yourself junk.
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Third I play games and they all run quite a bit slower then they do in XP. So, until I need DX10 I like XP. I’m going back to XP.