Thoughts on Vista/What is Your Problem With Vista

[N3051M]

I want to go forth with Vista but would like another 2GB of RAM before I do, or do you experts think 2GB is enough? I am solely a gamer but might use some music production software later like Cakewalk Sonar 5.2 but it's XP-based.

Gaming i would say its ok, but i have a laptop with it so i can't really do much here. only problems i have nowdays is just windows update not updating my Office 03 stuff..

In terms of media production, there are some hardware and software that won't have vista support for a while (protools/digidesign untill '08 etc) but some other companies have done their transitioning or are in the process of getting vista compatibility. Motu, Cubase, M-Audio etc people say they work ok with vista, and below is info for your cakewalk program regarding it..

http://www.cakewalk.com/Press/01-29-07-SONAR62_Vista.asp

 

[LNCPapa]

I can see how my last post may have sounded a bit demeaning, but I am really just trying to provide info. How often do you go to a restaurant and hear people tell a waiter when they are having good service - now think about how quickly they will let people know when they have bad service. People are 9-10 times more likely (if I remember that statistic correctly) to share bad experiences than to share good ones.

I led up the Vista rollout at my previous job - and will probably have a fair amount of input with it at my new job. I don't think there is a need for everyone to move to Vista now, but I definitely don't think Vista is any worse than XP even in its current state. Think back to how XP was recieved when it first rolled out. There were very similar statements made about it back then to what Vista is getting now. Sure a 5 year old OS will run faster on your machine, why wouldn't it? The thing is, that isn't the most important factor. Many people are becoming informed about the need for more security. Laws are being passed mandating a certain amount of control and protection over sensitive data. Times are changing and it's only a matter of time before everyone is putting Vista on their machines. Sure, you can wait till SP1 or SP2 comes out before you start using it, but then you'll be trolling forums after that to figure out how to do things that you would've learned already had you just used it when you had it available.

Once again, I stress that there is no need for everyone to run out and buy Vista today. I wouldn't put it on a machine that I was going to use everyday if it didn't have at least 2GB of RAM and a decent video card. If it wasn't one of my primary machines then I'd probably let it skate by with 1 GB of RAM. There are also applications that do have problems with Vista. Most of the time you can blame the application developers for that - not Microsoft. If you have applications that are vital to your day-to-day operations and they don't have good or great support for Vista then don't do it yet. Also, if everything you have is working absolutely great in XP then why change it?

Also, don't think I'm just a Microsoft fanboy - I use Windows, Mac, and Linux very heavily and manage all three platforms at my place of employment. I can't say I was offended by the accusation of working for Microsoft - I really wouldn't mind being employed by them if I had the proper skills to grow there.

 

[hvelliott]

LNCPapa

Sorry if I offended. The purpose as I understand this thread is to give your thoughts on Vista, which I did. Apparently, some people think Vista is great. Good for them. It is evident that most of us do not.

Since Microsoft did not fix this mess before releasing it, it should have been rolled out as Windows XXX (you name the version). Because they made such a big deal out of Vista, I would have expected a better product; however, putting out a good product is not what Microsoft is famous for. You and I both know that this could have been beta tested and fixed to some level of reasonable correctness. Who do you know that is writing their own games for their PC? Who do you know that wrote their own word processing program?

Let's fact the facts. The majority of people are buying an "off the shelf" computer and "off the shelf" software. While there are probably a billion combinations of hardware and software that can be mixed, there are not that many compatibility issues that needed to be dealt with.

The MAC does not have the flaws and so many security issues like the IBM compatible PC and accompanying Microsoft software does. That is why the MAC will be my next purchase.

It is not worth making Bill the richest man in the world while dealing with inferior products and services.

If you mainstreamers want to spend all your time fighting with your own computer, more power to you. What I can say for sure is that if your car gave you as bad a service as your Microsoft-driven computer does, you would get rid of it.

 

[Phantasm66]

I led up the Vista rollout at my previous job - and will probably have a fair amount of input with it at my new job. I don't think there is a need for everyone to move to Vista now, but I definitely don't think Vista is any worse than XP even in its current state. Think back to how XP was recieved when it first rolled out. There were very similar statements made about it back then to what Vista is getting now. Sure a 5 year old OS will run faster on your machine, why wouldn't it? The thing is, that isn't the most important factor. Many people are becoming informed about the need for more security. Laws are being passed mandating a certain amount of control and protection over sensitive data. Times are changing and it's only a matter of time before everyone is putting Vista on their machines. Sure, you can wait till SP1 or SP2 comes out before you start using it, but then you'll be trolling forums after that to figure out how to do things that you would've learned already had you just used it when you had it available.

That's a really good post.

I agree totally. I'd say something more but really you've just said it all for me.

 

[halo71]

Is it just me or has anyone else notcied that it seems the people having the issues with Vista done the installs themselves? Maybe I am wrong, but my new laptop came loaded with Vista. And we recently purchased 2 more IBM Thinkpads at work pre-loaded with Vista Business and have not had the first problems at all. I wonder how many people are having Vista issues with preloaded new machines.

 

[Phantasm66]

Its probably purely from driver related issues, which will be stamped out in time. My Thinkpad is using drivers that all came from Vista's installation DVD - these stock drivers are much more likely to be stable than from some beta driver from some other source.

In any case, this was exactly what the state of play was when XP arrived - now look at it! These issues with Vista are merely annoyances and will not last for more than the first 12 months of the product's release.

 

[Phantasm66]

If you would read on down through this thread, you would see evidence that Vista is a joke....since everyone that has a good comment about Vista also owns up to a host of problems.

My comments about Vista are accurate, and I stand by them.

I'm afraid that's just not true. As I have explained, I have ran Vista for some time now, and I have no problems whatsoever. I had to run some programs with admin rights, but that's hardly a problem just a two second hassle. No problems here, all systems go, nothing wrong whatsoever.

There is no "host of problems" that I have to own up to. I'm completely happy with Vista as my OS. There's no problem. I'm keeping it, its the future of Windows and I'm glad to have it installed.

 

[raybay]

"Apparently, some people think Vista is great. Good for them. It is evident that most of us do not."

I don't think it is apparent at all. Nearly all of our clients like it. Complaints and tweaks are few. Nearly all of our business installs are happy, except for the high cost of VISTA business.

No operating system has ever been as good as hoped... but I am surprised at how few real problems crop up... and most of those are user problems from people who cannot read or search for simple fixes.
c

 

[Tmagic650]

There will always be Microsoft hate mongers out there. Hvelliott is most likely one of these. He's likely one that argues against anyone at any time ignoring logic and truth as it is presented...

I will try Vista soon. The latest Vista Advisor only complains about my old Turtle Beach Santa Cruz sound card now, and has no other issues with my current hardware or software setup

 

[SNGX1275]

Man I always wanted a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz sound card...

I'm one of the Vista supporters. The 2 problems I'll "own up to" are there is some issue between the nvidia drivers and Vista that cause incredible screen corruption with any version higher than the 97.46 or whatever the exact 97 version is. The other issue is it didn't like OS X 10.3.9 over the network, hardly an issue that affects anyone but me here, and I fixed that with some google searching and a quick registry tweak.

 

[Mictlantecuhtli]

I've installed Vista by myself countless times since the first beta builds, and I haven't had much problems with them. Usually I just tested it for a few days and then removed (and I seem to be the only one who uninstalls Vista by deleting the directories instead of formatting the partition).

Now I'm posting this from Vista as well (about to boot to Linux though), it runs fine, this feels somehow more tolerable than XP's default UI and behaviour.

The few games I play work just as well as in XP - I don't care if some 3DMarks get a few hundred lower or higher score. No problems with Nvidia's 158.18 drivers, either. DirectX10 and the lack of hardware 3D sound in games don't mean much to me.

So far applications I've installed have worked. Sometimes that compatibility wizard pops up after a successful installation, thinking something didn't install correctly (usually a Nullsoft installer).

I do miss the horizontal scrollbar on Explorer's folder view on the left, that automatic moving is irritating. It also refuses to remember the window size.

Aero Basic or Glass window colors can't be configured except for the few colours it allows me to select - the classic control panel has little effect. I got the border padding off, though.

Naturally, Microsoft has moved or renamed a lot of options and applications (customers want to learn things again with a new OS, right), but I'm beginning to remember most of them. The classic start menu and control panel help there.

Of course, I have tweaked Vista a bit, manually and with X-Setup Pro, and I customized the installation image with vLite, removing unnecessary components such as music and movie clips, printer drivers etc.

Oh, I also don't use that 3D thingy that seems to be in every Vista screenshot, I removed it from Quick Launch bar and I simply don't have Windows keys on my keyboard. Alt-tab does the job for me.

I won't cry when Vista uses more RAM than XP, either - even though it only sees 3 GB of 4 installed - or when it has more processes running (50 processes at the moment, about 1.2 GB of RAM used). It just happens to have more features. I don't really see the point buying a fast computer and then complaining that it's not idling, but that's just me...

And about 15 years after Windows 3.11 for Workgroups, I still can't rename the network or join another without rebooting, or change the system locale without rebooting...

 

[kitty500cat]

Vista's cool. I plan on getting a laptop sometime soon, maybe in a couple months or fewer, and I plan on getting one with Vista. As much as people complain about the OS, there are obviously going to be a few bugs with it at first, but that's a given. As for software not working, that's not usually Microsoft's fault. The software makers have to learn to make their stuff Vista-compatible, and you can't blame them much either, since the OS hasn't been out for too long.

In short: I don't see a lot of reason to criticize Vista.

 

[halo71]

Well ****!!! I just tried to download the software for the PSP so I could download a movie onto it. And guess what.......it's not compatible with Vista!!!! Guess I will have to pull out 'ole faithful, my old Compaq laptop and run it from there.

 

[Coth]

Correct me if I'm wrong...

...but would MS know everything about what would be compatable unless they released the final version? What I'm asking is how would MS know that certain bugs would be null/void unless it got real-world testing done with it?

As far as getting a Mac, as one user noted I feel either computer be it PC or Mac is a good choice though I would refrain from a "Rent to own" shop for getting a PC. A friend of mine got one from a place and it has 70 processes running. Surfing was agonizing (dial up was used). The machine had 512MB RAM installed and all it had was 38MB free. Someone screwed up and it's not my friend.

 

[wolfram]

Well, I have tried Vista Home Premium. Unfortunately, it didn't work as I expected.
Most things were crashing, had lot of BSOD's, I couldn't have access to the Internet, some games didn't like it, and was somewhat slow.

It did not impress me at all. I guess it'll need some time before it gets as good as XP.

Someday it'll be a great OS. I'm back with the good old XP Pro

 

[raybay]

It would be helpful to know on what computer and configuration you attempted the install..

 

[wolfram]

The specs are on my profile. The most annoying issue is that I couldn't have access to the web. I'm using a special driver for my 2wire modem/router (the one that came with my internet "kit"), and my ISP still can't come out with a Vista driver

 

[raybay]

I would think the 2Wire would come out with the driver. Does your ISP just not have VISTA connection capability? That too would be strange.

 

[N3051M]

Does your ISP just not have VISTA connection capability?

some ISPs are a bit slow at going to Vista support or drivers.. but most of them should have caught up by now..

just connect via ethernet port and you should be fine, if you have them on your modem and pc...

 

[DDG4005]

Has anyone here tried running older apps in compatibility mode? If so has it solved your issues?

 

[halo71]

What specific apps? I have ran some games, emulators that are pretty old on Vista sucessfully. About the only thing I have found that is not compatible is the Zune software and the PSP software.

 

[wolfram]

I would think the 2Wire would come out with the driver. Does your ISP just not have VISTA connection capability? That too would be strange.

Obviously not But anyway, who cares

 

[link590o]

....I really can't understand what most of your problems are. you ALL know the requirements that vista has before trying to install and run it. it tells you before hand that you need at least a certain amount. what is it that you don't understand about REQUIREMENTS? that means they list the MINIMUM it will run at. you'll need more and better hardware to run it smoothly.

Vista is a brand new OS. it has all kinds of bugs that need to be worked out. wait a year and then get it.

Microsoft even put out some software that will scan your entire computer and TELL you if you are ready for vista.

But of course, so many people are blindly loyal to the Microsoft company to the point where Microsoft could hand them anything, say it's awesome, and they'll believe it. Then they try it and it sucks. BIG SURPRISE!

Anybody that's having a problem with Vista right now CLEARLY bought it too hastily, or their computer blows. I want Vista Home Premium, but I'm most DEFINITELY waiting until a year from now before I consider buying it along with a new computer.

Right now, Vista is only the nice thing to have and nothing more.

As usual, Microsoft screwed its customers with a delayed and expensive release that still isn't ready, but is still reaping massive cash rewards off of dumb people.

Quit complaining and wait for a year and get a better computer while you're at it. I only know of ONE person who has vista and loves it, but he has a super computer.

When will you people learn that Microsoft blows?

 

[N3051M]

Has anyone here tried running older apps in compatibility mode? If so has it solved your issues?

Word of advice, don't run the installers on compatibility mode if they aren't designed for vista. ie don't force it. Its a pain to remove the program later, be it manually..

 

[raybay]

VISTA is already on 40 million computers. The problems are surprisingly few, as evidence from the very few posts to this forum.
We haven't quite reached 400 installs yet in our shop, but we are amazed by the very few problems. Only those with no-name components or out of business hardware companies are a problem because we have to take time to find the driver.
We get fixes easily from Microsoft. I suspect we will see a Service Pack by December.