Bad Wolf said:
During the launch of Vista last year, I saw that Microsoft bought some significant advertising time on CSI: NY.
Sigh.... I still do not like Vista for the following reasons:
- UAC. I have been using computers for ages, and kinda have an idea of what's good and bad. I don't need a babysitter to ask me "Are you sure you want to do this?"
- Steep hardware requirements. Windows XP can run fine on 256MB of ram, and run decently, while Vista requires 1 GB. XP requires 512MB-1GB of RAM to run smoothly. Vista at least 2 GB.
- Last week, Firefox was auto-upgraded from 3.0 to 3.0.1. The install ran smoothly on my XP machine. I had to run Firefox as an administrator to get it to install on Vista 64-bit.
- In XP, the display properties were consolidated into one control panel. In Vista, you have more mouse clicks to try and find the same functionality.
- The eye candy is nice, but I find it distracting and harmful to my productivity.
So, once again, what are the compelling reasons to upgrade from XP to Vista?
And, we now have machines coming out with 64-bit processors. Why is Vista 32-bit still loaded on those machines? Wouldn't 64-bit be better?
1. Don't like UAC.. turn it off.
2. Never in my entire career with XP have I seen a PC with 256MB run XP in any manner acceptable to a normal human being.
3. 1GB of Ram sells today for less than 256MB of ram did when XP came out, so whats the dif?
4. Sounds like a FIrefox issue not a Vista issue.
5. Vista display properties are more complex... they have given you greater control over the appearance of your desktop than ever before. Why is that an issue, once you get the screen the way you want it, you will rarely go there again and if you don't like the eye candy, turn aero off and you dont have to see it.
I have a lsit of literally hundreds of things I like about Vista over XP, but here are my top 5:
1. Memory Management: You NEVER have to reboot Vista to clear the memory, you will never see a warning about system resources being low and nothing is open.
2. Security: Vista security, to date has proven to be superior to XP's, so far. Only time will tell if this will remain true, but If I had kids, Vista would be a no brainer, the UAC that so many find annoying would keep your kids from ever downloading something like that "Free" Emoticon download that nearly cripples your PC.
3. Networking: As an administrator of numerous company networks, Vista has been a true breath of fresh air. One client completed their move to Vista a year ahead of schedule because of the improvements in Network management made possible with Vista.
4. Productivity: An interesting side effect of Vista's hardware requirements.. people are getting things done faster because of the higher memory requirements of Vista. Think about it.
5. this is kind of a multiple feature thing: I love: the snipping tool, the sidebar, the sticky notes, the new control panel and the ability to adjust drive sizes (not all Vista versions) without 3rd party software.
I have been amazed by the number of people who constantly slam Vista and have never spent a single hour with it. When Vista was first released there were a lot of driver issues, people raised holy H about that.. but was that Vista's fault? The manufacturers had plenty of time to have their drivers ready for Vista, the failure was theirs. The fact that some legacy hardware will never get Vista drivers is a sign of the times. Companies aren't willing to spend money writing new drivers for old equipment when they can sell you new equipment. Vista's fault?
But the major driver and software compatibilities have been resolved, and yeah, I know your {insert name here} doesn't work. Sorry, if its deal breaker for you then don't upgrade. That's your choice and I'm ok with that, but it doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with Vista. YOU made that choice.
Keep in mind, your favorite whatever will still not work 2 years from now when the next Microsoft OS comes out.
I'm not trying to convince anyone that Vista is the greatest thing since sliced bread. It has its flaws.
Is it better than XP.. yes, ask anyone who has used it for a year. Is there anything wrong with XP? Well after all the time it has been out, there shouldn't be, but time marches on, XP will not survive the end of this decade.