[Kevin Dupuy]

I just bought a new PC with XP Pro on it. So I was installing openSUSE Linux 10.2 on it, and while I was waiting for it to finish, I came across the Express upgrade to Vista brochure. And that's when the idea popped into my head.

So, what will ya'll be doing?
Moving to Vista immediantly when it comes out
Consider other options (Mac, Linux)
Just wait and aquire Vista with new PC
Stay with whatcha got/

 

[JM Anthony]

Those who install Vista 1.0 will be getting "Runs With Scissors" tee shorts signed by Gates and Balmer. Waiting for SP1 and Vista is probably a better bet if you want to go that route. I purchased a copy of RC1, but didn't install it but now that I've got a decent laptop that will better support it, I may give it a shot. If I do, I'll post my results.

John

 

[DonLandis]

I haven't seen anything earth shattering about Vista to make me want to switch now. I have 10 PC's running XP and one running 95 for an old application. I just bought a Macbook Pro and will be installing XP as a second OS on it too. I don't need Vista. I don't see the ROI on it for anything I do. Show me I'm wrong.

 

[HIPAR]

I voted for 'Stick with whatcha got'.

Linux: I installed SUSE Linux 9.x on an old 300 MHz Pentium class machine. It basically installed and worked. It ran very slow and took several minutes to boot. I was receiving a few error messages on boot but things seemed to work after I dismissed the errors. I researched the problems and came across some suggested fixes on the Web. There were line after line of those knuckle busting commands required to address the problems. I decided not to go there and reinstalled Windows ME. That machine is now in every day operation at a local charitable organization.

Vista: I installed Release Candidate One on a 1.2 GHz AMD machine. The first thing I needed to do was go to the local office supply store and spend 40+ dollars on more memory. Vista needs 512 megabytes to install. Microsoft has become so paranoid about security issues that they adopted a policy of asking your permission to do just about everything ... protecting you from yourself. So I had to discover how to turn off the 'Mother Hen'. They have an 'Vista experience' benchmark that is based on your machine hardware. My 'experience' (hate that term) was the lowest. Seems you will need something akin to a gaming machine with advanced video for the optimum 'experience'. After all of this I tried in vain to find anything that was really different enough from XP to require a switch. I don't know whats happening under the hood because that's invisible to the user.

I always viewed an operating system as the necessary baggage required to run applications. Why are we buying computers to run the operating system? Doesn't anyone run applications any more?

Let's face it. 95% of the machines are used for Surfing and Email. My brother's 900 MHz computer runs Windows 98SE and works well for these applications. It even runs Office 97 very well and he also does some digital photography .. No need for either Linux or Vista for his home computer. And I don't need XP complexity on my two Thinkpad machines. But, that came pre-installed on them.

Maybe a corporate IT person who needs advanced connectivity and ActiveX automation would see things from a different perspective.

--- CHAS

 

[DonLandis]

I buy the primary application first. Well not chronologically but I select it first. Then I select what platform is necessary to run it and the best OS recommended by the application. Not to knock Linux, but I personally have never needed an application that specified Linux as the best or recommended OS. Most of what I do specifies XP and recently, I needed OS X on a Mac for a new application.