Buzz Out Loud Lounge: Silent Vista-loving majority?
Vista...
by Impreza WRX - 5/8/08 8:00 AM In reply to: Silent Vista-loving majority? by chustarI have been running Vista Business for over a year now on my desktop computer. Granted, I don't use it that much, but when I do, I find it "not that bad". Its had its problems, like explorer crashing, the ever annoying "windows neeeds your permission to continue", and the fact that the only way to make it quick involved overclocking the Pentium 4 Cedar Mill to 4.5 GHz, bumping up to 2 GB RAM (DDR2 800), dropping in a GeForce 7600 GT KO, and then getting a Perpendicular Recording hard drive, but otherwise, its got a bunch of nifty features that even Ubuntu Linux only recently added. Sure, it takes time to get used to the new environment, but once you do, you might look back at XP and wonder why you ever put up with its cartoony look and Wizard Wizardry. Just remember... 2 GB OF RAM AT MINIMUM!! If you bought an el cheapo desktop or laptop, chances are it came with 1 GB of RAM, the minimum hardware requirements for Vista. Most likely it uses onboard graphics, which "borrows" system memory to do video. This means your actual memory at 1 GB is between 896 MB and 768 MB to run the Vista desktop. That's not enough. 2 GB will give you improved performance, and maxing it out, 4 GB, will allow Vista to take 0advantage of superfetching, which preloads all the most frequently used files in RAM, allowing programs to start up much faster than before. For some people, who play games like Battlefield 2, which is infamous for extremely long loading times, have had entire maps load in fractions of the normal load time (a matter of seconds versus a matter of minutes!) and without even touching the hard drive!
The potential is there in Vista, it's now up to Microsoft to finish debugging and get us fully operational by Service Pack 2!
Vista = Beta
by chappejw - 5/8/08 4:28 PM In reply to: Vista... by Impreza WRXSo what you are saying is that Vista even by an acceptable standard is nothing more than a Beta version and another episode of Microsoft charging money for an unfinished work in progress. Good riddance, get Ubuntu and end your suffering. Ubuntu is blowing everything else away and it is totally free..!!
How much money have you spent on:
- anti-virus software?
- anti-spyware software?
- anti-adware software?
- firewalls?
- PC cleanups at Best Buy / Futureshop?
- upgrading hardware because of inefficient programming by Microsoft.
How much time have you spent:
- without your computer while it's getting reformatted at Best Buy / Futureshop?
- scanning for viruses?
- scanning for adware?
- scanning for spyware?
- registering for shareware / freeware / trialware crap to try to clean up Windows?
- wishing your Windows PC performed like the first time it ever started up?
- trying to clean the Windows registry?
- trying to figure out why you are paying Microsoft hundreds of dollars and still suffering with Windows problems every week, month, year?
Install Ubuntu and all of these problems are gone.
RE: Vista = Beta
by Impreza WRX - 5/9/08 8:41 PM In reply to: Vista = Beta by chappejw- How much money have you spent on:
- anti-virus software?
* None, I use Avast! Home Edition (its a Home computer. Shutup.)
- anti-spyware software?
* None, I use Spybot Search and Destroy and Lavasoft Ad-Aware
- anti-adware software?
* see above
- firewalls?
* Never needed one
- PC cleanups at Best Buy / Futureshop?
* None, I clean up my own hardware with CCleaner, Disk Defrag, a stack of DVD-Rs, and a air spraying can. I also use air filters and seal up my cases so the only holes are filtered intakes and exhaust ports with a fan on them. I don't need to waste money at BB so they can uninstal a bunch of crap and leave me with a working system that is missing a certain driver I need for some hardware that the newbie behind the counter didn't think I needed.
- upgrading hardware because of inefficient programming by Microsoft.
* I upgraded hardware because my last motherboard couldn't take the heat of running a Prescott core P4 (it runs HOT!!) at 3.5 GHz.
How much time have you spent:
- without your computer while it's getting reformatted at Best Buy / Futureshop?
* None, I actually just plugged in my drive when I rebuilt it and after ten minutes of Vista getting angry for changing hardware it let me use it again.
- scanning for viruses?
* TBH I haven't run a virus scan since I installed Vista. I should do that.
- scanning for adware?
* Have only scanned once or twice. Spybot's immunizer and my good browsing habits keep my system surprisingly malware free
- scanning for spyware?
* See above.
- registering for shareware / freeware / trialware crap to try to clean up Windows?
* CCleaner. Freeware. End of story.
- wishing your Windows PC performed like the first time it ever started up?
* My 4.5 GHz Cedar Mill is performing quite well, thank you. It can keep up with a AMD Athlon64 4200+! And I have a dual core 4200+ to compare it with! I changed to a Pentium E (Core2Duo with 1MB cache) 2.0 recently though. Haven't OC'ed, but it was $70 cheap and it's fast too! 
- trying to clean the Windows registry?
* CCleaner. Takes a minute or two.
- trying to figure out why you are paying Microsoft hundreds of dollars and still suffering with Windows problems every week, month, year?
* I got mine from school because Microsoft gives (but you pay shipping) college kids Genuine Windows disks in the mail! :P
Install Ubuntu and all of these problems are gone.
* I have it installed in older computers I have lying around. It works very well, but the ga- er, programs I have on my Vista box don't do Linux. I do like to use Ubuntu on systems that have no valid XP or Vista key.
Silent Vista-loving majority - was
by monkey_to - 5/8/08 8:02 AM In reply to: Silent Vista-loving majority? by chustar60% kinda loving it .. I had my new vista laptop running a great 90% happy rate, after turning off window defender & hi-trust .. then I sent it back to it's factory to fix the SD reader issues .. after it got back it's been 60%.
I've got favorite programs that never get flagged as not properly signed that came out 10+ years ago .. but the newer stuff .. gets hit .. they run fine in XP but vista refuses to load it's drivers.. so a $400+ ODBII auto diagnostic program is worthless or my new vista is worthless. .. my sierra 775 aircard gprs/edge/gsm works great on XP, up to 260kbps but not on Vista, GC89 is designed for Vista but it looses 60% signal strength to less than 40kbps which makes it or vista worthless..so I have to keep my cripple laptop around because vista can't be trusted to perform on the road. I tried running xp on it but couldn't find the drivers and since vista was released, they, because of M$ requirements said .. no help!
One of the tech guys said I needed to turn on User Account Control, but after rebooting, it has blocked 100% of my main programs! Apparently Windows Defender found a new way around my blocking it from running, as it's still unchecked in msconfig startup. It only grabs the programs I use 90% of the time & blocks them.
vista home premium 32bit, acer aspire9410z 17", 1.73ghz dual, 2gb ram, 120gb hdd, wireless.
Waiting to install Vista 64 and still with XP SP3
by djboccio - 5/8/08 8:06 AM In reply to: Silent Vista-loving majority? by chustarAfter destroying 2 machine by installing Vista, I downgraded back to reliable XP SP3. I just received the upgrade to Vista 64 SP1, I will be installing this on separate drive and see if my software still works?....I waiting to here about sucess stories of users after installing Vista 64
loving ,loving ,loving it , My New faster computer & Vista
by jwv - 5/8/08 8:07 AM In reply to: Silent Vista-loving majority? by chustarHaven't Had the new computer but a few weeks . Just gett'g into it .But thus far Vista is GREAT! No Problems. Haven't had any problems with older programs running. Did get ride of one BIG headach. Comcast free be causing all the problems. Loaded Kaspersky & now have the fast ever computer & glitch Free >Hurray For Vista .One happy guy
Loving Vista
by Sueshad - 5/8/08 8:07 AM In reply to: Silent Vista-loving majority? by chustarI've been on computers for at least 35 years and have used all of Microsoft OS. I've had Vista for a month and am loving it. No problems at all. I needed to update one driver for a printer and just went out to the vender site and downloaded it no problem.
I'm a believer now!
I've been using it for about a year now without a problem
by rainmaker23 - 5/8/08 8:08 AM In reply to: Silent Vista-loving majority? by chustarI haven't had many problems... wait - Timeslips Help screen don't work, but that's Timeslips' problem, not Vista.
I will admit that I changed most of the menus, etc. to the Classic look and feel, but that's just because I can move faster that way.
I wish that my recently installed programs would be highlighted in Start > Programs... sometimes after installing a program, I'm not 100% sure where to find it in Start > Programs.
Oh, and I do miss the progress bar in Disk Defrag, but other features are nice, particularly the much-improved Performance Monitor.
My suggestion to late-adopters on this is to go ahead and get on-board. It works.
File Edit View Tools Help
by 7aji88 - 5/8/08 8:15 AM In reply to: I've been using it for about a year now without a problem by rainmaker23why would anybody take these out?? The first time I saw the windows in Vista I was lost, but luckily I found an option for it. And I thought disk defragmenter wasn't working when the analyzer and all the colorful bars didn't show up.
About Vista
by Rd73 - 5/8/08 8:11 AM In reply to: Silent Vista-loving majority? by chustarI bought a new pc in 04/28/2008
I rather have XP back The vista "sucks"
Its growing on me by leaps and bounds
by RFPuk - 5/8/08 8:11 AM In reply to: Silent Vista-loving majority? by chustarHi --
I recently bought a new laptop (Thinkpad T61p) with Vista Ultimate. I am still running Windows XP on my desktop (a relatively high powered Dell). Since I get all my E-mail on my laptop and do much of my work on my desktop I switch between them frequently. The more I use the GUI in Vista, the more I like it over the GUI in Windows XP. For example, creating new folders in the correct location is simply a right click in Vista but a menu dialog in Windows XP. I find that many of the features I need are more readily available in Vista (and this is not even considering the changes to the Office 2007 interface). I would change over my desktop if I didn't need XP for some older applications.
Fixing last post
by AppraiserDan - 5/8/08 8:15 AM In reply to: Its growing on me by leaps and bounds by RFPukI meant to say at the end that I am more pleased than not. Can't figure out how to edit my post =(
Some comments from a new Vista user (not all bad)
by AppraiserDan - 5/8/08 8:12 AM In reply to: Silent Vista-loving majority? by chustarSo far I would say that my feelings towards Vista are somewhat mixed. I am a long time XP user and use my PC for both work and play. I'm going to start with the latter:
When it comes to gaming, Vista so far has been a blast. DirectX10 has some very pretty effects and for the most part gaming has been very enjoyable.
When it comes to creating music, however, my experience with vista has been very annoying. My PC came with an SB X-Fi Xtreme Gamer, which like most of Creative's hardware, has the ability to record off of the computers Mixer. In addition, I have all the fun toys for soundfonts and 3D Midi. I have been a fan of composing music in MIDI and mixing it in with live instruments and vocals utilizing my PC as a mixer. Bill Gates, in his infinite wisdom, decided that Vista will no longer support mixer recording. You know those options you get when you right click the sound icon on the lower right of the screen for recording options? Well those were replaced and most of them were disabled. Yes, I've done that whole "click the white space and enable disabled devices fix" to no avail. It seems that Microsoft thinks that by disabling mixer recording they can somehow be the heros in the epic struggle between the recording industry and music pirates.
What kinda morons does Microsoft take us for? Do they even realize a SIMPLE Y CONNECTOR AND A SET OF HEADPHONES completely makes this "anti piracy feature" obsolete? I find this increadibly insulting!! If someone wants to pirate music off the internet they can completely bypass software recording, I promise you. Limiting everyone to only using Microphone or Digital-In recording options is rediculous. Not only that, but not everyone is out to STEAL music. Some of us like to use a PC for musical CREATIVITY. My old XP rig is still great for composing music in MIDI, soundfonting it up, and mixing it with live vocals and guitar.
When it comes to work, Vista was a pain to set up, but great once I got the ball rolling. I am a real estate appraiser and utilize WinTOTAL by A La Mode. There were some compatability and font display issues at first, but once I resolved those with A La Mode's tech support, everything ran like a champ. The overall work experience was more than satisfactory and I had few issues.
Another comment I'd like to add: The security features seemed to be much better on Vista than on XP. The fact that every time a program needs to be run the PC asks me before it gets executed is a GREAT idea. Some people may find that annoying, but I like the idea of being in control of what gets executed on my PC.
Overall I'd say that I'm more displeased with vista than not; however, to be fair, I am a new user. These may be some hicups in the beginning of Vista use that, once I get more into Vista, may be completely resolved. Overall I'd rate Vista something like this:
Setup 2/10
Security 9/10
Compatabality 5/10
Visual Appeal 9/10
Gaming 10/10
Productivity 9/10
Musical Productivity 0/10
Overall : 7.5 / 10 (Positive)
about the sound issue
by pedromrsilva - 5/8/08 12:12 PM In reply to: Some comments from a new Vista user (not all bad) by AppraiserDanAre you sure you don't have a sound card driver issue?
I'm using a Sound Blaster Audigy, and I can select "waht u hear"
Vista is ... (tolerable)
by teligence - 5/8/08 8:17 AM In reply to: Silent Vista-loving majority? by chustarI just wanted to point out some things that we (aka Windows users) may forget about when jumping into a new OS:
1. Vista (with default settings) is a resource hog. That's been an issue with Windows OSes since '95 was rolled out, but now it's worse. The main reason many don't pay it much attention is that often we get it on a new, faster PC - you know - the type with more (and faster) memory, faster bus speeds, faster I/O controllers, faster hard drives, faster optical drives, faster video cards, etc. This notable hardware performance increase offsets much of the additional burden Vista places on a PC.
2. Even "stripped" down, Vista is still significantly slower than XP when installed on equal hardware platforms. Feel free to check any of the web-searchable lab tests.
3. I've poked around Vista (Home Premium) for about 2 months now, and I've found a couple bugs that I haven't seen published yet. If I - a single, casual user - have found a couple myself (and still haven't reported them) how many others out there are not reporting theirs?
4. Aside from a slightly different way of accessing some of the various features, I haven't seen anything that Vista does that XP doesn't do - as good or better!
5. It seems that most of the changes in the registry are directly related to the way MS has (needlessly) reoriented primarily the user profile-related folder structure. Instead of keeping everything for a single profile under an easily-defined and locatable folder, they have strewn it about in various areas - making administration and troubleshooting significantly more difficult and time-intensive. This - I believe - may be a simple explanation of the primary reason why the vast - er, I mean VAST - majority of the business community has refused to adopt Vista.
6. XP has been the most robust, flexible, supportable, stable, ... Windows OS that MS has put out. Why upset the proverbial apple cart? Sure, every once in a while there needs to be a core change to an OS to keep up with the times, but it seems that so far (for the most part, anyway) there ain't nuthin' Vista does that XP can't do...
7. Last point - regarding the performance hit for the "Vista experience", have you tried turning off your Aero interface??? It's like ... well "try it, you'll like it".
So far my overall assessment is that even though I'm able to work around most of the Vista issues, and while Vista will inevitably be a viable platform sometime in the future, it is not yet ready to replace XP in function, stability, compatibility, and performance. Some say that XP had its moments in its post-release months, but I was there too and in my experience XP had a much better start than Vista.
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