Vista? should I get it?

[jgrabham]

OK, please don't flame :[

My friend can get me vista ultimate, should I get it, or stick with XP for my new build (dual booted with ubuntu of course)

[Rightmantrigger]

I've heard that it has lots of bugs and crashes rarely. I've also heard that the new Ubuntu Beryl (Beta Version) has better effects and is more stable then Vista. I would use Beryl but my graphics/video card doesn't support it. :(

[lepz]

Don't care :p

[Outrunner]

For heaven's sake, this is a GNU/Linux forum! Of course most people will tell you to stick with XP, and I'll have to agree with the majority. Stick with XP

[NeoLithium]

I've seen a lot of reviews from people on computer sites as well who bought it, and switched back to Windows XP, they said that it for now, feels like a resource hog version of XP with some fancier looks. I don't have either, but since it was an overwhelming majority, you might want to wait a bit before getting it.

[jgrabham]

Im a bit worried that MS will work out its a dodgy thing a friends friend download from the internet, and it will stop working.

[Outrunner]

Im a bit worried that MS will work out its a dodgy thing a friends friend download from the internet, and it will stop working.

:lolflag: How do you think they'll work that out?

[starcraft.man]

OK, please don't flame :[

My friend can get me vista ultimate (free pirate, naturally), should I get it, or stick with XP for my new build (dual booted with ubuntu of course)

Unless your gaming (dx 10 games specifically), I see no appreciable reason to run Vista. If you know how to secure XP and all you want to do is use a few programs in it then I'd stick with that. Heck, most steam gamers are staying away from Vista... (http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070604-valve-hardware-survey-shows-gamers-yet-to-embrace-vista.html)what does that say?

I admit I'm a wee bit biased, but I've yet to see a serious/compelling reason to upgrade (or downgrade, however you look at it). I mean I don't even think its that much more secure, they've had zero day exploits that allowed remote code execution that affected it just like XP... XP with a good firewall is all you need.

[PatrickMay16]

Even though you're not paying for Vista, you're still helping Microsoft by giving them a larger userbase. I seem to remember some time, Bill Gates or someone else at Microsoft said something like "If they're going to pirate software, I'd rather it be Microsoft's".

[karellen]

if you can get it for free...why not? at least see how and what it does..

[the_darkside_986]

Vista has an improved looking theme but you can get the Vista theme on KDE. I can't figure out how to install it but PC-BSD has it installed by default.

[UbuntuniX]

NO! I've got it on this new Acer Aspire, and it's TERRIBLE. Crashes constantly.
Vista laggs, and I have to manually set every game to use OpenGL. That's a good thing, but it's annoying.

The laptop itself is great, but Vista makes it suck. :(

[JAPrufrock]

Stick to XP with a dual boot. I personally have decided that XP will be my last windows product. When XP is obsolete, which MS will try to make happen as soon as possible, it will be 100% Linux for me.

[matthinckley]

I used to run XP in a virtualbox VM.. a freind let me try out a copy of Vista.. installation was nice, but I couldn't even play solitaiire on it because it needed 3d acceleration (for solitaire?).. since then I have deleted the Vista virtual machine, reformatted my XP virtual machine and installed Windows 2000 Professional on it..

[jgrabham]

XP it is then :)

[juxtaposed]

Im a bit worried that MS will work out its a dodgy thing a friends friend download from the internet, and it will stop working.

I doubt it; and if they do somehow do that, some group will release a crack.

And about your question, even though you decided a few minutes ago, the way I hear it from people who use it: If you have a pretty good computer (1.5GB RAM, Fast processor, quite good video card) then it is better then XP; less crashes and such. If your computer isn't high end, don't even consider it.

[NeoLithium]

Oh yeah, and one thing that will make you want to put your first through the screen for vista, is the constant CANCEL/ALLOW with every freakin question. Holy mother of whatever deity you want, that is ANNOYING!

Submit this post? Cancel/Allow
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[juxtaposed]

Oh yeah, and one thing that will make you want to put your first through the screen for vista, is the constant CANCEL/ALLOW with every freakin question. Holy mother of whatever deity you want, that is ANNOYING!

Submit this post? Cancel/Allow
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I'm pretty sure that can be turned off.

[starcraft.man]

I'm pretty sure that can be turned off.

LOL! That defeats the whole purpose. The UAC is supposed to be Vista's greatest improvement in terms of security. If you turn it off completely or lessen it then you might as well be using XP, you becomes just as secure...

[ticopelp]

Speaking as someone who worked with Vista extensively on a brand-new pre-installed HP, absolutely not.

I've been using Windows since 1995. Vista is pretty much the reason I'm using Linux now.

[durrell]

If you can use Ubuntu, definitely just stick with it over Vista. If you really just have to have Windows, just stick with XP because I assure you..the only improvement Vista has over XP are the visual effects and they're nothing compared to Ubuntu with or even without Beryl..

[juxtaposed]

LOL! That defeats the whole purpose. The UAC is supposed to be Vista's greatest improvement in terms of security. If you turn it off completely or lessen it then you might as well be using XP, you becomes just as secure...

Well then that's your choice; security or conveinence. Just like linux; root, or sudo.

I'd probably turn it off if I used vista.

[LaRoza]

Whether you use Vista or not is up to you, but if you want to use, use it. I use it, because I need a Windows platform for testing and other things, but I do not rely on it.

[Unicast]

I had vista home premium installed on my machine (Dell Inspiron 1501) and got totally hacked off with the incessant nannying. Memory usage under vista was ~42%, but is just 12% with Ubuntu 7.04.

In my opinion MS shouldn't have releasd Vista when they did, it's just a mess.

[reclusivemonkey]

I tried it for about an hour; I couldn't get a widescreen display and got no answer from any of the Vista forums I tried, so I wiped it.

[Balazs_noob]

it can't be turned off :)

i used pirated Vista for 2-3 months..
it is not bad, but sometimes old games and programs are buggy
( like Freelancer )
Aero is nice but Compiz & Beryl still beats it..
i have 1gb ram , Athlon 3000+ and GeFORCE 6100 and it had no problem running it
but after 2-3 month is started to lag :P

i have now gone back now to XP + Ubuntu dual boot :)

Sum :
Vista dosn't have too much new things , but it is very stable
(at least for me but needs reinstall about 3 months :D )
on the other hand a lot of older software don't support it..
So i would say XP...

[Gargamella]

The thing that takes me attached to windows is gaming, and in vista it got worse, so I suggest NOT to take it

[esavato]

I think Vista is much nicer than XP, although there are many programs that have problems installing on Vista. Most of the mainstream programs work fine, but if you use a lot of third party software, check to make sure they have a Vista compatible version. The search functionality under start is much improved, the aero UI is nice (although you must ensure you have a system that can handle it) and over all, the fit and finish is much better. If you can get it for free or cheap, check it out. You could always reformat.

[PartisanEntity]

My brother tried it out and it is quite system intensive, it seems to be a restyled XP on steroids.

Personally I think XP is a great OS, it rarely crashes and is lighter on the system. Also you can get a lot of those very same eye candy apps that you find in Vista for XP also.

I would recommend sticking with XP.

[jgrabham]

mind you my friend had it, and got rid of it beacause it ran too slowly
His specs
Dual core CPU (each core overcloacked to 4ghz!!) Thats 8GHZ!!!
2GB RAM
1 terabyte of HDD space

[cunawarit]

pirate

This settles it for me. Personally, I wouldn't do it.

[DJ Wings]

Stay good... Stay good! XP might not be the best OS, but it's better than Vista.

[Kingsley]

Vista is more responsive and looks much better than XP. But if you've got less than a gig of ram don't even bother.

[DJ Wings]

And remember: odds are you won't be able to use Aero anyways.

[bodycoach2]

Stealing -pirating- Vista gives it far more honor than it deserves. It's telling Microsoft, "You're product is worth stealing." Send them a message about it my not using it at all.

I get Vista for Business through school. We have to use it to learn for the future. Honestly, it's not too bad -especially with all the Vistaness turned off. If you use classic desktop, it's faster than XP without the Fisher-Price toy look to it. I used the Vista Aero eye-candy for all of five minutes before disabling it. Then again, I did the same thing with Beryl. Guess I'm destined to be a sysadmin.

I also have Office 2007, full version. Not too bad actually. Once you get used to the ribbon thingy, you see how quick and useful it is. I imagine that OpenOffice.org will eventually do sometime similar. I hope OpenOffice.org does something better.

The unfortunate part for Vista is that too much current software and hardware doesn't work with it. Even my iPAQ rx3715 PocketPC has trouble with it. It connects, but transfer rates are far too slow. And, Office2007 doesn't read Pocket documents. The utility for PocketPC with Vista doesn't convert documents or media to PocketPC or viseversa.

Since I'm trying to get Free Geek of Central Florida going here, I have more hard drives around than my girlfriend can tolerate. I keep it on a seperated drive in my computer. I don't even keep the cable hooked up. I hook it up only when necessary to learn or practice something.

Don't give MS the honor of stealing their stuff.

[Channic]

Make sure you're friend knows how to let you use Vista for more than 30 days . . . for some reason getting the right patch for that a was a little trouble (went through like 3 different ones). Vista isn't as bad as people make it out to seem . . . just make sure you got the hardware for it.

[mech7]

And remember: odds are you won't be able to use Aero anyways.

and why might that be? it even runs on my 1,5 year old laptop so it should definitly run good on a proper desktop :D

[init1]

OK, please don't flame :[

My friend can get me vista ultimate (free pirate, naturally), should I get it, or stick with XP for my new build (dual booted with ubuntu of course)
Get the vista. New operating systems are fun to try, especially if it is pirated

[BoyOfDestiny]

I suggest this article:

http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.html

If you'd like more information, there is blog and links here
http://badvista.fsf.org/

It was basically all these "features" that drove me away several years even before it was out. If I ever had to use Vista, It'd be inside a virtual machine.

[tim1980]

I think anyone that wants Vista should read this article first: http://www.osgui.com/microsoft-corporation/criticism-of-windows-vista-4.html

:popcorn:

[Espionage724]

Well I had both XP and Vista. Personally i'd choose Vista for security reasons. If you choose to update to vista check and see if your drivers are vista compatible. The most important drive you should check though is your video card. When I had vista I didn't notice any crashes or errors. Only thing that was bad was that it ran slow. My computer was a notebook with Intel 945 video card (64MB) and 512MB RAM. I didn't try the ReadyBoost thing with it though because I didn't have a drive that was compatible. Also I noticed that some of my programs were not vista compatible (older version of nero, norton partition magic) not that it was a big deal. Also Vista Aero desktop theme is awsome. Also with your "pirated" vista does it come activated? or with a time stopper?

[bone43]

I live in the Seattle area close to Redmond so I know plenty of people that work for M$ and windows any flavor is 25.00 my cost, yes that is all a employee has to pay so i bought Vista ultimate for said cheap price installed on a machine that had XP on it formerly.
the machine was for gaming so some what cutting edge hardware right from the start i had nothing but problems with Vista drivers games many things just don't work out of the box needless to say when i went back to XP every thing worked fine.

My two cents use Ubuntu Linux if you need MS use XP and wait Vista is far from ready for prime time wait until at least service pack 1 if not 2 and heck by then there might even be a dx10 game or two!!;);););)

[bone43]

Heres a funny video about Vista..:D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P6igNcaKs4&NR=1

[flowingfire]

No operating system on the market can live up to Windows Vista. I am convinced beyond any doubt that it is the most sophisticated and yet usable operating system ever built. When I search "under the hood" so-to-speak for new features, I am awestruck. Vista makes things quick and easy, while operating with style and sophistication that I have NEVER seen in another operating system.

For this reason, I have both Ubuntu Feisty and Windows Vista installed on my computer. I fully endorse it and suggest that you switch over if you like new and novel things.

That said, I don't like Microsoft that much. But they made a good product, and I'm sick of people tearing it down because they have some sort of pent-up bias against Microsoft. I hate Wal-Mart, too, but they have good prices. I avoid Wal-Mart, of course, but I can't complain about products or pricing. Same issue with MS.

I have used Vista since the day it came out, and the experience has been wonderful. It's not built for slow computers, though. It's built the next generation of PCs that have some power. Your 2 gigs of RAM will serve you well with Vista, but I'm willing to bet that anybody complaining bought a system that fulfills its bare-minimum requirements on some level. Vista runs fast, but it expects you to have the hardware to get it running. You don't put a racecar engine in a 1987 Chevy. You don't put Vista in a bare-minimum budget computer.

I hear people bashing it, calling it the next "Windows Millennium." I cringe when I hear that, because I remember Windows Millennium-- I couldn't get Millenium to run for 20 minutes without a random blue screen and system crash. I'm not kidding! Vista is no Win ME! That's belittling both how crappy ME was and how smoothe Vista is.

Windows Vista has never crashed once that I can remember. It is amazingly stable, good looking, and it is a fulfilling user experience. It has some really nice features that haven't been obvious in other versions of Windows, such as a partition re-sizing tool within the operating system that actually works. And that's just the beginning.

Furthermore, Vista's security its crowning glory. If you're a user who gets annoyed by frequent pop-ups asking you to approve an action, though, you can simply go to "msconfig" and disable "User Account Control." Yes, Windows will yell at you for doing it, but you don't get ANY annoying "click ok" windows.

As for compatibility, I have had some minor issues-- like the version of Oregon Trail I have from 1997. Some things just don't work right, but that's what compatibility mode is for. Of course, some things like the ol' screenprint32 program I love so much don't work either. But to me, it's a small sacrifice for a system that is fast and robust.

No Linux stands up to Vista. No other version of Windows stands up to Vista. No Mac OS, nor Red Hat, nor platform stands up to Vista.

From a very satisfied Vista user attempting to offset the "Vista-Bashing",
-David

[mech7]

get it.. Vista is pretty good it's better then XP and andy linux distro's out there atm but it is pretty expensive :)

[laxmanb]

New computer?? definitely get Vista.

It's got a lot of flak, but I've found it to be stable, fast (with about 1 GB RAM), and the user experience is better than either XP or Linux (IMHO)...

Piracy tho, is not good!!

[fyllekajan]

Got infected by the Vista when I bought a new laptop and it made the computer feel sluggish. It was doing all kinds of things like playing with itself and I couldn't stand the wait so I killed it. It was surprisingly ugly too. Did I want it? NO. Did I have to pay for it? YES. Can I give it away to someone who wants it? NO, license and they only shipped rescue disks. Should you get it? At least you have a choice. Knock yourself out.

[reclusivemonkey]

When I search "under the hood" so-to-speak for new features, I am awestruck.

Name some.

Vista makes things quick and easy, while operating with style and sophistication that I have NEVER seen in another operating system.

What by asking to confirm almost every single action you want to do? Utter rubbish.

That said, I don't like Microsoft that much. But they made a good product, and I'm sick of people tearing it down because they have some sort of pent-up bias against Microsoft.

Purely subjective. There are many, many perfectly legitimate problems with Vista. Just because you like it, it doesn't mean to say all the criticisms are invalid.

Furthermore, Vista's security its crowning glory. If you're a user who gets annoyed by frequent pop-ups asking you to approve an action, though, you can simply go to "msconfig" and disable "User Account Control." Yes, Windows will yell at you for doing it, but you don't get ANY annoying "click ok" windows.

What a joke. You cannot make *any* claims about Vista's security, because its barely out, and very few people are using it. Wait until Vista has a majority market share, then talk about security. You then go on to say that if you don't like the security, you can just turn it off! Yeah, fantastic security.

From a very satisfied Vista user attempting to offset the "Vista-Bashing",
-David

Come up with some valid points and you might get a fair hearing. All I can hear is a fanboy with some hot air.

[liquidfunk]

I would stick with Dos, seeing as thats the only good one they brought out XD.

Failing that, Windows 2000.

[karellen]

No operating system on the market can live up to Windows Vista. I am convinced beyond any doubt that it is the most sophisticated and yet usable operating system ever built. When I search "under the hood" so-to-speak for new features, I am awestruck. Vista makes things quick and easy, while operating with style and sophistication that I have NEVER seen in another operating system.

For this reason, I have both Ubuntu Feisty and Windows Vista installed on my computer. I fully endorse it and suggest that you switch over if you like new and novel things.

That said, I don't like Microsoft that much. But they made a good product, and I'm sick of people tearing it down because they have some sort of pent-up bias against Microsoft. I hate Wal-Mart, too, but they have good prices. I avoid Wal-Mart, of course, but I can't complain about products or pricing. Same issue with MS.

I have used Vista since the day it came out, and the experience has been wonderful. It's not built for slow computers, though. It's built the next generation of PCs that have some power. Your 2 gigs of RAM will serve you well with Vista, but I'm willing to bet that anybody complaining bought a system that fulfills its bare-minimum requirements on some level. Vista runs fast, but it expects you to have the hardware to get it running. You don't put a racecar engine in a 1987 Chevy. You don't put Vista in a bare-minimum budget computer.

I hear people bashing it, calling it the next "Windows Millennium." I cringe when I hear that, because I remember Windows Millennium-- I couldn't get Millenium to run for 20 minutes without a random blue screen and system crash. I'm not kidding! Vista is no Win ME! That's belittling both how crappy ME was and how smoothe Vista is.

Windows Vista has never crashed once that I can remember. It is amazingly stable, good looking, and it is a fulfilling user experience. It has some really nice features that haven't been obvious in other versions of Windows, such as a partition re-sizing tool within the operating system that actually works. And that's just the beginning.

Furthermore, Vista's security its crowning glory. If you're a user who gets annoyed by frequent pop-ups asking you to approve an action, though, you can simply go to "msconfig" and disable "User Account Control." Yes, Windows will yell at you for doing it, but you don't get ANY annoying "click ok" windows.

As for compatibility, I have had some minor issues-- like the version of Oregon Trail I have from 1997. Some things just don't work right, but that's what compatibility mode is for. Of course, some things like the ol' screenprint32 program I love so much don't work either. But to me, it's a small sacrifice for a system that is fast and robust.

No Linux stands up to Vista. No other version of Windows stands up to Vista. No Mac OS, nor Red Hat, nor platform stands up to Vista.

From a very satisfied Vista user attempting to offset the "Vista-Bashing",
-David

congrats. I'm glad you are so satisfied....:^o
:lolflag:

[karellen]

Name some.



What by asking to confirm almost every single action you want to do? Utter rubbish.



Purely subjective. There are many, many perfectly legitimate problems with Vista. Just because you like it, it doesn't mean to say all the criticisms are invalid.



What a joke. You cannot make *any* claims about Vista's security, because its barely out, and very few people are using it. Wait until Vista has a majority market share, then talk about security. You then go on to say that if you don't like the security, you can just turn it off! Yeah, fantastic security.



Come up with some valid points and you might get a fair hearing. All I can hear is a fanboy with some hot air.

don't bother respond and debunk his statements with arguments and try to be logical. don't pay attention to him...for obvious reasons
he likes he, let him "enjoy" it ;)

[kamaboko]

Even though you're not paying for Vista, you're still helping Microsoft by giving them a larger userbase. I seem to remember some time, Bill Gates or someone else at Microsoft said something like "If they're going to pirate software, I'd rather it be Microsoft's".

Rest assured Bill Gates never said that.

[Bagster]

Umm.. you are STEALING software - regardless of how you look at it and regardless of whether you like/dislike Microsoft of not. If you want/need it BUY IT!!!! If not don't use it - use xp which I assume is legal for you, or use linux which is free and legal.

While I will happily copy a cd off a mate, if I listen to it more than once or twice I will buy it. Similarly with software, try before you buy, but always buy if you use!

[scrooge_74]

This is an automated message from a hacked user account........any user that keeps bad mouthing VISTA or continues to use pirated versions will be visited by men dress in black and taken to undisclose locations on third world countries to be brain wash.

you have been warned!!




:lolflag:

[fyllekajan]

Umm.. you are STEALING software - regardless of how you look at it and regardless of whether you like/dislike Microsoft of not. If you want/need it BUY IT!!!! If not don't use it - use xp which I assume is legal for you, or use linux which is free and legal.

While I will happily copy a cd off a mate, if I listen to it more than once or twice I will buy it. Similarly with software, try before you buy, but always buy if you use!

Agreed. Send the poor souls at microsoft some money for food please, they do have families you know and a fancy lifestyle and whatnot to support. The way I see it m$ is ripping people off by forcing them to pay for software the people may not want/use. Also glad to hear you support the record industry. You're preaching a lot here, I'm just wondering how deep your moral values go.

[kamaboko]

Agreed. The way I see it m$ is ripping people off by forcing them to pay for software the people may not want/use.

Tell me, is Nabisco forcing you to buy their cookies? Is Coke forcing you to buy their pop? Is Ford forcing you to buy their cars? No, they're not. And MS is not forcing you to use or buy any of their software. Wake up.

[farscape]

Wait till Vista Service Pack 1 is released. Then it should be ready for use. Then buy it.

[fyllekajan]

Tell me, is Nabisco forcing you to buy their cookies? Is Coke forcing you to buy their pop? Is Ford forcing you to buy their cars? No, they're not. And MS is not forcing you to use or buy any of their software. Wake up.

Then perhaps you can explain to me why I can't buy laptop [insert model here] without paying for m$ software. Are you saying all this is just a bad dream?

[kamaboko]

Then perhaps you can explain to me why I can't buy laptop [insert model here] without paying for m$ software. Are you saying all this is just a bad dream?

Sure, it's very easy to explain. Read carefully: MS doesn't sell laptops or desktops. Vendors such as Dell, Compaq, Sony, etc., sell laptops & desktops. It's their decision to sell their products w/or w/o pre-installed OS's and additional software. For example, Dell has decided to sell laptops and desktops with Ubuntu. It was a DELL DECISION, not a MS DECISION. Do you understand now?

[x1a4]

Soon after I got xp, even before I installed my first Linux distro, I decided xp is the last windows version I'll use. Whether you should get it is your personal choice, but I know that I won't and recommend to anyone not to do it either. If you want something in addition to your Linux box, get a Mac--IMHO far superior than anything M$ can come up with.

[anandanbu]

Its better to move to a open source OS were you can be always free from the proprietary
hazards of those softwares
:)

[kamaboko]

Soon after I got xp, even before I installed my first Linux distro, I decided xp is the last windows version I'll use. Whether you should get it is your personal choice, but I know that I won't and recommend to anyone not to do it either. If you want something in addition to your Linux box, get a Mac--IMHO far superior than anything M$ can come up with.

Unfortunately 87% of the desktop users world wide have proven otherwise. They pick MS.

[fyllekajan]

Sure, it's very easy to explain. Read carefully: MS doesn't sell laptops or desktops. Vendors such as Dell, Compaq, Sony, etc., sell laptops & desktops. It's their decision to sell their products w/or w/o pre-installed OS's and additional software. For example, Dell has decided to sell laptops and desktops with Ubuntu. It was a DELL DECISION, not a MS DECISION. Do you understand now?

Thing is it doesn't really matter if m$ is directly or indirectly forcing their OS onto anyone and everyone through those companies. And I understand that you are a fanboy, and that I should have stopped typing in this thread when it was moved to windows discussions aka fanboy land.

[hobieone]

depends if your gamming stick with xp. all benchmarks with games has xp slaughtering the hell out of vista in gamming preformance. and with most computer i've worked on have to honestly say xp if more stable and mature os than vista and vista remionds alot of the dreaded windows me and win 98se. and its huge resourse over really provides no gain in performance other than to help it look pretty. besides wor has iit that vista's replacement could be out as early as late 2009, early 2010 it code named windows vivian or something

[kamaboko]

Thing is it doesn't really matter if m$ is directly or indirectly forcing their OS onto anyone and everyone through those companies. And I understand that you are a fanboy, and that I should have stopped typing in this thread when it was moved to windows discussions aka fanboy land.

LOL. That's your retort? Call me a "fanboy" b/c you can't face the truth? Ha ha ha ha. Go pop some pimples and get back to your grade school homework.

[jiminycricket]

Tell me, is Nabisco forcing you to buy their cookies? Is Coke forcing you to buy their pop? Is Ford forcing you to buy their cars? No, they're not. And MS is not forcing you to use or buy any of their software. Wake up.

You are absolutely wrong. It's called network effects.

[fyllekajan]

LOL. That's your retort? Call me a "fanboy" b/c you can't face the truth? Ha ha ha ha. Go pop some pimples and get back to your grade school homework.

Emphasis mine.

[x1a4]

Unfortunately 87% of the desktop users world wide have proven otherwise. They pick MS.

No they don't. Most people are told to use windows because it is pre-installed on hardware they buy. And since most people are not computer savvy, and couldn't tell an operating system from their a*s, they assume that that's the only thing there is.

And then there is the addiction factor to consider. Plenty of people would like to use something else but they're insecure about their computer literacy and are unjustifiably afraid to switch.

[kamaboko]

No they don't. Most people are told to use windows because it is pre-installed on hardware they buy. And since most people are not computer savvy, and couldn't tell an operating system from their a*s, they assume that that's the only thing there is.

And then there is the addiction factor to consider. Plenty of people would like to use something else but they're insecure about their computer literacy and are unjustifiably afraid to switch.

Consumers have had the choice for years to use Apple, yet Apple still only account for less than 5% of the market. No...your excuse doesn't have any merit. They pick MS because of its business integration, vast quantities of professional grade software, and hardware support. I started with RH 3.03 back in 96, and the landscape hasn't changed. Linux still a fringe OS (albeit interesting to play with).

[kamaboko]

You are absolutely wrong. It's called network effects.

Huh...? Network effects? Have you stopped taking your meds again?

[reclusivemonkey]

Consumers have had the choice for years to use Apple, yet Apple still only account for less than 5% of the market. No...your excuse doesn't have any merit. They pick MS because of its business integration, vast quantities of professional grade software, and hardware support. I started with RH 3.03 back in 96, and the landscape hasn't changed. Linux still a fringe OS (albeit interesting to play with).

Complete rubbish. Most people have no idea what an operating system is, never mind that they have a choice.

Don't make up statistics, it has no merit.

Microsoft has a monopoly, and they abuse it. To not realise this is naive at best.

Linux may be a "fringe OS" on the desktop, but in the server market, its a huge player. Anyone who still doesn't know this is hugely ignorant of the OS market.

[frankiekp]

I had Vista for a little bit... a bit too buggy for me, even on new hardware. Most software seemed to run fine for me. I upgraded from XP, so once I reinstalled some programs it was up and running. Thing to note, get 2 gigs of ram... mine only had one gig and it cruised along at 600mb used, just after booting up. I also noticed that my laptop ran hotter and had a shorter battery life, most likely because of the larger amount of hard drive usage. I'd stick with XP for now.

[karellen]

Complete rubbish. Most people have no idea what an operating system is, never mind that they have a choice.

Don't make up statistics, it has no merit.

Microsoft has a monopoly, and they abuse it. To not realise this is naive at best.

Linux may be a "fringe OS" on the desktop, but in the server market, its a huge player. Anyone who still doesn't know this is hugely ignorant of the OS market.

right now it really does not matter that much "why" or "how". the fact (sad, unjust or whatever you want to call it) it's that almost all the top applications are written for windows platform (and a percent of them for mac os x, too). it's the cold chilling reality....

[fyllekajan]

right now it really does not matter that much "why" or "how". the fact (sad, unjust or whatever you want to call it) it's that almost all the top applications are written for windows platform (and a percent of them for mac os x, too). it's the cold chilling reality....

At least for now, if you need those tools most of them can be used in an XP environment. Question is when m$ will drop XP support.. let's say (in order not to disturb those who holds the truth) to help people make good decisions.

[karellen]

At least for now, if you need those tools most of them can be used in an XP environment. Question is when m$ will drop XP support.. let's say (in order not to disturb those who holds the truth) to help people make good decisions.

yeap, thank good there's still xp around...:D

[No Whammies]

When I got my new computer, it came with Vista pre-installed. Since I was working 12-hour days and going way too hard and fast to I copped out and used Vista for about a month. Honestly, if you ignore the resource usage... it still kinda sucks. It was generally a pain to use. I had a MASSIVE bug on the system that had the sucker crash every time the screensaver po pup. The MS tech's suggestion? "You don't need a screensaver anyway, just turn it off." The screen flickered every 20 minutes, and YES, I timed it... It was just that annoying. The worst thing was that the system would use 43% of my RAM just sitting there! In paperweight mode, VISTA used nearly half a GB of my RAM. As I sit here typing on Firefox (with 8 tabs open) with Amarok playing in the background and Freeloader downloading some torrents, Conky is showing 31% RAM usage. That's cool. As far as i'm concerned, Vista isn't inherently BAD, it's just a waste of time.

[smoker]

OK, please don't flame :[

My friend can get me vista ultimate, should I get it, or stick with XP for my new build (dual booted with ubuntu of course)

don't listen to anyone here deriding vista, if you're getting it for nothing, install it and use it for a while, then once you get sick of it, give it good riddance with a format, and you can deride it yourself - with experience behind you:D

[STREETURCHINE]

don't listen to anyone here deriding vista, if you're getting it for nothing, install it and use it for a while, then once you get sick of it, give it good riddance with a format, and you can deride it yourself - with experience behind you:D

yep i agree with smoker here if you can get it for free give it a go.
then you can tell us your expieriance with vista.

mine i hated it ,but i tried it for a few days,then got rid of it:p

[lavs23]

I bought a laptop with Vista on it a while back. Vista seems ok. It did feel a little slower then XP on the same machine. The faster your computer is the less you will notice this though. Anyways the first thing I did was put Ubuntu on it. Then I tried to make recovery disks. The recovery disc creator would crash everytime so I just wiped Vista off completely. I then installed an old Win XP version I had lying around into a Virtualbox drive. If there are any programs that I need to run in Windows I can launch that up, the only thing I use XP for is Office if I'm working on a group project.

[eier]

windows vista is the reason i started using linux.

[karellen]

if you can get vista for free, try it then you'll have a well-documented opinion

[ZERO_SHIFT]

Yes honestly, just give it a try and see how it goes.

If you havent given ubuntu a try how would you have been posting here after all?

[timcredible]

if you want to try vista, try vista. i know 3 people that got vista with their new machines - 1 person hated it so much she sent it back to dell and got xp loaded instead, 1 person erased it and put xp on themselves, and the third person left it on the machine but dual-boots into pclos 99% of the time. i work in the IT field, and even the die-hard windows-lovers-linux-haters that i know won't run vista.

[srt5]

i ditched vista the same day as i installed it, in-fact i probably spent more time installing vista than i did using it...

but just because i don't like vista, it shouldn't affect your decision and opinion, give it a try and see what you think :)

[Noname33]

Ok Ive had Vista Ultimate 2 times now and let me tell you if your in it for the eyecandy download the skin for XP....If you want it just to play a certain game its probobly not worth it at all....Halo 2 was fun for 30 min after that I was ticked I bought it and installed Vista for just a port over of a xbox game....But since you got it for free just go hit up a grarge sale or something and grab like a 20gig hard drive and put it on that....It will save you tons of time on reinstalling things when you realize.....Vista just aint worth it....Unless it free ligit copy :P Best of luck and hope things work out for you :)

[Linux Killer!]

Ok Ive had Vista Ultimate 2 times now and let me tell you if your in it for the eyecandy download the skin for XP....If you want it just to play a certain game its probobly not worth it at all....Halo 2 was fun for 30 min after that I was ticked I bought it and installed Vista for just a port over of a xbox game....But since you got it for free just go hit up a grarge sale or something and grab like a 20gig hard drive and put it on that....It will save you tons of time on reinstalling things when you realize.....Vista just aint worth it....Unless it free ligit copy :P Best of luck and hope things work out for you :)
I'd agree mostly with this, particularly the last bit. If you can get it for free (eg. Ultimate edition, pre-activated, OEM edition so no key necessary at all), it's nice.

As for Halo 2, why did you buy it without reading the reviews? It's almost universally panned for the PC, and I don't hear too many console reviews saying it's that good either, but the PC port still sucks apparently.