Microsoft Vista

[Fecn]

In 2004 they removed WinFS..
In 2005 they removed the PowerShell (Monad)
In 2006 they removed SeurID support and some other bits that I didn't care about.

Later in 2006 they started putting out news stories about the amazing new 'Areo soundscape' with it's new age-y sounds and the involvement of Robert Fripp
A few weeks after that, they started telling us how amazing the 54 new high-quality wallpaper included with vista are.

So... when it got released to manufacturing I bought myself a new PC which could be described as erm... 'somewhat overspecified' . Since I bought after Nov 6th I qualified for a free upgrade to Vista, so I gave it a try...

After a couple of days, I realised that although the animations are very slick and pretty, the fact that the animation takes a certain amount of time to happen makes the interface slower.. so I switched to a classic windows2000 style instead - So much for the new features.

The security of the OS is definitely improved a lot from 2K/XP standards - It's pretty much caught up woth OSX-10.3 now - However, for some reason MS felt the need to force me to watch 2 seconds of animations with the screen going grey/black before popping up a password box - I couldnt' work out how to disable that one.

After a few more days, I tried a couple of games out and found problems with a couple more.. so I started booting into XP for a while instead.... and the next time I tried to boot Vista a few weeks later, it was past it's activation date and into the limited functionality mode... so I haven't bothered with it since.

Even though I'm entitled to a free upgrade to Vista.. I don't think I'll bother... at least until I buy some new gadget that's not supported by XP.

 

[RogerS]

Jobs is saying 'it's not me it's the big record labels' but the Scandinavians have said that that cuts no ice and are now discussing a time line for either compliance or fines.

Actually there is an element of truth in what he says. In my correspondence with the various providers, they all say that the choice of DRM is not theirs but the people who provide the programs that they (the providers) then offer for download. Whether or not that is true or just an attempt to cover up their inability to provide a service to a wider audience base is open to debate.

 

[Drew]

I won't be buying vista until it stops acting and looking like a fishnet stocking, full of holes surrounded by tenuous linkages. Microsoft are famous for putting out software with glitches, traps and backdoors and then everybody pays the price for upgrading with a spate of new viruses and hacks.
I'll stick to 2000 for a while yet.

Drew

 

[Anonymous]

I don't understand a word of this thread!

I've not taken the plunge yet to upgrade from Windows 98 to XP. Am I a dinosaur?

Cheers
Brad

 

[Colin C]

I bought my computer with XP and I will not be upgrading plus I would need a new one for it :roll:

 

[brianhabby]

Hi all,

If you cast your minds back to when Microsoft released XP, a lot of people found that they had peripherals that would not work because there were no drivers for them, and the peripheral manufacturers where not prepared to write drivers for what they saw as old products that they didn't support any longer. This meant a lot of perfectly servicable devices went in the bin.

Will the same thing happen with Vista? - I suspect so.

Interestingly, our local computer shop are currently advising customers that they can have Vista installed if they want to but they are recommending that they (the customer) waits about six to twelve months before upgrading to see how the land lays

Brad, If it ain't broke, don't fix it

regards

Brian

 

[RogerS]

Interesting set of responses. Virtually everyone who's replied is either hanging fire or not upgrading.

 

[Gill]

If I could get my peripherals to work with Ubuntu and if I could navigate my computer with an open source program in the same way that Windows Explorer allows, I wouldn't even be operating XP!

I'd probably have to change my ISP, though - AOL and Ubuntu don't seem to like each other much.

Gill

 

[mr]

If I could get my peripherals to work with Ubuntu and if I could navigate my computer with an open source program
Gill

Dont your peripherals work with Ubuntu? My installation of Ubuntu worked with everything "out of the box". You may not be aware Gill but it's easy to test should you want to, download and burn the Ubuntu distro. Its a live distro meaning it's bootable from cd or installable. So Put the Ubuntu disk in your drive and turn the machine on, the pc wakes up in Ubuntu land without installing anything and allows you to see which bits don't work, if any. If you can't get on with it, throw the cd in the bin and reboot the machine.
Mike

 

[Gill]

Hi Mike

I've got the Ubuntu 'live' CD, but it's like being dropped in a desert without a map. I can't find anything on my computer. With Windows, I know that if I want to, say, start recording a TV programme, I just activate the icon on my desktop and the TV card will start recording. If I want to find videos I've recorded, I use Windows Explorer to navigate to the location where I store my video files.

My computer has two HDDs; with with Ubuntu, I can't even tell which of the two I'm accessing! I'd love to do more with Ubuntu, but it's so daunting for someone who only knows Windows.

Gill

 

[Kane]

Too resource hungry
Too much DRM if the stories are true
Too new (no intention of testing software and paying for the honour!)
Too happy with XP

 

[MrJay]

 

[aldel]

No!!

Nearly twice the price to run slower than XP.
DRM infested.
I have a not very old scanner and TV card which are not and will not be supported.
I often change parts on my machine since I am a bit of a hardware nerd and Vista will demand reactivation. Change too much and you are stuffed.
I am keen on anti-virus and firewall software. Vista is designed not to be friendly to this software and demands to use its own inferior protection.
A good deal of specialist software will not run on Vista.
Needs high power hardware to run a pretty face to do the same job as a lower spec XP machine.

etc. etc

 

[RogerS]

You saw it here first, folks! The non-takeup of Vista....

 

[Routermonster]

When I think of all the tools or timber I could buy for £350 (assuming SWMBO would allow it) ... no, I think I'll give Vista a miss. Besides, XP works OK most of the time.

Les

 

[innesm]

My Vista upgrade should be arriving in the mail today.

I'll get me coat...

 

[engineer one]

maybe more important is how long msoft will keep supporting xp? :twisted:

the only way that they are going to get full conversion is to make it more difficult for present users. :roll:

they already do not support 98 or 2000, so how long before xp goes the same way

paul :wink:

 

[aldel]

Microsoft have published that XP will be fully supported until 2012 with partial support until 2014.

Charging the same price as the USA may help and not 1$ =£1!!

 

[innesm]

Microsoft have published that XP will be fully supported until 2012 with partial support until 2014.

Charging the same price as the USA may help and not 1$ =£1!!

Yeah, but who seriously ever actually raises support issues? Supporting XP, for the majority of people, means MS continue to provide security updates and supporting backward compatibility of selected 'new stuff'.

 

[engineer one]

i agree about talking to tech, but the updates are occassionally quite valuable, and do we really trust them :?

paul :wink: