Windows Vista haters got a ray of hope recently when Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said the company was willing to consider extending Windows XP's lifespan. However, while Ballmer tells the Associated Press, "if customer feedback varies, we can always wake up smarter," don't count on Microsoft keeping XP around to satisfy a handful of disgruntled users.
As it stands Microsoft plans to stop selling XP on June 30 (and that means both retail and OEM copies to computer makers). Of course some PC makers, like Dell, have already said they will continue to offer XP even after the end-of-life deadline passes.
But if you look carefully at Dell’s plan you’ll see why Microsoft is unlikely to find that customers are clamoring for XP. Microsoft offers what it calls “downgrade rights” which allow anyone purchasing a Windows Vista Business or Ultimate license to downgrade to Windows XP Professional.
The downgrade option comes in the form of an XP image CD, which is somewhat different than an actual install CD. Dell is offering to do a factory install of XP from the image CD, which is a nice touch, but you’re still buying the rights to Vista and then downgrading.
Thus, when Microsoft shows its sales reports, it looks like you bought a copy of Vista. Even if Dell reports the number of downgrading customers, all Microsoft has to do is point to the sales records to show that Vista is the customer favorite.
What’s not quite clear is how Microsoft plans to keep XP around for the low power devices that can’t handle Vista — like say Asus’ Eee PC V2 which will ship in a new XP configuration starting mid-May. Given that the Eee PC and other small, underpowered (from a Vista point of view) laptops have proved quite the hit with consumers, it seems likely that Microsoft won’t turn its back on those machines.
But I don’t expect Microsoft to ever produce numbers that reflect a truly widespread dissatisfaction with Vista and a clamoring for XP (and I’m not entirely convinced that that’s actually the case). Of course that hasn’t stopped XP fans from starting an online petition calling for an extension to XP’s lifespan. The petition is currently some 160,000 signatures strong, but Microsoft has already responded saying “we’re aware of it, but are listening first and foremost to feedback we hear from partners and customers about what makes sense based on their needs.”
In other words, don’t count on it.
See Also:Vista sucks, two days after installing it refused to boot, a disk driver corrupted the hard drive, lost everything, and now I run XP again. and life returns to normal. I wish Microsoft would just keep selling XP.
Vista is far worse than Windows98 ever was. XP is the first OS from Microsoft that actually seems stable. If Microsoft cared about putting out a good product they wouldn't have released Vista. All they care about is the benjamins. Is there anyone who actually prefers Vista to XP? Aside of Microsoft that is...
I HATE VISTA WITH A PASSION I THRU MY LAPTOP TO THE FLOOR AND DESTROYED IT BECAUSE I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF A HALO GAME AND VISTA CUT ME OFF FROM THE INTERNET GAME FOR A SECURITY UPDATE WTF............I FLIP ON MY LAPTOP AND WENT AND BROUGHT A PS3 IN ANTICIPATION OF GRAND THEFT AUTO 4 ILL GET ANOTHER LAP TOP BUT U CAN DAM SURE EXPECT THAT VISTA WONT BE ON IT ...IF IT IS I WILL HAVE A DUAL BOOT FEATURING XP AND WILL STAY ON XP AND WHEN I FEEL LIKE RECIEVING A HEADACHE ILL MESS AROUND WITH VISTA FOR FUN ...MICROSOFT GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER AND GET RID OF VISTA AND ALL OF ITS STUPID VERSIONS AND GO BACK TO XP DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMMMMMIT
7 Years in PC support / development. Respectfully disagree. Used Vista since it came out. Love it. No driver issues whatsoever. From a network compatibility perspective, it is superior. I loved XP, but Vista is the next step. Try it for a while. You might come to love it. Besides, if I remember correctly, we went through this same issue when XP came out. People did not want it and drivers caused issues. Get past it.
I've grown so sick of screwing around with windows in general that I bought an new Mac. Took 5 minutes out of the box to get up and running. I'm running XP in a VM until a better version of quicken for the Mac comes out. I have been writing S/W for the windows platform for 20+ years and after a week with a MAC I don't know what keeps MS in business, truthfully. OSX is everything Vista wishes it could be.
All this BS about Microsoft. They think they own the world because they control so many computers. Lets not forget that people will only put up with the crap until there is a better solution. Frankly, when vista was announced, I did as much reading about it as I could find. I'm happy to report that my new MacBook Pro is awesome. Bad news travels the fastest. I tell everyone I know... Sorry Microsoft!!
All of you people who have issues with Vista just suck with computers. Yaa, I had to fiddle with a few driver problems and security issues, but once you get passed that easy stuff it becomes one of the most streamlined and easiest to use OS's.
Mr. Gilbertson, did your mother drop you a lot when you were a baby or do you just eat lead paint chips for breakfast every day?
"Thus, when Microsoft shows its sales reports, it looks like you bought a copy of Vista. Even if Dell reports the number of downgrading customers, all Microsoft has to do is point to the sales records to show that Vista is the customer favorite."
"But I don’t expect Microsoft to ever produce numbers that reflect a truly widespread dissatisfaction with Vista and a clamoring for XP (and I’m not entirely convinced that that’s actually the case)."
You're not entirely convinced that's the case? And you're supposed to be a technology writer? Are you out of your f*&$ing tree? Its been the case since Vista came out! Vista has sucked from day 1 and all Micro$oft has done is inflate its numbers to try and prove to the world that it didn't screw the pooch on this one. Not only has Vista been completely rejected by any self respecting technology professional, but any average non-techie pc user will tell you the same thing.
Do us all a favor and make sure you are in tune with reality before you spew more of this type of crap out on to the internet. If I was your boss, you'd be printing resumes right now!
XP-COATED VISTA SALES, AN ACCOUNTING SCHEME TO INCREASE SHARE VALUE
===================================
Well, it looks like Microsoft is just shoving consumers a product they really would like to have; customers pay for it but never want ot use it because they would rather have the old OS (XP), which also they pay for it, regardless if they call it a 'CD image'. This is an accounting cheat of Microsoft so that the share value of the company will not get threatened by the lousy sales Vista has been contributing to the company.
It will have a great impact, a reduction of the wealth and net wroth of the Microsoft major shareholders like Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer and the armada of executives, mutual fund owners, etc. That is why they have devised this scheme in order for the stock price not to shoot down.
As a stock analyst, if Im going to study Microsoft's performance for this year and the next, I would look into the actual Vista sales, and not the XP-coated Vista purchases forced to the customers.
The company is actually just capitalizing and taking advantage of an old product's (XP) performance to cover the seemingly unmarketable (Vista) one inabilty to increase share value and top analyst revenue estimates.
I don't get it. Why even bother to get into a more complicated licensing situation. Just buy your XP now from Dell and use it for another 2-3 years to see if you can move to Windows 7. That's what I'll do for my company. I don't see a reason to give Vista more stats for their bragging
One more reason to switch to a Mac for my next computer. Microsoft's arrogance
only makes my efforts to buy a Mac arrive sooner.
One more reason to switch to a Mac for my next computer. Microsoft's arrogance
only makes my efforts to buy a Mac arrive sooner.
Bring back Windows ME!
I recently bought a new laptop that was loaded with Vista Home Premium. I had heard the reports of dissatisfaction, but figured it was a group of computer enthusiasts that are predisposed to not like anything Microsoft does, or were talking about computer performance "on the margins." I use my computer for Office/AutoCAD/Internet/Email. These are not high level computing activities - and I figured I would be fine. I have never played a video game on a computer (my only experience in that realm is 8-bit Nintendo in the early 90s).
Lo and behold - my $13,000 dollars worth of AutoCAD software (AutoCAD 2005, Land Development 2004, Civil Design 2004 and Survey 2004) wouldn't work at all. I use these programs in engineering charity work for Engineers Without Borders, so I was not going to accept not being able to use them. All of these programs didn't work even when I ran my laptop in XP compatibility mode.
As a result, I installed my XP Pro SP2 from my old laptop. Because I drastically oversized my laptop so I make my computers last 6 or 7 years - XP is running as fast as anything I have ever used. I also have a Mac G5 desktop (PowerPC-based, not Intel). My laptop is faster than that as well.
I was not predisposed to skepticism of new Microsoft Products before Vista. I am now and have asked a colleague to teach me how to use Linux so I don't have to be beholden to Microsoft OS's after XP is ancient history.
Anyone out there ever used AutoDesk products on Ubuntu?
When Vista came out, and with all its negative reports, I too made the switch to Mac. BEST THINGS I EVER DID. Why beat your head against the wall. I switched because I had just had it with Windows XP. You guys are proclaiming how great XP is? Yikes. You don't know what you're missing by not going over to Mac. I'm not an Apple fan boy. I just had it up to my eye teeth with Windows, of any variety.
I've been using Vista on my laptop since I got it. I had to turn off all of the anoying security alerts and blocks. Thank you Microsoft for Virtual PC. I've been emulating XP and using that to do my software development. I plan on wiping the hard drive and installing XP on it as soon as I can find all of the drivers for it.
Vista is not a green product - if you get it you have to dump your peripherals into the garbage or settle for drivers that barely work slightly.
After wasting a month with Vista Business on a brand new bleeding edge mega-dollar laptop I downgraded to XP Professional and have once again returned to being productive.
Vista qualifies, by definition, as a virus.
What starts in a Garage will end in a garage. confucious.
^Apple spam ftl
How will you continue to use new copies of XP after hardware manufacturers stop making drivers for it? It's going to go away.
I for one LOVE VISTA, Xp was good but no better than Vista.
I guess if you have a really OLD pc and that can't Vista then XP is a better choice but my new PC is Lightning Fast with Vista.
Stop Complaining, XP's Dead...
If Microsoft had built a better OS than Xp everybody would have made the change but since Vista lacks security and eats up ur memory i dont advice no one to use install nor use Vista because u would regret it. I dont even think a ServicePack would make a change!!!!!
hey, what you guys expecting from the h1b engineers. vista will be the best advertising that apple ever gets IMO>
I bought 3 copies of vista when it came out. Installed it on new machine with dual core 2GB mem etc. etc, I hated it, after 2 weeks, I went back to XP. As a bonus, XP runs faster on the same hardware than bloated Vista could wish for.
For such a successful O/S that is Vista, Microsoft sure has put alot of effort to remind us of that. We all know its crap, stop playing games Microsoft, make something that we may want that isn't bloated.
Apple, here I come...
Tried Vista (still use it occasionally on the GF's computer) and HATE it !!!
I liked XP, but with the writing on the wall of its days being numbered, I am in the process of switching to Linux (Ubuntu specifically) and haven't had any unmanageable problems yet.
Vista is fine if you want to:
1. Waste power and electricity, waiting for the machine to boot up or shut down. This is a proven fact. Xp doesn't have this problem. Why do you hate the environment?
2. Or perhaps you don't play any games. If you want to play games, XP has proven performance over Vista in all benchmarks. Don't waste time with DX10, if you want that level of graphics, get a PS3 (comes with free BRD player)
3. Your computer came preloaded with it. If so, please, shut down all the ridiculous Services and programs that are running in the background that were added. Shut down UAC. I don't think people need a 5MB program running just to tell me I plugged in a jack. I know I plugged in the headphones ya dopey Vista!
I started using Vista last month. I have run Pro/E and Ansys so far with no problems. I was very suprised. I had trouble with 1 video game but a Nvidia driver fixed that. So far so good. A also did a hack to enable animated backgrounds for non-ultimate. Bad idea, they made me sea sick.
I've been using Windows since it first came out but if MS can't offer something better than VIsta, then when XP goes away, I'm switching to a MAC. MS says they're basing their decision on customer feedback but I couldn't find anyway to contact them about this without paying to send an email to tech support!
Me too...The Mac is looking better all the time for my next purchase.
I stick with Windows XP for 50 years or more. I want see more powerful Windows ??? in year 2058. Bring all old/new programs and games to newest Operating System to work on it. 100% percentage wanted.
Windows XP SP1 & SP2 have secret to unlock can speed up and win war against Vista. Go XP!!! XP can hack Vista theme, mouse pointer, icons, slides, flip 3D from Vista in no time. Windows XP is very solid like as steel core. I got all parts from Vista and work on Windows XP! Finally! Look so awesome! XP is rock!!! :-)
Yo Matt Skelton....I haven't tried vista and have no intention of ever doing so...had a xp machine for some of the windows games up until recently but I don't even need it for that anymore....not after blizzard screwed millions of wow players with forced hardware upgrades (which has pretty much destroyed the online gaming scene altogether)...I do all my serious playing on a linux box.....vista..pffft....xp.....pffft......
microsoft......pfft....who cares...btw this ballmer guy looks like something out of the game doom...blast it with a plasma cannon til it stops movin'....put a hat on man maybe some shades 2 yikes ...his grandkids must run in terror from him...
You bunch of whiners! Vista is so much better than XP. I wouldn't downgrade if you paid me!
@Elezabeth and other users switching to Macs:
Don't let those Mac commercials/ads mislead you. Although I love using Macs for editing graphics, it shouldn't be brought just because someone is sick and tired of PC and Windows and have little to no experience on using a Mac. Leopard still have some problems since it was released but was rarely reported. Their problems aren't as big as Vista, but problems do come up. However, unlike XP and Vista, you can rarely find a Mac pre-loaded with Tiger without going onto auction sites like eBay.
Save yourself a lot of headaches and install PCLinuxOS!
Said it before, and I will say it again. Vista had better be "virus proof" if not,it's just a scam to get us all to buy new computers and software. Not one single application I had
"pre-vista" was compatible, had to spend more in OEM upgrades than I did on Vista itself.
Again.... if you are going to monopolize a market... you need to be responsible for security...security, security, security.... oh... and don't keep asking me if I want to "allow" a virus?? I want an "ms-antivirus" that hunts down the author, and formats "his" harddrive
Everyone I know who runs vista LOVES it. They've had no technical problems at all.
Yeah, if you want to overpay for a computer that just does the basics, go Apple. If you're smart enough, you'll see you can do the same thing for free with Linux.
MS really doesn't care about what you do at home. The big money is in the enterprise. Big companies will never run linux on the desktop because who do you call when you have a linux problem? And Mac is just a toy and will never run business applications.
I'm fine with XP. My laptop won't even run the latest Ubuntu. When I get a new PC, I'll be glad to have Vista on it, but I'll be waiting for Windows 7's slimmed down kernel (and laughing as OSX gets more and more bloated).
As soon as you get a decent install base of Macs (are you almost at 10% yet? Pathetic!) you'll see a lot more viruses and malware being coded for Macs. Macs are just as insecure as windows (more-so actually), it's just that no one wants to waste their time with such a small population of users.
Del Cagle......"I want an "ms-antivirus" that hunts down the author, and formats "his" harddrive" had to LMAO at that one ..dahmmmmmmm straight...never get it outta mickeysoft tho...they're too into fixin buhsted @$$ software...course it's not really broke they just make it that way on purpose so poeople that use their buhsted @$$ OS have to pout and tolerate til a patch is issued.
Poster named Seriously- you're anidiot serious computer networking support businesses don't even fool with windows garbage you call em they'll tell ya hey sorry sucker we don't you ms you bought it that's your fault and problem. Grow a pair and get some money then call us we don't support windows losers with no cash...put that in yer crack pype
If you are passionate about some OS, then you are dangerously limited in
your personal ability to derive innovative solutions to new problems.
Go get worked up over a pair of pliers or a screwdriver.
It would make as much sense.
Its the objective that matters, and using the proper tools
to attain it, whatever those tools may be.
I guess they can lie to themselves or trick the sales reports however they want. However, if they're making a large portion of their customers upset you would think they would want to deal with that instead of shrugging it off like nothing is happening.
What the industry needs is the development of an open source OS that can run both MS and Apple applications. That will de-fang both beasts. Why do application developers not band together to form a consortium to do this? Apple and MS hold on to their OS's for one reason $$$$. MS especially has no incentive to develop efficient Operating Systems.
Conspiracy Theory 4-25-08
As we all know Microsoft makes a gaming system (X-box). There platform for gaming is trailing in sales to its competitors. PC’s on their own are gaming platforms that potential customers purchase for. If Microsoft makes your gaming experience less Enjoyable on their OS then maybe you would want to buy their X-box to play games on.
Microsoft will continue selling XP. I 100% guarantee it.
Microsoft is a lot of things, but they aren't stupid. They know that certain people won't switch to Vista, they would rather switch to linux or to a mac. Microsoft knows this, and that's why they won't stop selling XP.
...
Anyway, I have pretty much the same story as everyone else here. I'm a software developer, and I run tech support for my software. We encourage our clients not to buy Vista because it is a bitch to support, and it seems to make work harder rather than making it easier... not to mention it's fussy security system that isn't really a security system at all ("let's train people to click 'yes' to every popup!!!").
My personal experience with Vista is almost the same as a few other users here. My new computer shipped with it. It booted once. ONCE! Then it wouldn't reboot. Hence, I am back to XP.
dear microsoft, i have stuck up for you often in times past. do NOT shelve XP and toss me in a cage with vista, else my loyalties will absolutely change and most likely begin a significant turn of events at my company
signed,
me and many thousands like me
Used Vista for a total of 60 seconds, about 15 seconds on four different computers. Have come up with two BSOD's, a graphics card driver issue, and a performance issue (temporary freezing when opening and then typing in Word). A good friend whose opinion I respect told me that I didn't get a fair glimpse of the operating system because I hadn't spent enough time with it.
Problem is, my computer is mission-critical. And what's it going to take to satisfy a Vista fanboy? How many crashes, how many issues, how many problems do I have to come across? It may be true that one minute on an OS might not be enough to determine whether that OS is excellent... But if it's a really, really bad minute, it just might be enough to determine that it sucks.
Maybe Microsoft will make fixes over the years and make Vista better, as they made fixes with XP after it first came out. I'll give it at least a couple years before I try it again, though. Maybe by then Windows 7 will be out, and maybe by then Microsoft will have learned a lesson.
And maybe not. But for now, I don't want to go Mac (sorry, Apple fans), and Linux is perpetually in limbo between being alpha and beta quality. And for now, XP just plain works. If it ain't broke, why uninstall it?
The OS this organization is building called ReactOS, looks like XP, and will run all your windows applications and games when it is done. Check out the screen shots showing it running Photoshop, Unreal, Halo, Visual Basic, MS Office, Remote Desktop, Etc..
It will have DirectX, OpenGL, a registry, services, all the stuff Windows has except NO serial # and activation bulls**t! and you wont get charged an absurd $400 a copy. You wont be charged anything.
"ReactOS aims to achieve complete binary compatibility with both applications and device drivers meant for NT and XP operating systems, by using a similar architecture and providing a complete and equivalent public interface."
http://www.reactos.org/en/index.html
Screenshots of it
http://www.reactos.org/en/screenshots.html
re: react OS...... i think i just realized why microsoft is forcefeeding vista to the masses
microsoft could well be ultimately helping the react OS cause more than hurting it
I just purchased a PC that came with vista pre-installed. Just like a previous poster I spent 2 days screwing around with numerous problems. For example, Dell's website would always crash IE7. The sidebar gadgets from microsoft would not display properly (the calendar gadget did not display after a reboot), Norton Anti-virus 2008 would not install. I finally gave up and installed XP-Pro and everything worked perfectly not one problem. I'm sick of Microsoft talking about selling x million copies of Vista when it is crap. I'm not an Apple user but those Mac vs Windows Vista commercials really strike a nerve with me because they are actually true. I can not for the life of me understand how Microsoft allowed this to happen. The Windows code base has to be so bloated that each enhancement causes 2 problems. What I would really like to do is pack up my PC with vista (AMD 3800 athalon 64, 3 gig ram, pci express video card with 512 Meg ram) and ship it directly to Steve Ballmer and tell him to take his head out of the sand and look at the crap they are selling. Mircosoft needs to keep selling XP until the next version of Windows is ready. I’m still shaking my head at this debacle of an OS called Vista.
MS will support XP long past Windows 7, they have no choise, in reality.
I do not give a damn about it though, as I am a long time linux user.
I thought Windows ME was the best ad for a Macintosh, i was wrong Vista is, until Windows 7 comes out.
Funny thing is the only place i could get Vista to run correctly was on my Mac.
The only thing that makes me use windows is to test css in order to write patches for IE6... and well it's an emulated windows.
Go vista go!
How do we know that Windows 7 is going to be any better than Vista? I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for it. I just hope that MS doesn't screw up XP SP3 to force a downgrade to Vista.
Can anyone name one large company that has made the change to Vista?
Where I work we won't even let guest hook up to our network with Vista installed.
Since Vista arrived, I have been telling my 280 small and medium-sized businesses to stay away. 2 switched, 1 switched back, I've been posting this observation for months on various sites.
FWIW, my daughter got Vista pre-installed on her Lenovo laptop for college. She likes it, but like, she's in art school.
Yesterday, my son turned 16, so I got him a loaded box, dual 3 Ghz processors, 3 Gb RAM, ya-da-ya-da, but of course, Microcenter only sells Vista.
After the boot, and a few lessons in UAC, we got World of Warcraft to run at totally maxed settings. NP, this box has the juice. He was in heaven last night.
So I come home tonight, and he says "Dad, can you put XP on my computer?". I reply, "But why, son, you've got the best specs in the house?". He says, "Yeah, I know, and I really appreciate it, thanks Dad, it blows my brother's computer out of the water. But like, just starting it up, it uses 20% of the RAM."
So anyway, I'm checking into a dual-boot option for Vista/XP.
After reading all the posts, I am glad I decided NOT to buy a new PC running Vista. Having only used Windows since it was first introduced on all my PCs and after receiving multiple warnings about Vista, my college aged kids convinced me it would be better to get a new iMac and run Windows XP on it with VM Fusion. They were right. Although Leopard is not 100% bug free, it runs Widows XP very well with VM Fusion (even better than my old PC did) and I can do all my business/investing on the Windows XP side of my iMac, use all the XP programs I liked before & use Leopard for all the neat things it can do better than Windows XP.
MS should not have rushed Vista into distribution and they have done a great disservice to their customers. I'm sure they will eventually get it to work OK, like they finally got Windows XP to finally run OK (for the most part).
MS should continue Windows XP until they get Vista right or put out a new OS.
Vista is quiet impressive despite what lunatics are saying. I would never switch back to XP. Face it already, XP is a stone age operating system kept on life support right now because of your inability to move on. Stop taking those anti-depressant drugs that you are on. Yes you may run into little difficulties getting used to Vista, we all have to, but a little patience pays off a week later.
We have bunch of crybabies, and sissies who have been swayed by some Microsoft haters, and now the walk around hating Vista by sticking with the program.
It's time to grow up for those 25-30 year old kids even if Vista interferes with their computer games.
Ever heard of Accenture? We have already decided against using Vista on any company PC unless a client tells us we have to. Even big consulting companies are wary of Vista.
I run a small local ISP ("several thousand" subscribers). Incoming support calls from "average users" who have vista invariably end in the user complaining about how much they hate windows vista.
I'd have to say that the "Average Users" of the world are not happy with Vista, based on the feedback I've received from my customers.
HOWEVER, on the other hand, I've got to say.... I remember hearing all the same things about XP... just not for quite as long.
I've ran vista for 8 months now and my experience has been quite good. i hate having to get work done on vista, specially 3d (3d's max cant work on transparency). all professional programs take longer to boot on vista compared to xp.
Are you on drugs ?
"Yeah, if you want to overpay for a computer that just does the basics, go Apple"
There are so many tech reviews out there that in an unbiased way show that macs feature for feature are cheaper to buy AND way way cheaper for IT departments to run.
Best thin I ever did was dump PC's in our workplace and run all macs. With PC's you spent every single day from users with problems .. with Macs I hardly ever hear from users with problems and when I do it's very simple things rather than system problems.
No PC is perfect BUT Macs just do the job and do it so much easier and better .. Hell there is even a tech report out showing that Macs run Vista faster and better than any PC
Microsoft already has a solution to both Windows Vista and XP, and it's called Windows Server 2008. Make an official "workstation" release, and we may actually have a Microsoft OS that can finally compete with OS X. That is, before our next release in 2009.
The asus EeePC v2 will probably be running Windows Embeded Operating System (XP Version) Which microsoft has no plans of discontinueing support for.
Only very very recently has linux become plausable for user level machines with the advent of low config versions of Ubuntu and Gos. Mac is good, but dose not have the Hardware / Software support expected from Business class machines... Granted nither dose Vista any more. But atleast there is a glimmer of hope that your bank's old 16bit FlatFile Database MIGHT run. Sure it needs redevelopment. But what company in theyr right mind would spend money Writing a mantainable internal product when the old one has been heald togather with chewing gum and paper clips for 20 years?
Following Moore's law computing power in terms of hardware has increase three fold since XP arrived in late 2001. Yet windows o/s capabilities have increased only a smidgen while sucking up all of that extra computing power.
Shouldn't we all be using virtual reality interfaces instead of "windows" by now?
OKAY OKay SOMEONE PLEASE ANSWER me @ MY EMAIL CATLORENZ AT GMAIL ~aight..i just like for my computer to work when I need to use it.thats not a\lot to ask, eh? Im no computer proclaimed know it all...BUT wasting so much time w/ fixing I learned so much. AND I ALREADY KNOW LINUX is way to go and have never seen nor experienced it. Sorry vista. ac good for what its designed to do artistic endeavors & videos and my microsoft is for all my biz docs etc..SUPPOSEDLY... it cant even live up to that ..it has probs...SO SORRY TO ALL THOSE WHO WRITE WELL HAD XP 7 YEARS & PREFER VISTA OR VICE VERSA..i'm for you if you've put up w it for 7 yrs....way less for me AND already want linux.SO SOMEBODY ANYBODY tell me how to get it put it on...wow I guess i do know something about computers.
my two cents also go towards getting an apple. i used to think they were foreign and counter-intuitive in their designs, but after buying a macbook two years ago i'm more than sold that it's the easier of the two in operating sense. not only that, with personal biases aside, designers and engineers in the Human Factors of Psych. field talk about the ease of use in Leopard, not to mention the compatability; when was the last time Windows installed a printer driver for you correctly and automatically without you having to search a website? never.
and i have no idea what faults people are talking about in the mac population, i have yet to hear or see any hard-drive failures or blue-screen-of-death-equivalents. and i can do everything on this as my dumb-as-bricks compaq PC. i'll take being the minority market share with a far-superior OS than struggle daily and fight with Vista over what commands and security features it wants to show me. :)
Go get a Mac and stop all the mumbo-jumbo. How can you lose so much time writing just because Microsoft sucks so much?
From most of these comments i have seen is that people buy pre-installed OS's then blame Microsoft for the mess they receive. Talk about the uneducated masses spouting off about what they dont know. First off all pre-packaged computers are for SCU's, aka Stupid Computer Users. If you cant build your own, dont complain when you buy a shitbox prebuilt with shit parts. Secondly, if you cant install vista on your own and enable features you want, disable those you dont want bloating your system, perhaps you should take yer head out of your ass and stop complaining when you buy a computer from a company whos only interest is packaging as much bloated software on your computer so they make their investors demands for growth. Vista works fine for those who are educated.
I have been in the PC business since the IBM XT days. I loved Windows. XP had a bit of a rocky start but nothing like Vista. Ultimately, when XP sucked you could stay on Windows 2000, not much other choice. (I have never looked at Linux, sorry fellas)
Today, with Vista being outright annoying even when it works you have an option: OS X. Albeit not as perfect as Apple fanboys want us to believe, it is a far far superior OS to Vista. After 25+ years of MS on my computers, I am considering it. And if MS stops selling XP, my next computer will run OS X.
Vista, no thanks!
Bob Dole
Vista works fine? For as much as it costs it had better worker better than just fine. It had better rock my world.
Unfortunately XP seems to pull ahead of it in almost every category. Speed, compatibility, less DRM. You want people to pay how much for something that usually works less well?
Name one reason why Vista is better than XP. Aero, Prefetch, Search Index? Any single Vista feature that makes Vista sooooo much better than XP.
Now search Google for information about that same feature and you'll find post after post after post of people wanting to know how to turn those features off or someone recommending that those features be turned off to gain better performance.
I'm sorry if I have to turn everything off I might as well install an OS that doesn't have the features to begin with.
I build my own computers, but you're saying we have to spend hundreds of dollars for an OS that doesn't work unless you build your own OS and get a college degree? Screw that, and screw you. It's a product. It's a service. It is supposed to work for the customer. The customer shouldn't have to build anything. If I go to the store and buy a product it should just work.
These crap cheap computers you speak of run unbelievably well with XP and are compatible with more hardware and peripherals.
Please explain to me how Vista is an upgrade? Why because the Start Menu is indexed? Oooohhhh. Ok if you have to be "educated" to use the OS than wouldn't an "educated" person already have their Start Menu cleanly organized anyway.
I'm sorry I can do more with an OS that uses as little as 128 meg of ram than you can with an OS that takes 1 gig or more. What does Vista offer me? Don't call us uneducated. Why don't you educate us. What does Vista do? What does it do? What does it DO that you think we need it soooooo bad? To the point that you get upset that we don't like it.
Seriously, what is wrong with you that you're having a fit that people don't like it? If you want to marry it then go marry it. If you want to be Vista's babies daddy then go right ahead. That doesn't mean we have to like it.
take a poll
vista blows.
look at polls ANYWHERE and u see it. drivers suck, its sucks for gaming which is HUGE business now. its a pain in the balls to do anything without it asking u 3 times if u really wanna do it. cmon even bill gates said himself the OS bombed.
I really want to keep XP...
It's everything they promised Windows 95 would be and more...
Ben
Ok so you like Vista. I don't understand why because you like it everyone else has to as well. If you want to say you like it go ahead, but other people like XP more. Don't they have a right to say they like XP more and try to convince Microsoft to offer a service to their customers that the customers want?
People that paid money for it and were dissatisfied with it should have a right to say they were dissatisfied with it. Please explain to us why because you like Vista everyone else has to as well. Why am I a "lunatic" for not liking it? Couldn't you be considered the lunatic for using an OS that some people seems to think does nothing more that XP except waste resources?
Well, M$oft is as usual trying to make lots of money selling crap software. Seems like they will never learn. So I just kissed them off, I have 3 machines, two are on Ubuntu 7.10. The third one will be next week. Does everything I need just fine. And free.
works for me.
To MS....
You really got me wrong!!!
I love XP. Like I said, it is everything they promised "Windows 95" would be... Crash stable, USB devices, good for multimedia, multiple applications... PC to PC network and shared internet with simple, cheap devices (Linksys is my fav!)
The leap from 3.1 to 95 was an annoying disappointment and I uninstalled it, unable to access the internet or even connect my scanner, USB (brand new) printer, you name it. Only after 2 years did I "Upgrade" buying a new system that had it, and it worked ok, but I missed 3.1 A few years later I upgraded by system to XP and loved it. Thank God himself I missed inflicting 98 and 2000 and Me on my machines though I did some techsupport/installs (aarrrggg!!!) on such machines. I estimate Microsoft probably gave me US$1000 in "Freelance" repair jobs alone (during a few years of another job that was way more than full time), except I hated how STUPID they all were. Pointless "Drivers", re-starting TWICE instead of ONCE, networks where everything was new and had the same software but nothing turned on until you found the hidden "allow this" commands... Vista is far worse...
Vista is pointless bloatware that seems to slow PCs down to 1/2 speed to keep up with...whatever... I mean, just the graphics abuse can't account for how slow it is... I'd imagine the Microsoft guys were too busy stabbing each other in the nuts with pencils and "Batlets" to actually program the thing, so they "Subcontracted" to some firm that slipped a "cloud computing" program in as a personal "Bonus". Really, I wonder what Visa really does? Maybe its behind all the "Zombie" computer attacks by Eastern Euro and Asian hackers? The thing's security is so absurd, you need to give "Minesweeper" permission to run, but there's that box to disable the security... IMHO, after the 300th "Security alert" the first day, most users have disabled it completely.
Really, I'll re-state it again; WINDOWS VISTA CANNOT BE THAT SLOW AND CRASH PRONE!!!!
Forgive the shouting, but what DOES it really do? I really think it uses "extra" CPU cycles for some kind of "Cloud Computing" experiment that is sinister, or perhaps just criminal. If this was Microsoft's "Glory Days" happening now, and it was a "Artificial Intelligence" experiment, it would have ran like water with the collective consciousness actually helping individual users in hidden ways. Crashes would be averted, when they happened, the modem would restore the system and recover the data, LAN/wireless/internet networks would set up on their own, it would be a casual user's 'guardian' and a techie's dream. Sadly, from what I heard (from dozens of people, including a MIT grad who moved back to the 'boonies' in disgust), Microsoft is too much like "Corporate America" now and they basically are too busy stabbing each other in the kidneys to reach the upper people to kiss their A--es and maybe not be fired next week, so anyone who'd envision such a thing has keeled over from a Trek Nerd's "Batlet" in his back as he faced his computer or drawing board to actually work on something someone might consider well worth the money.
Vista is quiet impressive despite what lunatics are saying. I would never switch back to XP. Face it already, XP is a stone age operating system kept on life support right now because of your inability to move on.
So, that's what I was replying to. I dont' know if that was a different ben or was just written in a sarcastic tone or trolling or what. So I just took it as literal. Microsoft has this attitude that they can deny the problems and just force it down people's throats. Then people get on message boards and do the same. Which is really annoying for people that just plain don't like it.
This article forgot the #1 reason why MS will not extend XP's life: THEY ALREADY HAVE YOUR MONEY. They want more money. So, they force that money out of you. Pretty simple. Also very similar to them stopping their music authentication service after milking MS customers for DRM music, which will now be worthless. So, the pattern here: MS does not care about you, just your money.
For those of you who are sick of this, you could try Kubuntu 8.04 (very windows-like version of Linux), which is a FREE download from www.kubuntu.org . If you just want to check it out, burn the CD and drop it in an operating windows machine. It has a utility called *Wubi* which will ask you if you want to install Kubuntu in a folder under Windows. Say yes, tell it to make a 6 GB folder, and reboot, select Kubuntu from the menu, and see what you think. If after trying it for a week or so, you want to uninstall it, just go into Windows and uninstall it like any other program. The *Wubi* install runs on the Windows file system (NTFS) and so will fragment and slow down eventually (just like windows!), so you are better off to do a full install using the Linux file system (dual-boot with Windows if you want)after you try it out. If you install Wine in Linux, you can run many of your old Windows programs in Linux. And, you have access to about 30,000 free software programs for Linux.
So, you certainly do not have to remain a part of Microsoft's food chain.
Vista was designed as a hardware-sales driver. It's a bloated pig of an OS, a resource and CPU hog. Basically, somehow the PC hardware mfrs convinced MS to build a bloated OS to force everyone into buying bigger spec systems. Aside from being bloated, it has tons of the obvious problems, such as driver support, security conflicts, extra DRM hurdles, etc etc. Sure, XP had growing pains, but it was solidly entrenched in a year. It's been over a year, and most people still hate Vista.
I disagree with the comment that companies will not put Linux on the desktop.
As an IT manager I can tell you we calculate our decisions based on efficiency and total cost of ownership.
The fact is that Vista already forces you to retrain your IT staff and users. But the IT staff may already be very familiar with Linux from server operation.
Many users only need basic office functionality and web browsing.
Sure driver issues will go away over time. Vista will probobly someday cooperate with shutting down completely and not bloating electricty bills.
But imagining it will solve security problems is BS.
Vista requires much more expensive hardware (even after you turn off the BS) than Linux. Vista and Office are expensive to begin with.
At the company I work for Vista will end up on some machines for mission critical applications that will only be supported under Vista. But after experimentation with Vista vs. Linux on the desktop, so far it looks like we are much more likely to switch to a Linux + Open office configuration on most desktops.
As for servers most of our machines already run Linux. There are only a couple left with MS operating systems because specific apps require it.
That said.
Where I to work at a different company. Say one running a lot of Photoshop... well it would be a different story.
I like Window Vista, i can say now mostly XP users are not good enough to use vista. Because they don't understand the system and they don't try it.
Try to research about Vista and try to learn it not to complaint and listen to novice user.
The day MS stops supporting XP is the day I totally switch my systems to Linux, and leave the VISTA garbage for the "unread masses." (-:
aren't the same discussions taking place any time MS introduces a new OS? Wired, you should do better.
Wow, feel the love. Yes, I too tried Vista and came away completely unimpressed. I encountered never-ending unexplained errors, and the interface with the desktop gadgets (of very limited function) failed to impress. Also, HP had no plans to release Vista drivers for my 6 month old printer or my two year old scanner - they wanted me to buy new ones (screw you HP!)
Since then I've looked and looked and have failed to find any compelling argument as to why I should switch to Vista. The security argument doesn't wash - anyone with a modicum of security knowledge can protect their machines as well, with much less overhead. There are no new technologies other than an improved search engine.
All in all, I can find no credible reason for MS putting everyone through this awful transition. My next computer will likely be a Mac.
Wirehead: doesn't the fact that most posters here, including myself, who dislike this VISTA joke, and who also indicate that THEY ARE NOW MORE LIKELY TO TOTALLY MIGRATE TO LINUX, tell you something about their experience level? i.e. most linux users are hardly in the "novice" category, but simply put up with MS all these years b/c most applications were written for that system - but this is changing.
I was a major Microsoft OS anything fan. But since my frustrating experience with Vista, I bought my first MAC and love it. Mac OSX is definitely something that Microsoft should be trying to strive for. Sorry Microsoft, but we have to break up. It's not you, its just that Vista has come between us. I promise to write and say hello when we see each other on the street.
I was a major Microsoft OS anything fan. But since my frustrating experience with Vista, I bought my first MAC and love it. Mac OSX is definitely something that Microsoft should be trying to strive for. Sorry Microsoft, but we have to break up. It's not you, its just that Vista has come between us. I promise to write and say hello when we see each other on the street.
Vista is the new ME. It is frustrating to use, neutered in many ways for more advanced users, filled with DRM crap, and WAAAYYYY too bloated.
On the bright side, Vista prompted me to switch to Linux, which has been great and my experience with it got me a job as a sysadmin. So, in a roundabout way, Vista has made my life better.
Wirehead:
OK Vista is harder to use than XP, and I'm just not good enough to use it. Ok I'll go for that. Guess I'll just stick with the easy to use XP and Linux systems I use.
Vista is GREAT. MUch better than XP. You guys react because you resist change.
Ok, go to Linux.
It's the same history over and over. When Apple went OS X direction was the same thing. With Intel also.
This is historu repeating itself.
Give Vista a chance, learn it. You will see how great it is.
Vista rocks on my system. I will run Linux at home after I'm too old to play online games. Right now, it's not going to happen.
@Pedro -
No, Vista is not great. I found the drivers I needed to dual-boot for my sons new computer, and XP is literally twice as fast to boot. What the @##$ is there to learn?
Yes Pedro. You nailed it. I resist change. You really nailed me. You know what? I think I'm really going to do something about it. I'm going to stop it right now. I'm going to switch to Linux. Oh wait I already have! Thank God I'm no longer afraid of change.
Oh also thanks for insulting all of us that are too dumb to learn Vista. You know it is very complicated. It is way harder to use than XP or Linux. I should just learn it, but I feel I'm just too dumb to learn Vista because it is so much harder to use than XP or Linux. Really, I think the best thing for a dumb person like me is to stick with Linux or even switch to mac because I'm dumb I really need something easy to use. Vista is just too complicated for me. Wait a minute? Shouldn't the upgrade be easier to use? Something isn't quite right with that.
You also probably never considered the fact that if I don't like it I've probably already used it. Maybe you go around saying you hate things you've never tried, but me personally, I usually try it first then decide if I like it or not. But to each his own I suppose.
I just have to laugh at the few posters who are really trying to earn their M$ kickbacks with drug induced comments like this:
"Yeah, if you want to overpay for a computer that just does the basics, go Apple. If you're smart enough, you'll see you can do the same thing for free with Linux.
MS really doesn't care about what you do at home. The big money is in the enterprise. Big companies will never run linux on the desktop because who do you call when you have a linux problem? And Mac is just a toy and will never run business applications.
I'm fine with XP. My laptop won't even run the latest Ubuntu. When I get a new PC, I'll be glad to have Vista on it, but I'll be waiting for Windows 7's slimmed down kernel (and laughing as OSX gets more and more bloated).
As soon as you get a decent install base of Macs (are you almost at 10% yet? Pathetic!) you'll see a lot more viruses and malware being coded for Macs. Macs are just as insecure as windows (more-so actually), it's just that no one wants to waste their time with such a small population of users."
There is just so much wrong with that comment, so much delusion in it, it can not be corrected. There's no point anyway, I seriously doubt anyone actually believes that tripe anyway, even the commenter that made it. No connection to reality whatsoever.
Vista is a mess. Denying that reality is being delusional.
Just run Linux. If you want to run an out-of-date version, no one will ever stop you.