Vista

[DbblGlock]

Hi, everybody. just wanted to get your views on the new windows vista as i am considering to get the vista home preminium OEM at £70. if it is worth it yet.

I heard it is having compatibility issues at the mo with alot of software. i was gonna get it maybe when i build myself a new computer.

So, it would be great if people gave their views on it, if they have tried it. thanks

[Zachary]

ive tried vista, but few days later i formatted C: and reinstalled XP.

imho vista is just waste of money. you just get tons of unnecessary gadgets and bugs with it, but not any upgrades when comparing it to XP

[DbblGlock]

Thanks, yeah I was having second thoughts and considered sticking with stable XP. atleast then i know it isn't gonna not work with software.

Some people said it is a resource hungry operating system, has anyone confirmed that. does it slow the computer down compared to XP during applications?

[Masakari987]

Yeah, it's best to just stick with XP right now IMO. I bought Vista the week it came out, and now I really regret it because I almost never use it because of the various problems I had with it (I almost always boot up with XP now) . For me, Max and Maya have issues with viewports with the Aero interface. In order to get them to work right I have to switch to a vista basic interface when ever I want them to work right. The Aero interface looks nice and slick, but everything still operates in the same way (that's good or bad depending on your opinion of windows, in general).

As for performance, Vista is a real RAM hog. For me, XP only uses about 350 megs when it boots up, but Vista uses about 1 gig (although, I do use several gadgets). Gadgets are pretty cool, but aren't any that makes Vista essential IMO. There are some other new things though that can be useful, like ReadyBoost (I think that what I mean). That allows you to add certain flash drives and have them act like extra ram! That can be pretty cool when you need the addition ram for some scenes.

The drivers have been getting better, which was one of the biggest complaints. Many of my devices are now working just about as well as when I use XP, but there is still a ways to go.

As for versions, Home Premium seems to be the way to go for most people. I got Ultimate, but the Ultimate Extras have been few and far between releases. I think the only Extras right now is a Dreamscape preview (which has potential) and Texas Hold'em... what a great deal for an extra $100 :roll: Home Basic seems like a waste because it doesn't even include the Aero interface and only supports 8 gigs of ram as opposed to 16 gigs for the others (ok, that's more than enough for these days, but that may not be enough in the future).

Another thing that bugs me...the retail version of Home Premium and Home Basic do not come with discs for the 64-bit version of the OS (at least in the U.S. they don't). If you want the discs for 64-bit you have to pay Microsoft more money for them to ship them to you (it's like $5-10 plus another $5-10 for faster delivery) :x Hey Microsoft, great way to increase the usage of 64-bit OS's :roll:

If you do decide to go with Vista, I suggest going with a dual-boot so you don't too much problems. Oh, also note that the OEM version logs what motherboard you are using and will not completely activate if you swap motherboards. So if your motherboard gets fried or you have to upgrade, you likely have to call Microsoft and tell them what is going on so they can let you activate it on a new motherboard.

Well, that's my view
/End Rant

[Johnas]

Originally Posted by Zachary

imho vista is just waste of money. you just get tons of unnecessary gadgets and bugs with it, but not any upgrades when comparing it to XP

Thats what I think too. I managed to test it at work and I don't like Vista at all. I'm going with XP as long as possible

[DbblGlock]

Masakari987 - nice in depth analysis, i think that you are right, but i will not get vista because all of the negatives you mentioned and some others. dual booting can get annoying selecting which one you want every time, especially when you only want to select only XP!

FlashG - i am thinking the same. i guess when more directX10 games come out, we will have to upgrade, and our graphics cards!

[Catlin]

Yup i went to vista the other day,my sound card and graphics card stopped working with a million errors coming up,fair enough my computer isnt new new but it should support these.

Im back on xp media edition now.

[maul]

I had vista isntalled on my new computer and all my applications work as usual, just internet explorer thats causing problems

[Masakari987]

Originally Posted by DbblGlock

Masakari987 - nice in depth analysis, i think that you are right, but i will not get vista because all of the negatives you mentioned and some others. dual booting can get annoying selecting which one you want every time, especially when you only want to select only XP!

I couldn't get Adobe Illustrator to install on XP for some reason, so I had to boot up with Vista for the past several days. It seems like it is getting better. It won't be my main OS until the problems with Max and Maya are fixed, but it is looking up right now.

Yeah, I hate having to select the OS everytime I start up. Although, the way I have both OS's installed is on seperate SATA hard drives (but not in a dual boot configuration). Then when I want I different OS, I can just go into the BIOS and change the boot drive and that will be the OS that will always boot up until changed.

[DbblGlock]

Originally Posted by Masakari987

I couldn't get Adobe Illustrator to install on XP for some reason, so I had to boot up with Vista for the past several days. It seems like it is getting better. It won't be my main OS until the problems with Max and Maya are fixed, but it is looking up right now.

Yeah, I hate having to select the OS everytime I start up. Although, the way I have both OS's installed is on seperate SATA hard drives (but not in a dual boot configuration). Then when I want I different OS, I can just go into the BIOS and change the boot drive and that will be the OS that will always boot up until changed.

ok, i see. i don't do that because i only have 1 HDD, but i see it is a better way of doing it. i bought my computer and i am not getting vista untill all the kinks are sorted and it is a fully fuctional OS. thanks for te info a lot, you are really helpful

[venom800tt]

I tried Vista on my dad's laptop and came to the conclusion that Win XP is the way to go
In fact, since I'm getting a new laptop I had to look for one that came with XP, so I wouldn't have to go though the trouble of killing Vista and installing XP. I ended up ordering a Dell Vostro 1500 laptop, which is one of the few computers that still has XP as a option....

[Mimigu]

Actually I've been using Vista for a while and I like it quite much. 3DS Max 9 supports Windows Vista Aero, and everything works awesome. Quick and responsive. I enjoy eye candy .

But of course, I have a relatively good PC:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
2GB RAM
7200RPM 300GB HDD
NVIDIA Geforce 7900GS

In my experience you need at least 2GB of RAM to enjoy Vista... any less than that and welcome to lag city of RAM hog.

My computer is the only one in the house that uses Vista; the rest are too slow to run it properly.

[Nero]

i installed vista premium few months ago when it just came out.. had problems with sound card but solwed them.. i liked it alot.. it restart turns off logs on very fast... but when i installed 3ds max and it didint work FORMAT! thats my story.. now i use xp with alien ware style eats a bit ram ..but looks great
specs
1gb ram
2.8 sempron 64bit
geforce 7950GT 512 hddr
the only thing that is good in my pc is the video card ^

[DbblGlock]

ok, kool. thats very nice to know, some positive opinions.
i know my new computer should be able to handle it as it has an E6750 chip in there with 2GB ram. it isn't that though. like nero said it didn't run with 3dmax. they may have fixed that now, but then again it will be like that with other peices of software.

O yeah, vista doesn't have an IPX controller, so you cannot play those classics like C&C tiberiun sun/ red alert 2 across the LAN. seriously, was that too much to ask for, to be able to play these games. apparently there is a way around it, but hey its too much hassle.