Vista, or not?

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Several friends have switched to Vista. A few just had to get the "latest and greatest" when it came out so they bought the upgrade disks. A few got new computers with Vista pre-installed. Every single one of them has had compatibility issues of one kind or another - either software, hardware, or both.

Whose responsibility is it to ensure compatibility? Microsoft for putting out a product knowing it won't work with a lot of existing hardware and software? Or the hardware and software manufacturers who might have to change their products several times because MS is still experimenting with Vista? Ultimately, the consumer is the loser.

I'd love to hear what YOU think as a former long time Microsoft employee.

Follow up questions.

When Microsoft is developing a new product like Vista, and a compatibility issue is discovered, does Microsoft notify the hardware or software manufacturer of the compatibility issue? Does Microsoft have a contract with HP (just as an example) to use only HP printers, scanners, etc during testing and other companies are left out in the cold? Just curious.

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Compatibility is really really tough. Microsoft has, in fact, gone so far as to
occasionally "un-fix" a (non-critical) bug because fixing it would break
applications that had inadvertently relied on the bad behavior. I've done it
(the un-fixing, that is :-).

When it comes to drivers ultimately it's the job of the hardware manufacturer
to produce drivers that work for their hardware. Microsoft does go out of its
way to support them with the information and tools they need to do it right.
And yes, I'm sure that some larger manufacturers with particularly popular
devices might be in a more direct feedback loop as issues are discovered.

I have seen Microsoft get "frustrated" with the drivers produced by some
manufacturers and elect to provide their own. It doesn't happen often (it's
been a while, so I don't even know if it still happens), but if a particular
piece of hardware is a)popular and b) has a track record of buggy drivers from
the manufacturer, Microsoft can roll their own. When this happens the results
are usually much better, and naturally Microsoft owns the responsibility for
those drivers. Usually they have a more limited set of functionality, though.

As for what's happening with Vista, it's hard to say. I'm certain that
Microsoft made the appropriate information available, but not all manufacturers
have the resources or the desire to retro-fit any new requirements into drivers
for older devices, or even to necessarily react to the changes for newer
devices for a new version of Windows that is still only (and slowly) growing in
market share. For those that did jump in, in general I'd be shocked if they
put their "best and brightest" on any such task.

We've been here before. Each version of Windows that had anything close to a
major change has had these kind of bumps. I'm reminded of the migration from
Windows 9x to Windows XP. As Vista "takes over" new hardware and new, more
stable, drivers will appear. Until then it's a bumpy ride for early adopters.

Leo

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Vista messed up my comp.. and my friend's. I say not

Some of my friends have vista (preloaded) and I have had to help them on more than one occasion because of the UAC. I am a pc gamer and was going to build a new pc but I am waiting on at least a service pack 1 before going to vista. I don't appreciate that I am being forced to use vista if I want to play the latest games. The latest version of directx is only on vista. I myself am going to wait a while.

I am a frequent computer user, having run XP for some time. I bought a new desktop preloaded with Vista and actuaaly returned the unit within two days because I was disatisfied with the new OS (compatibility, naming convention changes in UAC, etc.) Vista is nothing more than a Microsoft marketing ploy. Certainly no better than XP. I have resorted to having new computer built so I can get new technology hardware and still retain XP.

I just helped a friend with the purchase a new PC with Vista Premium installed. He had previously been using an 8-year-old machine with Windows 98. I am using a 6-year-old machine with Win XP Pro (installed over Win 98SE).

I state flat-out that Windows Vista is an _abomination_!!! My friend is angry and in despair over the new machine, which he can't use, and I am tearing my hair out trying to help him with the basics. Everything we try to do locks up the machine or we get the revolving circle cursor. I never had this kind of problem with WinXP.

I tried a new Vista desktop amd had compatability problems with 4 printers. I use all these printers frequently so Vista is not a cost effective option for me since I would have to replace the printers. Maybe when all my printers die or my XP machines die I may be forced to bite the bullet and switch to Vista but hopefully not soon. Thanks to Wal-Mart's return policies I was able to return the Vista machine.

My situation is much like Leo's, I purchased an HP Notebook with Vista Home Premium preinstalled and I have a desktop with XP S2 Home. I have just been 'playing' around with the Notebook, getting acquainted with it but have not fully relied on it because of the fear of running into the compatibility problems.

My question is, since I have a large HD, can I set up a dual-boot situation and use both Vista and XP and get the 'best-of-both'? If so, can you point me to a source of information?

I have both my laptop and desktop set to dual boot Vista and XP. I have had so many problems with Vista on both because of all the compatibility issues, so guess what my default OS is set as... Yes, XP, still....
The video card problems and vista drivers for both ATI and nVidia don't work yet for some games (some may not work for older games, EVER), and I can name at least 2 of my very important programs that are not vista compatible either. I just cant find any upside to removing XP. I can find many excuses to remove Vista...

Btw, dont try to install XP after a Vista install, dual boot... You will have to be very aware of how to use bcdedit and other steps to bring back the Vista boot menu. It was really a pain in the ass for me, but I finally figured it out.. Takes a while to do too...

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