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This is Leo Notenboom for askleo.info.
A couple of folks have asked me about Vista, and since I've been using it for a while I thought I'd report on where I am and what I'd recommend.
Vista has not blown me away. Yes, it's pretty and all that, but by and large in normal use I don't see it as representing that massive a leap from Windows XP.
I use both Windows XP and Windows Vista daily. My laptop, which holds my email and acts as my base of operations when I'm not at my desk, came with Vista pre-installed. My desktop runs Windows XP Pro.
Vista on the laptop works, and it works well. I've had no real problems, though there have been annoyances. Surprisingly, UAC or User Access Control actually hasn't been one of them - at least not directly. The popup asking for permission happens at what I'd consider to be logical points in time where the security implications of what I'm about to do actually warrant Vista double checking. It's a little more often than the rough equivalent on a Mac or Ubuntu Linux, but not excessively so.
The annoyances come from running as an administrator, but not really. Even though my login account has administrative privileges, it's actually running slightly restricted - hence the occasional pop-up. The side effect, though, is that file access permissions are occasionally wrong. By that I mean that I can't access some files. This may because I do a lot in the Windows Command Prompt, because firing up another instance of that with full administrative privileges gets me access to everything - except the network shares that were created in the non-administrative window.
As you can see, it's just a little complicated, confusing ... and annoying.
I suppose I could turn of UAC, and perhaps someday I will. But that just brings me one step closer to XP.
The other very big concern I have about Vista, and in fact the reason that I won't be updating my desktop, is application and hardware compatibility. I know for a fact at least one important application I run will not work in Vista and there are no plans to have it do so. And of course I also keep hearing of various hardware incompatibilities.
The bottom line for me is that Vista is simply not a compelling upgrade. If it comes pre-installed on a machine, and the applications you run will work on it, then it's a fine operating system. But right now the risks of upgrading simply outweigh whatever potential benefits there might be.
I'd love to hear what you think. Visit askleo.info and enter 11679 in the go to article number box to access the show notes, the transcript and to leave me a comment. While you're there, browse over 1,200 technical questions and answers on the site.
Till next time, I'm Leo Notenboom, for askleo.info.
Article C3092 - July 21, 2007 « »
Leo A. Notenboom has been playing with computers since he
was required to take a programming class in 1976. An 18 year career as a programmer at Microsoft soon followed.
After "retiring" in 2001, Leo started Ask Leo! in 2003 as a place for answers
to common computer and technical questions. More about Leo.
July 28, 2008 6:16 PM
I've spent 6 months using Vista. Hate it, Hate it, Hate it. I want to go back to XP. But have had no help from Microsoft or ACER in doing it, in fact ACER said if I put XP on the computer (it came with VISTA pre-loaded) it would void my warranty, You can't win for loosing.
July 30, 2008 1:15 AM
Just like many others here, my high-end 2GB ram DELL laptop came with Vista Home Premium pre-installed.
It was always VERY slow to react to ANY sort of command.
Startup is sickening, opening Control Panel is sickening, opening any document is sickening.
Being rather familiar with the "ins and outs" of Windows XP, I did whatever was possible to lighten the already minimal load on Vista.
I knocked off all the unnecessary programs from the laptop especially the ones at Startup.
I switched off all the frills that Vista comes with, including Areo. I very regularly clean & defrag the hard disk and registry. I am well serviced with anti virus/spyware/adaware etc
AND YET .. . VISTA is still a pain to work with !To make matters worse, Vista isn't even capable of installing its own SP1. About a HALF HOUR after the start of the installation (of this much awaited SP1), Vista finally gives up and stalls. How pathetic !
Windows XP pro was and still is the better of the two. It is more stable and can run most of the software available on the planet.
I'm sorry but we cannot say the same for Vista !!
For any other service or product us customers have the right to get refunded for a product that is not up to standard ! Vista is advertised as one of the Seven Wonders of the PC World. It certainly hasn't lived up to anywhere near that claim. So can any of us mortals claim a refund?
Thanks Leo for your valuable time and precious advice,
Take care
Alex
September 1, 2008 11:56 AM
I bought a new Toshiba laptop with the obligatory Vista OS. Now my Sony video camera won't work with it (and Sony tells me a Vista driver will never be written for that camera), and several key programs that I depend on for my living don't work either. My laptop is now nothing more than an expensive e-mail checker and video game, and that's not why I bought it. I agree with Alex that a refund should be forthcoming from Microsoft for a product that has proven to be ineffective, and actually constitutes a step BACKWARD in computer usefulness. I'm going back to XP Pro, which actually worked!!
September 19, 2009 10:24 AM
Dear friends,
My pc details:
> Intel DG31PR motherboard
> Intel Pentium Dual CPU 2.20 GHz E2200
> 3 GB RAM
> 250 HDD
> 512 MB ATI radon HD 4350 Graphics
> DELL 18.5 LCD
Please tell me , which version of windows should be best for me? I am using windows xp pro. What about vista ultimate or windows 7? Please tell me detalis with proper cause. thank you :)
My mail:
November 12, 2011 2:00 PM
My vista has 74.5 GB , i have 22GB left and i hardly have ANYTHING on the laptop itself, and i'm here right now literally deleting every program i can find.
I want to have an XP Laptop, is that possible?