Used Vista for 30 days. Back on XP

[JustGeorge]

Well, I used Vista Business for 30 days as my main OS and decided to revert back to trusty XP Pro. Its not that Vista was a bad OS, just that making a complete switch made no sense too me at this point. What I miss about Vista are:

* Eye candy

* Enhanced WMP11 and IE7

* Sidebar (Yes, I found it useful)

* Enhanced search functions

* UAC

* Tab previews in taskbar

* built-in Windows Update

* Speedy install

* Not having 71 updates to install after initial installation.

* Basic partitioning functions included in the Management Console.

Dislikes:

* System wasn't nearly as responsive as it is with XP. All my favorite emulators run smoother in XP. LOL deal breaker, I know :)

* Folder Views not sticking

* Makes view assumptions based on directory contents. Place a pic or music file in a dir and all of the sudden, you can't sort by type anymore, etc.

* Backup function is a joke. No where near customizable enough. Will not backup executables. What good is a backup utility if it won't backup what I want backed up?

* Defragger does its job, but it would be great if it provided some info as to % complete, and allow me to pick drives, etc.

* Win98 cannot browse shared Vista dirs. Some of my cheap friends still use 98 and its nice to browse my drive for resources when I'm working on them in my house. Causes freezes everytime I attempt to browse. In XP this isn't an issue.

* Driver support sucks ass ATM (Not MS's fault)

* Some apps like Nero 6 won't work in Vista. (Not MS's fault)

* Can't decide if I like the new Start Menu or not.

* Placement and renaming of features was unnecessary and confusing.

* I hate the new event log viewer in the management console.

* Overdone/redundant confirmation prompts.

* Not a big fan of cleartype

Nothing listed would stop me from running Vista, but also nothing to make me want to activate it and thus commit to it, either. My plans are to hold onto Vista until my next system build, which will be better suited to run Vista. I've had alot of friends at work ask me about Vista and if its work upgrading and I basically tell them if they're satisfied with XP, they should just wait until its time for a new PC. Maybe thats bad advice, but there really isn't anything in Vista that warrants an upgrade for average Joe and the additional expenses involved with it.

Using Vista for a month has given me a fresh appreciation for XP. Ballmer was right when he said its Vista's biggest competitor.

Edited March 10, 2007 by denzilla

[h3xis]

I think I felt the same as you after 30 days and switched back over to XP, however I came crawling back to Vista in the end. I got so used to the eye candy in Vista and ways of doings things that using XP just felt weird and sluggish. Of course, Vista has its quirks (such as the damn firewall not turning off when I tell it to and having to disable it completely in the services manger) but I think most of the small issues will be ironed out in the end.

[Mr. Gibs]

shouldn't this be in the vista forum? Why general discussion :s

And you can change the folder view after it auto changes lol. And yes I agree with you on the backup and defrag being too limited. But then I use onecare to manage that so its not a real issue for me.

[Brandon]

I went back to XP too after vista. No driver support yet for my laptop = 1/2 the battery life, XP offered just basic functiionality, and it works and is easier to customize

[JustGeorge]

I know about changing the views, but it still resets them sometimes.

[ahmz]

Nero 6.6.1.4 works with Vista, and you can turn ClearType off (just like in XP).

But like you, I also went back to XP, it's just more responsive (instant) on my AthlonXP 2400+ and of course games run much better :)

[KoL Veteran]

I installed vista on a separated HD so I can switch from Vista to XP but I feel the same way. Most of your point are what I like and dislike about Vista but I really hate the confirmation prompts :no: Is there a way to turn that off?

[Raa]

I happen to fully agree with you too, there is no compelling reason to jump to Vista now, or until SP1 is released I think.

I had too many issues with it personally to bother swtiching, however I do 'play' with it on my mac.....

I'm happy to sit for a while, at least I own it and can switch to it when i'm ready :)

[Kaidiir]

Give it time. In the coming months and especially with the release of Vista SP1 (October-ish, I believe) Vista should really blossom into something great. And by then all the lazy ass hardware companies will get drivers out the door.

[JustGeorge]

Its my understanding that Cleartype can't be fully disabled in Vista, but I might be wrong. Nero 6 can be installed, but has problems unless someone worked them out recently.

*Sorry about placing this in the wrong section. Half asleep :(

[Mr. Gibs]

I'm really disappointed in Nvidia right now. 5 Months and still no decent drivers....what are they planning to do? Wait till Vienna?

[DELTETHISACCOUNT]

Ah, the benefits of dual-booting. Allows me to use XP for serious work and Vista for showing off.

[*John*]

Nero 6.6.1.4 works with Vista

No it doesnt? :blink:

[JustGeorge]

Ah, the benefits of dual-booting. Allows me to use XP for serious work and Vista for showing off.

I need the extra HDD space.

[stezo2k]

No it doesnt? :blink:

Works fine for me, never had one problem with it. i've burned CDs and DVDs with it and they've all been fine

[tuckeratlarge]

I have also gone back to XP. Vista is still there in a dual-boot config-type-doohickey but until nVidia sort out the really really crap display drivers I'm sticking with XP. Some of the annoying features of Vista get less annoying with time and I must say I was getting used to it. If, or more likely when they sort out the display picture I will stick with XP.

Basically the same picture on my HP LCD panel is complete pants in Vista and fantastic in XP. In vista there is too much bloom around text and everything looks blurred. I have tweaked and tweaked, both clear type and the nVidia settings and no matter what happens the picture is crap.

I am going to miss the version backup of files and docs in vista but the negs outweigh the pluses

Edited March 10, 2007 by tuckeratlarge

[Raa]

Geez, you people complaining about nVidia (hey, i'm one too)

Try feeling our pain for CREATIVE drivers - and no, I dont own an X-FI, so i'm out in the cold twice over (I'm referring to EAX here) :(

Those new drivers and SP1 can't get here fast enough IMO. They really should have waited a few months to bring out Vista :/

[AXiao]

i agree with the OP for the most part.

bad driver support, slow response, app compatibility, and eye candy are the reasons for me to go back to xp. i love aero and all, but it became too busy and i dont like the resource hog considering that i work with programs like Photoshop and Maya.

but i miss vista automatically detecting my xbox360, something xp should add as an update to support. i swear to god it's so freaking painful to connect my xbox360 to my computer to play music.

[SacrificialSoldier]

I tried Vista for a week and went right back to XP

hated the totally new setup, Way less tech friendly!

Not even the Windows Classic Theme!!!

[Mark-NL]

What I miss about Vista are:

* UAC

Dislikes:

* Overdone/redundant confirmation prompts.

Huh? :whistle:

[JustGeorge]

Huh? :whistle:

UAC is fine one you get everything setup properly, but it occasionally slings double confirmations thats annoying.

[Echilon]

I got fed up of vista after a few weeks, but if you stick with it you'll learn to love it ;)

[yardmanflex]

You guy complaining are a bunch of ######'s..i heard the same thing when XP came out.....i installed Vista and have not look back since.

[Linkinfamous]

Sluggish? What were your system specs? I have no difference between it and XP in terms of responsiveness. At least when an App freezes up in Vista, it plays nicer than it would in XP (The window just turns milky, and doesn't take down the entire system.)

[JustGeorge]

A64 3500+ @2.2GHZ

1GB DC RAM

x700

It wasn't ass slow, but XP is faster on this rig hands down.

@yardman,

I'm not complaining, just offering up my experience to others. I happen to like Vista, just not on my current setup.