Used Vista for 30 days. Back on XP

[jimbo11883]

I think that if Microsoft held Vista until Christmas '07, we'd have a better OS. I'm sure people wouldn't of mind waiting too. :p

[Sockie]

I'm back in XP Land after using Vista for just over two weeks.

Vista negatives:

- Slower in every general aspect of computing (Copying files / Games / Launching programs)

- Nvidia video drivers suck

- Sound Blaster drivers suck

- Aero tires me. All the transparencies and insane glowing green progress bars.

- Ultimate Extras, total scam. None of those Extras represent any value to me and I used none of them. Scam, Scam, Scam.

XP Prositives

Take all the above Vista negatives and flip them. Except for the last one. (Y)

I think that if Microsoft held Vista until Christmas '07, we'd have a better OS. I'm sure people wouldn't of mind waiting too. :p

I think your right. I guess it's now time to wait and see if and how Service Pack 1 improves Vista.

[P1Guy]

my sytem is faster that xp, maybe you need a newer system. Nvidia has newer drivers that do not suck. Creative is the big let down. To bad there is not another big player in the Audio market.

[Sockie]

my sytem is faster that xp, maybe you need a newer system. Nvidia has newer drivers that do not suck. Creative is the big let down. To bad there is not another big player in the Audio market.

Got Core2 Duo. I may try Vista again when I get my 8800GTS and nice 22" widescreen. Maybe those two factors will make Vista look and work better. I know, I'm the eternal optimist.

[Toology]

I actually like the way it changes views automatically according to the folder's contents. It's not a problem for me because I rarely have or browse folders with mixed content. System responsiveness isn't a problem for me at least because I have Vista running on a Core2 Duo laptop and an Athlon 64 X2 desktop.

[DrCheese]

The window just turns milky, and doesn't take down the entire system.

er? Since when does an application crashing on XP take down the entire system. This isn't windows 98 we're talking about here...

I get urges for XP now and then, especially on my work laptop which is over a year and half old. Vista very nearly got thrown out the other day on my main PC when I got screamed at to reactivate after installing a driver update. (I had a legal copy of VLK XP so I'm not used to this activation trash)

Also I got tempted just before ATi released decent Vista drivers to go back because game performance was annoying me.

Problem is I've been running Vista since the beta 2 days in some form or another so I've gotten used to it. I especially like the searching in the new start menu even tho it does sometimes give me wrong results.

[Malisk]

* 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.

I agree this is a quite terrible design. :( OK if it has to lose my settings for "All Folders" still, after making a new folder and putting multimedia in it, but even if it has a new view, it sucks to have it take away even standard colums like dates and sizes! Sure, go ahead and change the views if you must (even if I dislike it), but don't take away among the most basic column types even if it has to add more for the media!

* 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?

Agreed here too. I can't believe they actually made this feature worse than in XP. You can't even set up which file types to backup (no Microsoft -- file types != file "kinds"), or what parts of your drive to backup. You can't define what parts of your drive to back up. That needs repeating. I have a 500 GB drive. Are Microsoft saying I should pull out 100 DVD discs or need to partition my drive to work specifically with their software? Or second guess what file types their "file kinds" includes? They can forget that.

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

I kind of like it, especially the quick search that even have detail work done to it to give it input focus merely by clicking the start button to open the menu, so you don't need another click on it. And it's pretty powerful, and can even search beyond directories. If you add Start++ (that is a link btw, for some Neowin color schemes), it becomes even better!

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

I find it more powerful now though, although in a busier UI.

* Not a big fan of cleartype

My LCD display looks horrible without it, like in the early 90's, but sure, it can be a matter of preference.

Edited March 10, 2007 by Jugalator

[Popky]

There is no going back for me, everything I need works well. Also It seems very hard to kill, unlike XP.

[NoneAvail]

i've felt the same way after i used it for 2 weeks while dual booting with xp. i got really used to the last week but when i got fed up with lack of drivers that lexmark and hp won't realase. like said before it's not microsoft fault, but the drivers are ones that are keeping some people away from vista. i like vista, the search is useful and plus i love the eye candy. when i switched back to xp, it felt really different without the search bar and without the sidebar. will switch back to vista when sp1 comes out.

btw: i was using vista home prem

[ScottKin]

As I read the posts in this thread and think back to the pre-release days of XP, I am struck as to the differences in moving from Win2K & Win98 to XP and from XP to Vista; the migration to Vista has been vastly superior to the migration to XP. Mind you, I'm not running an ultra-cool hardware platform (AMD Athlon 64 4000+ (Sledgehammer), 1 GB OCZ RAM (2 x OCZ4001024PDC-K) on a DFI LanParty UT nF4 SLI-D motherboard, an nVidia GeForce 6800 GT-I video card and an 80GB WDC WD800JB-00JJA0 HD), and have detected no such "slowdowns" on my system between XP & Vista.

In regards to working drivers - don't blame Microsoft, blame the hardware manufacturers for not providing quality drivers for their hardware. I remember the same frustration when migrating to XP, and I can practically guarantee that hardware manufacturers will have stable, working drivers fairly soon.

Now, I may be incorrect as to the demographics of Neowin, but reading most of the posts and threads here I can guesstimate that many of the users here are under the age of 18. Since Windows XP was launched in 2001, that would make the age of most users (based upon my guesstimate) ~12 years old. Now, I'm not implying that 12-year-olds can't remember when XP was released, nor am I implying that there weren't 12-year-olds using XP when it was released; what I am saying is that there is a high degree of probability that many 12-year-olds in 2001 were oblivious to the migration headaches that many of us suffered during the transition from Win2k and Win9x to XP, and that the migration from XP to Vista has been much smoother.

While many of us have seen the videos of what Vista/Longhorn was going to be like since Longhorn's announcement, keep this in mind: Microsoft produced Vista/Longhorn as a platform to build a new generation of application software. All of the canned and demo'ed software was possible due to the Longhorn/Vista OS platform. All of the nice, interactive graphics within applications like the "Calendar" app in many of the Longhorn demo videos are absolutely possible within Vista/Longhorn. If Microsoft took the line of actually including many of those extremely cool-looking applications, many other software companies would be ticked-off at Microsoft for not allowing other 3rd-party software vendors to produce some of those applications. That is the kind of thing that causes 3rd-party vendors to climb-upon the Microsoft "Anti-trust litigation" bandwagon. Operating Systems are meant to be a platform which software is written for, not where all of the possible applications and interfaces are already exposed and provided.

I expect, based upon years and years of being involved in and watching the PC industry, that some 3rd-Party software vendors will build some absolutely amazing software packages this year that will cause most of us to sit back and ruminate a bit and say "Ah - I get it now!"

--ScottKin

[Master Shake]

I still game using xp and it's so ugly compared to vista!

[Whitlam]

dual boot - with Vista Ultimate as my main OS

Use XP Pro mainly for photo editing as Vista has a total lack of RAW support - Canon CR2 RAW files can't be viewed in Vista (XP has the excellent RAW viewer).

For me lack of RAW support in Vista is a huge let down (especially with having over 40,000 RAW files) - both Canon and Microsoft seem to be unresponsive to concerns about this.

XP Pro is also a lot quicker than Vista Ultimate in general.

[Hexicon]

Here we are, a few months after Vista is released and people continue to complain about drivers. Even if Microsoft had postponed until now we still wouldn't have the drivers we need. Don't blame Microsoft, blame the hardware companies. How long did it take just to get beta drivers? Microsoft said they will release at a specific time and if I were them I wouldn't have held out until "good" drivers were available. Hmm, my birthday is tomorrow but I am going to wait for a few weeks until the "good" frosting is on the shelves. Sounds stupid, but that is exactly what people are saying Microsoft "should have done". I have a copy of Vista Business sitting on my desk waiting for the right moment. I am still running RC2 until that day. My games run fine, apps are good, system is fairly stable (a few hangs here and there). For most people a dual boot with XP and Vista would be a great solution, kind of a "best of both worlds" solution.

[DELTETHISACCOUNT]

You know, Vista has been proven to run faster than XP with Aero turned off.

So don't go and downgrade, just turn Aero off. Problem solved. :)

[MrCobra]

I used it for a little over a month and got fed up with it when I had to move 50 megs worth of files and Vista poped up a dialog saying that there was insufficient memory to complete the copy. Not to mention the bugs in UI and the UI in general (to me) is too...(lack of words) and the p*ss poor driver support. To me, Vista just felt slapped together. It's definitely not something I would have paid for and I'm glad I didn't. Maybe SP1 will fix the OS but I doubt it.

[stezo2k]

You know, Vista has been proven to run faster than XP with Aero turned off.

So don't go and downgrade, just turn Aero off. Problem solved. :)

surely that doesnt effect gaming though? shouldnt effect it much anyway

[DanManIt]

I'm still to yet to give vista a try. The real reason is I am perfectly content with XP right now, I'll switch over to vista once DX10 games are out and Vista is needed, but I will definitely not switch until then and even then I might wait a little longer.

[ssj4gogita4]

Never planned on getting vista.

Thanks for the info, though. Will definetly remember this just in case I'm tempted to buy it :laugh:

[[bear]]

I bought a new HP core 2 duo laptop and vista runs pretty well. I'm enjoying it so far. Windows media center is great

[v0ltage789]

Here we are, a few months after Vista is released and people continue to complain about drivers. Even if Microsoft had postponed until now we still wouldn't have the drivers we need. Don't blame Microsoft, blame the hardware companies. How long did it take just to get beta drivers? Microsoft said they will release at a specific time and if I were them I wouldn't have held out until "good" drivers were available. Hmm, my birthday is tomorrow but I am going to wait for a few weeks until the "good" frosting is on the shelves. Sounds stupid, but that is exactly what people are saying Microsoft "should have done". I have a copy of Vista Business sitting on my desk waiting for the right moment. I am still running RC2 until that day. My games run fine, apps are good, system is fairly stable (a few hangs here and there). For most people a dual boot with XP and Vista would be a great solution, kind of a "best of both worlds" solution.

Please explain why Microsoft changed things that weren't broken..like the sound stack, which basicly screwed over anyone with a creative card. It's convenient just to blame the hardware companies, and pretty ignorant too.

[JustGeorge]

^^ I tend to agree in regards to the sound changes. They claim to have done it for stability reasons, but was it really that big of a problem to begin with?

[redeemed]

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?

Sure is. Clicky (Y)

Hope this helps. :yes:

[Starcom826]

I wouldn't put Vista on my main rig. It uses too many resources and it's the most consumer unfriendly version of windows yet (ideologically). I did put it on my tablet though because I got a free copy of Business through the power together thing and handwriting input is greatly improved on vista.

[Aero Ultimate]

Well, I used Vista Business for 30 days as my main OS and decided to revert back to trusty XP Pro.

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

Same here. I also used Vista Business for about a month, but then decided, that there are clearly far too many flaws still in Vista, so I'm using XP exclusively again.

My reasons very pretty much the same as yours, but I really like ClearType - and it's already in XP, so no Vista feature.

I also disliked further things, like e.g. you can't customize the Explorer toolbar, the half-assed Display Properties with the single tabs, the serious problems with games in general etc.

Concerning the positive points you mentioned:

* Eye candy

There's an immense deal of eye candy you can put on XP, just visit sites like WinCustomize.

A lot of it won't work in Vista though, so you'll actually have less eye candy in Vista.

* Enhanced WMP11 and IE7

Both garbage which I wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole. I use GomPlayer and Opera instead, works a great deal better.

If you still want it, you can have the new Wmp and IE on XP as well.

* Sidebar (Yes, I found it useful)

Sidebars were there already long before Vista came out and are widely avaiable for XP.

* Enhanced search functions

Rather on my negatives list, as the constant search indexing went on my nerves.

There are a lot of programs which provide enhanced search functions for XP, e.g. Desktop Search (although I've never found me needing any of them).

* UAC

Clearly on my negatives list, as it interferes with your everyday work far too much.

Also, if you use a good firewall, a good and up-to-date AV and some common sense on XP, you really don't need it.

* Tab previews in taskbar

I already have tab previews in Opera on XP.

* built-in Windows Update

Never like Windows Update. I'm always using update packs, there are lots of them for XP (like e.g. the one right here on Neowin).

* Speedy install

Not much faster than installing XP, and that only applies when you're re-installing it - once a year at the most.

* Not having 71 updates to install after initial installation.

You can slipstream all XP updates into the installation files of XP, just as with SP2.

* Basic partitioning functions included in the Management Console.

Use Gparted instead, it's still a lot better.

In essence, all you listed of the positive features can either be also had on XP, or they're unneccessary there, so there's really no good reason for using Vista.

[.Kompressor]

sorry to say and I know the windows fanboys will be tift. but Vista isn't finished. it's is still in Beta. It reminds me like Windows Me unfortunately.

Like windows Me it has some really nice features but still it's not working fluidly overall.