is vista living up to peoples expectations

[martym]

Vista is now out 8 months so is vista living up to peoples expectations in performance,,ease of use, application compatibility andnetworking or did you expect more from this operating system? Also name what you like fixed most in vista in the to be released service pack.

Maybe when the service pack comes this will make a difference as so many people have told me to stay away from vista(techs and even computer sales people), so I wonder how many people/business have really switched from xp to vista.

Edited September 8, 2007 by martym

[Roadrunna]

I got Home Premium when I upgraded to a new PC and apart from a new minor niggles with older software, I've no quibbles with it. All the talk about fewer framerates in games is minor and for me, unnoticeable probably because I upgraded from a slower PC in the first place.

Don't upgrade just for the sake of it, upgrade windows with a major hardware update i.e. CPU, Graphic Card.

[Chicane-UK Veteran]

Time for me to fess up. I've been a Vista sceptic since day one. I got it late December through Volume Licensing at my place of work and, well, it was a big let down. I tried to use it as a production OS to do my day to day stuff and just found it too slow, too heavy, and just incompatible with too much stuff. This was on a number of PC's too of a variety of specifications so I did give it a fair chance!

Fast forward to a few weeks ago. Bought a new PC and was getting fed up of the amount of updates needed for XP to keep it current.. decided it was time to relent and try Vista again. A few months (and a bit more horsepower) seems to have made all the difference. Its now much smoother, more compatible, and doing everything I ask of it without any hiccups at all.

I still think as a product overall it was a let down. For the amount of time they took I expected more frankly. But if you want a more up to date version of Windows that looks much prettier then its a fairly safe bet these days. Driver support has matured nicely, and Microsoft are fairly regular with the patches and performance enhancements.

I'd never move my business to Vista just yet though.. no way!

[mad_onion]

its a natural progression from xp and while it isnt a massive difference for the end user most agree it is simpler and nicer to use than xp. for me at least it works well, performance is the same as xp, its easier to use, compatibility is fine for most people but check your mission critical apps and networking is better than xp for me anyway.

[iconboy]

Vista is a great OS (i mean even with the personal problems I've had with it), was it worth the wait? ... nope.

[Lant]

I've had a very mixed experience.

On my 2/3 year old laptop, everything was horribly slow (I think this is down to DDR) and I got some random BSOD's.

Now with my new pc it runs much smoother.

As for new features, it's the small things like the start search and moving around the tree view that make live easy and Vista better than XP.

[gollux]

Vista is out, but people's expectations are a lot higher. They don't remember the absolute driver pain Windows XP went through, or if they do, they expect that manufacturers get off their duffs and be ready with something that works better and sooner this time around. I expect that a year and a half after release, we'll start seeing solid peripheral driver support. It's a more complex operating system with newer ways to crash and suffer performance problems. It gave Microsoft heartburn and slipped its release date multiple times. Why shouldn't we expect the same from the peripheral manufacturers as well.

Basically, in business, we are sitting tight, because ROI just isn't there at this point. We're not paid to beta test Windows Vista (and face it, until the service pack, this is a massive beta release) and the drivers necessary to make it work with our existing equipment. This is negative ROI people. Windows XP and Server 2003 are pretty rock solid, and when Vista has its act together in two years, then we'll be upgrading.

[DzusFast]

I think it's getting too much credit. I recently bought a laptop and it had Vista home. I'm on the computer half the day so I need speed! I want to have next next thing loaded and up before I'm finished with my 'Blink'. I tryed everything they said. 2G RAM etc and I had no luck.

Loaded XP and I was back in business; it's just hassle free 4 me.

[iconboy]

I think it's getting too much credit. I recently bought a laptop and it had Vista home. I'm on the computer half the day so I need speed! I want to have next next thing loaded and up before I'm finished with my 'Blink'. I tryed everything they said. 2G RAM etc and I had no luck.

Loaded XP and I was back in business; it's just hassle free 4 me.

i also went back to xp for the same reason and things have never been better ;) it actually makes me tempted to get a mac and move to OSX, im not trying to badmouth M$ or XP, I just feel that when your trying to do everyday tasks and they are slow or crash like crazy, u can let go of the few programs that dont run on OSX just to be able to accomplish everyday things painlessly lol

[EduardValencia]

Very fast,very good looking,very stable,and very snappy in my opinion,i'me very happy with it

[deck]

It lives up to my expectations. It works. It's as stable as XP (for me, at least). I haven't had any software problems (yet). It's prettier than XP. It's different.

I find that one of the biggest reasons why 'regular' people don't like Vista is not because of requirements or compatibility but rather because it's different. They are used to Windows XP, not Vista. Vista changes things up a bit, and since it is different and things are in different places they are having trouble adapting. It's more than just a prettier XP in how interactions work.

My personal opinion, at least for those without the nagging compatibility problems, is that current Vista hating is old fashion racism... albeit software racism. It's different and people are afraid of what's different.

[soldier1st]

while testing vista it seemed to be pretty good,if i had the drive space i probably could duel boot xp and vista but cant.

[GuJu]

ive had many problems with it but i can't imagine going back to XP.

[deadrider]

I'm using Linux on one system and XP on my other.

I recently built a custom system for a customer. He wanted Vista Ultimate 64bit.

What a waste!

Vista is all show and very little go. Microsoft's idea of security is very annoying. Asking you everytime you want to install something. And if you turn off that service you have just defeated most of their built in security.

Being a 64bit OS was no help either. Not a lot out there for the 64bit world.

What irritates me the most about Vista is how they locked out the user from doing things that can be done in XP.

Oh! The normal everyday user won't notice it but the power user/tweak freak will.

Try adding a custom color profile for your monitor into the profile folder. Permission denied! Even though you have Admin rights you need to log out and log back in as the full Admin. Give me a break!

And the DRM is borderline communistic. It decides if I have rights to play a multimedia file. I like privacy but that's not what you get with Vista. It reports on all your actions and surfing history. Not to mention it eats up massive amounts of drive space caching all those reports and files into hidden places where you have no right to go, view or delete those files. Why is this? Figure it out yet?

My personal opinion is just that. An opinion.

But one has to wonder just how much people like Vista when one gets numerous requests every week asking how can they (The customer) get rid of Vista and get back their XP because they hate Vista.

Factor in those opinions and I'd say it's not the great hit Microsoft wants us to believe it is.

It was because of Microsoft saying they would kill off XP in the next few years that I converted permanently to Linux as my main user computer.

Vista?

No Thanks!

DeadRider

[h3xis]

God damn, do you people ever get sick of making these threads? There's already 500 of them.

[Chicane-UK Veteran]

it actually makes me tempted to get a mac and move to OSX

Was fortunate enough to pick up a Mac Mini at the same sort of time I got my new PC and Vista. I can barely believe i'm saying this but Vista LOOKS (i'm only saying looks.. nothing more) more modern than 10.4 does so i'm looking forwards to Leopard to help bring OSX back in line from a looks perspective.

Functionality wise the Mac is a breath of fresh air. Just so much more user friendly and competant than Vista.

[midway40]

Microsoft's idea of security is very annoying. Asking you everytime you want to install something.

That's funny, I remember having to supply my root password in Synaptic to install programs in Linux.

[Bioran]

Personally, Vista is a great OS. Everything runs fine with me, and I have only got 2 blue screens and those were at extreme conditions.

The only thing I dislike is the inconsistency of some windows, but I am sure they will fix it eventually.

~ Bioran

[]SK[]

I tried Vista but went back to XP. It was too slow and I got sick of the random HDD trashing it kept doing. Mid gaming this would cause bad FPS lag.

I recently upgraded from my 2800+ AMD 64, 1Gb RAM to an Intel Core 2 Quad 6600, 2Gb RAM. Vista now runs pretty much on par with XP. Boot times aren't as quick though. The trashing of the HDD still arises but now its no big deal. Multiple cores is a blessing. I guess with the right machine my Vista gripes were fixed. I'm still interested though to see what SP1 will bring to the OS.

[markwolfe Veteran]

That's funny, I remember having to supply my root password in Synaptic to install programs in Linux.

Actually, you can authorize yourself once and never see a prompt after that. So, it is a bit different, and less intrusive into your admin work than Windows that way.

However, if that is the biggest complaint that the guy you quoted had about Vista... :ermm: I don't see why he would have switched, because while it is a little annoying, it isn't so bad as to be obnoxious and driving people away.

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

Another thread to complain about Vista! OK, I think I'm gonna join the bandwagon this time :alien:

I'm really only disappointed in Microsoft's delivery of Ultimate Extras. :devil:

God damn, do you people ever get sick of making these threads? There's already 500 of them.

QFT

Edited September 9, 2007 by Zhivago

[Peppers30]

Granted I have only had Home Premium installed for 2 days but I must say it's alot better than I thought it would be. The memory management in Vista is awesome. You need to understand how its supposed to work and how it improves performance and its 10x better than XP.

The only gripe that I am having right now is not being able to put 4GB in. I know even with 4GB I would only have 3 available but I need it for Dual Channel. When I have 4GB in I constantly get BSOD's and hangs. When I first went to install Vista on a new HDD with the 4GB it would not install and I kept getting stop errors. At first I was like "Damn Microsoft can't get anything right and I just bought a $230 coaster." I ended up calling Microsoft tech support and he told me to take out 2GB and try again. It worked like a charm. I must say that when it comes down to me having no other options when Windows keeps crashing and I cant get into the desktop if I call Microsoft they are actually very helpful. My opinion on Microsoft has definatly changed for the positive.

[BlueFiberOptics]

Too slow for me. I've seen it on both low end PCs and nice laptops.

[Raa]

I had too many issues when I started with it, and as a tech, i've had to [try to] FIX a lot of Vista problems for customers.

Needless to say, IMO, it needs another 6 months and a service pack before it's even going to be close to "going great".

Dont get me wrong - I like Vista, but the bugs/compatibility just let it down for me and others :(

[Enrickey]

The only gripe that I am having right now is not being able to put 4GB in. I know even with 4GB I would only have 3 available but I need it for Dual Channel. When I have 4GB in I constantly get BSOD's and hangs. When I first went to install Vista on a new HDD with the 4GB it would not install and I kept getting stop errors. At first I was like "Damn Microsoft can't get anything right and I just bought a $230 coaster." I ended up calling Microsoft tech support and he told me to take out 2GB and try again. It worked like a charm. I must say that when it comes down to me having no other options when Windows keeps crashing and I cant get into the desktop if I call Microsoft they are actually very helpful. My opinion on Microsoft has definatly changed for the positive.

I have 4GB running with Vista Home Premium 64bit and not a single problem.