Window's Vista

I have a Dell XPS 720 H2C with Vista and I can tell you Vista is a piece of shit...It's sluggish and a memory hog...Windows Media Player started crashing constantly and I tried to uninstall it but you can't!!!! I had to reinstall the entire OS to fix the issue! Oh and the constant updates, it's really annoying. numerous software have glitches too (i.e. HP's Photo Smart software).

Anyone considering switching to Vista from XP should really reconsider because there's no real value in switching. Vista offers nothing new. If you're getting a new machine you really don't have an option anymore. Every PC comes with Vista now.


I've had so many WMP issues, specifically related to WMP sharing services which as you've said can only be fixed with the good ol' nuke and pave. Other than that, I've had no real issues with Vista. I'm running a home-built pc, Vista Ultimate 64, quad core proc and 8 gbs of Ram.

Don't go large with your laptop screen if you're using it to travel. I have a huge monitor on my laptop and it's a real hassle to cart around. I couldn't even find a computer bag for it. Finally I found a north face backpack that I could fit it in, but wasn't a pre-made laptop bag.

The problem with Vista is it adds little over XP but is very very resource hungry: requires tons of memory, computing power, graphics card, etc.

Fortunately for Microsoft, things are working out quite well in that all of these things have become incredibly dirt cheap. You can get an Acer X1200 for $450, and it comes with 4 GB of memory, 300+GB HD, a decent Nvidea graphics card, and a dual-core from AMD (not as good as Intel's but look at what you are paying). All this runs Vista without any problem whatsoever.

So if you are buying TODAY, you have resources to spare to "enjoy" vista. But any hardware bought before 2008 probably cost a fortune or will struggle mightily running Vista.

They are forcing you to upgrade hardware by killing XP.

Might as well go for Vista because I think Microsoft is no longer selling XP.

Might as well get XP because they're already developing Vista's replacement since it was a dud.


Seriously, Vista is HORRIBLE, we're having a lot of issues with it at my office (forced upgrade) and compatibility issues with printers, accounting software. phones and palms aren't synching and other crap problems.

I have vista and I haven't had any problems with it. If the computer comes with vista already installed, you will be fine.

If you never install anything else, connect to a network or try wireless devices... :D

i got an everex amd 64x2 with 17" screen and a real gfx card for 650... only comp i could find with a gaming type gfx card under 1200 :( it's big and the battery life isn't great, but neither of those things matter to me. i like the big screen, full size keyboard, ability to use it for games, etc

as far as a carrying case, it fits perfectly in my backpack(doesn't wiggle around), so it's easy to take it on trips/airplanes/etc.

as far as vista - just like xp, you can disable all that extra crap and make it look like win2000 or 95. after you've done that and updated it with the latest patches, it's not really any different.

Might as well get XP because they're already developing Vista's replacement since it was a dud.


Seriously, Vista is HORRIBLE, we're having a lot of issues with it at my office (forced upgrade) and compatibility issues with printers, accounting software. phones and palms aren't synching and other crap problems.

uh, didn't your IT guys test that stuff BEFORE "upgrading" the office computers? xp support is good for 10 more years i believe, so that sounds like someone jumped the gun...

uh, didn't your IT guys test that stuff BEFORE "upgrading" the office computers? xp support is good for 10 more years i believe, so that sounds like someone jumped the gun...
There are only 2 machines in my entire company that are running Vista right now. Mine and the other SysAdmin. Mine came with XP Installed, but was Vista Ready, and the other SysAdmin just got a new laptop with Vista Business installed. Neither of us have had any trouble, and since anything newer would come with Vista installed, we both decided to jump the gun and dive in so we'd be ready.

However, there is no way in hell I would upgrade to Vista on a machine currently running XP. It's not worth the hassle...

I have a laptop that came with Vista installed, and I use XP on my desktop.

Like pretty much everyone said, if you have XP don't bother upgrading. However, if you're getting a new cpu, I don't think you have a choice -- Vista is your only option.

IMO, Vista doesn't offer enough value to justify the increased resource consumption, and the slower boot/login times.

I've got Vista running on 3 computers - one dedicated development box, one dev/internet box, and one laptop. None of them have less than 2GB of RAM.

I ran Vista in VMs for 18 months to see what I thought before making the switch. I have had no problems with it at all. It's all I run here at work these days, besides server OSs. I still have a laptop and a desktop at home that have XP. They run fine, too.