[00lissauers]

Windows Vista is supposed to have transformed our computing experience, however many people are stating that the operating system is a total letdown. This is simply because many of the features that were promised when the operating system was in development were simply dropped at the last minute or were phased out. This led to much disappointment between consumers.

My new laptop came with Windows Vista, however I soon removed it and returned to good old Windows XP. My reasoning for this is that Vista simply didn’t have the functionality that I required for such a resource hungry operating system. The best thing is my laptop is now much faster it is running Windows XP once again.

One of the most important features that I was looking forward to was WIN FS. This was supposed to speed up and dramatically improve our user experience; however this was postponed meaning that the main drive of Vista was effectively removed.

I used Windows Vista for around 3 months until I got so frustrated with the frequent crashes that I simply had to revert to Windows XP. I simply couldn’t the lack of software support and the fact that the next service pack seems to be put back further and further.
Office 2007 on the other hand is great. I would suggest that everyone upgrades to this software package because it even works on Windows XP. I love the entire new interface and the fact that it’s now so much easier to use.

Product support for Windows XP is and will still be widely available for a long time over the internet. By the time support has ended it will only be a short period before the newer version of windows currently being referred to as “Windows 7” is released. By this time your PC or Laptop will probably be dead or dying anyway and so it will be a good idea to upgrade only at this time. For this reason I am seeing Windows Vista as a money making bridge for Microsoft, very similar to the other failure that was known as “Windows ME”.
Microsoft may wonder why Ubuntu Linux is now being shipped on some Dell computers. Whilst this may just be a trial exercise the company will have to learn that unless they adapt software to meet the high demands that consumers now place upon software vendors.

I look forward to the release of “Windows 7” to see what new features we will have. I won’t invest into the new operating system unless we have an entire new set of features as well as the ones promised but not delivered in Windows Vista. Some of the features I would like to see are new ways of interacting with the computer, an entire new interface which is truly 3 dimensional. I think the time has come for new thinking. Get the basics working and improve them such as better speech recognition. Force users to have longer passwords and get rid of the different versions. I like the idea of a MAC because you get 1 version of the operating system for about $100 this suits business users and home users. Microsoft should do the same or re-introduce Home and Professional versions of it’s software which were much easier to understand for the consumer. Let’s face it Vista Basic is not really used by a majority of home users, even my laptop came with Vista Home Premium.

Another thing I would like to see change is the license issues. Let’s have a reasonable priced operating system and stop spending money on development of license enforcement tools such as WGA. This just pisses off our customers many of whom would prefer to pay a fair price for our software rather then pirate it.

[JohnWill]

I have edited your graphic out of the post, please review the TSG Rules before posting again.

[uhaligani]

I don't think there were so many of t he features that were promised that were left out.
Admittedly, Vista does demand a bit more in the resource area to equal the performance of XP. Xp could certainly have been modified somewhat and improved to incorporate most of the Vista features.
One you have not mentioned is the hype from experts and MS themselves over the improved security. Of cours, we all know thta's a laugh. Every hacker in the world will take up the challenge and within months Vista will be thoroughly exploited.
I have always, and will continue to take care of my own security, mainly by the use of efficient third party tools. The new UAC springs to mind as, in my opinion, a quite worthless innovation. You will find, on these pages and others, quite a lot of dire warnings about disabling it. It's only function is to warn you that someone, or something, is trying to unload an executable on your computer. It has become so widely broadcast as to how to disable this message that it has totally obviated it's use!
But I must contradict you. Vista is, after careful tuning, as good as XP. It needs a few months of improvement via updates possibly.
I used it through the Beta testing phase and, since the time of the retail release, now have it as my only OS. I have had no BSOD's or obvious failures, other than through my own clumsy mishandling.
I am sure that Dell are installing Ubuntu, mainly, because it is totally free - good business sense.quote from Dell "Dell plans to start offering Ubuntu as an option on selected consumer PCs in the coming weeks, said Jeremy Bolen, a Dell spokesman. Ubuntu is free, and machines pre-installed with it will be less expensive than PCs of the same configuration that come with Windows, Bolen said. He declined to say by how much. PC buyers also will be able to buy support from Canonical Ltd., which distributes Ubuntu."

I have tried to use most of the mainstream linux distributions and find that they offer very little competition for Microsoft products, except in price.
P.S.
BTW Your link, and the one to your home page in your profile is broken.

[00lissauers]

Either way I was so upset by this release that I installed XP instead. I am not sorry for being so critical because the hype was so big. Microsoft made huge promises and failed to deliver once again. And if Vista is just as good as XP then people may as well just buy XP which is about 1/3 of the price, it's common sense really.

[Rich-M]

I read complaints and I see you miss one feature but I really don't see what it is that is so upsetting to you. I hear that you had some crashes, but you really made no attempt to find out why? Any more specific problems?
I have 2 of my 4 pc's on Vista and have had no problems for months. The initial installs had some issues with programs and drivers such as printers and scanners, but that comes with every new OS.

[nascarlam]

Yeh vista sucks! I hate the fact that it has done away with direct3d sound too! Sucks for a big time music lover like me, now my sound card is as good as dumb! No wait a minute i mean vista is as good as dumb! Its also a time bomb to your hard drive, look at the way system restores un-necessarily eats up the whole GB! though it can be turned off. I'm going back to XP too been with vista for about a week but i'm pissed myself!

[mpmahani]

Thoughts..
Vista Beta: hated it
Vista RC1: Umm you sure this isn't a beta?
Vista retail: maybe about 1 more year..
Got 2gb of ram
Vista retail 2nd try: Hmm no crashes. Drivers work after some tinkering (like XP way back). Woooah look at the cool features. Wow my 3200+ handles this fine...a processor that sells for 47$ on newegg. I can get stuff done quicker than on XP.

All I gotta say is it grows on you

[MastiffShack]

I'm not a big gamer or [PC] music lover - Windows Vista has shown very little impact for me. There are a number of features that I do like, and a few I don't. But, as mentioned earlier - all new OS's incorporate "differences" from the previous versions.

But - with the system I have (x64) Vista seems plagued with the same issues my x64 XP had - lack of drivers, inability to execute some key communication prodicuts (Nortel VPN), so, I remain in a "waiting-for-" mode. Perhaps, at some point in the future, software product authors shall begin to deploy for the platform(s) that are growing or are now at the "majority" level.

It also seems that there is a constant war underway between the hardware folks (pushing 64 bit computing) vs the software folks (remaining in the "dark-ages"). The newer platforms execute processes so much faster - if the software folks would let it.

But they are the ones that seem to do everything in their power to ensure that the level of performance capable by the new platforms is held back in favor of the older technology.

Vista is setup and ready to exploit that level of capability if or when the software vendors decide to get off their lazy butts and provide the capability that is available in today's technology.

[loserOlimbs]

I have had very little problems, even with Vista x64. A TV tuner card doesn't work, but it barely worked in XP, everything else no problems. Including Command and Conquer 3, which most claim does not run in the 64bit environment at all, I say they aren't trying!

Vista, IMHO had a much better launch than XP did, most programs work, can't say the same about XP when it first rolled out.

[C0ppert0p]

Dopey me when out and ran the MS utility that lets you know if Vista can run on your hardware. I bought Ultimate Edition based on the results but I then couldn't install it because the SATA drive controller wasn't supported yet. Now *that* was most annoying. Tyan, the motherboad manufacturer, says they have all kinds of problems because their component manufactures are taking their time in certifying their drivers for Vista. (Their support matrix doesn't even mention Vista)

Then there's the 3GB limit. You'd think M$ would have gotten around that by providing the same physical address extention APIs they use on Advanced server and Datacenter edition. That whole 32-bit addressing argument is such a scam. The extensions have been around for years but only on their server-class version of Windows!?
Sure, you can pay extra and get the X64 version of Vista, but then you'll have to hope all the software you have will run on it or just go out repurchase it all. And then you have to hope that they even make the X64 version of it.

So, maybe one day I'll get to try Vista, but in the meantime I'll just use it to hold up my monitor.

[loserOlimbs]

It is a 4GB limit on RAM, ideally. Its other parts of the system that make 3GB/ 3.5GB the more realistic figure.

64bit Vista is the same price as the 32bit version, and most software does run in x64, long with most hardware made in the last 5 years with M$ certification, or even older! The problem is usually companies will not release drivers to be certified for x64.