Poll: What?s your personal experience with Vista?

I've had Vista in my HP Compaq purchased last spring and have really been surprized that it just works!

The only thing that may bug me is my impatience while I'm waiting for the next screen to pop up when I have selected a link, and the cursor is no where to be found, or should I say, no indication that there is background activity going on - which would acknowlege that my mouse click has been addressed. (This may be a function of MY pc, not the OS...)

My wife uses Vista like any other appliance-open it, use it, close it, no complaints from her at all.

'Just an observation' being honest.

Chaz

...how many people here actually understand what an OS is supposed to do? After reading many of the comments, both pro and con, I see people both praising and condemning Vista for things that really have nothing to do with the OS itself.

Had to replace old Pentium4 2GB pc last fall - got an HP Pavillion multimedia box, Quad-core Intel, 3GB RAM. It kinda works, but MUCH slower than the old box with XP, even with faster hardware. Mic/Phone jacks front & rear don't work & HP help says 'open box and wiggle wires' - what a joke! Have turned off UAC, all fancy interface goodies and disabled desktop search, but still slow! Even with an Admin account Vista will not let me do things that were easy under XP. Cannot revert to XP as hardware drivers not available, so leaves me little choice. Next PC will NOT be Windows - Mac or Linux. MS OS's are way too bloated with eye candy and the Registry is a nightmare for all but the MS gurus. Ten to twenty more lines of code in this desktop OS than in IBM's OS for their big enterprise boxes! Never use IE except for Windows updates - Firefox MUCH faster & more stable. Spend half of pc time on scans and updates, got getting work done!!!

Dear Forum Members,
Having installed 'Vista Ultimate' on my fairly new PC, with 2x320 GB HD, 2GB ram, 8800GTX VGA card, MS Office 2003, and multiple other applications, I can honestly state that after working with it for the In past 10 months, I find 'Vista' excellent to work with.

Mind you, I kept my 'Windows XP' going,and still use it, thus having tested the water by dipping my toes first, so to speak.

In my experience with 'Vista'; I find it the most stable of all versions since 'Windows V3.' having worked with all versions, bar 'NT'.

I had to acquire a new compatible broadband modem, and some of my existing software which worked in Win98 and Win EM or XP, plus a number of other small apps proved incompatible.

Since having become familiar with 'Vista', and ensuring that ALL hardware and software and particularly drivers, are compatible, it is a pleasure to work with it.

What is all the fuss about? The silent majority of Vista users - of which I am only one - must be happy?

Bouquets to Microsoft!!!

Jack H Scheele


BOO!! to the worst. (Millenium)

I am currently using vista x64 ulimate and have found there to be so many compatiblity issues with it concerning both hardware and software that I almost gave up on the OS as being nothing more than a bad joke and humongous rip off by microsoft.

I use a lot of desktop customisation software from stardock and found that non of it would work under vista x64, even when using the compatibility feature by right clicking on the .exe file(s) and telling them to run as XP Service pack 2 compatible I would get the message "an exception has occured" Vista's way of telling you the program is not compatible.

The one thing that got me through it though was to download the vlite program and use it to rip the guts out of what is on the installation disc. The program offers one very important function, that being to stop certain services from loading as enabled by default. Some of these services, like Data Execution Prevention will stop heaps of XP compatible software from running and once loaded I found it to be impossible to turn off. The vlite program will allow you to do this so that Data Execution Prevention is loaded as turned off by default. I also used the program to strip out things that seriously slow down the vista OS like all of the language packs (over 1.3 gb of hdd space used), Wallpapers, video and music samples etc and a lot of the generic driver packs supplied by Microsoft. I found that as a gamer, leaving that stuff to load by default was a stupid idea. Especially as I supply all of ny own drivers anyway. Any unsigned drivers can be made to load and run successfully by running the bcdedit command.

Now I have a Vista OS that loads as fast and runs as good as XP ever did and better.

ps - Just be careful with turning off some of the security services

enough said, i am done with windows. I am just a home user to Apple is the way to go....

I am running Vista home premium and although it is slower to boot up than XP the overall opereating system is much better. I can truthfully say that I have had no problems with Vista and thne slower boot up speed is a small price to pay for a much better OS

I've been tracking this discussion since I first posted my comments.
Since then I've been amazed at some of the post's. Maybe I'm one of the lucky ones' who have had nothing but good results with Vista.
But I took it upon myself to do a little searching and found some posts by a Cnet/ Zdnet contributing writer, Ed Bott. There are 2 links to his articles as posted on Zdnet:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=436
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=437
these 2 articles are named "Fixing Windows Vista Part 2 + Part 3", there is one more BUT it deals with a specific brand of computer.
Just remember the original, brand new XP out of the box, minus SP1 and SP2 wasn't a full blown swan. It was a ugly duckling that took 2, count them, 2 SP's to straighten out the bugs and as I'm typing this I'm downloading SP3 for my Granddaughters XP machine.
Now for the Apple Dumpling crew, who will lead you to believe every-
thing in Mac land is pristine is a third link by the same author about
problems in Mac land titled "Why do Macs need so much fixing?", so there is ALSO trouble in Mac land, ergo if your thinking about bailing
out to a Mac expecting NO PROBLEMS in Mac land, THINK AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!
Link to "Why do Macs need so much fixing?":
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=446
Bottom line- there is NO PERFECT right out of the box OS!! Each has its own unique set of problems, will take several updates/ upgrades to make "swans".
I've seen "New Computers being offered with as little as 1GB of memory", no wonder these machines are slow and have problems. So if you are a "Vista Stinks" person check out the first 2 links, even if you have to do it on a XP box! Tweak your Vista machine with Ed's tips
and see if you can get your machine up to speed! Plus if you have a box with less than 3 GB's memory you should up the memory!!
As for the Macaholics who would lead you to believe theres no problem in "Mac Land" I again say "go home" post to your own forums or better yet help your fellow Mac people straighten out their problems in Mac land. Stop trying to tell me and others that "Mac is good and Mac is beautiful" when your OS is just as clunky as Vista!! Straighten up your own house before trying to tell me my house needs cleaning.
As a footnote I'm surprised that the "moderators" didn't at least reference Eds' tips to people having "bad Vista experiences".

I have several anecdotes to share:

My husband purchased a low-end desktop last year that has 512 mb of RAM and it's definitely not built to use Vista, though Vista is installed on it. It's really, really slow and annoying. I never use it.

My husband also purchased a "Vista-ready" Lexmark printer that wouldn't not work with the above computer. HP (the computer mfg) said it might be Vista-ready and still not compatible. Ditto for my router, though I managed to get the router to work with it. But we had to swap printers, HP would give me support to get an HP printer working with the computer, so I swapped the Lexmark with our old HP.

I spent several hours last week making slides for a women's retreat that my church was holding at a Christian camp nearby. We were told we had to bring a laptop and the camp would supply the projector. So, apparently the ladies got up there and the laptop (running Vista) was not compatible with the projector, and they never were able to use the slides I made. I never thought such a thing could happen.

My old laptop died and I just got a Vista one last week. I've had it 6 days. It has Vista Home Premium and 3 Gb RAM. It runs much better than the one my husband has (I've been told since we purchased my husband's computer that Vista really needs at least 2 Gb). But I still have issues. Two or 3 times (mind you, this is in only 6 days of use) it's temporarily frozen on me, for maybe 2-3 min. each time. I get that spinning circle that just spins and spins and doesn't give me a CLUE what's going on. I even got "(Not Responding)" on the title bar of the apps that were running (Firefox and Open Office Writer) and then, inexplicably, everything just came back.

I also have been unable to get the Vista machine to network. My husband's too. We can see my husband's computer on the network, but we don't have access to it. And we can't seem to share printers. The only thing they share is the broadband connection. The other computers on the network (2 old Dells running Win 2000 Pro and a Playstation 3, plus the laptop that died which was running XP.

I was really happy with XP. I got a very low number of errors and it was just an overall great OS. I don't see why they changed it.

I know I'm going to be that unpopular one of the forum but I can't help but tell the truth. This could test is too slow it takes a hit on this about every major category that you choose to use Vista as an operating system. Myself I've bought XP x64 currently. I wish that Microsoft would give up on this and concentrate on giving us a 64-bit operating system that really works and works well. I know Microsoft has the ability to do this but for some reason for so many years they have chosen to give us an OS that is like Vista. This just has too many problems for me. Once you get this home you have a lot of work just to get it to work and do as you please. I wanted a little more performance but did not want to go to Vista's problems so I went XP x64 and so far have I enjoyed it much better than Vista. My advice is that all users do the same or go back to XP x32 and be much happier if they do. I have a load of references that bears out what I am saying but I will leave you with one and it is very good and it is a business site.

http://advice.cio.com/laurianne_mclaughlin/should_microsoft_throw_away_vista

I own Vista ,... But there are some new problems associated with that still icant resolve it ,,,. I will post the problem in the forum,,,.

Vista uses too much memory. Not user friendly. Not 100% compatible with previous software program versions. Vista Wants me to upgrade (purchase) to newer software versions of software items I have previously purchased. Slows system down with operating requirements. Always asking me if I want to continue. Vista has caused me to lose ability to connect to internet on a new HP laptop. I like to use and control my PC and not have it frustrate and control me as VISTA does. Too many counter productive Operating system changes just when XP was doing so well. Was not a smooth transition from XP to Vista. I am getting used to it but do not like it and wish I had a choice (preferred XP) when I purchased a new laptop as it came preloaded with Vista Business and preloaded bundled junk software. Just do not like it. What was MS thinking?

I have vista and are having some issues with it.
windows mail issue
fiding it hard to get out e-mail not sure if it is the program
or my server company isn't up to speed yet
error message when I try to send but can send if I mail and
then shut down computer and restart just started happening recently
and there has been some trouble with setting up e-mail it took
three sleepless nights it seamed to be ok until now.
I thought system restore was the way to go and the restore never
completed either. In Me it always worked as long as there was
enough memory and I checked I did have enough memory. I had XP/Me at the same time before a not so good hybrid the duel drive operating systems. Not met for non tecNical users.
and that was a nightmear it crashed. indvidually they are ok but
drivers from programs didn't work caused problems. I started my
journey into this modern computer age with Me which was ok compared
to dos commands it was simple but I like 98 which my mom runs still
when all crashes I resort back to my mom's computer. I don't feel
that vista is all that stable when more than one user on the
computer.
98 IS A STABLE OPPERATING SYSTEN

vista WITH THE USE OF THE QUICK START BOOK i LEARNED THINGS OK
SO USING IT ISN'T THE ISSUE .

WINDOWS MAIL BECAUSE THERE IS NO OUTLOOK BOTHERS ME
e-MAIL GOING OUT IS VERY IMPORTANT

i HAVE THE HOME PREMIUM THAT CAME WITH HP

ALSO NO DRIVER AVAIBLE FOR MY REALLY EXCELLENT HP SCANNER
4400C NO COMPRIBALE SCANNER WITH VISTA IS AVAILABLE
SCANNER STILL WORKS PHOTO'S AND DOC i'M UPSET ABOUT THIS
CAN ANYONE RECOMEND A RESONABLE SCANNER THAT IS SUPPORTED BY vISTA
FOR A REASONABLE PRICE?

i HOPE IT DOESN'T SLOW DOWN i HOPE THE RAM IS ENOUGH.

Well, at the begining of the year, my brother gave me an hp laptop with windows vista, and to tell the true, sometimes i was so bored that i almost throw it away. but i thoug, hey, the laptop itself is not the bad thing, its all about the os : Vista.

And then i tried to downgrade to Xp, and i almost had succes, except by the audio drivers, and the speakers that i never could make them sound.

So, without sound, how will i work? (i'm a dj and a musician aspirant). Well, the answer was, can't work with this, and if i want it to work ill need an alternative sound card, and they are not so cheap. So i had no choice, i recovered the vista os. and finaly and sadly i had to sold it

But that was just one of so much issues that i encountered on vista, like, the slow performance in aero mode, some problems with the "new" my documents folder. Who really needs all of those folders inside? and when i tried to aplly the option to sort files in "type" mode, i had to search for that option in a big bunch of other options that doesn't work for me, and i think nobody else wants or need.

And maybe you'll think that's just a little detail that almost nobody put attention on. But as i said, im Dj and sometimes i want to sort my music files by type (you know, wavs, mp3s, wmas and so on).

But maybe the most destructive thing i encountered in vista is: there's no "up" button in the buttons bar. I use a lot this button when exploring my folders, but in vista, i always got lost, and to tell the true i dont use the back and forward buttons.

And there are a lot more bad things i found in vista, but i don't talk about them cuz they don't worth.

And to mention some good things of vista, i got to say that the new wallpapers are great, and the new windows aero interface is nice but i find side bar is not necesary. I ran acid music studio on it, and it worked well, but not so well with cubase and traktor.

I still use Xp on my now old pentium 4 HT PC, and i love it, and i just will upgrade to vista when i really have to by issues with new hardware or software that won't support xp anymore. but until then, i stay with XP...

Or maybe i crossgrade to a MAC. Mmmhh... sounds interesting to try new systems if microsoft follow developing bad OS's in the future.

It's been rock solid, fast, and secure for me for 15 months (2mb RAM, 1.67 gHz Core 2 Duo, 256 mb integrated graphics). Even faster since SP1. No system crashes. IE7 bogs down sometimes, I prefer Firefox. Wireless performance is top notch and setup is easy. Automated backup and defrag reduce the required maintenance to a minimum. If you get rid of the crapware and pare down the startup configuration, basic RAM use is about 630 mb, about twice that of XP. The default controls are different from XP, which can be jarring, but they include some features that are better once you get used to them. The start menu is vastly improved over XP. Search-based navigation is incredibly useful. The linked help menu actually takes you where you need to go in the system, vastly speeding system tasks. It's also an excellent way to familiarize yourself with Vista. Linked navigation windows are an improvement over cascading menus for most, but not all, situations. Custom cascading menus can be added to the taskbar for those situations where they are preferred. Other settings can be configured to be XP-like if that's what you prefer.

Flip 3-d: who cares, it's a jive show-off feature that's redundant because of alt-tab and live taskbar thumbnails.

The valid complaints about Vista pertain to incompatibility with hardware/software and lack of driver support. Not all OEMs and ISVs were on the ball with the Vista release. There is also a learning curve that trips up the unwary, just like with any new OS. I would recommend Vista with the caveat that anyone considering adopting it should be heads up on these issues. But these are migration issues, not inherent deficiencies of the OS. All of the alternatives to Vista have their own downsides, which I will not go into here.

A lot of complaints are just noise from people who feel obligated to trash Microsoft at any opportunity. That includes some "professional" writers who are in reality just showing how unprofessional they are. XP was similarly trashed (more deservedly) prior to SP2. Now it's touted by some as the gold standard of OS's. Expect a similar curve of acceptance for Vista. It's obvious that a lot of forum postings, on CNET and elsewhere, are from fanboys who have never used Vista and are reciting FUD that they feel is validated by the experience of those who have encountered incompatibility/migration issues.

This member of the silent majority appreciates this opportunity to be heard.

I work in retail. As soon as we received notification of our stock coming in with Vista, I started looking at Microsoft's Vista pages. I specifically looked for the HCL. To my surprise, Vista didn't have one. Well, it had one, but it wasn't called the HCL. My "suspicious" alert radar immediately kicked in. Next I looked for system requirements. Yes, I know this is seemingly backwards, but I have learned from experience not having the funds available to immmediately upgrade my hardware to comply with WinBloat.
Needless to say, I needed the high-end Ultimate version for my personal uses. My customers were going to get sucked into believing the minimum requirements were sufficient for Home Basic. What a laugh. I also used to work tech support for a former, major PC asembler, read OEM. So, I'm acquainted with "Minimum (BWHA HA HA)System Requirements" and "Recommended (I told you so!) System Requirements.
Next, I tried IE7 which was supposed to give me the "taste" of Vista, sort of VistaLite. My system with XP Pro locked up so bad I couldn't even send the Error messages to MS. I gave up.
I use XP Pro on two machines and Home on one. I ran out of money before I could get a third copy of Pro. When Darth Balmer hangs up his helmet, and the MSCloset is opened wide, maybe I'll think about Vista. For now it's Linux in the wings.

i read of the problems that people are having with vista, i've gone from laughing at the early adopters to feeling pity for those who refuse to dump it. sure, kde ain't perfect(flash is like a slowly exploding grenade in a room of heavy sculpture), but i'm not forced to upgrade my operating system just because somebody wants more money, and my desktop gets better as the years drag on, instead of only getting bug fixes and minor improvements.