Windows Vista isn't that bad. Sure, there are some compatibility problems with older programs and things that haven't been updated yet, but it is only in it's first stages and eventually more drivers and software will be made for Vista. I can't comment on the difficulty levels of upgrading from Windows XP to Windows Vista because I bought a laptop with Vista preinstalled, but I found that some XP drivers worked for some stuff. My D-Link Wireless Network Card works fine using its XP drivers, even though the management program won't function. Essential and general useful programs like Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Windows Live Messenger, xFire, Limewire and many other P2P clients, Corel WordPerfect, and a bundle of games are compatible. After a bit of trouble, I got World of Warcraft working properly. The hardware usage from Vista affects your computer performance a bit. Before I had a 1.7GHz Intel single-core processor with 512MB of RAM running Windows XP. Now I have a 1.6GHz Intel dual-core (3.2GHz total I guess) processor and 1GB (1024MB) of RAM and the speed and performance levels are about equal or slightly above what I had with XP, when I have double the processor speed and double the RAM. Usually when I am running Windows Live Messenger, Mozilla Firefox, iTunes and several other programs (Aero interface enabled too), Vista uses about 50-60% of my RAM. Look at this way --- what's the point of having more RAM if something isn't using it anyway? Sure it's good for gaming and stuff but for basic stuff, who cares if 50% or 80% is being used? Several things to point out about Windows Vista is I have had some problems starting up with Windows Defender blocking some programs that I have to manually start for no reason. I inspected the program's controls and it doesn't really give you many options. I only put my laptop to sleep when I'm not using it, so I don't start up and shut down anyway, but that's a note to point out (for me). Also, the huge Aero will make your computer so slow that you won't be able to use it is false. I don't notice a huge difference whether or not it's on or off. Looks nice, too. Comments?
Yeah, looks nice - but did not work with a couple of programs that I use everyday. Ans it ATE all of my graphic resources before I swiped it from my hard drive ..
I don't really see an issue with running most software. If it fails, you can always set the Software Compatibility to XP or something. The only issue I see is that those unbranded hardware may not have drivers for Vista and that is the only problem. The enhanced security is there for your protection but there is nothing to say that you cannot turn it off. I would say overall Vista is a nice OS. I wouldn't go upgrade all my XP to Vista now but I would have no problem getting a new computer with Vista Pre-loaded as I am sure that all supplied hardware would work with vista.
You upgrade when the newer OS version has got a good deal to offer. I don't feel like XP were missing anything that Vista brings in. Just bells and whistles which I am not yet sure I need, yet.
I think you should increase your ram. Your other programs are set to to use a percentage of available ram, since you are using so much for the os, you are limiting your other programs, which means they are swapping on the drive and slowing your computer down. Of course it depends what you do with your computer but I think you will notice a significant difference by moving to two gigs please dont take offense to this, but you didn't really double the speed of the machine because you are using a dual core. You basically have two 1.66 ghz processors running off a single die, with the same available bandwidth as a single core so it is actually slower than a 1.7 especially with the limited bandwidth being shared between each core, and if your programs are not multithreaded, performance will really suffer. The scheduler now can shift program usage between both cores, which of course increases the system speed, but you will never run anything faster than 1.66 ghz, so it makes perfect sense that your system is a little faster, because you increased the ram slightly. Also, did you have a desktop machine before? A laptops biggest bottleneck is always the hard drive, unless you get a ssd. So adding ram will certainly help speed, but adding a nice fast 7200 laptop drive will make the machine purr like a kitten. Of course it will drain your battery a little more too. Better yet go to a solid state drive and experience computing the way it was meant to be. I believe the dual core beliefs that people have is the reason they think their computer is slower on vista, because they get a dual core and believe it is twice as fast because some salesperson lied to them. I run vista on a dell c800 laptop I think it is about 6 years old roughly, and it is MUCH faster than XP on that same laptop and it is even faster than fedora linux on that same laptop, and 100% reliable, it only has a celeron 800/ Also installing the vista on it was flawless and it picked up every driver it needed without needing to download any special drivers.
My biggest problem is Dell shipped them out with a hard drive compatibility problem which caused your hard drive to crash. You then have to go on line, (with your computer that can't get past the black screen now) and download a driver. This driver will now work for a short time before your harddrive crashes again, and you have to down load the next driver (once again with a boat ancore for a computer). Once you get past all that, you end up with a computer that is constantly telling you that almost every piece of software you run either won't work or is a security problem. (you get a little sick of the popup dialog boxes after a while). Besides that, I can't tell if the OS is better or worse, we got 4 new computers and haven't been able to do anything on them for the last 3 weeks.
I hate Vista because it kidnapped my first-born child, murdered my dog who ain't never did nuttin' to nobody and burned my house down. Isn't that reason enough?
I'm sure Vista will be a lot better after Service Pack 1 is released. With that being said, I'm going to wait until after it comes out before I upgrade. SP1 should be out in Q4 2007.
I guess your right. I was on a desktop before. I don't really feel like upgrading to 2GB of RAM yet. I've been able to browse the web, use iTunes, etc. etc. etc. and play several different games and that's all I really want to do. No salesperson lied to me -- it's just what I thought. The salesperson that I bought this laptop off couldn't figure out why it had Windows Vista when it isn't out yet -- and that was March 2007. Had to go back and purchase another wireless card too because it doesn't support WPA-secured connections, exactly the opposite of what they told me in the store.
I upgraded to Vista about two months ago and I haven't had many issues (I'm a developer / never an early adapter and frequent Unix* user). So far the experience has been pretty flawless.. only downside is a few drivers that aren't compatible yet. Personally I enjoy Aero (although though Beryl is far superior on my dual boot), but my two favorite options so far is the built in search (replaces Launchy!) and the way they handle memory. Unless you have 512mb or less of RAM I don't think it's an issue.. the way Vista handles memory is far superior than past releases.. it basically uses all of your memory and uses it as a cache to speed up loading of programs you use.
yes, i have tried vista, and it does give you better interfacing, but nothing else. XP could do pretty much everything vista have, except the interface, again. if you have too much money, then go invest in vista. if you want a better OS, dont go to vista. XP is fine and one thing that isnt working is the logitech mouse driver. i have this mouse with 8 buttons thats needs to be configured with logitech's program. the program wont detect my mouse on vista, whlist it is working fine in XP. Therefore i cant use my mouse fully when playing WoW (which is 50% of my comp usage). so i just changed back to XP just for the sake of WoW. lol
Yep , there are many good things like graphics and security which is awesome in vista , but , it always do memory problem consumes a lot of memory also , when i tried to run "prince of persia" game with my 1gb kingston ram , p4ht , 80gb hdd , nvidia 6600 graphics card , i got virtual memory low , problem , also , many drivers gives incompaitable error , iam happy with xp as , its good for gaming, programming and all things , vista is specially for "webmasters, surfer's" not gamers and programmers.