So what version of Vista have people tried yet?
Discussion
I can see Microsoft has been hard at work fixing all the bugs in XP, now for instance Firefox is unable to make itself the default browser and the expense of buying a version with anything worth buying in it has risen.
The various versions are discussed here, including the fact the 'Ultimate' edition is $400 more in europe than in the US (i.e. more than an entire Mac Mini computer):
www.theregister.co.uk/2007/02/14/pricey_beta_bugger/
So - anyone here actually tried this new thang?
If so - what did you think?
The various versions are discussed here, including the fact the 'Ultimate' edition is $400 more in europe than in the US (i.e. more than an entire Mac Mini computer):
www.theregister.co.uk/2007/02/14/pricey_beta_bugger/
So - anyone here actually tried this new thang?
If so - what did you think?
I did the upgrade to business ( MAPS subscription ) on a desktop ... bloody slow ! .. The box is not a piece of crap either. I've read that doing a 'clean' upgrade 'install' prevents this ...
Otherwise I seem to have spent time making it look like XP ... so was probably pointless in the 1st place !
Otherwise I seem to have spent time making it look like XP ... so was probably pointless in the 1st place !
arfur said:
I did the upgrade to business ( MAPS subscription ) on a desktop ... bloody slow ! .. The box is not a piece of crap either. I've read that doing a 'clean' upgrade 'install' prevents this ...
That's interesting - in this article they benchmarked a machine doing it both ways, and found there was hardly any difference between an upgrade and an install. Both were a little bit slower than XP, though. I was using Ultimate on a few machines during the beta, and Business on a MacBook Pro and my old Vaio since it came in my MAPS subscription. I've had no problems with it at all, other than some driver issues on the MBP. Feels about as fast as XP on the 512MB Vaio without the fancy graphics turned on, feels slightly faster than OSX on the 1GB MBP with everything on.
I think I've said this on pretty much every Vista thread so far, but my take is that it's not the new dawn that MS claims, nor is it the evil that many others claim. It's sort of like a new version of Windows.
jamieboy said:
arfur said:
I did the upgrade to business ( MAPS subscription ) on a desktop ... bloody slow ! .. The box is not a piece of crap either. I've read that doing a 'clean' upgrade 'install' prevents this ...
That's interesting - in this article they benchmarked a machine doing it both ways, and found there was hardly any difference between an upgrade and an install. Both were a little bit slower than XP, though. I was using Ultimate on a few machines during the beta, and Business on a MacBook Pro and my old Vaio since it came in my MAPS subscription. I've had no problems with it at all, other than some driver issues on the MBP. Feels about as fast as XP on the 512MB Vaio without the fancy graphics turned on, feels slightly faster than OSX on the 1GB MBP with everything on.
I think I've said this on pretty much every Vista thread so far, but my take is that it's not the new dawn that MS claims, nor is it the evil that many others claim. It's sort of like a new version of Windows.
Well I will redo the installation as a clean install and have another play ... Hopefully it will be faster.. It's not going anywhere near my Vaio until I'm happy that all my 'bits and bobs' work just fine
Did an upgrade to Vista Business from a 'cleanish' XP install - took over 4 hours! Office 2007 install took over 2. It does like memory though - got 1Gb ram and it hovers around the 65% utilised mark.
Lots of little widgets don't work - especially things like Nero et al all of which require an upgrade. Creative soundblaster was deemed to be incompatible by the install process but works fine.
You can set firefox to be default browser - do it from Firefox's menu. Also Vista has broken the playing of wma files within Firefox - do a google for the solution but effectively involves copying a few dll's from an XP box into the firefox folder on your vista box.
Vista runs pretty snappily once up though (P4 2.4/1Gb RAM/256Mb AGP graphics). Nothing major within the OS that OS X hasn't had for a couple of years.
If you have a solid XP box and you are running lots of widgets do your research to make sure they will all work under Vista before upgrading otherwise stay as you are woudl be my advice.
Lots of little widgets don't work - especially things like Nero et al all of which require an upgrade. Creative soundblaster was deemed to be incompatible by the install process but works fine.
You can set firefox to be default browser - do it from Firefox's menu. Also Vista has broken the playing of wma files within Firefox - do a google for the solution but effectively involves copying a few dll's from an XP box into the firefox folder on your vista box.
Vista runs pretty snappily once up though (P4 2.4/1Gb RAM/256Mb AGP graphics). Nothing major within the OS that OS X hasn't had for a couple of years.
If you have a solid XP box and you are running lots of widgets do your research to make sure they will all work under Vista before upgrading otherwise stay as you are woudl be my advice.
I installed Vista Ultimate 64 over the weekend and have been learning about it ever since. Overall I like the OS, its look and some of the enhanced features. I've spent quite a bit of time getting some things to work, for axample Genie-Soft back-up software, but almost everything is now working perfectly. Some notable exceptions are as follows:
Hardware:
Creative Live Webcam - no drivers currently available.
Logitech headset - drivers wil not install. Not too certain what's going on with this but others on the Logitech forums are experiencing the same thing.
Software:
Real Player - still no 64-bit compatible version of this program. They've never even bothered releasing a Windows XP 64 bit version so I won't be holding my breath. I rarely needd it so no biggy and I hate the way it tries to take over anyway.
Flash/Shockwave Player - these are not compatible with the 64 bit version of IE7 and I cannot get them to install in the 32 bit version either.
Adobe Acrobat Pro - will not install.
That's it!
Regards
Skier
Hardware:
Creative Live Webcam - no drivers currently available.
Logitech headset - drivers wil not install. Not too certain what's going on with this but others on the Logitech forums are experiencing the same thing.
Software:
Real Player - still no 64-bit compatible version of this program. They've never even bothered releasing a Windows XP 64 bit version so I won't be holding my breath. I rarely needd it so no biggy and I hate the way it tries to take over anyway.
Flash/Shockwave Player - these are not compatible with the 64 bit version of IE7 and I cannot get them to install in the 32 bit version either.
Adobe Acrobat Pro - will not install.
That's it!
Regards
Skier
Edited by Skier on Friday 16th February 15:07
an easier ooption is to keep XP running, but go to www.softpedia.com and download the Vista skin. Pretty much spot on for imatating (sp) Vista and all your applications still work 
(30mb file to download and install)
www.softpedia.com/get/System/OS-Enhancements/Vista-Transformation-Pack.shtml
(30mb file to download and install) www.softpedia.com/get/System/OS-Enhancements/Vista-Transformation-Pack.shtml
Edited by _deano on Friday 16th February 06:43
new pc within a few months, it is going with xp sp2, vista can wait at least a year until the 1st service pack is out and there are decent dx10 gfx cards, of which there are zero and no dx10 games either
seems to be still in beta with lots of issues with drivers and the like, thanx but no thanx
seems to be still in beta with lots of issues with drivers and the like, thanx but no thanx
Scraggles said:
new pc within a few months, it is going with xp sp2, vista can wait at least a year until the 1st service pack is out and there are decent dx10 gfx cards, of which there are zero and no dx10 games either
seems to be still in beta with lots of issues with drivers and the like, thanx but no thanx
I thought there were a couple of DX10 cards about ( http://uk.gamespot.com/features/61649 ) with in fact XP drivers for them (not Vista ones), so I couldn't figure out why no one with XP uses them. seems to be still in beta with lots of issues with drivers and the like, thanx but no thanx
If you go to that link you slide the mouse over the two games pictures and it flicks between DX9 and DX10 - the DX10 stuff looks completely wicked!
IIRC there was a question about the Vista 3D desktop slowing down games (compared to XP) which may have been bogus, but which also adds to the mystery: why no DX10 stuff for XP? Are the games designers holding out for the faster machines?
I've been using it for the last month on my HP laptop and a home built server. Must say, I'm very impressed. Runs just as quick as XP even with all the goodies turned on. Have got 1Gb ram though. All drivers work apart from bluetooth but there is a hack around. Wouldn't bother with 64 bit unless you need more than 4Gb ram.
3D Studio Max 3, Photoshop CS and all my other apos work fine.
Vista upgrade puts your old os in a seperate folder and does a clean install using the old 'settings' so it looks like an upgrade.
If you do want to do a clean install from an upgrade copy then just format your hdd, install but don't put in a product key, then just re-install over itself and put the key in on the second install.
3D Studio Max 3, Photoshop CS and all my other apos work fine.
Vista upgrade puts your old os in a seperate folder and does a clean install using the old 'settings' so it looks like an upgrade.
If you do want to do a clean install from an upgrade copy then just format your hdd, install but don't put in a product key, then just re-install over itself and put the key in on the second install.
I'm running vista ultimate.
Love it, really nice operating system so far. Haven't noticed any hardware issues, though i've not really used it for anything other than the most basic tasks.
I'm running 2GB of ram incidentally.
Haven't had any issues with my graphics cards thus far, so guess i'm one of the lucky ones
i don't think i'll bother upgrading hardware wise, as for what i use the computer for it's simply not worth it.
Love it, really nice operating system so far. Haven't noticed any hardware issues, though i've not really used it for anything other than the most basic tasks.
I'm running 2GB of ram incidentally.
Haven't had any issues with my graphics cards thus far, so guess i'm one of the lucky ones
i don't think i'll bother upgrading hardware wise, as for what i use the computer for it's simply not worth it.
Gassing Station | Computers, Gadgets & Stuff | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff