Windows Vista OS, Go or No Go

ShadowDragoon : I assure you I'm telling the truth, that's what they said. I hope You understand that it's not my opinion, just what they said, that's why I started this thread to find input on this. :questionm

 

Oh, yes, I believe that that's what they said. I'm just stating that their statement is total bullshit. Seriously, don't listen to them about that. If the only reason you want to make the jump to Vista is because you're afraid that XP will be obsolete in a year or two, then don't update to Vista. XP won't go belly-up that quickly. Like I said, Windows 98 and 2000 are still used very commonly today, and almost everything that comes out still supports Windows 2000, if not both of the two operating systems. So, don't go jumping all over Vista just because of what they said.

I'm sure even Krunch will back me up as far as this goes.

 

A Home version Windows Vista might be okay for a new single computer purchase made by individuals. Personally, I would prefer to buy a new computer for myself with Windows XP SP2, preinstalled. I would recommend people wait to purchase a Home version of Windows Vista SP1 for themslves and do a new from scratch install to Vista, not do an upgrade. There is no short list of reasons for individuals to jump ship away from using Windows XP.

I just finished spec'ing and defining purchase requirements at work for the company where I work to purchase two new laptops with Windows Vista Business. I could see corporations, especially ones with Volume License Agreement of computer leases, starting the involved process of changing over to Windows Vista Business and documenting needed changes to their desktop software environment. Corporations could do remote patching of computers to SP1 when it is released in about one year.

 

Windows 98 support and updates officially stopped mid-2006. That's 8 years duration. We may expect similar lifespan for other OS.

But I don't know if MS is legally commited to support its products for a minimum number of years. Anybody knows ?

 

No, there is no requirement whatsoever for any support of an operating system. It is considered to be customer driven. Microsoft (and other OS software vendors) consider what corporations require or want to determine and assign life cycles to software and related product support. License agreements are agreed to in legal documents to satisfy customers who purchase the software. The support provided over time is per the legal paperwork and agreements.

 

isnt Vista suppose to be more like the MAC OS? what is this SP1 and SP2? never heard of that before. myself im not looking to upgrade to vista or even worry about having it on the next pc i build. expecially since none of my games were on the list Krunch posted. maybe next year ill look into it again.

 

Here is the official word from Microsoft.

Windows XP Professional
Windows XP Home Edition
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition
Windows XP Media Center Edition
Windows XP Professional x64 Edition

Direct OEM and Retail License Availability (end date)
= 12 Months Following Windows Vista General Availability

System Builder License Availability (end date)
= 24 Months Following Windows Vista General Availability

Note: There are still CD disk copies of Windows 98SE, Windows ME, and Windows 2000 Professional available for sale in stores. There are no more new updates or patches for these operating systems.

Sirchet is, basically, right in his statement.

 

I am writing this on Vista. Right now there are a lot of companies that did not update their drivers, so many products will not run on Vista, including a number of printers. It is a little slower than XP, and requires more memory. Upgrading from XP professional was a nightmare. You cannot upgrade - you must install Vista and scavenge the pieces you need from a backup of selected XP files. In all, I would leave it alone for at least 6 months.

I know Larian was having problems with its CD checking software under Vista - they released patched versions for Divine Divinity and Beyond Divinity. This may indicate potential problems with older unsupported games.

I am more interested in game compatibility with 64 bit processors. I would really like to unleash my AMD Athlon CPU.

 

My sis just got a new laptop which came with vista install, it seems to be working fine for her so far, but one of my other friends how installed vista went back to XP after 2 days.

 

Well, if her laptop came with Vista, then of course she won't be able to notice a difference.

From everything I've heard, here's pretty much how to do it. If you already have a computer that you're completely happy with and want to switch to Vista, then think again. It's not worth it. If you have a computer that you either don't care much for or would rather just have the (few) new things Vista offers over XP, then go ahead and change to Vista if you're so inclined. If you're making a new PC for Vista or ordering one that already comes with Vista, then just stick with Vista, because it will just be a hassle to change it over to XP. If your computer was made to handle Vista, then it should work fine for you.

Of course, every rule has its exception, so I can't expect everybody to go by this standard. But I know that I, myself, am very happy with the Windows XP I've been using for 6 years now, so I won't be going over to Vista unless I'm explicitly forced to. :mrhappy:

 

*sniffle* Did you miss me? :tears:

Yeah, OK, maybe not. Here's what happened: first, my wife was in the hospital and I had to split between taking care of the two kids and working. Then I got a new job as an agent for the Geek Squad, and people liked me so much that I have been working almost constantly. Now I have had a raise and a promotion and I actually have a little free time again to play ToEE and other games and hang out online...

...and then my kids' computer craps out in a spectacularly irreparable fashion. *sigh* 'Bout par for the course I'd say. Back to that in a moment. For now, let's get on topic!

Ahem! Windows Vista. Righty ho then. Being with the Geek Squad I had the beta version of Vista about 6 months before the official release. There were problems, which we dutifully logged and told Microsoft about. The vast majority of these were fixed. Unfortunately many of the major manufacturers of hardware (i.e., printers) apparently did NOT get the memo about the Vista release date and compatibility standards. For the first two weeks after January 30th _every single printer_ sold by Best Buy--and anyone else, for that matter--didn't print from the computer it was bundled with. :censored: Fortunately, the companies involved got basic driver fixes up on the Web within a couple weeks and as of today the full versions are out, and working. For some things, however, hardware is still a serious stumbling block. Some offices have had to return Vista computers because they weren't able to hook into certain network arrangements successfully. At least one ISP (StarBand, the satellite company) has bluntly said on their web site that they do not now and likely will never support Vista. Yeah, good luck on Chapter 11 filing there guys... see my comments on support below...

As for software issues, there are plenty of them as well. Vista has a "compatibility mode" flag just like XP, which should be familiar to all of those on this forum by now, but it doesn't work the same way and is therefore not going to work for all programs. This is one of the things which Microsoft will most likely NOT be changing anytime soon, if at all, and so we may have to depend on the worldwide modding community to "save" some older apps (I mean games, of course!--after all, I still have the JFDuke3D shell myself, hee hee! :drunk: ). There is also a substantial difference in the way Vista handles launching and running certain types of executables, which may cause results unpredictable at best for modders without LOTS of experience with the new OS.

But all is not darkness! Though Macintosh users will find yet more ways to poke fun at those who have Vista PCs, and I hear that some are already managing it--sorry, I don't watch TV--there are several major generational improvements and other things that make Vista worth having and learning about in the long run.

1. Yeah, well, it's true, within 2 years at the outside there will be no more official support for prior versions of Windows. This is official word from Microsoft. Kind of hard nosed but there you have it, so don't act surprised later...

2. On a more positive note, there are many quite cool things that even inexperienced users can see. Multitasking has been dramatically improved, and with the better versions of the OS (meaning above "Home Basic", which probably should have been called "Why Did You Bother 'Upgrading'") and sufficient memory it is possible to view thumbnails of windows by mousing over the appropriate taskbar icon, leave processes _running_ rather than suspended while switching another user's account to the active position, or--if you're a REAL showoff and have "Vista Ultimate"--have a _video loop_ as your desktop background.

Stop drooling! And get your search engine off of those porn clips! Sheesh.

3. Memory management is another area of substantial upgrade. For the first time a Microsoft GUI supports "prefetching", which means Vista tracks what files and apps you use most often and longest, and anticipates your needs by partially loading the stuff you're about to start up anyway into active system memory. This means when you are constantly swapping back and forth between modding tools and ToEE, they'll execute more quickly and you'll waste less time looking at load screens. Theoretically anyway (and assuming we can get ToEE to work in Vista...). Also, the ReadyBoost feature means you can plug a USB memory storage tool into your computer and get the benefit of instantly adding more RAM! This feature is *not quite* as effective as a real memory upgrade because the USB data bus doesn't have the bandwidth of a good motherboard's FSB, but it's more efficient by far than using hard drive space as "virtual memory" and makes a great way to toss another kicker in after you have already pumped your RAM. Or it could make a cheap stopgap until you can afford to pump your RAM... just format that old keychain drive and leave it plugged in for a boost.

So what's my professional opinion?

I'm going to start experimenting with Vista compatibility for LOTS of older programs quite soon, especially games, and ToEE is first on the list. But I don't expect lots of success, and I don't expect it quickly. For people who need productivity, whether for school or work, or a more efficient and cooler media center computer for their movies/pictures/music/etc., Vista Home Premium would be perfect. Vista Ultimate is only worth having for the animated background ability, IMHO, but hey, if you just _have_ to show off that much, be my guest. Get lots of RAM and a good video card, you'll need it to do anything but watch the background. For the Co8 gamers, right now I recommend staying with XP service pack 2. There are almost no games at the moment that require Vista (PC Halo 2 still being vaporware, sigh) and XP is supported solidly by just about every manufacturer on the planet, whereas Vista is supported solidly by a very small proportion of companies.

On the other hand, I can tell you right now there are few copies of XP left on the retail shelves, and every single computer sold in a store has Vista loaded on it as we speak. But hey! You could always just set up a dual boot option!

So, as I was saying, my kids' computer dies, then my wife tells me I have to give them MY computer. I was just about to argue when she says innocently, "After you get a new one of course." OK. Thus, I respectfully request suggestions from the Co8 gallery. What computer should I get? I am a geek, both literally and figuratively, but one who no longer has the time to build computers for fun (I get PAID for that now, ha). Here're my parameters:

A. I must have a computer with excellent performance--smoking motherboard, fast dual-core CPU, hefty power supply, and expandability. I'm thinking Intel Core 2 here, since they seem ahead in the processor wars just now.
B. Expandability is more important than out of the box performance. I have plenty of memory and a good PCI-E video card sitting around, and I can always get another hard drive or other components cheap from my own store. Gotta be able to fit in 4GB of memory, and 2 PCI-E slots would be nice in case I get the uncontrollable urge to CROSSFIRE! , bwa ha ha ha ha.
C. Economy is a consideration, but secondary. I can take a barebones system and fix it up, but if a package is just as efficient that's OK too.

Constructive suggestions should go to my private message box, don't clutter up the thread. Any more than I already did, I mean. :twisted: Anyone who has more questions about Vista, fire away; I work with it every day, I can probably get you hooked up with an answer pronto.

(Though, to be honest, MY computer will indeed have a dual boot option. I'll tell you that now.)

--Blair
"I do have a slug..." "Does it talk?" "...Yes." "Right, I'll take it then."

 

You KNOW we did...your timely return has saved us from posting a WTF happened thread about you. ^_^

 

And a good thing too, as I see now they are proliferating of late.

--Blair
"But I'm just here for an argument!" "Oh, sorry, this is Abuse. You want to go across the hall and one door down." "Er, thanks."