Windows Vista: Good or bad?

tehe.

My dad has Vista on his computer and i generally hate it, but i do like it how it organises the network, but i dont like it how its complicated to share other files and etc.

But on a laptop, i LOVE it. It is down right fantastic on laptops. It just makes it more barable with the standby etc and just closing the lid.

But then, nothing beats Mac

 

Personally, I don't like it. It looks good, but it's a bit more confusing to me, and I HATE it when it asks you if you really want to do something... it's annoying.

"Firefox needs permission to start. If you started this program, please continue."

Umm... don't you think I would like to use Firefox if I double clicked on it??

I have a brand new shiny 24" iMac on order

 

I think I used it once, on a display computer at Best Buy. I don't plan on installing it on my laptop, though. It's too resource-intensive for my liking.

 

i like it. i bought it already installed on the computer so it works beautifully. i say this a lot but, dont buy the OS by itself. get the full computer.

 

I don't like change so when they try to make it all advanced I generally don't like it. But at school we use labtops and most people have it... It doesn't look like something I'D like... but I wouldn't think it'd be that bad.

 

I don't like it my college has it on the computers

 

you see, if i were to use vista, i would miss my XP machine too much.
I love my current set-up with the themes and customizations etc.

 

Considering they'd have to buy all new computers to run it (the current ones would never have enough resources to run it..), I don't expect to see it at my college for a while. I'm a sophomore now, and I'd really be surprised if I saw it, at all.

 

It looks pretty. A part from that my (very limited) time using it showed no difference.

 

It came with my new laptop. I disabled User Account Control (UAC) which is the thing that asks "you have opened Firefox. Allow or disallow"

I disabled sleep when I closed the lid. If I want it to sleep I'll tap the power button. If I close the lid I want the machine running with the lid closed.

The Aero theme although pretty, is a real pig on resources, so I disabled that. The "Vista Basic" theme is great if you want the look of Aero but don't care for the 3-D app switching, etc. I saved even more RAM by disabling the Theme service and I just run it in Windows Classic mode. If you're running a Mac.... good luck changing or customizing your theme for free.

On my new 200GB hard drive at least 20GB were taking by who knows what.

Most of my applications work on Vista, and over all it works more or less the same. I'm still trying to see what amazing features it has that makes it better than XP. The only real difference that impacts me, is I like the way the start menu has been changed. Instead of the never ending exploding nested menus that most people have, the "All Programs" menu is in a controlled window size, and sub-menu items (folders or links) will appear indented, similar to the directory listing on the left pane of Windows explorer. This makes it much more bearable to use. As well the start menu has a search menu which allows you to quickly find lost links in the start menu.

It doesn't matter that it won't run on old equipment because if you already have XP running satisfactorily on your machine, there's no reason or benefit to upgrade.

In my opinion XP is the best Windows operating system to date since it merged the stability of the NT kernel with the game-ability of the 9x line. On my XP machine Windows locks up soooo rarely compared to when it was running 98.

 

stick with mac os x. the leopard will blow vista away.

 

I've had Zero problems with Window Vista.

 

I used to have problems with it on my laptop but on my desktop its fine

 

Apart from a couple of compatibility issues Vista has been real useful for me. It's easier to use than XP, and is much more intelligent.

For example, Vista has an inbuilt memory manager, so if I wish to play a game and 1.9 of my 2GBs of RAM is being used, Vista will temporarily shutoff windows resources which won't be needed whilst playing, and it will also disable aero to boost graphic performance (considering that you won't really need the aero interface while playing a fullscreen game).

Also Vista takes time to get to know your application habits so it can learn at what times you generally run certain apps, and then will preload them in your RAM to boost load times.

Another really useful function is the windows experience index. It benchmarks your computer and gives you a score between 1.0 and 5.9 (every year or so Microsoft will release a new max score) and it gives you a clear indication of which programs you can and can't use quick and easily on your computer.
I have a 5.6, so nearly any program will run fine for me, whilst someone with say, a 2.3 will not be able to run some more high-intense apps.
It's also good for un tech-savvy people who don't want to have to go through system specs to see if they can run a program. Instead it'd say what windows index score is needed and they will then be able to easily choose what programs to buy.

Another major thing is security. Sure there's the annoying popups, but it isn't as extreme as what oggrald said. It basically pops up when you want to perform an administrative task (like installing a program). But that's easily turned off in control panel (which is what I've done).

Parental controls (or in this case anyone who dares go near my comp) has had a major boost too. You can easily limit programs to be used by someone, what times a certain user can access the computer, even their browsing rights! It is fantastic.

And of course there's aero. It's shiney? lol I just like it, especially how you can easily change the colour scheme on it.

All in all, if you're in the market to get a new computer, go for vista. But if you're still on an old machine, don't bother yet. SP1 is around the corner (1st quarter 2008) and is apparently going to fix HEAPS of Vista issues.

So that was my long ramble on vista.

 

ive had vista for awhile on my computer and laptop, on the computer i dont think its much better than xp but for my laptop i can customise it more and get the settings i want tht i cudnt get on xp, it does take a lot of memory up tho wich anoys me

 

Like I said earlier - Vista has an in built memory controller.

 

I don't have it, but I've seen it in action on a fair few friend's computers. In fact, my brother was at the European unveiling of it, at a conference in Barcelona. However, I'm not convinced. I've heard bad things about the security, and even then... it's gone all iPoddy. It's gone for features that're pretty but serve little purpose. Like, for example, the 3d view of the alt+tab function. Interesting, but not really worth the effort, I don't think.

As it is, I could get Vista for nothing and yet I choose to remain on XP. That says something about my preferences, doesn't it?

 

Actually USING it on a day to day basis is a better indication than just hearing comments from other people.

=/ Very much like how XP was at the start, people were not that keen on it at first. But hey, it's microsoft. After a year Vista is going to reign like XP did. >_>;
Computer manufacturers are slowly moving off XP as an OS of choice and moving to Vista.
Sure it has some errors, but Microsoft have been working on patches to fix all the errors.

Oh by the way, the 3D view isn't from Alt+Tab.. You still have the old view (well it's more shiny), but to get to the 3D flip there's a little icon on the quick launch. Sure it's just for glamor but I've actually found it useful (ironically enough) a number of times when switching between my copious amounts of windows and being able to preview WHAT I'm switching to.

But essentially, if you prefer XP then use it. I on the other hand prefer Vista. HUNDREDS of new features over XP, although the common un-tech savvy person wouldn't notice many of them.

I hope I don't sound like a Microsoft fanboy here (because I most certainly am not), but I believe Microsoft have released a very WORTHWHILE operating system for once. Only time will tell what will come of vista.


Holy crap this is my 100th post. And it's about computers...

 

Just as a point of interest, the 3D flippy thing on mine is activated by the button next to alt (the windows button, i think) and Tab

Personally i like Vista, but for the very VERY superficial reason that the games look better...but ive had no problems with it, apart from that every so often the internet just decides to stop working...but that may have more to do with my internet thant he OS