Windows Vista

[Felix Saddler]

Whats it like? And how much does it cost?

[Gertrude the Wombat]

Whats it like? And how much does it cost?
(1) Bleeding edge.
(2) Don't care, because I don't do bleeding edge. (Or, to me, 0p, Microsoft will be sending me a DVD soon; but that doesn't mean I'm going to install it on anything.)

(I've just bought my first XP box, and at the same time upgraded my NT box to W2K. I need stuff that has been round long enough that there's a fair chance it actually works.)

[mdc]

Just have a search on Google (http://http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en-gb&q=vista+reviews&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8) there's plenty of reviews and information.
e.g PC Magazine MS Vista (http://www.pcmag.com/category2/0,1874,1786052,00.asp)
As for pricing check Amazon (http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=sr_nr_i_6/203-2247594-8297541?ie=UTF8&keywords=vista&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Avista%2Ci%3Asoftware&page=1) but final price all depends on what edition you want

[Conan the Librarian]

Microshaft have been hurt by the delayed release date for Vista, which should have caught the Xmas sales boom. It is going to come out in January and to forestall a sales dip, have allegedly fudged together a deal with many suppliers, meaning that you can update later for as little as bugger all. This is useful, in that it gives you a choice and should the overall system stability, driver issues etc. plague the new offering, then you are still running XP which in my view, could be a plus. (Cough...)

It is also a haggling point. If major suppliers can offer you an upgrade for 40, 50, 60% you can choose when you take the plunge and also screw a better deal from smaller suppliers with no agreement with MS. I would like to say that one way or another, the consumer wins, but we still have XP, so I will STFU.

Conan

[longarm]

I've been running Vista rc2 on my Laptop for a few weeks now. Seems good although it does drain the battery quicker than XP. Seems more stable as well.

[Felix Saddler]

Damn its pretty expensive, is it worth upgrading to vista from XP?

[Gertrude the Wombat]

Damn its pretty expensive, is it worth upgrading to vista from XP?
Well, basically platform should follow function as it has done for the last forty years.

So ask yourself the following questions:

(1) What applications do I need to run that work on Vista but don't work on XP?

(2) What's it worth to me to be able to run those applications?

The answers, at present (this will change of course with time), will be "nothing" and "0p".

So it comes down to how much you personally want to pay for an unnecessary new toy. That's surely to goodness entirely up to you - nobody can make that decision for you!

[Mercenary Pilot]

I'm hoping Vista will be to XP, what XP was to win2000. i.e. a MASSIVE improvement (for the type of stuff I do anyway) :ok:

I think if you are using your PC with some specialist software and/or its not a very quick PC stick with XP otherwise...Welcome to Aeros (Vistas interface for the high end PC's) ;).

Mainstream changeover usually takes a few years anyway so most home users/light business users will know of fixs/workarounds before upgrading.

[Willows]

How many versions are there? Like 6 or something? :*

Apparently, the basic versions are dismal. You need to fork out for the business or "pro" package(s) to get the most out of the improvements.

I do hope MS have a winner with Vista. But from various reports on the interweb the opinions appear to be mixed. Haven't tried it myself but probably will once it has been out in the wild for a time.

Speaking of wild, ... Leopard. Now there's something to look forward to. :}

[IO540]

I've seen it running on a Sony laptop and it is slow as a pig. I am staying away for a couple of years at least.

It is just an operating system, after all; it's the applications that matter, and practically everything that matters runs under win2000 :)

[Mac the Knife]

I'm hoping Vista will be to XP, what XP was to win2000. i.e. a MASSIVE improvement

I don't think XP was a massive improvement on 2000 - just more eye candy and a lot of crud. XP is pretty stable if you look after it a bit and it runs apps. just fine. And with a little effort (like not using MS apps. and not running as Admin) you can be reasonably secure.

As IO540 perceptively remarks

It is just an operating system, after all; it's the applications that matter....

It's what goes on under the hood that matters. All the super soaraway rotating desktops (Linux has had them for quite a while and they're quite fun) are just eye candy really and don't actually help you work better or smarter.

Among other things, I find the draconian licensing terms for Vista pretty insulting and the pervasive DRM unpleasant. I won't personally be going there (particularly as Linux is getting smoother every week).

But hey, MS has the retailers by the balls so new purchasers won't have any choice in the matter.

:ok:

[Mercenary Pilot]

Personally, I had so many hassles with 2000 it was untrue and it was alot harder to develop "workarounds" with. Also when a programme locked or crashed it usually needed a restart. It’s very rare I have to restart XP due to a programme crash.

Also the chances of restoring a system running XP after a major error, driver fault or severe virus infection without loosing the personal hard drive data (in my experience) are much much better.

Of course it all depends on what you do with your PC but I can see the improvements are in areas that benefit me. As much as I would like to move away from MS dependency, it’s too impractical.