Windows Vista

[crewmeal]

Just had a free upgrade through for my Vaio. Before I attempt to use it, anyone had any good or bad experiences with the new operating system?

When I ran a system check through my laptop it seemed to have issues with my Epson C200 printer, along with AVG spyware, My Tomtom software, Intel wireless, adaware antivirus etc etc

I hope this is not going to be an ordeal trying to upgrade and finding nothing will work on it apart from Microsoft systems!!

[Saab Dastard]

Quite apart from the voracious appetite that vista has for hardware, and leaving aside the DRM issues (some FUD admittedly), there are a lot of changes in the way that drivers and software interact with the OS.

As a result, large chunks of existing software won't run, and large numbers of peripherals won't work.

The former is largely down to the lazy programming assumption that "everyone has admin rights". Not the case under vista.

While MS has doubtless invited hardware manfrs. to write drivers for their peripherals to work with vista's increased security (much less access to protected kernel mode), many manfrs. will understandably be somewhat tardy in supplying drivers (let alone certified drivers) for their older products.

This is quite different to the situation with Win2K and XP, where drivers were frequently interchangable. It's more like the leap from Win 9x to XP.

So unless you upgrade your hardware to run vista, then upgrade your software to work on vista, then replace your older peripherals to work with vista, you would be better off sticking with your existing OS.

Or trying Linux ;)

SD

[spannersatcx]

The best advice I've had is 'never get a new OS on the release date, wait until the first batch of patches/updates and fixes have been issued.' :=

The same could be said for a lot of software.:rolleyes:

[Mac the Knife]

I hope this is not going to be an ordeal trying to upgrade and finding nothing will work on it apart from Microsoft systems!!

Leave it alone. Many drivers don't exist yet or are not stable. MS is working on a service pack even before the official release.

As Saab says, "...unless you upgrade your hardware to run vista, then upgrade your software to work on vista, then replace your older peripherals to work with vista, you would be better off sticking with your existing OS."

Or trying Linux......:E

[DaveO'Leary]

Crewmeal
Unless your the type of guy who wears corduroy pants, sandles with white socks and Shetland pullovers, home has stripped pine floors, have a liking for folk music, shop at Ikea and take naturist holidays. I'd steer clear of Linux.:D
Dave:p

[IO540]

My son put vista on his Sony VAIO.

Slowed it down to a crawl. But looks quite pretty - if you like playing with a PC rather than doing something useful with it :)

I'd give it a year. It doesn't actually do anything that XP doesn't do.

I am still on win2000. It does everything XP does, except run Pinnacle or Ulead with a HD video camera; one has to have XP for that for some reason.

[frostbite]

If only half what I've heard is true I shall avoid it like the plague!

That probably precludes a new 'shop' computer any day now.

[Tarq57]

Willing to be put off Vista (and the way the industry is going) forever?
Check this out. http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.html

[MightyGem]

Not sure which version of Vista to get? See here. (http://www.geekculture.com/joyoftech/joyarchives/915.html)

[bjkeates]

I'm steering well clear. From what I've seen and heard, Vista does nothing more than XP for the stuff that I require. Until it's been out a few years and I'm otherwised convinced, any system that I build/rebuild/reformat will have XP put on it - not Vista.

No doubt PC World and the like will be supplying every new system they sell with Vista installed - another good reason, therefore, to steer clear of them.

[airborne_artist]

I think I'll wait until they release Vista SP2 - it'll come, sure as night follows day ;)

[BEagle]

Predictably, PC World have started sending out advertising e-mails about Vi$ta.....

About £450 for Vi$ta Premium and Office 2007 - and yet people are already reporting problems with software clashes.

I hated IE7 and I simply cannot see the point of Vi$ta for home and small office use.

Unless your name happens to be Bill Gate$, of course.....

[IO540]

XP Pro security updates amount to well over 100MB now - just been updating a new laptop.

Vista will be a nightmare for quite a while.

[crewmeal]

I wonder if you install it then find it's no good for what ever reason will you be able to uninstall it via a reformat? or is that it buy a new laptop. There again all new computers will have vista on them anyway!!!!

[BOFH]

An interesting piece of material here (it's a 90-minute movie - the pirates of Silicon Valley):

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7941901498664355924&q=pirates+of+silicon+valley&hl=en

You should never buy a .0 release of anything these days. Still, I shall get a free copy and mess with it in VMware or a spare box where it will do not harm. I doubt it will give the same thrill that 95 and W3 gave me all those years ago, when they seemed revolutionary and I bought copies on day 0).

Resistance is futile - Vista will come. To ignore it would be analogous to iignoring everyone who uses the word 'like' peppered liberally through a conversation.

IBM: When you need it to work.
*nix: When you want it to work.
Microsoft: Should work.
Mac: Shiny!

BOFH

[None of the above]

From today's Daily Telegraph

The new system was also launched in America yesterday, where it will cost between $100 and $249 (£51 to £127) depending on the sophistication of the version, whereas in this country it will be priced from £100 to £249, almost exactly twice as much.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/01/31/nvista31.xml

The Times today quotes similar price differentials.

[spannersatcx]

As I'm off to the US next week, should I buy a copy would it be useable in the UK? or is it regionalised?

[potkettleblack]

Not sure where they are getting their prices from although I suspect they are full price retail copies. OEM versions from the likes of ebuyer etc seem to be around the £50 mark for the home version and go up from there. Doesn't seem all that pricey to be fair although I think I will take heed and hold off until SP3 or 4 is released:)

[blackace]

From the BBC Today.

Vista has speech recognition hole.

Microsoft has admitted that speech recognition features in Vista could be hijacked so that a PC tells itself to delete files or folders.

Vista can respond to vocal commands and concern has been raised about malicious audio on websites or sent via e-mail.

In one scenario outlined by users a MP3 file of voice instructions was used to tell the PC to delete documents.

blooming PRICELESS !!!

[Saab Dastard]

Differentiate between "could", "scenario" etc. and actually HAS been demonstrated to.

More FUD?

SD

[pogmothoin]

I think I will take heed and hold off until SP3 or 4 is released or dare i say it... get a Mac. :}

[IO540]

Microsoft has admitted that speech recognition features in Vista could be hijacked so that a PC tells itself to delete files or folders.

Vista can respond to vocal commands and concern has been raised about malicious audio on websites or sent via e-mail.

In one scenario outlined by users a MP3 file of voice instructions was used to tell the PC to delete documents.

Brilliant! It reminds me of an early speech rec demo at a computer show. The punter said "format c enter"... unfortunately it worked perfectly :)

M$ are complete plonkers if an mp3 can be used to activate the speech rec feature. They have spent the last few years (I am on the critical update email distribution list) fixing unchecked buffers allowing code exec of the attacker's choice.

A Mac is not a solution. Historically, Macs were used in the graphic design trade where one is running a small range of applications, and is running it on a very narrow range of hardware platform specifications. Today, they account for about 4% of "PC" sales so no attacker is going to bother with them. Just as no attacker will bother to attack an email program other than Outlook, or at a stretch Eudora. If you run only a few applications, any PC will be just fine - but you don't need vista for that since anything currently out will run on win2000 and a few things need XP.

[allthatglitters]

I am about to purchase a laptop for the daughters school work, possibly a Dell and am wondering if there is a list of programmes that will run with vista. The graphics programme I am concerned about is Adobe FreeHand MX, not sure which version possibly 11.0.:confused: