Windows Vista

[The Saints]

I have three computers at home. One is an old lap top that still works, windows xp, it just takes a long time to do it. A second one is an Apple. Very nice, but isn't compatible with all my needs from a computer. The third is a nice HP lap top from Costco, but it has Windows Vista. I am not a computer geek who snobs something because I can, just in the short six months that I have owned this computer, well not computer but windows vista, I have learned to thouroughly hate it.
I was downloading an update for it yesterday that required a restart. After restarting it, it called for me to fill in my password. Once filled in, it would not accept it, and kept calling for me to fill in a password, over and over!!!!! So today it is at a computer shop getting fixed (I hope) at $90.00 per hour.
There is a new windows program comming out next month, windows 7. I will be first in line for that one, and hopefully it works. Until then thank god for the Apple and my work computer (which I only use for personal during breaks and lunch).

 

[DirtyDog]

I can't stand my Vista computer either. My dad, who is a computer geek, says its worthwhile upgrading to Windows 7 now even though its still in beta.

 

[ski3pin]

My old computer here runs on XP and I have never had a problem, knock on wood. My buddy's daughter's laptop was doing a Vista update last Friday evening. Near the end of the download something failed and she was bumped off of the Internet. The computer restarted in a continuous loop of installing the update, failing, and restarting. No way to stop it. My buddy spent the weekend on the phone with Microsoft techs. Luckily the files were backed up. Ended up reinstalling the operating system and are reinstalling all programs. I called my buddy a few times to check on how it was going and to cheer him up. He needed cheering up. Perhaps there is a problem with this update? As long as this computer continues to function and do its chores, I'm not messing with things.

 

[HERR42]

nine times out of ten, vista problems are not related to the operating system.

macs dont enjoy the same breadth of software availability as pc's just as they dont have to deal with a huge array of hardware variations. even so, they have their troubles too.

given a proper environment, well behaved applications and drivers, all of the mac and windows versions can be very stable. well not windows ME.

i have run up many businesses on xp and vista and those operating systems work well. in the home environment where the user loads non-certified drivers and applications things can get dicey.

there is a lot of trash out there that is picked up from web sites....thats the sort of stuff that compromises any machine.

 

[chnlisle]

My PC has XP and I'm sticking with it. I basically use my Mac lap top as a camping music and DVD machine (I have about 2000 songs in it) and a vacation email machine. Its a nice computer but I broke in on PC's and I find them much easier to use. I know I'm just an old F@rt.

 

[highz]

I have three computers at home. One is an old lap top that still works, windows xp, it just takes a long time to do it. A second one is an Apple. Very nice, but isn't compatible with all my needs from a computer. The third is a nice HP lap top from Costco, but it has Windows Vista. I am not a computer geek who snobs something because I can, just in the short six months that I have owned this computer, well not computer but windows vista, I have learned to thouroughly hate it.
I was downloading an update for it yesterday that required a restart. After restarting it, it called for me to fill in my password. Once filled in, it would not accept it, and kept calling for me to fill in a password, over and over!!!!! So today it is at a computer shop getting fixed (I hope) at $90.00 per hour.
There is a new windows program comming out next month, windows 7. I will be first in line for that one, and hopefully it works. Until then thank god for the Apple and my work computer (which I only use for personal during breaks and lunch).


Just curious about what needs you have that the Apple doesn't meet. Is it a Mac?

I used to run various versions of Windoze, then had to transition to a Mac because of work requirements. I doubt I'll ever go back. I suppose if I was heavily into gaming, I might want to run Windoze, but I'm not into that. Other than gaming, I can do anything on a Mac that I can do in Windoze plus I have a great Linux environment built in. What am I missing?

 

[ScottBailey]

Let me preface this all by saying I'm grumpy as heck today. I started moving my build environment onto a new machine at work. I always hate it.

nine times out of ten, vista problems are not related to the operating system.

I have little experience with Vista, right now... Given a few months I might have an opinion on this. Let's leave it alone for a moment.

macs dont enjoy the same breadth of software availability as pc's just as they dont have to deal with a huge array of hardware variations. even so, they have their troubles too.

What do you mean "software availability"? And what does the OS have to do with third party software? The modern desktop OS is the insulation between software and hardware, it must do it's job correctly. Vista did not, and will not.

And furthermore, although Apple builds with specific hardware, there is no reason to assume that this slightly narrowed scope of graphics cards is much of a percentage of all the hardware -- think USB devices -- that a Mac interacts with.

given a proper environment, well behaved applications and drivers, all of the mac and windows versions can be very stable. well not windows ME.


Yes, but given ill behaved apps, your better in the Unix derivative.

i have run up many businesses on xp and vista and those operating systems work well. in the home environment where the user loads non-certified drivers and applications things can get dicey.


Windows is an acceptable solution, for now. If the overall quality of their product does not improve, they are toast.

there is a lot of trash out there that is picked up from web sites....thats the sort of stuff that compromises any machine.


What? That's horribly wrong. I have no issue with my Linux boxes, and no fear with Macs. Of these three OSes, I prefer to develop in Linux. I have all the source code and can fix it if needed. When I have a problem with Microsoft's proprietary software (i.e compiler)... I'm screwed.

 

[HERR42]

Let me preface this all by saying I'm grumpy as heck today. I started moving my build environment onto a new machine at work. I always hate it.


I have little experience with Vista, right now... Given a few months I might have an opinion on this. Let's leave it alone for a moment.


What do you mean "software availability"? And what does the OS have to do with third party software? The modern desktop OS is the insulation between software and hardware, it must do it's job correctly. Vista did not, and will not.

And furthermore, although Apple builds with specific hardware, there is no reason to assume that this slightly narrowed scope of graphics cards is much of a percentage of all the hardware -- think USB devices -- that a Mac interacts with.



Yes, but given ill behaved apps, your better in the Unix derivative.



Windows is an acceptable solution, for now. If the overall quality of their product does not improve, they are toast.



What? That's horribly wrong. I have no issue with my Linux boxes, and no fear with Macs. Of these three OSes, I prefer to develop in Linux. I have all the source code and can fix it if needed. When I have a problem with Microsoft's proprietary software (i.e compiler)... I'm screwed.


"software availability" ... macs & linux & everything other than windows suffer in a world that writes product for windows. if you develop you know EXACTLY what i mean.

windows NT,XP,Vista, & 7 are all derivatives of unix, the old mach kernal.

toast? %98 of all the machines on the planet run a version of windows. are you kidding?

i have all the source for my old cpm and zcpr systems too....who cares?

i did not intend a silly "linux is cool! windoze sucks" thread, i am just saying that done right, a vista install can be stable...if there are problems look to the drivers for blame. there is a lot of bogus software out there and a lot of people ignore the fact that their product failed compability testing or was never intended to run on the newer operating system. they click "ignore" during the install and then complain later.

updates are important too, those need to be done asap.

and you know, i never liked in-place upgrades for ANY system, a clean install to a freshly initialized disk is the only way to go.

 

[The Saints]

Whoa guys slow down. I was intending this thread to be a fun, open topic to vent on, not charge against each other. We're here for fun things like sharing our camper and camping stories. Lets have a group hug for a moment, eh?.............. now isn't that better?
I had the problem with my Vista and got it fixed for a deal, $40.OO. I will be installing Windows 7, only because I had a problem with Vista. As for my mac not doing what I want it to, what I mean is 2 programs. I love to use Quicken, and the Mac version sucks for me. I also love to have the maps from Garmin on my computer and that wasn't possible when I made my choice to buy a lap top. It does have the intel chip or processor or whatever it is called in it that I could use, but I dont know how to make that work, and why have a Mac if I am going to use Microsoft on it. Now, please don't go off on that. I love all my OS's, just not the Vista one.

 

[HERR42]

aw geez....i never get to have any fun.

 

[ski3pin]

.......and gosh, the only reason I knew my buddy was having computer problems was because he was planning on being over here helping me with my camper project!

 

[DirtyDog]

I think some computer dork titles are in order.

 

[HERR42]

I think some computer dork titles are in order.


careful little chief running board!

 

[ScottBailey]

"software availability" ... macs & linux & everything other than windows suffer in a world that writes product for windows. if you develop you know EXACTLY what i mean.


I am a software engineer/architect most days with a dab of sys admin thrown in. And I completely disagree. The proprietary desktop world often focuses on Win, but the rest of the world -- and it's a big world! -- is a lot more OS agnostic or geared towards an embedded OS.

windows NT,XP,Vista, & 7 are all derivatives of unix, the old mach kernal.

Really??!! You'd never know. Maybe I should explain it this way: all Microsofts OSes have a single user legacy core, whereas Linux, Darwin, and Solaris -- to name a few -- are multi user legacy environments. This basic philosophical/architectural difference is -- I suspect -- the reason for Windows earned security reputation. Having said that, there are places where MS made strides, they just haven't ever put it all together.


toast? %98 of all the machines on the planet run a version of windows. are you kidding?

That's not correct. Tron has greater deployment. If we are talking i386 desktops, the number is still not that high. If we are talking servers, again, not that high.


i have all the source for my old cpm and zcpr systems too....who cares?

Two weeks ago I spent an afternoon looking for workarounds for a MS VDS8.0 compiler defect. My MS deployment will have less functionality than the Linux & Mac verstions because of that compiler defect. Had I the source, I'd consider fixing it if someone else hadn't already.

i did not intend a silly "linux is cool! windoze sucks" thread, i am just saying that done right, a vista install can be stable...if there are problems look to the drivers for blame. there is a lot of bogus software out there and a lot of people ignore the fact that their product failed compability testing or was never intended to run on the newer operating system. they click "ignore" during the install and then complain later.

updates are important too, those need to be done asap.

and you know, i never liked in-place upgrades for ANY system, a clean install to a freshly initialized disk is the only way to go.


All this, I agree with.

Each of theses three OSes has their pros and cons. None of them are clearly better than the others; however, I'm especially disappointed with what MS has done given the momentum and funding they have.

 

[ScottBailey]

I think some computer dork titles are in order.

Sweet. The connotation of being a nerd/geek has totally changed since I was a kid. Its all about the $$$.

 

[chnlisle]

No worries Jeff it's all good.

 

[HERR42]

i always thought that the biggest negative impact of the microsoft product line was that it ran on intel.
i never liked multiplexed address bus components.

motorola had way faster chips...going with intel really hosed motorola.

oh well.

 

[simimike]

WHOOSE, The sound of this stuff going over my head.

Cheers,

Mike

 

[imix]

How old is your mac? If its an intel mac (>2006) it will run windows in a virtual machine at near native speeds or you can boot directly into Windows using Apple's bootcamp software.

VMware Fusion and Paralells will run windows xp, vista (though it sounds like you don't ever want to go there again and I don't blame you) and probably 7 but I haven't tried that OS. If you like free software (and who doesn't) there is also Virtual Box by SUN microsystems. It's not as polished as the two commercial virtualization apps but it's pretty close in usefulness now. You can also follow Scott Bailey's advice and try out a free Linux distribution (like Ubuntu) if you go with a virtual machine on a Intel mac. Make sure you have enough RAM for the Mac OS and Windows OS, probably should have 2 GB minimum.

Quicken for Mac sucks.

 

[EdoHart]

Whoa guys slow down. I was intending this thread to be a fun, open topic to vent on, not charge against each other. We're here for fun things like sharing our camper and camping stories. Lets have a group hug for a moment, eh?.............. now isn't that better?
I had the problem with my Vista and got it fixed for a deal, $40.OO. I will be installing Windows 7, only because I had a problem with Vista. As for my mac not doing what I want it to, what I mean is 2 programs. I love to use Quicken, and the Mac version sucks for me. I also love to have the maps from Garmin on my computer and that wasn't possible when I made my choice to buy a lap top. It does have the intel chip or processor or whatever it is called in it that I could use, but I dont know how to make that work, and why have a Mac if I am going to use Microsoft on it. Now, please don't go off on that. I love all my OS's, just not the Vista one.

This reminds me of the joke which starts "A priest, a rabbi, and a minister walk into a computer store...