Is Vista realy that bad? (1 Viewer)

[It Will Never Last]

Want to but a new laptop, putting XP on it will set me back another €160, the Acer machine I'm looking at has Vista Home Premium with 2GB RAM.

Am I better off getting it as is and putting in another 2GB of RAM?

 

[billygannon]

I believe Microsoft even admit Vista is bad.

 

[Franco]

It's grand. Only nerds give a toss about these things.

For the rest of us, it's just a different screensaver and the icons look funnier.

 

[It Will Never Last]

If Pete Brady says its ok I'll buy it.

Pete, what's the craic?

 

[Gambra]

What I would do is get the laptop, erase Vista completly (including the 10gb backup hidden partition it makes) and download an XP disc to install it. I wouldn't see any problem as you've paid for a vista liscence (if your the type who isn't all for piracy) so 'downgrading' your OS to an older version is grand.

 

[theinvisiblerep]

I am not Pete Brady but it is quite cumbersome to use.

I just got it about 3 weeks ago with my new laptop. Installing (and often running) programs can become a bit of a pain in the ass cos it asks for 2 confirmations everytime (one to confirm,say, a delete and then one requiring admin authorisation - despite the fact that you yourself are obviously logged on as an admin).

Navigation is also a bit of a chore too - sometimes havent a clue where I am in the directories.

On the upside the semi-transparent windows look nice. But seriously, its not that bad. I'm considering installing Linux Ubuntu alongside it and just using Vista for running word/football manager.

 

[Gambra]

if you install Ubuntu get OpenOffice installed to replace Word and use WINE to install Football Manager in Ubuntu. Seriously, do it.

 

[ratmonkey]

Are you replacing an old laptop? You could use the XP license from that and scrap the old one.

 

[It Will Never Last]

Are you replacing an old laptop? You could use the XP license from that and scrap the old one.

I have a Dell that I bought as an emergency replacement when my previous Acer died last year.

It's still usable, so I want to keep that as well, but the battery is absolutely sh1te on it (I get about 30mins)

 

[Gambra]

If your paying for Vista & have XP already I would have any qualms about installing XP on the new one as well. Vista really is that bad.

 

[Froog]

it sucks balls unless you have a highish spec computer. my new laptop was medium spec and everything runs slower on it with vista, and the battery life is way shorter than with xp. its also very hard to uninstall and re-install xp. sometimes vista doesn't let me uninstall something because i don't have user priviledges even though i own the computer. fuck vista.

 

[magicbastarder]

I just got it about 3 weeks ago with my new laptop. Installing (and often running) programs can become a bit of a pain in the ass cos it asks for 2 confirmations everytime (one to confirm,say, a delete and then one requiring admin authorisation - despite the fact that you yourself are obviously logged on as an admin).

you can turn that off.
i'm running it on a three and a half year old system (with 2GB RAM) with little complaint.

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

Here's the thing though.

What does Vista get you that XP doesn't do?
Nothing much I can think of.
But it's system overhead is higher, so you're getting less out of your pc.
Surely you know someone you could borrow an XP install disk from?

 

[theinvisiblerep]

you can turn that off.
i'm running it on a three and a half year old system (with 2GB RAM) with little complaint.

How?

 

[theoootini]

Surely you know someone you could borrow an XP install disk from?

does that not mean you'd have to get on the internet and use their installation key etc?

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

Bah.
Depends on the disk ya get, loike.

 

[Gambra]

You can get varying version precracked or that don'tneed any activation or anything like that.

 

[pete]

i'm using vista ultimate on 3 computers and it's grand. they range from

- 32bit on a dell laptop with 1gb ram and integrated everything
- 64bit on a shuttle mini pc with 2gb ram
- 64bit on my pc with 4gb ram

performance is fine on all of them, although it really works best with 2gb+.

Vista is more stable than XP, it's more secure than XP, it's got DirectX 10 support, it's got a nicer UI, readyboost, better search, plus lots of small things that make it better than a 7 year old OS

I find it funny that linux users point and laugh at the UAC confirmation dialogs (which can be turned off) when, if they're using linux properly (i.e. not logging in as root or with root privileges), they have to su to do anything important WHICH IS KIND OF THE SAME THING, GUYS.

 

[Space]

does that not mean you'd have to get on the internet and use their installation key etc?

You'd be wanting an educational copy, with that you can reuse the installation key numerous times with no hassle. Not that I'd be doing anything like that.

 

[It Will Never Last]

i'm using vista ultimate on 3 computers and it's grand. they range from

- 32bit on a dell laptop with 1gb ram and integrated everything
- 64bit on a shuttle mini pc with 2gb ram
- 64bit on my pc with 4gb ram

performance is fine on all of them, although it really works best with 2gb+.

Vista is more stable than XP, it's more secure than XP, it's got DirectX 10 support, it's got a nicer UI, readyboost, better search, plus lots of small things that make it better than a 7 year old OS

I find it funny that linux users point and laugh at the UAC confirmation dialogs (which can be turned off) when, if they're using linux properly (i.e. not logging in as root or with root privileges), they have to su to do anything important WHICH IS KIND OF THE SAME THING, GUYS.

Thanks Pete, knew you'd come up trumps!

It's got a Santa Rosa Centrino chipset and I'll have 4GB RAM in it. Think I'll stick with Vista and bite the bullet later if required.