Turns out Vista sucks as much as everyone says it does.

[SlowToady]

I was impressed for the first few minutes. Now I'm just pissed off and frustrated. Hard drive transfer rates are slow, Vista has **** on itself 3 times already (in 4 days) corrupting data, and in 3 of the instances actually deleting whole directories. It couldn't even burn a damn CD without crashing. Granted, this is 32 bit Vista on 64 bit hardware. I'm going to give 64 bit Vista a shot, but if it's craptastic, well....Maybe back to XP?

The only thing Vista is good for is loading up VMWare with a REAL operating system....Solaris 10. Which is exactly what I'm doing, and if Vista 64 isn't any better, I'm just going to give my Solaris VM 200GB and use that as my desktop.

And, no, I won't be switching to MAC anytime either. I've had to use those before, and the UI drove me abso-fscking-loutely insane. I found it to be rather intolerable.

Oh yea the good part about Vista: I actually LIKE Aero! Too bad Java Desktop System on Solaris is better......

Bah.

[Moneyguy1]

As a computer guru I know used to say: "Every new iteration of Windows is just the old one with another 20 yards of duct tape."

[CJFusco]

I always had PCs. Recently bought a MacBook. I may never go back to PCs. So straightforward and user-friendly.

[RickM]

I recently purchased a Dell Latitude......No way, no how was Vista going onto the hard drive.

Vista is a dismal failure.

[Moneyguy1]

XP is bad enough. I have a computer tech friend of mine who refurbishes them and is looking for a Mac for me. If he is successful, the PCs are GONE!!

[RickM]

I have had very few problems with XP. Not perfect but not nearly enough for me defect. Vista is a different story.

[Moneyguy1]

I have two machines with XP. One, a HP notebook is quite dependable. The other, a Compaq desktop shuts itself down randomly, and it is a software problem that two techs have not been able to isolate. Makes that machine simply a rather cumbersome doorstop.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

My mom got a Mac for Christmas. She's a convert now. After only a week.

My next computer will unquestionably be an iBook.

[RickM]

Unfortunately the software doesn't always make nicey nice with the hardware. These days I typically stick with Dell.

[slodave]

I have two clients, that have zero issues with Vista. Yes, Vista is bad in a number of ways.

The damn security is enough to make you throw it off the roof. Installing SW on one computer is frustrating with the multiple levels of clicking 'OK' before it installs, but having to do this in a business with multiple computers? Yikes. One client goes a little overboard at times. He did not wait for my suggestions and bought himself a Dell XPS, quad proc, with 4 gigs of ram. The damn thing is huge! It has been rather solid, although, I did have to turn off the user security in order to have Act! running. The biggest problem, is with file transfers -painful. The other client has Vista on a laptop and I have not heard from her, since first setting it up.

I recommend staying away from Vista to my clients for now. Unless there is a specific reason, it's not a good consumer product.

As for XP, I like it. I have only had one problem with my laptop and I think that was because of me. All my clients rarely have problems and with adequate RAM (512 and above), it is stable. I can even move a hard drive from an older computer with older chipset, to new ones.

Dave

[SlowToady]

I also though that I'd never install Vista. Well, to be pedantic, I didn't, it came installed, but whatever. I figured I'd never use it. Then I was forced into buying a new computer, and I couldn't convince my dad that what I REALLY needed was an off-lease SUN Blade 2500. (All my CS coursework is UNIX based...I won't touch Linux.) So I ended up with a dual-core Compaq....that doesn't natively support Solaris..wtf?! Anyway...where was I going...Oh yea, I figured I'd try Vista. And now I hate myself for trying it. It has been nothing but headaches. I can't even get it to burn a CD without an app. crashing. It's already tanked 5 CDs! WTF?! The CPU is EM64T enabled, so I might try Vista 64.

XP I don't think is as bad as a lot of people say...it's actually been quite good for me. Of course, I've been using it since Beta (IIRC) so I might have repressed painful memories. 2000 and 2003 are AWESOME.

I can't stand OSX at all...I know a ton of people that like it, but I personally can't stand it. Mostly because of the UI, the crazy one button mouse, and the fact that it tries to hide everything from me. I could never bring myself to use one daily. The hardware is hot, but....

Moneyguy, your HP story makes mine all the more annoying! Hard drive died, screen died, modem died, DVD/CD writer died. WTF? After 2 years? That is NOT acceptable. Of course, I'm cheap (and broke!) and didn't (couldn't) buy the extended warranty, so it is basically just my problem. Hence why I bought a new computer.

I actually do like the new security model. People have been screaming for years to make it more secure, and now that it is, well, no one likes it. There's a LOT more to computer security than just "no bugs." Hell, you have to do the same thing under UNIX/Linux/BSD/whatever...that's what the su command is for. Personally I find UAC and/or Runas to be less cumbersome than su/sudo.

I am also experiencing slow file transfers. There are a number of MS Knowledge Base articles on the subject, as well as some patches. Mainly for network file transfer issues. I've read that in a few instances, switching to Vista 64 cleared up hard drive to hard drive transfer issues. Also, a few people reported the aforementioned KB article fixes working for drive to drive transfers as well.

My next machine is going to be a monster.

[slodave]

Originally Posted by Wayne at Pelican Parts

This is easily disabled in the control panels, FYI...

-Wayne

Yes, then you are reminded about it. Annoying feature.

Dave

[Langers]

Originally Posted by CJFusco

I always had PCs. Recently bought a MacBook. I may never go back to PCs. So straightforward and user-friendly.

I've found the exact opposite. Macs are incredibly hard for me to use! They just make no sense whatsoever.

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by Moneyguy1

I have two machines with XP. One, a HP notebook is quite dependable. The other, a Compaq desktop shuts itself down randomly, and it is a software problem that two techs have not been able to isolate. Makes that machine simply a rather cumbersome doorstop.

Bob,

Get a Dell. Loads less issues with them and you can get replacement parts for them for years to come, not like HP.

Langers,

I have exactly the same problem. My sister has a Mac and I simply cannot get comfortable with the machine. Just does not work like the PC does and no matter how people try to show me "look how its so much better" it turns out to be more difficult for me. Must be an old fart who is set in my ways!

Joe

[aap1966]

Macs just work.

[beepbeep]

1. New Mac is just a PC with fancy OS.
2. XP works fine. I'm managing 250 of those with IT-illiterate users.
3. Those few laptops that had Vista pre-installed worked fine. OS is little bloated though.


I believe many problems stem from bad hardware or users that installed Vista themselves. I would use 32 bit Vista on 32 bit hardware and vice versa. It still needs to mature though.

[Mule]

Guys, what are ya'll doing? XP is very solid. My xp box runs for months without re booting. Vista came on my new box. I wrestled with it for a while. It is currently humming along happily. It's not perfect but very usable.

Careful with that ax Eugene.

[Mule]

Originally Posted by aap1966

Macs just work.

Untill they don't.

[Moneyguy1]

Joe:

My wife was the computer guru in our house. She bought the two machines. She was happy so what was I going to say? I could refuse her nothing!!

I have so much software...She was into photography real intensely.

[stevepaa]

Originally Posted by Mule

Untill they don't.

and then you push the PMMU button and they start over gain.