Windows Vista Need Opinions - is Vista as bad as everyone says?

The short story is I need to replace my desktop, and will be replacing it with a laptop. I was looking at a Dell Inspirion 1520, however in my email this morning Dell sent me a "deal" on a 1525. The 1520 has XP and the 1525 has Vista.

All things being equal, would you take the XP or the Vista laptop? What major headaches will I face with Vista, or is it merely minor "inconveniences" that Microsoft has built it to Vista, allowing for odds-n-ends frustrations, but nothing that would prevent me from being productive.

Any suggestions or comments are appreciated! Thanks!

 

I am with Steve!

Vista can do very little that XP can't and what it does do that XP can't, is mostly Eye candy.

Much much of the Vista changes that are different from XP I believe were put in by M$ just to make it look like Vista was different since they had no really new innovations.

Want speed, stability and reliability get XP!

I tell everyone get XP if they can.

BUT not always convenient when buying off the shelf and some vendors don't offer XP anymore. And if so some charge extra to get it.

But I think Dell does at no additional charge. But perhaps not on a specials or close outs.

Mike

 

+ 1 for XP.

I have not had the monumental problems with Vista that others have posted about. Even so, I like XP better.

My wife's three year old Dell with XP on it (1 GB of RAM) is noticably faster than my Vista machine bought near the end of last year.

I am about to be assigned a "new" laptop at work, and have been given the option of a new Dell unit with Vista or an older Sony (XP Pro) that was turned in when a department head changed jobs. I made my nod for the XP machine.

In fact, I've been out of town a week and might just get that today when I get there later today!

 

I don't know if I'm a geek or wannabe geek. My PC is a workhorse and it gets used constantly. I need it to be fast and functional. Bells and whistles are nice, but I already know I don't use half of the garbage I have on my current desktop.

I've heard bootup is slower for Vista, too. I guess it's a **** shoot. Do I roll the dice and try something new, or do I stick with the familiar "features" of XP? And doesn't MS already have something new in line to surpass Vista?

I guess I should look at both deals and see what gets me more of what I need. I'm willing to adjust and can handle a learning curve if I get get some accessories or productivity. Nice to know about the 2G for Vista though.

 

Mimom,
In short if I knew what I know now with a new laptop I purchased with Vista I would have never bought it, or I would have negotiated Vista taken off and XP installed! Get the XP machine. Vista does not like a lot of older software that you may like and had spent a lot of money on also and may never work on the Vista machine. I also had to buy another data card with Alltel as the XP one would not work with Vista either. I still have XP on my home computer and it is staying!

 

My 2cents...
Go with Vista. XP is on the way out whether people like it or not. Much the same as how W2K slid into obscurity around the release of SP4.
Vista is "a little" different than XP, but you'll get used to it in short time. I like it and the only annoyance is the popups for the UAC (User Account Control). But disabling that only serves to delete a large part of the security enhancements touted in Vista.

My advice though is get AT LEAST 2GB RAM (even 4GB). I'd go for 4GB rather than 3GB because most laptops will use dual channel with matched sticks (2 or 4GB) even though 32 bit Vista (or XP) will only utilize around 3.5 GB of 4GB installed.

I still run XP on a laptop and second desktop but wouldn NEVER consider it on a new system.
My Vista PC used to have XP on it. It's an ageing P4 2.8 with upgraded memory (2GB) and an upgraded Aero capable graphics card (Nvidia 6600). Vista Business runs fine on this slow (by Core Duo standards) PC.

 

Vista fan

I go along with the last posters, I am a 62 (today!) year old grandmother and I love Vista. I have an HP laptop with 2 GB of ram and it is absolutely fine. I use a desktop with XP and find it frustrating because Vista suits me so much better. The photo facilities are much better than XP - I think a lot of people just don't like change and learning new systems, I was the same over IE7 which I'm using it now without problem (though I vastly prefer Avant Browser) - I have had this laptop since last August and wouldn't go back to XP for the world. It's plenty fast enough for me and I use it for video editing amongst other things, the file organisation and display is great, and I haven't found any software that doesn't work with it (or can't be upgraded with a Vista enabling driver).

 

This is heartwarming Vista is beginning to grow on people!

Well it will have to eventually spread to me!

But I can understand it being Ok in home use. But see it in networks etc.

Mike

 

Thing is I don't see any reason to upgrade to Vista.
Sooner or later I will, but it will be when I get a better PC, and that might still take a year to do that.

If you can get a medium to high end powered desktop get Vista.
If you are getting a laptop, get Mac.
Seriously get XP, laptops are still too weak to take advantage of Vista.

 

I used to use XP 64-bit on my desktop and dual booted Vista 64-bit for a while, but since configuring Vista as much like XP as possible, I've removed XP and am running Vista 64-bit only. I also have an older desktop running XP home, and 64-bit computing speed is another world.

Bottom line: buy a laptop capable of running a 64-bit OS and a 64-bit Vista and you'll never look back.

 

No doubt. 64 bit is a completely different league.

 

Well, bummer... kinda sorta

I was passed over for the XP machine and instead received a brand new, fresh out of the box Sony running Vista Home Premium with 3 GB of RAM. I have to admit, the Sony is a nice unit.

The logic was, "You already know more about Vista than any of the rest of us." May God have mercy on the place...

So as I type the Sony is hooked up to my home network so I can bleed off all the updates from Microsoft and get it ready for a road trip later this week.

I did a write up of my own experience as a Vista nooby when I bought the Acer last November. I can't decide if it is inside or outside the boundaries to post a link to the article on my personal web site. Maybe one of the mods can PM me and take a look and tell me if it is appropriate.

Anywy, Mimom, good luck if you go with Vista. There are some things I like better about XP, but as someone else noted in so many words, Vista is here to stay. After a while it will begin to feel normal like any of the other changes and upgrades.

Best to you,
Rick

 

It looks like I have a lot to think about. The laptop would be for personal use so I'm not worried about networking. As for getting a Mac - way out of my budget, and I'm not a Mac fan anyway. Never have been when I was forced to use them in college, and doubt I ever will be. Of course, if someone gave me a free one, I wouldn't complain!

I understand the need to go forward, and not hang on to the old stuff, because eventually it will be obsolete (I say this as I listen to 80s music while my son plays Activision anthology....). So Vista is the next step in a long line of software. I made it from Win95 to XP, I might as well take the next step and jump into the future.

Thanks for all the info. It has been extremely helpful and will definitely work toward me building a laptop that I can actually use!

 

Vista

Mimom
Vista is very nice
But the matter is that it is new and it has no programs that are suitable to it.

 

I'll have to disagree with the broad brush represented by your statement.

In January 2007 that was an accurate statement, but as the months have passed, Microsoft has issued updates, and the other vendors (software and hardware) have caught up by issuing the necessary patches and updates.

When I bought a Vista machine in November 2007, all of my most frequently used programs installed and ran without a hitch -- including my Garmin mapping software. Where I ran into issues was with hardware, primarily an older Epson inkjet printer.

Now, Vista SP1 has been released and my desktop installed it earlier this month. The new Sony laptop I was issued at work this week has been configured and SP1 installed on it last night.

As someone else has noted, most of the observable changes in Vista are cosmetic. About three layers down in the menus it starts looking very much like XP. There are some things I like better about XP -- primarily, it is hands down faster when installed on an "apples to apples" set of machines.

Beyond that my affinity could be described as the difference between two pair of exactly alike shoes -- one of which is broken in, and the other that has been stashed in the closet in a box: "used feels more comfortable. "

 

Well said Bonkerpro.

Mike