Are You Going to Buy Windows Vista?

[fanforever1986]

Microsoft releases their first new OS in about 7 years tomorrow. I was wondering to myself today when/if I will buy into Microsoft's latest adventure. I've heard both good and bad things about the new OS. I thought I'd see what people around these parts will be doing in terms of upgrading. Rumor has it most computers will need a steriod boost on their hardware (RAM and Video Cards specifically) to run Vista smoothly.

If you live under one hell of a huge rock:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista


I can't help but notice Microsoft updated their Vista webpage and gave it an interestingly close design as apple's latest OS, due to come out this spring sometime. http://www.apple.com/macosx/leopard/index.html

[ken0042]

I'll wait until SP1 comes out. Then maybe a month after that.

[Sparks]

I used Windows 98 until a couple of years ago, so probably not! :D

[Nehkara]

yup, I will.

[MattyK]

I'm planning on building a new PC sometime this spring/summer. I'll probably pick up an OEM version when I do so.

[photon]

I'll hold off at least until the driver support seems to be better.

[cSpooge]

I'm planning on building a new PC sometime this spring/summer. I'll probably pick up an OEM version when I do so.


Thats not possible any more iirc.

[Antithesis]

I've never been a really, really early technology adopter so I doubt it'll happen soon. I'll wait until the release becomes more stable, probably after a first or even second service pack release.

[SpitFire40]

I have plans

[underGRADFlame]

No but I can't wait til OSX 10.5 comes out!!!!

[MattyK]

Thats not possible any more iirc.

Memory Express has OEM versions of Vista...

http://memxit.com/index.php?PageTag=&page=cat&memx_menu=184&SID=

[redforever]

Microsoft releases their first new OS in about 7 years tomorrow. I was wondering to myself today when/if I will buy into Microsoft's latest adventure. I've heard both good and bad things about the new OS. I thought I'd see what people around these parts will be doing in terms of upgrading. Rumor has it most computers will need a steriod boost on their hardware (RAM and Video Cards specifically) to run Vista smoothly.

My IT guy said this is the case. He said many will end up buying new computers meeting these standards before they buy into Vista and upgrade. He also said that this time around, he thinks businesses will wait before they buy into the new OS right away. They will wait this time to make sure any potential bugs are ironed out in advance. Apparently there is also a new interface although you can run it in standard windows format as well.

[arsenal]

I have been running the retail release of Vista for about a month and half now (legal version). I have not had many problems with it.

There are a issues that I have experienced, but nothing that cripples the OS.
There are lots of nice features, and the new UI gets a little work to get used to, but other than, it's been a great OS to run.

[The Goon]

Is this worth upgrading to? I have been working on Microsoft BOB for about 12 years now.

[Prototype]

One Word: No

More than one word: After the XP fiasco I will never buy an operating system at launch, ever. Plus I tried the beta, and although slightly impressed, it was pretty slow on my system, and I'm not about to upgrade to purchase a program I don't quite need at this point.

[Bobblehead]

I'll probably build a new machine this summer and get it then.

[Igottago]

I probably need a better computer for it, so probably not. I will just end up getting it with a new computer, which is still hopefully a year or even two down the road. XP an my laptop suit me just fine right now, can't see why i'd really need to upgrade any time soon.

[arsenal]

I think the hardware requirements seem to be scaring a bunch of people off.
I have it running on my laptop this is what it has:
1 GB RAM
Intel P4 3.0 GHZ
128MB Video Card, Radeon 9700 Mobility

This is 2 year old technology and I am able to run Vista Ultimate (which is the aero interface). And I get a hardware score of 3.3 (not sure what it is out of).
I don't use my laptop for any gaming, just work, and surfing.

I keep hearing that you "need" a core duo 2, pci express vid card, etc. But you don't really. If you play games, chances are you already have the requirements for it to run smoothly.
If you are running a P3 with 512 RAM or lower, then yes, you will nedd to upgrade.

If your computer is less than 2 years old, you should be fine to load it up. If you want the Aero interface, you can't run off integrated video, you will need a vid card.

Min Requirements for Vista Ultamite:

1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
1 GB of system memory
40 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space
Support for DirectX 9 graphics with:
WDDM Driver
128 MB of graphics memory (minimum)
Pixel Shader 2.0 in hardware
32 bits per pixel
DVD-ROM drive
Audio Output
Internet access (fees may apply)

[bluejays]

Like you mentioned, too powerful at the moment for many people's hardware and I'm no different. I'm running a 3.0Ghz P4 with 512MB memory. That's clearly waaaaay behind what it needs to run the thing with it's bells and whistles and all. I'll probably upgrade in about a year and a half if I buy a laptop at that time (quad-core). Plus, there are rumors that Google is going to come out with their own operating system...that should be interesting (and a nice time right now to buy their stock IMO).

[Inferno]

It looks like I meet the requirements but I'll probably wait a while until the initial bugs get worked out. I dont really have extra money for it anyways.

[arsenal]

Plus, there are rumors that Google is going to come out with their own operating system...that should be interesting (and a nice time right now to buy their stock IMO).

$492 / share is a good price?
It would have to get over $900 / share to double your money. what are the chances of that happening?

I think google is a great company, I just don't see their stock rising that much. Mind you, i am not a financial annalyst.

As far as google providing their own OS. Could be interesting. AFAIK it would be a thin-client web based application. Great that you could access it any where in the world. I think there already is one out there that you can test. It's slow slow slow. But an interesting POC none the less.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Yep - I will certainly get Vista. I consider myself an early adopter but figure I'll wait till June/July till driver support increases. I don't need it that badly yet!

A large part of my job is techo skills driven so I need to ensure I stay ahead of the curve with that. Business is a Windows World.

[edn88]

I am a techie, and I have made my living off of knowing Windows & MS systems, so I think I am in.

[bluejays]

Yep - I will certainly get Vista. I consider myself an early adopter but figure I'll wait till June/July till driver support increases. I don't need it that badly yet!

A large part of my job is techo skills driven so I need to ensure I stay ahead of the curve with that. Business is a Windows World.


The thing is, we know we're all in, it's just a matter of when. If you purchase it right now, you're working for Microsoft for free sending them your R&D reports when things go wrong. The reviews I've read have all said that there are some kinks to work out (nothing major though), but a powerful system is needed to run all the bells and whistles. If you have a good computer, try it.

Just curious, if you needed it for your job pretty badly, why didn't you get in on it in November (I don't mean to be obnoxious, but I'm curious)?

[eyipyip]

There will probably be a lot of bugs in the first version, probably will wait til end of this year at least

[Winsor_Pilates]

Not likely

[Rathji]

Already ordered a new laptop w/vista from Dell for school. My 17" widescreen isn't meant to be lugged to school and back every day.

Saw an ad last night during hockey game that futureshop was selling for $179 and was including a free wireless router.

[SoulOfTheFlame]

i'll wait... see what their gaming platform is like, if it's as revolutionary as they're spouting... probabley

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Just curious, if you needed it for your job pretty badly, why didn't you get in on it in November (I don't mean to be obnoxious, but I'm curious)?

I'm not in IT or anything like that so I don't need to be in on the advance betas. My organization is probably 2 years away from adopting Vista so I've got lots of time before it falls into the universe of my job.

[ken0042]

Some Vista humour:
http://www.joyoftech.com/joyoftech/joyimages/915.gif

Bill Gates on the Daily Show yesterday. (apparently works through my work's proxy)
http://www.comedycentral.com/motherload/player.jhtml?ml_video=81467&ml_collection=&ml_gateway=&ml_gateway_id=&ml_comedian=&ml_runtime=&ml_context=show&ml_origin_url=%2Fmotherload%2Findex.jhtml%3Fml_vid eo%3D81467&ml_playlist=&lnk=&is_large=true

[LockedOut]

Is there any reason to buy the 64 bit version over the 32 bit(x86) version?

[MattyK]

Is there any reason to buy the 64 bit version over the 32 bit(x86) version?

If you have a 64-bit processor, buy the 64-bit version. If you have a 32-bit processor, buy the x86 version.

I'm not sure of the interoperability of versions and processors, but I wouldn't count on it working.

[Wookie]

If you have a 64-bit processor, buy the 64-bit version. If you have a 32-bit processor, buy the x86 version.

I'm not sure of the interoperability of versions and processors, but I wouldn't count on it working.

64 procs runs both

32 procs only run 32 bit O/S

[Bobblehead]

Is there any reason to buy the 64 bit version over the 32 bit(x86) version?

If you have a 64-bit processor, buy the 64-bit version. If you have a 32-bit processor, buy the x86 version.

I would strongly disagree with that. Unless you know that all your devices have drivers for the 64 bit O/S then stick with the 32 bit O/S. (and if you don't know then you probably want the 32 bit version).

[SpitFire40]

What's the deal with the Upgrade version?? Is that just to verify your license? Would I be able to install Vista from a fresh drive format?

[photon]

What's the deal with the Upgrade version?? Is that just to verify your license? Would I be able to install Vista from a fresh drive format?

No that's something they actually changed; with the upgrade version you can't do a clean install, you have to do an upgrade to a fully installed version.

So the best bet if you still want a clean install would be to do a clean XP install then do the upgrade I guess (yee haw).

Also with the upgrade version it will invalidate the license key of the Windows XP that you use to upgrade from, so you will not be able to activate that key on another computer.

[LockedOut]

Next question. Anyone buy the OEM version like the one available at Memory Express? It's so much cheaper than the retail full(non-upgrade) versions and almost the same price as the retail upgrade price. What's in the package(ie. manuals, etc) and how limited is it with activation down the road compared to a retail full version.

[photon]

The OEM version doesn't come with any manuals or fancy packaging, it's just a disc and key, and it doesn't come with any support from Microsoft (the OEM is supposed to provide support, which if you buy the software yourself, you are the OEM).

The retail version can be transferred to different computers down the road while the OEM version is tied to a single specific computer.. More specifically Microsoft will (through the key and activation) tie the OEM version to the computer's motherboard. So you can upgrade anything else, but if you change the motherboard you won't be able to run or install your OEM version on that computer. You can probably get around this once if you call Microsoft and tell them your old motherboard died, but who knows how difficult that will be or how many times they'll buy that.

[LockedOut]

The OEM version doesn't come with any manuals or fancy packaging, it's just a disc and key, and it doesn't come with any support from Microsoft (the OEM is supposed to provide support, which if you buy the software yourself, you are the OEM).

The retail version can be transferred to different computers down the road while the OEM version is tied to a single specific computer.. More specifically Microsoft will (through the key and activation) tie the OEM version to the computer's motherboard. So you can upgrade anything else, but if you change the motherboard you won't be able to run or install your OEM version on that computer. You can probably get around this once if you call Microsoft and tell them your old motherboard died, but who knows how difficult that will be or how many times they'll buy that.
Thanks for the info. I think I'll try the OEM version when I upgrade my computer pretty soon. Can probably buy 2-3 copies of the OEM for the price of a full retail version. Don't really want to muck around with the upgrade version. Seems like too much of a hassle. Plus I want to keep my copy of XP working on my to be old computer anyways.

[photon]

More info on OEM:

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070130-8730.html

[SpitFire40]

No that's something they actually changed; with the upgrade version you can't do a clean install, you have to do an upgrade to a fully installed version.

So the best bet if you still want a clean install would be to do a clean XP install then do the upgrade I guess (yee haw).

Also with the upgrade version it will invalidate the license key of the Windows XP that you use to upgrade from, so you will not be able to activate that key on another computer.

You sure? I just read on microsoft.com that you have the option of doing a clean install, which includes drive formatting as part of it, so I could backup to my external drive all my files worth keeping, it formats and installs a fresh install of Vista.

I guess that begs the question, say it crashes and I can't get into windows to install, can I install on bootup?

Unless Vista is as stable as they say and I won't need to worry about my computer being infected by malicious wares, ect.

[Vulcan]

Here's the download site for Windows Vista Upgrade Adviser. It will tell you if your computer is ready and advise on any upgrades needed. Did I have to say that.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=42B5AC83-C24F-4863-A389-3FFC194924F8&displaylang=en

[photon]

You sure? I just read on microsoft.com that you have the option of doing a clean install, which includes drive formatting as part of it, so I could backup to my external drive all my files worth keeping, it formats and installs a fresh install of Vista.

I guess that begs the question, say it crashes and I can't get into windows to install, can I install on bootup?

Unless Vista is as stable as they say and I won't need to worry about my computer being infected by malicious wares, ect.

Ah I see what you mean.. yeah you can do a complete format during the install of the upgrade version of Vista, but you still have to start that install from a fully functional XP or 2000 install; you can't just boot from the Vista DVD and go like you could with XP.

More info:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/930985/en-us

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/microsoft/no-clean-installs-with-upgrade-versions-of-vista-232081.php

[Bobblehead]

You sure? I just read on microsoft.com that you have the option of doing a clean install, which includes drive formatting as part of it, so I could backup to my external drive all my files worth keeping, it formats and installs a fresh install of Vista.

I guess that begs the question, say it crashes and I can't get into windows to install, can I install on bootup?

Unless Vista is as stable as they say and I won't need to worry about my computer being infected by malicious wares, ect.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/930985/en-us

Therefore, you cannot use an upgrade key to perform a clean installation of Windows Vista

[I-Hate-Hulse]

The retail version can be transferred to different computers down the road while the OEM version is tied to a single specific computer.. More specifically Microsoft will (through the key and activation) tie the OEM version to the computer's motherboard. So you can upgrade anything else, but if you change the motherboard you won't be able to run or install your OEM version on that computer. You can probably get around this once if you call Microsoft and tell them your old motherboard died, but who knows how difficult that will be or how many times they'll buy that.

This sucks Donkey Schlong..... many techies swap out new mobos every couple of years and this pretty much commits them to a retail version.... or ....coughcorporateversionscough...

Well done MS. It's not as if you haven't punished legit users enough with your inane product activation gunk.

[Resolute 14]

I'll probably buy Vista in about 2-3 years when it is stable and the blatant security holes are patched.

[TheDragon]

Rule #1 of any new operating system: Never buy first gen.

I don't get the big deal about the system specs, though. It's not hard to upgrade that, and most of the requirements are cheap to buy.

[RW99]

No for me. I only have a laptop and I just don't feel the need for it. XP does what I need it to do. When I get my next computer, probably.

[photon]

There's supposedly a workaround for the Vista upgrade, though it involves installing Vista twice.

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=5932

[Hakan]

Buy no.

Pirate? Later.

[Tron_fdc]

I don't understand half of what you guys are talking about, but our accountant just installed Visa and haes i so much he's going back to XP. His graphics card wasn't up to the recommended level (barely though, seeing as his laptop is 6 mos old) and the font was all blurry.

He's now spending the day re-formatting his computer, trying to get rid of Vista.

Ha.Ha.

[Bobblehead]

I don't understand half of what you guys are talking about, but our accountant just installed Visa and haes i so much he's going back to XP. His graphics card wasn't up to the recommended level (barely though, seeing as his laptop is 6 mos old) and the font was all blurry.

He's now spending the day re-formatting his computer, trying to get rid of Vista.

Ha.Ha.

Vista is going to be different than XP in a number of ways and many people are going to balk at figuring it out.

I know everytime a new O/S comes out I grumble about where they have hidden the settings this time.

And in Vista you don't need to run Aero or some of the other bells and whistles and it should run fine on most machines bought in the last couple of years. Although many of the reasons you would want to run Vista need better hardware.

Myself, with my current system I'm not getting it. With my next system (which I will build this summer) I will get it.

(but tell your accountant to stick to XP for a while - I know there are some accounting software packages that will not work work on Vista and will need a major redesign ASAP)

[Fozzie_DeBear]

Can anyone tell me if Vista has any features that Mac 10.4 doesn't have? I don't want to start a Mac/PC ****ing match, but I am curious about where Microsoft is relative to Apple feature-wise...

[Bobblehead]

Vista Upgrade Decision Chart (http://www.bbspot.com/Images/News_Features/2007/02/vista_upgrade_flowchart.pdf)(pdf)

[MickMcGeough]

I've been running Vista for quite awhile now and I've never seen MS release -anything- this polished on the first crack. MS has really come a long way as far as default security goes.

The Aero interface is very slick. I'm not even much of a sucker for eye candy but its very nice. Makes a difference to people in my line of work since I stare at it for 10 hours a day.

Also, Vista just does not crash. In a month of very heavy-duty use I haven't seen a single OS crash that wasn't hardware related. Driver hangs no longer take down the OS. The Media Center in the ultimate (and premium?) editions is absolutely top-notch. The little additions like the sidebar are nice but nothing groundbreaking.

Windows Defender has kept it spyware and malware free even with the gf using it, which is quite an accomplishment in itself.

I'm on a AMD X2 @ 2Ghz, 2GB DDR 400, 7900GT. Vista runs -very- noticeably faster than XP SP2. With Aero, the graphics are all offloaded to the video card leaving the CPU free for other things. Combine this with a dual-core CPU (which are very cheap now) and the OS really flies. Most surprising to me is that it actually seems to boot faster than XP too, though this is still a pretty clean installation and that may change.

I'm definitely buying it. But if you don't have the hardware for it I wouldn't go upgrading just to run Vista.

[fanforever1986]

Can anyone tell me if Vista has any features that Mac 10.4 doesn't have? I don't want to start a Mac/PC ****ing match, but I am curious about where Microsoft is relative to Apple feature-wise...


I was researching this the other day, and to be honest, from the average user's standpoint...there really isn't anything. The '3D window switching' that Microsoft seems to be pushing really hard, cause it looks cool, is virtually the same as Mac's expose (but mac has hot corners, which are pretty slick haha).

This is the 'grabber' if you will from the MS vista site:
See everything you're working on more clearly with Windows Aero, and quickly switch between windows or tasks using Windows Flip 3D and Live Thumbnails. You can easily find what you need—when you need it?with Instant Search and live icon previews that display the actual contents of your files. And while you're at it, give your personal productivity a boost with instant access to the information you care about using Windows Sidebar and Gadgets. Put these easy-to-use and customizable mini-applications on your desktop and reveal the information you're looking for at a glance.

So looking at that, and the features outlined...you can compare.

Windows 3D Flip --> Mac Expose
Live Thumbnails --> Also in Mac Expose
Instant Search --> Mac Spotlight, again been around for a while
Icon Thumbnails --> Those have been on the Mac Dock for a few versions of OS X now.
Windows Sidebar --> Mac Dashboard.
Windows Gadgets --> Widgets. Lol, that one could have used some creativity, Bill.

Not sure if there's anymore to mention?

The next OS from Mac, 10.5, will throw a bunch of new stuff that Vista doesn't offer. I'm most excited about Time Machine, which basically lets you go back in time to retrive files that were on your computer at a given point in time on a folder by folder basis. The other is mac 'spaces', which lets you switch between 4 different 'screens' on one monitor.

Not trying to sound bais here, but clearly apple is ahead in the innovation department.

[mykalberta]

I just got a copy of the Premium and Business version from work for testing.

I will be attempting to tri boot them and XP Pro this weekend, or maybe next.

If you have a machine running XP, dont - if you have a machine running 98/2000/95 - buy a new machine and upgrade then. No reason at all to upgrade XP to Vista.

MYK

[mykalberta]

I was researching this the other day, and to be honest, from the average user's standpoint...there really isn't anything. The '3D window switching' that Microsoft seems to be pushing really hard, cause it looks cool, is virtually the same as Mac's expose (but mac has hot corners, which are pretty slick haha).

This is the 'grabber' if you will from the MS vista site:


So looking at that, and the features outlined...you can compare.

Windows 3D Flip --> Mac Expose
Live Thumbnails --> Also in Mac Expose
Instant Search --> Mac Spotlight, again been around for a while
Icon Thumbnails --> Those have been on the Mac Dock for a few versions of OS X now.
Windows Sidebar --> Mac Dashboard.
Windows Gadgets --> Widgets. Lol, that one could have used some creativity, Bill.

Not sure if there's anymore to mention?

The next OS from Mac, 10.5, will throw a bunch of new stuff that Vista doesn't offer. I'm most excited about Time Machine, which basically lets you go back in time to retrive files that were on your computer at a given point in time on a folder by folder basis. The other is mac 'spaces', which lets you switch between 4 different 'screens' on one monitor.

Not trying to sound bais here, but clearly apple is ahead in the innovation department.

I would only be interested in Time Machine and how much disk space overhead it takes. Current PC prgrams allow you to do that but the disk space requirement is crazy.

MYK

[ken0042]

Vista Upgrade Decision Chart (http://www.bbspot.com/Images/News_Features/2007/02/vista_upgrade_flowchart.pdf)(pdf)

Looks like I will be making use of the colour plotter after work tonight! :D

[Bobblehead]

Live Thumbnails --> Also in Mac Expose --> Opera's Browser has done this for open Tabs for a while
Instant Search --> Mac Spotlight, again been around for a while --> Copernic Desktop Search
Icon Thumbnails --> Those have been on the Mac Dock for a few versions of OS X now.--> They've also been in Linux for quite a while
Windows Sidebar --> Mac Dashboard.-->Desktop Sidebar
Windows Gadgets --> Widgets. --> Konfabulator

You can't really tell MS to get original when Apple also liberally borrows ideas just as freely.

But perhaps Apple does it better than MS, until I try both I won't know.

[Barnes]

Can anyone tell me if Vista has any features that Mac 10.4 doesn't have? I don't want to start a Mac/PC ****ing match, but I am curious about where Microsoft is relative to Apple feature-wise...

None comes to mind. Are you talking underlying technologies, eye candy...?

To me though, it's not about what Mac OS has and Windows doesn't or vice versa, it's about how quickly and efficiently I can get things done with the least amount of frustration.

I can tell you things about both systems that aggravate me but Windows has much more of the pull your hair, throw your pc out the window type of things.

[fanforever1986]

Live Thumbnails --> Also in Mac Expose --> Opera's Browser has done this for open Tabs for a while
Instant Search --> Mac Spotlight, again been around for a while --> Copernic Desktop Search
Icon Thumbnails --> Those have been on the Mac Dock for a few versions of OS X now.--> They've also been in Linux for quite a while
Windows Sidebar --> Mac Dashboard.-->Desktop Sidebar
Windows Gadgets --> Widgets. --> Konfabulator

You can't really tell MS to get original when Apple also liberally borrows ideas just as freely.

But perhaps Apple does it better than MS, until I try both I won't know.

I can't say who had what first, but the first version of Mac OS X came out in 2001...Not sure which of those features it had then. Mac may borrow idea's from smaller single purpose companies, but I don't think they've borrowed any from MS.

[Bobblehead]

I can't say who had what first, but the first version of Mac OS X came out in 2001...Not sure which of those features it had then. Mac may borrow idea's from smaller single purpose companies, but I don't think they've borrowed any from MS.

Well, they did add a right click to their mouse :w00t:

[Barnes]

You can't really tell MS to get original when Apple also liberally borrows ideas just as freely.

But perhaps Apple does it better than MS, until I try both I won't know.

A lot of people use the argument of Konfabulator vs Dashboard. Konfabulator is a collection of applets written from a scripting language. Hardly revolutionary. The Classic Mac OS had these back in the day too.

Apple does buy companies whose products interest them (BeOS, NeXt, coverflow), they contribute to the open source community and various consortium's. Microsoft likes their own, proprietary standards.

Are all of Apple's ideas new? No. Are the applications of ideas new? Yes.