Are You Going to Buy Windows Vista?

[SpitFire40]

Originally Posted by photon

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/d...displaylang=en

[photon]

Originally Posted by SpitFire40

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...b/930985/en-us

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/microsoft...sta-232081.php

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by SpitFire40

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...b/930985/en-us

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

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by photon

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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(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]

Originally Posted by 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...

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]

Originally Posted by fanforever1986

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]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

Vista Upgrade Decision Chart(pdf)

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

[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.