Actually my advice was based on issues that have been a common trend with Microsoft and new operating systems for years, including dumbing down the user control in exchange for bells and whistles that do nothing for productivity.

Having worked in with signs and graphics for years, I've seen first hand how they cater to the "average" user in terms of hardware, and the need to upgrade resources for nothing other than flash and bang. As is par for the course, upper end graphics cards and devices have buggy at best drivers, limited support, and little if any beta testing.

A flashy Aero interface is great, but if you actually DO something on your computer, the backup feature is much better. You can get that with Business or Ultimate edition Vista, but then you have a backup utility very limited in function and less capable than even the one that came standard with Win 98, or for that matter Win 3.11, or Workgroups.


As far back as the DOS/Win for workgroups days I could run two sign plotters, send something to the printer, send a fax, and design on screen at the same time. The only time the system even blinked was if the hardware resources ran low.

With Win 98 those same tasks struggled to perform, even with upgraded hardware, patches, bug fixes, and third party driver support. With dumbed down user control, assigning priority to tasks became slower and more time intensive.

XP did the same once more over.

So convince me I should run to buy a higher end version of Vista, requiring once again further hardware upgrades, so I can have the flash and bang of the Aero interface while searching for all the fixes I need to actually get something done.

And to add insult to injury, I still have a DOS based sign program that seems to multitask much better, and can do so on a 3 or 486 based system with two megs of memory.

 

I can see that, but what about the average home user? Not many home users, run two sign plotters, send something to the printer, send a fax, and design on screen at the same time...they are downloading ****.

 

If time is money and mac don't give problems (almost) then you don't lost time figuring how to make the Windows work again or fix the compatibility etc. then in the very short run the few dollars you pay more in a mac is going to pay several times. And I insist some mac models are cheaper than similar Dell models.

 

64 bit XP is a joke - hardly any manufacturers bothered to write drivers for it.

 

if your buying or building a new computer right now go xp but get enuff ram and hdd to run vista once the sp1 comes out. if you can, wait until the sp1 is out and for prices to fall, the 8 series geforce cards are a tad expensive right now, but they'll be dirt cheap once the 9's are out, I just built a new gaming rig and decided to hold off on the vista/directX 10 option until its more neccisary... xp can handle all my mutitasking **** needs just fine

 

I know...I have a copy.

It ran great. I just couldn't find any drivers for my chit. So, I wouldn't say that the OS is a joke, but the manufacturers not writing drivers is the joke.

 

Unless you have a specific program you need to run, spend the $65 bucks and go with SuSE Linux. It includes all the software you'll normally need except for an anti-virus program. But then, Linux doesn't get viruses. So, you won't need one!

MS stuff is simply too much hassle anymore. Apple System X IS Linux, except horrendously expensive!

Flagship (Who misses OS/2)

 

I'm going to ignore most of your post since I'm not going to aruge the advancements in operating systems and the overall hardware/software circle of life. I already know I'd be wasting my time...

... as for the quoted statement. I did not at any point say upgrade to Vista. He is buying a NEW PC. In my first post, I said if you're buying new, get Vista. Period. Doesn't matter what version. If he said "I have a 5 year old PC and want to go to Vista" I'd have said he's nuts and stick to what he's got.

So, so sum up:

Upgrade XP to Vista on same PC = Bad

Dumping $$ into current PC to upgrade to Vista = Bad

Buying new PC and choosing XP = Bad

Buying a cheap POS new PC and wanting to run Vista w/ Areo = Bad

Buying a nice new PC and choosing Vista = Good

 

Wait, you Fat Bastard. (I'm learning)



You said, "Buying new PC and choosing XP = Bad"

Why is buying a new pc with XP bad?

 

Unless you have a program that will never be updated and absolutely cannot run on Vista why would you get an O/S that is on the way out and pass on all the cool things Vista can do? It doesn't compute. Vista is faster, stable, has an increadible build-in indexing engine, more features and super easy to organize, edit, and share media.... the more I use Vista the more I like it. It really is a great OS that is better than XP in almost every way. I say almost since Vista does hide the nuts and bolts, making more like OS X (bleh).

It's like buying a new '08 Vette but telling the dealer "No, I'd like last years engine... I know it has 35 less HP but it's stable and uses less resources".

 

Aight, I can dig that.

 

What? Not sure what rev you're on but its a bluescreen monster still.

About as stable Zaairman's girlfriends...

Vista won't be stable until the SP comes out...granted it's getting better but there are just too many variables that all the other SW/HW vendors have to catch up on to make it work properly.

Stable ain't a word I would use to describe it. Faster, but not fast.


"fatal, error, keyboard not detected, press any key to continue"

 

lol, gotta hate that

i'm running xp until sp1 comes out

 

Been running Vista for 6 months or so. Couple different laptops. One old(er), one kick-**** new Core2-Duo. Both run very well. No blue screens. No issues. If you have quality hardware you shouldn't have issues. You run crap, you get crap results.

Hell, I only got one blue screen running a beta version of Vista running on a virtual PC.

"Dude, my brand new $399 e-Machines PC is crashing! Vista sucks!!"

Get better hardware.

 

I'm a techie in the SW business. I don't run crap. Glad your shelf bought store machines are working for you. They are detuned like a PSD. I build my own. Two laptops for work. One StinkPad and a tricked out Toshiba Tecra M5

Oh wait, "dude you gotta dell"

Wait till I tell the guys about your "stable" comment....that will get a good laugh in the Developers meeting this morning. There are two alpha techies here that co-authored/wrote W2K...they know a thing or two about MS OS.

Now if you will excuse me, I have to go fix my drink holder on my E-Machine.