verdict on Windows Vista?

[King Crimson]

i'm in a position to need to make a temporary/budget laptop buy....out of necessity to get through the next 6 months. Dell will still sell me XP on the Vostro but that really limits my options (though the Vostro--biz version of the Inspiron seems to get great reviews). kinda looking at HP and Circuit City has a loaded Toshiba for a great deal right now. keep in mind i'm looking to have this machine for a year or two tops.

i gather that it goes without saying that 2g of memory is pretty much sine non qua to run the bloated Vista.

yes, i have read laptop threads and the earlier Vista thread from last year.

do you get used to it? is it OK? it rocks? great interface? get the XP machine and be happy about it?

[AggieTool]

Depends on how many peripherals you plan to connect.

There is more "Vista certified" stuff out there, but if you have any older printers, cameras, networking gear, Vista may give you a problem still.

For instance, I couldn't get a new print server to work with a Vista laptop. I ended up having to buy a new wireless printer instead.

[OKLA21FAN]

if you get Vista, you may as well shoot yourself.


the worst OS evar!

[AggieTool]

if you get Vista, you may as well shoot yourself.


the worst OS evar!


I remember folks saying the same thing about XP.:D

[OUDoc]

if you get Vista, you may as well shoot yourself.


the worst OS evar!
Worse than Windows ME?;)

[Sooner_Bob]

I haven't used Vista at all, but at work we're still not authorized to purchase it or machines loaded with the OS.

I would say that buying a machine with Vista wouldn't be as much of a gamble now as it was 6 months ago.

I haven't been keeping up with the release of service packs. When is the next one due out for Vista?

[Sooner_Bob]

Worse than Windows ME?;)

How could anything be worse the Windows ME? That OS was horribly bad. ;)

[OKLA21FAN]

I remember folks saying the same thing about XP.:D
lets just put it this way.

when you order you new Dell, just ask the Dell Rep what OS Dell is currently using on all their company computers.

there answer is not Vista. :pop:

[TopDaugIn2000]

I bought a little Toshiba about 4 months ago, it's small and compact, easy to travel with. I love it. Vista was the only thing offered, but I"ve gotten used to it. My heavy computing is still done on the monster tower (with XP) at home.

[TopDaugIn2000]

Oh, and I bought the Toshiba Satellite U305-S5077 from Best Buy. It came with 1 gig of ram, I popped in another for about $30. Helped tremendously. I think the laptop was around $700. Well worth the money in my book.

[nmsoonergirl]

Mr. NMS ignored my advice and got a dell with Vista Premium this summer. At first he had a LOT of trouble with our router, but there was an update that he installed, and I don't think he's had any trouble since either with anyone's wireless or anything else about the OS. We even sent him up there with an ANCIENT printer (wired) and that is working seamlessly.

I think you'll be fine with it. But yeah, you'll want 2gbs.

[yermom]

1) buy whatever

2) install Linux

YWIA

;)

if it's temporary, i'd find some used/refurb with XP on it...

[Norm In Norman]

I hate Vista. I tried using it for a month but ended up switching to Linux (ubuntu). There are things I can't do as easily in Linux but my overall experience is way better.

[yermom]

i still think i like Fedora better, but i could get by with Ubuntu

i prefer OS X though...

[Ike]

I used vista for all of 5 minutes.


Linux may be too non-user friendly for a lot of people, but I have yet to run into someone that didn't think mac OS X was user friendly. Personally, I love it....and it is essentially linux under the hood, but unless you want to, you never have to interact with the linuxy side of it.

So, one option you could have (if you so desired) is to build a hackintosh (http://lifehacker.com/software/hack-attack/build-a-hackintosh-mac-for-under-800-321913.php)

[NormanPride]

I was issued a Vista laptop as part of our company's testing program. It sucks. It now sits in a closet with a USB missile launcher attached to it so people in the office can remote into it and shoot people. :D

And I've heard Debian linux is pretty nice...

[Civicus_Sooner]

I like the Vista versions of PowerPoint and Excell. Both much user friendly. However, there is a bug in Vista. I've had to back up and my files and reset to factory settings twice in less than a year.

[soonerinabilene]

We bought a laptop with our tax return at the beginning of 07, and had to get vista. The only problem I have had was setting it up with a network printer. I can access my office network from it, I just cant print anything. Other than that, I think it is very user friendly. And the windows dvd burning program and Picture editor program that comes with it is freakin awesome. I guess Im just one of the lucky ones that havent had a problem. Coming with an AMD turion 64x2 processer doesnt hurt either, though.

[soonerboomer93]

the only problem i have with vista is that every time I need to work on a vista computer, it's in ****in korean

[SoonerStormchaser]

The jury's still out with me...the wife finally got her new computer a week ago and we're still putting the finishing touches on its operation.

Stay tuned...we'll keep you advised.

[Mjcpr]

The jury's still out with me...the wife finally got her new computer a week ago and we're still putting the finishing touches on its operation.

Stay tuned...we'll keep you advised.
There you go, KC, if the elderly can use it, anyone can.

:D

[King Crimson]

i thought about making the jump/investment and ponying up for the macbook (i'm an old timey mac guy at heart)....but i went to the apple store in Boulder and the people there just made me laugh. i want a machine, not a lifestyle.

i bought the vostro 1400 today with XP. i tried hard as i could to buy something else, and i couldn't find anything said as bad about that machine as others...and most reviews are really positive (which is rare in the ~750-1000$ range). the macbook i was tempted but ultimately it's 500 bucks more. i don't like the way mac prices stuff. let's say i want a drive that burns discs and i want at least 2g memory.... but i don't want to pay 400$ for it. i already paid 2000$ for a G3 powerbook that was a stinker, to be honest.

whatever. i just need to plug in front of students and YES, that's what the kids are calling it these days.

[Ike]

i thought about making the jump/investment and ponying up for the macbook (i'm an old timey mac guy at heart)....but i went to the apple store in Boulder and the people there just made me laugh. i want a machine, not a lifestyle.

i bought the vostro 1400 today with XP. i tried hard as i could to buy something else, and i couldn't find anything said as bad about that machine as others...and most reviews are really positive (which is rare in the ~750-1000$ range). the macbook i was tempted but ultimately it's 500 bucks more. i don't like the way mac prices stuff. let's say i want a drive that burns discs and i want at least 2g memory.... but i don't want to pay 400$ for it. i already paid 2000$ for a G3 powerbook that was a stinker, to be honest.

whatever. i just need to plug in front of students and YES, that's what the kids are calling it these days.


Order a Mac online and spare yourself the mac enthusiasts. I like my mac, but thats because it meets my specific needs far better than a windows machine, and slightly better than a linux box. There is a downside that the hardware options are pretty limited, but the upside is that it just works. minimal setup to be done by the user.

now that they run Intel chips, they are, IMO, much better machines than before (ie, better than the powerbooks), and you can run a virtualized XP on them as well...

[King Crimson]

Order a Mac online and spare yourself the mac enthusiasts. I like my mac, but thats because it meets my specific needs far better than a windows machine, and slightly better than a linux box. There is a downside that the hardware options are pretty limited, but the upside is that it just works. minimal setup to be done by the user.

now that they run Intel chips, they are, IMO, much better machines than before (ie, better than the powerbooks), and you can run a virtualized XP on them as well...

oh, i understand. I'm not married to XP. 0i need a sub 1000$ machine that isn't a piece of juke.

i use mac in my office and my Dell at home. i got a lot with a Dell Vostro 1400--duo Core, 2g RAM, wifi, blutoof, for about 850 bucks.

[bluedogok]

We bought a laptop with our tax return at the beginning of 07, and had to get vista. The only problem I have had was setting it up with a network printer. I can access my office network from it, I just cant print anything. Other than that, I think it is very user friendly. And the windows dvd burning program and Picture editor program that comes with it is freakin awesome. I guess Im just one of the lucky ones that havent had a problem. Coming with an AMD turion 64x2 processer doesnt hurt either, though.
My mother bought a loaded out 17" HP Laptop right before we came up fro Christmas, I was able to get everything working except for the shared printer on their XP desktop. My XP laptop could find it but her new Vista one would get a connection error. My mother is pretty much a technophobe, so we will see how well she does with Vista. I may be reinstalling XP on it when we head up there in February for my nephews birthday.

I have 4 desktops and 2 laptops running XP and they all run pretty much trouble free, but then I also don't click on every popup that shows up on my screen. Most have been up and running for a few years. I do want to build a HTPC, I might go with Vista on it but I am still not sure, I may just go with XP-MCE.

Macs and Unix boxes are fine if you run software that will work on them, AutoCAD, Revit and 3DSMax don't, so I don't even bother and other than a home PC the first system that I worked on was Unix based Sun 3/60's. When I bought this laptop I looked at the new Intel based Mac laptops but the were about a $1,000 more than an equally equipped Windows laptop.

[yermom]

yeah, there are some things you just need a PC for. i still use XP in my office, mostly for Outlook, and some other Office stuff

[Ike]

yeah, there are some things you just need a PC for.


Negative ghostrider...I haven't touched one in quite a while. Maybe some things you need one for...


I will give you the autocad stuff...IIRC, in the olden days, that kind of software primarily ran on unixish mainframes...I wonder why those fell out of style?

[yermom]

i'm envious ;)

i guess there are a lot of things that are easier/more convenient. but there are some specific things that need Windows, at least in VM/Terminal form

[Ike]

i'm envious ;)

i guess there are a lot of things that are easier/more convenient. but there are some specific things that need Windows, at least in VM/Terminal form


True, there are still some programs that dont have a mac or FOSS counterpart yet...but its dwindling.

It helps to be in a field where most of the software you use was written either by yourself or by a guy who sits less than 100 yards away from you.



Windows machines are getting rarer by the day up here...

One recent example: So in our meetings, generally, 4 or 5 people give 15 to 20 minute talks, usually with slides of pertinent figures and plots and whatnot. Anyway, at a recent meeting, one guy made the mistake of uploading his talk to the agenda server in the powerpoint .ppt format only, and the convener promptly chided him for being inconsiderate.

[yermom]

Open Office should open that...

[Ike]

Open Office should open that...
It usually does...the reasoning for it is that whatever office software you have to open it takes a while to load, and then bogs down the computer while its open. It's a hassle when all you want to do is read a talk.

[Norm In Norman]

Open Office should open that...
I like open office on it's own, but I'm having a hell of a time with my wife going from office to oo. She'll create a simple document in word and email it to herself then try to print it on our printer in open office on Linux. It NEVER looks right. Unfortunately she can't install printer drivers on her laptop or anything so I can't just share the printer and let her print directly. It's quite frustrating.

[yermom]

i haven't really had a problem with that, but i don't generally do anything fancy with Word (or much at all anyway)

i just don't get why MS has to change all their formats so much.

one of the things i like about Oo is printing to pdfs

[NormanPride]

We were just given the death sentence in our office. Vista by Jan 1, 2009. :(

[Ike]

We were just given the death sentence in our office. Vista by Jan 1, 2009. :(


Did you ask your boss whose dumbass idea that was?

[NormanPride]

It was some dumb committee. Our company is huge. Gah.

[Ruuuuuufus]

I've had vista for several months and had no problems with it. The ability to quick boot from my thumb drive is great.

[bluedogok]

Negative ghostrider...I haven't touched one in quite a while. Maybe some things you need one for...


I will give you the autocad stuff...IIRC, in the olden days, that kind of software primarily ran on unixish mainframes...I wonder why those fell out of style?
I learned CADD on Computervision, which was originally a mainframe type of system just like the old Intergraph systems. By the time that I started there we already had the newer version on Sun 3/60 with Sun/CV-OS Unix Shell environment. Autocad had just come out and was still running on DOS boxes. They did support many different platforms back then, like Sun Unix, Silicon Graphics, IBM-AIX, HP-UX, Apple Mac, etc. I think when they finally went to Windows fully (instead of offering both DOS and Windows versions) is when they started dropping other platforms and went strictly Windows.

[Cam]

lets just put it this way.

when you order you new Dell, just ask the Dell Rep what OS Dell is currently using on all their company computers.

there answer is not Vista. :pop:
[hairGel] That's inaccrate [hairGel]

XP is not the only image used internally at Dell. Employees have the option of using either XP or Vista as long as the machine they're using meets the Vista specs.

[ouflak]

The jury's still out with me...the wife finally got her new computer a week ago and we're still putting the finishing touches on its operation.

Stay tuned...we'll keep you advised.

Pretty similar situation here. I bought a new Fujistu-Siemens 2515 for the wife for Christmas. She's just now started trying to use it. It's been a bit of frustration. It doesn't work with our LexMark Z600 class printer as we just found out a few hours earlier. Couldn't get the Netgear USB wireless network dongle to work. That's a bit of older tech and newer tech that is totally wasted on Vista, but worked on plug-in with XP. I've told her that I will likely put XP on there if she can't even do basic things with this laptop. We'll see....

[Vaevictis]

I will give you the autocad stuff...IIRC, in the olden days, that kind of software primarily ran on unixish mainframes...I wonder why those fell out of style?

Money.

Mainframes are mega-expensive, and they no longer have a sufficient processing power advantage over PCs. You typically only use mainframes these days when you need the MTBF or I/O advantage that they offer -- oh, and you have to need it badly enough to drop >$1 million on it.

[OKLA21FAN]

[hairGel] That's inaccrate [hairGel]

XP is not the only image used internally at Dell. Employees have the option of using either XP or Vista as long as the machine they're using meets the Vista specs.
well screw me then

i was going by what the DELL salewoman dudette told me at one of the kiosk dealios.

[Vaevictis]

Meh.

I really want nothing to do with Vista. The damn thing is riddled with consumer-hating DRM. I really don't want my operating system telling me what I'm allowed to do with my computer.

[OKLA21FAN]

dup

[Cam]

well screw me then

i was going by what the DELL salewoman dudette told me at one of the kiosk dealios.
Not surprising that they'd think that. My wife used to run that group, so I can assure you that the kiosk reps are pretty much on the furthest outside loop of what's going on there. I'm not even sure if they're employees or temps.

[bluedogok]

I will give you the autocad stuff...IIRC, in the olden days, that kind of software primarily ran on unixish mainframes...I wonder why those fell out of style?

Money.

Mainframes are mega-expensive, and they no longer have a sufficient processing power advantage over PCs. You typically only use mainframes these days when you need the MTBF or I/O advantage that they offer -- oh, and you have to need it badly enough to drop >$1 million on it.
Yep, the Sun workstations that we worked on in 1988 were about $40,000 a seat (hardware/software/support) and that did not include the server cost. They went to Sun Sparcstations in 1990, by then it had come down to about $18,000 a seat. At the same time you could get a PC built to run Autocad for about $7,500 (hardware/software). The company that I worked for in OKC has about 250 Autocad seats just for the OKC office. Now you can buy a PC off the shelf at Best Buy and for about 75% of Autocad users its performance will outstrip theirs, the software cost is 2-3 times that of the hardware.

[Ike]

Money.

Mainframes are mega-expensive, and they no longer have a sufficient processing power advantage over PCs. You typically only use mainframes these days when you need the MTBF or I/O advantage that they offer -- oh, and you have to need it badly enough to drop >$1 million on it.
Oh I know why mainframes fell out of style...that wasn't what I was referring to...I was wondering why *nix developmend of CADish things fell out of style.

[Vaevictis]

Same reason, just on a lesser scale.

PCs fundamentally caught up with the UNIX vendor work stations c. 1998, which is pretty much when the final death throes of the UNIX workstation market were starting.