Anyone using Vista yet?

[Rob Babcock]

From what I've heard, Vista is the real deal, more stable & user friendly than XP and with much improved security features. The main knocks I've heard are 1) it's new, therefore a little buggy and 2) it's a total pig, requiring a lot more system resources.

Has anyone here used it enough to give a reasonably informed opinion? The time is drawing near, I'm afraid, to trash my current PC and build a new, more powerful machine, based on a Conroe proc. When I do, I imagine I'll probably go with Vista, provided it has no major "gotcha's".

 

[jonnythan]

More stable? No.
More user friendly? No.
Improved security? No.

I've given it extensive testing both at home and at work. My professional suggestion? Don't move. There's *zero* reason to.

 

[jaxvon]

More stable? No.
More user friendly? No.
Improved security? No.

I've given it extensive testing both at home and at work. My professional suggestion? Don't move. There's *zero* reason to.

I've played with it a bit too, and I came to the same conclusion. It looks pretty, but that's it. Vista is also rife with DRM. It permeates the system. All the reading I've done just makes it look less and less attractive. I concur with Jonny. Vista is a waste of your time.

 

[j_garcia]

My friend is a developer and he's had it for a while. He said the same thing...

 

[Rocky]

I had it for about a month, got the retail release at the end of dec. I had nothing but problems, and it wont run well on a lower to mid end system either. It absolutely boggggggss down your system.

 

[Sheep]

I'm not Vista Compatible. Direct X9, 32bit processor, tough life.

When I do Upgrade my rig, I will get a conroe (or equivalent performing chip), and a DX10 Gcard, but that won't be for a long time. After all, the car needs new rims and rubber.

Now, I've heard that eventually Vista is going to be the only way to have a computer that works. That programs won't work on XP based systems in the future. Was this accurate information?

SheepStar

 

[jonnythan]

I'm not Vista Compatible. Direct X9, 32bit processor, tough life.

There's nothing wrong with that. Vista doesn't need a 64 bit processor and definitely doesn't need a DX10 video card. There are only 2 DX10 compatible cards on the market, and they both retail at over $500.

Vista will run decently well on most machines out there today, assuming you don't want the super-fancy whiz-bang glass interface. It does like lots of RAM (1GB minimum).

The problem is that it doesn't do anything for you that you're not doing now. Maybe after the first Service Pack comes out (rumored to actually be later this year) it might be worth considering, but for now there's no reason to upgrade.

As for the "Vista-only" stuff, it will be many years before you will need to have Vista to keep up software-wise. This is nothing whatsoever like the jump from 98 to XP.

 

[j_garcia]

Chief editor of CNET was on the radio yesterday and said he only recommends Vista if you are buying a new computer as that is the easiest way to make sure what you have is Vista compatible (and basically as of yesterday if you buy a new preloaded system it will come with Vista). For older systems, it isn't really a benefit.

 

[Nestor]

No Vista for me!

I'm going to be upgrading the main office pc on our network, but I'm sticking with XP.

I had to upgrade some of our business software two weeks ago and the staff has been on the phone with tech support every day trying to straighten out the things.

I can't bear the thought of having to spend even more money on replacement software to accomodate Vista.

 

[Nick250]

I've played with it a bit too, and I came to the same conclusion. It looks pretty, but that's it. Vista is also rife with DRM. It permeates the system. All the reading I've done just makes it look less and less attractive. I concur with Jonny. Vista is a waste of your time.

What is DRM?

Nick

 

[Sheep]

Hm,

Even though you don't need an uber computer to run it, you might as well go big and get 64bit and DX10. Don't be like my friend that bought a 64bit computer with an AGP graphics card slot.

Going to be awhile before I upgrade anyway, need to throw down around 1700 bucks, and thats only an "upgrade" No case, keyboard/mouse, PSU.

At least my old stuff will be good in a secondary rig. Maybe a server for LAN parties.

SheepStar

 

[Seth=L]

What is DRM?

Nick

"digital rights management"

 

[Hi Ho]

I used Vista in several beta forms and the latest worked very well. My PC is nearly five years old (Athlon XP 1800+, 768 MB RAM, GeForce 6600GT) and it did not bog down my system. The main problem was the lack of decent drivers for my Nvidia video card and Sound Blaster sound card. The sound card drivers simply did not work and the video card drivers performed very poorly. Otherwise, I really liked Vista.

I am going to build a new PC very soon and I will be installing Vista on it. Vista will be required for DX10 games.

 

[f0am]

I used Vista in several beta forms and the latest worked very well. My PC is nearly five years old (Athlon XP 1800+, 768 MB RAM, GeForce 6600GT) and it did not bog down my system. The main problem was the lack of decent drivers for my Nvidia video card and Sound Blaster sound card. The sound card drivers simply did not work and the video card drivers performed very poorly. Otherwise, I really liked Vista.

I am going to build a new PC very soon and I will be installing Vista on it. Vista will be required for DX10 games.

Heh I used to get Microsoft beta stuff, now they don't send me anything anymore = (. Funny how that works. I ignored all their emails asking what I thought of the beta's. Oops.

 

[jonnythan]

Microsoft released two RCs for free download from their website. That's how I got in on it.

 

[jonnythan]

BTW, the 6600GT was released less than 3 years ago

 

[Hi Ho]

BTW, the 6600GT was released less than 3 years ago

Yeah, well that's one thing I've upgraded. I also started out with 256 MB of RAM but that just wasn't cutting it with XP.

My point was that my completely average PC ran Vista perfectly. There is no need to go all out on a super high end machine to get good performace from Vista.

I wouldn't go with the 64 bit version right now. Just like XP 64bit, it will have serious limitations due to lack of driver and application support. Widespread 64bit apps are a few years away.