I Hate Windows Vista

[sjaak327]

Of course the Ultimate extras are not the only reason to go for ultimate. If you want to integrate vista into an active directory, then you will have to move to ultimate, but for home usage that's not applicable. One thing to note is that when using it as media centre, there is no remote desktop possiblity inside home premium. Of course some people at greenbutton.com found a way to include remote desktop into home premium. Home Permium also doens't have backup and bitlocker.

[Tywais]

I decided to try and get up to speed on Vista because I suspect more and more questions will pop up here regarding it plus just curious.

I'm not ready by a long shot to commit to it yet due to critical applications I need to test and see if there are any gotchas with Vista. So, I installed Vista Ultimate under VMWare 6.0. Configuration was virtual hardrive of 16GB (will change later when starting to install the heavy duty programs), reserved 1GB of memory out of the 2GB I have on my machine. Installation was a non-event, smooth and reasonably fast - about equivalent or faster then an XP install. Only 1 processor of the two (core2duo) being used by Vista. Start up times are around 30 seconds to the login prompt, and 5 seconds to full windows after login.

Installed Adobe Photoshop CS2 and Microsoft Office 2003 Suite and Firefox. Photoshop starts up fully in about 5 seconds and all Office products (Word, Excel, Publisher) I couldn't even count to 1 before they were fully up (less then 1 second). At the moment I have all those applications running and typing this from Firefox and have to say the performance is quite good. And this is from a Virtual Machine environment with it's own overhead.

I suspect loaded fully onto a hard drive, using all 2GB and both cores, it's going to be really fast. Can't tell though if I have full Aero running or not, just did the install and testing a couple of hours ago. Graphics is full 3D though and looks very nice. No performance hits that I can see. The network is working via NAT from my dialup modem under XP.

Will update as I experiment with more applications, but after reading several members bad experiences, I'm quite pleased with it so far. Still will wait for SP1 before I do commit, baring any glaring problems with applications.

My system is running on E6600 Core2Duo, 2GB Corsair Ram, GeForce EN6600GT (256MB Memory), 300GB Sata Drives x2. With such a medium level graphics card, graphics performance doesn't seem to be an issue. Will try some games, but may have problems running the top ones under a virtual machine environment.

[solo siam]

I have the same graphics card, it will be fine for Aero and HD, but will struggle with games.

[Tywais]

I have the same graphics card, it will be fine for Aero and HD, but will struggle with games.

Just a question on that. Under XP with this card I haven't found a game I can't play yet with all features set to max. Eg. BF2, F.E.A.R., Flight Sim-X, etc. so I assume you mean they will be less likely to perform well under Vista?

[solo siam]

Wow, what resolution are you running? - I use 1440x900 and most modern games crawl to a snails pace at well under mid-settings (C&C3, Warhammer MOC, and well just about everything..).

The 6600 is an old card, and it was only a mid-range card when it was released which must have been a couple of years ago now.

[Tywais]

Wow, what resolution are you running? - I use 1440x900 and most modern games crawl to a snails pace at well under mid-settings (C&C3, Warhammer MOC, and well just about everything..).

The 6600 is an old card, and it was only a mid-range card when it was released which must have been a couple of years ago now.

I'm running native resolution of my monitor (1280x1024). Honestly, I'm a bit surprised also, the only thing I can think of is that it is the Extreme edition which has about 28% higher performance then the base 6600GT. When I was using the card on my AMD dual core 3800 (also 2GB Corsair memory) and running Microsoft Flight Sim-X (which has large graphics features) I could only do about 50-60% (features) or a little more before it became choppy so assumed it was the video card limitation. When I upgraded to Intel E6600 core2duo, I was able to push nearly everything up to 100% and still smooth. Same with BF2 set at highest settings would occasionally get a hesitation, not often though with the AMD. With the Intel, it is smooth as silk.

[bstone]

I'll wait until service pack 2 comes out.

How long did it take MS to get XP working properly?

Vista is a whole different animal. It works better out of the box than XP after seven years of use and upgrades. Wait if you want but you're subjecting yourself to an inferior system.

I have installed Vista on a home computer and having major difficulties with it. Possibly due to the fact that I run XP on my day to day work computer then look at Vista periodically. Is there any one out there that could check my system out?

[Tywais]

Just ran into my first major stumbling block with Vista. I use Visual Basic 6.0 for program development at the laboratory and it won't install (just fails). So am looking at getting Visual Studio 2005 (VB 2005) which supposedly will work under Vista. And .NET is out of the question due to the many 10s of thousand lines of code already written by me and in use.

[cdnvic]

I'll wait until service pack 2 comes out.

How long did it take MS to get XP working properly?

Vista is a whole different animal. It works better out of the box than XP after seven years of use and upgrades. Wait if you want but you're subjecting yourself to an inferior system.

I have installed Vista on a home computer and having major difficulties with it. Possibly due to the fact that I run XP on my day to day work computer then look at Vista periodically. Is there any one out there that could check my system out?

What kind of difficulties and what are the specs on your system? (Memory, processor, etc)

[Jet Gorgon]

I dislike Vista, too. It's so ###### slow loading. Called my ISP and the agent said it is slower unless I get way more memory. Well, it's a promo deal, so I guess I'll get another system. Any suggestions> They want C$250 for the home pro edition. Yikes.

[cdnvic]

I dislike Vista, too. It's so ###### slow loading. Called my ISP and the agent said it is slower unless I get way more memory. Well, it's a promo deal, so I guess I'll get another system. Any suggestions> They want C$250 for the home pro edition. Yikes.

On 512mb it works but is very slow.

On 1gb it work ok, but is a bit sluggish.

On 2gb it's absolutely flies.

What does your system have now? You may just need to upgrade it, not replace it.

[kat]

Ok, trouble in paradise. I just bought a Dell e1405, with 1.8 GHz, 556 MHz, and 1 GB DDR2, with Home Vista Premium.

It is slow, and the machine has a problem coming out of sleep mode. I am not happy, because I wanted a machine that was not going to cause me problems. CDNVic already recommended that I buy another 1GB. I do not want to live another couple of years with a less than great computer.

I am not a techie. Anyone out there have suggestions or feedback, besides "buy a MAC"?

Thanks folks.

*edit: ok, Vic, I just saw your comment above. I'm not a techie. Any suggestions where I can get a good deal on another gig, and good installation? What is the technical term I should ask for - just 1GB of memory?

Edited July 23, 2007 by kat

[cdnvic]

*edit: ok, Vic, I just saw your comment above. I'm not a techie. Any suggestions where I can get a good deal on another gig, and good installation? What is the technical term I should ask for - just 1GB of memory?

I'd just take it into Circuit City, or Best Buy and have them install it. Good prices and least hassle. All you need is to get the identical memory that you have in the machine already (just identical specs, not brand) and their techs can make sure you have a match.

Some sales people will try to sell you better brands of memory but to be honest I've never found any practical difference between Kingston, Comstar, or Corsair so just go for the best deal within your specs. Here's a couple example products:

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Kingston-Te...roductDetail.do

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?sk...d=1134699426321

[Crushdepth]

Vista is much, much better than XP or anything that has gone before. Vista is good, accept it!

[Doudou]

2 weeks ago I bought a new laptop: Toshiba Satelite M200, 1.83GHz, 512MB Ram with Vista Home.  Only installed office and Skype on it.  The computer was so slow as to be unusable.  Even just after booting, opening folder took 2-3 seconds for the window to refresh.  And this even after diactivating all visual goodies.  So I took the computer back and had XP installed on it instead.  What a difference!!!  Some may say that 512MB is not enough for Vista, but there are no excuses for a computer to be slow right after booting, in the configuration it was purchased.  Vista is bad.  Funny that after every update of the OS windows are slower and MACs are faster.

[solo siam]

2 weeks ago I bought a new laptop: Toshiba Satelite M200, 1.83GHz, 512MB Ram with Vista Home. Only installed office and Skype on it. The computer was so slow as to be unusable. Even just after booting, opening folder took 2-3 seconds for the window to refresh. And this even after diactivating all visual goodies. So I took the computer back and had XP installed on it instead. What a difference!!! Some may say that 512MB is not enough for Vista, but there are no excuses for a computer to be slow right after booting, in the configuration it was purchased. Vista is bad. Funny that after every update of the OS windows are slower and MACs are faster.

If that were true then macs would be about 1,000 times quicker than a PC by now.

512mb is not enough to run Vista properly, its not actually much memory at all - Did the computer come with Vista installed (legally), I'd be surprised if you just threw way the OS and bought a new one (XP) at 5,000 baht - rather than just simply buying extra memory for half that cost.

[kat]

*edit: ok, Vic, I just saw your comment above. I'm not a techie. Any suggestions where I can get a good deal on another gig, and good installation? What is the technical term I should ask for - just 1GB of memory?

I'd just take it into Circuit City, or Best Buy and have them install it. Good prices and least hassle. All you need is to get the identical memory that you have in the machine already (just identical specs, not brand) and their techs can make sure you have a match.

Some sales people will try to sell you better brands of memory but to be honest I've never found any practical difference between Kingston, Comstar, or Corsair so just go for the best deal within your specs. Here's a couple example products:

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Kingston-Te...roductDetail.do

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?sk...d=1134699426321

Thanks Vic. I'll let you know how it goes.

[DeputyDawg]

I think Vista is great and what value only 250 baht for the Ultimate CD

[cdnvic]

I think Vista is great and what value only 250 baht for the Ultimate CD

You paid 250 baht for something you can get for free on Limewire or bittorent? If you're going to use gimped, stolen software don't be stupid enough to pay for it.

[Doudou]

2 weeks ago I bought a new laptop: Toshiba Satelite M200, 1.83GHz, 512MB Ram with Vista Home. Only installed office and Skype on it. The computer was so slow as to be unusable. Even just after booting, opening folder took 2-3 seconds for the window to refresh. And this even after diactivating all visual goodies. So I took the computer back and had XP installed on it instead. What a difference!!! Some may say that 512MB is not enough for Vista, but there are no excuses for a computer to be slow right after booting, in the configuration it was purchased. Vista is bad. Funny that after every update of the OS windows are slower and MACs are faster.

If that were true then macs would be about 1,000 times quicker than a PC by now.

512mb is not enough to run Vista properly, its not actually much memory at all - Did the computer come with Vista installed (legally), I'd be surprised if you just threw way the OS and bought a new one (XP) at 5,000 baht - rather than just simply buying extra memory for half that cost.

It is true that at each new major OS version, more parts of the MacOS are optimized for the processor it is running on.  Particularly since the switch to Intel processor.  And I never said that at each update the OS would be several times faster, just that it is indeed faster because better written. 

512mb may not be enought to run Vista. But the laptop was new and came with Vista Home pre-installed.  Beside you don't need to have 512mb to open folders!  when an OS is just booted it is not yet using cashed memory, so why should it be so slow?  That's is why I didn't not buy extra memory, and prefered to pay someone 750B to install XP instead.  

[kat]

*edit: ok, Vic, I just saw your comment above. I'm not a techie. Any suggestions where I can get a good deal on another gig, and good installation? What is the technical term I should ask for - just 1GB of memory?

I'd just take it into Circuit City, or Best Buy and have them install it. Good prices and least hassle. All you need is to get the identical memory that you have in the machine already (just identical specs, not brand) and their techs can make sure you have a match.

Some sales people will try to sell you better brands of memory but to be honest I've never found any practical difference between Kingston, Comstar, or Corsair so just go for the best deal within your specs. Here's a couple example products:

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Kingston-Te...roductDetail.do

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?sk...d=1134699426321

Thanks Vic. I'll let you know how it goes.

OK, so I talked to a Dell tech support guy, and he tells me that my Inspiron 1405 has two slots for memory, and mine is using both for a total of 1 GB (2x512). I therefore can't get 2GB, but only up to 1.5 if I take one out and put in a 1GB. He told me that it is probably slow because of my software, and advised me to take off Google desktop and turn off some features, like aero (?), which I don't have on anyway.

This is going to be a hassle, I can tell.

[cdnvic]

That's annoying. They could have easily shipped it with a single 1gb chip. You can actually take out the 512s and put in two 1gb chips. Some shops may take the 512s in exchange.

[canadiangirl]

That's annoying. They could have easily shipped it with a single 1gb chip. You can actually take out the 512s and put in two 1gb chips. Some shops may take the 512s in exchange.

Hey Kat,

speaking as an ex-nerd, I agree with cdnvic. I don't see why you couldn't get 2 1-gb chips, 1 for each slot, and get a total of 2 gigs. Lots of memory should solve most of your speed problems, I think, or at least the type of problems you get when trying to run lots of different programs at once. Try not to install too many programs you don't really need, that will help too, but it's better just to get more memory.

I run Linux, which is a different story from Vista, but I've definitely noticed a huge improvement in speed from my old computer with 512 mb, to my new computer with 2 gigs of memory.

You might be able to save money by installing the memory yourself or buying a geeky friend a beer to do it. Over here, the stores charge something like 50$ to install memory (+ cost of the memory) for something that takes 2 minutes to do if you're not afraid of opening things up.

Good luck with your computer!

[tigerbeer]

I think Vista is great and what value only 250 baht for the Ultimate CD

You paid 250 baht for something you can get for free on Limewire or bittorent? If you're going to use gimped, stolen software don't be stupid enough to pay for it.

[DeputyDawg]

I think Vista is great and what value only 250 baht for the Ultimate CD

You paid 250 baht for something you can get for free on Limewire or bittorent? If you're going to use gimped, stolen software don't be stupid enough to pay for it.

If you feel a sudden rush of wind sweeping your thinning hair backwards then don't worry its just my sense of humour passing over your head.

[tigerbeer]

I think Vista is great and what value only 250 baht for the Ultimate CD

You paid 250 baht for something you can get for free on Limewire or bittorent? If you're going to use gimped, stolen software don't be stupid enough to pay for it.

If you feel a sudden rush of wind sweeping your thinning hair backwards then don't worry its just my sense of humour passing over your head.

spot on buddy ! .. now back to the topic, i havent tried vista and i do not intent to. cosmetics over xp with a lot less stability?

anyone for some cups of ubuntu???? . am loving it.