Thank Goodness for Windows XP

[Hoomi]

I used to use Word Perfect quite a bit, until I started using some of the slack time at work to get some writing done (I'm kind of like the Maytag repairman; sit around and wait for things to break so I can fix them). Since the company licensed MS Word for all the computers here, I found it much easier to use the same word processor at home as I use at work, and not have to worry about conversion issues. Both Word Perfect and MS Word will open documents created on the other, but sometimes formatting is lost in the conversion.

The first novel-length manuscript I wrote was started on a 1905 Underwood typewriter. I thought I was in hog heaven when I upgraded to a daisy-wheel electric typewriter. Now, I can't figure out how I ever lived without a word processor.

 

[Pegleg]

Windows Vista is Crap!!


I have a new computer with quadcore processors 4 gb ram and windows vista.. Let me tell you that all the buggs are not worked out yet even with updates.. Windows vista is pretty is all I got to say but it takes 3 min to boot up and load everything, and I have more crashes with windows vista. going to reinstall windows XP except for looks and some security features it is not any improvement over windows Xp Microsoft just needed more oy your money is only reason for windows vista.

 

[ekremer]

I do have to ask. How much stuff are you loading? Many manufacturers put a bunch of bloat ware on new boxes that could be slowing down your system and possibly even crashing it. this is not vista fault but a greedy company that sells space on new boxes like advertising.

What programs are crashing? is it a blue screen? Security features are a huge deal in Vista. Sandbox mode in the new IE really helps prevent any permanent damage from malicious scripts. Security was the biggest change in vista vs xp. From this years White hat conference Vista itself w/o all the software like adobe flash etc is more secure then Mac OS which was hacked first this year on a Safari bug (Last year XP was hacked first I beleive). Additionally there have been half as many critical updates this year in Vista vs XP, which is very surprising seeing as how mature XP is. But thats beyond the point.

If you give us more information maybe we can hijack this thread and help you solve it before you go do something drastic and install XP. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but you may have a hard time finding all the proper drivers to get everything working again, Especially tough has been finding working drivers for web cams on new vista laptops for me.

(I do feel I have to say this since I am touting Vista a lot. I am not a Microsoft fan boy, I do enjoy what Apple has done with OSX and If I could get all my software to run on Linux I would be living there, However I do feel Vista gets a bad rap most of the time and the problems are really no different then any Microsoft upgrade.)

 

[Hoomi]

Pegleg, I'm going to echo what ekremer said. My Vista machine doesn't take near that long to boot up, though my wife's HP desktop running Vista takes longer. HP installed a lot more memory-resident software on the machine than Sony did.

My parent's computer was patheticially slow, running XP. When we were out in California over the holidays, my son-in-law and I both took a look at it. Between too little RAM and a BUNCH of unnecessary programs loading when it booted, it would take around 10 to 15 minutes (no kidding) from power-on to usable desktop. My SIL edited out many of the superfluous programs, which helped some, and on my next trip out there, I brought 1 Gb of RAM which fixed the problem completely.

The OS can only work with what it has. Your computer has plenty of RAM, but still, if it's loading a ton of junk when you boot, it's going to load it down.

 

[alcina]

Is there a list of what you need to keep at start up for the basics? I bought my Toshiba from Best Buy and I know that both Toshiba and Best Buy load a ton of stuff on the machines that I really don't need - or at least don't need running in the background at start up!

 

[ekremer]

If you press the windows key + R you will get the run menu (I know its hidden by default on my installation) and type in msconfig then enter (of course ).

If you go to startup and uncheck everything you will load just fine and much faster
Though some of the things you may want to keep check are your anti virus and anti spyware monitors. which sadly do slow down your pc more then I would like, I am talking Norton and Mcafee here the most popular bundled antivirus.
If you do not know what something does a quick google search will usually help.

After that if you are feeling brave you can mess around with your active services to speed things up a bit more

Other things you may want to keep are your brands network connection utility and your sound utility but they are not necassary.

As for what software to uninstall specifically Others may know off the top of their head but for me its one of those things that differ so much from pc to pc that I need to look at it myself and figure it out each time.

 

[Sas]

I always order my computer parts separately and build my PC up from scratch, I have done this many, many times for work (I have to build computers all the time at work to set up new testing environments), for family and for myself and Vista has been the easiest by a long shot. I have used a computer where Vista came preinstalled and it ran terribly due to a whole lot of dodgy programs, though I have found exactly the same with XP too. So I think a lot of people could avoid problems with new computers (with any OS) if they just built the machines themselves, it isn't hard.

Vista is a good OS, and I find a lot of the people bagging it out have not taken into consideration third-party software incompatibilities that are the fault of the third-party, dodgy hardware drivers which are the fault of the hardware manufacturer, user-error, or, in many cases, at least with my friends, have not actually used it themselves but just listen to the angry anti-M$ blogs on the net out there

So anyway, Pegleg, would be interested to hear about which bugs you have been getting with Vista, as well as crashes. I am sure I could help you solve them

 

[peterbj7]

Vista is a good OS

How is it that so many people have voted with their feet, to the extent that MS are known to be very concerned at the low takeup? It hasn't happened to anything like this extent with any of their previous offerings. Do you think it's an organised conspiracy, or could there be substance to it?

One factor might have been that there were many user problems with all versions of Windows prior to XP, and that was the first to contain drivers for most plug-in peripherals people used. So it was found to be pretty user-friendly. With a product that most people find suits them and meets their needs, they have a lot less incentive to go and try something totally new, especially when they're probably going to have to upgrade significant quantities of application software that under XP works just fine.

MS had a mountain to climb on this one, and IMO tackled it with even more than their usual ineptitude. For the first time ever significant numbers of "people in the street" are talking about alternatives to Windows, and to MS software generally. This could become an exceedingly expensive flop for them.

And of course the spying aspects of Vista are slowly becoming better known, and are really quite horrific. THAT's the key reason I'll never run it.

 

[Sas]

How is it that so many people have voted with their feet, to the extent that MS are known to be very concerned at the low takeup? It hasn't happened to anything like this extent with any of their previous offerings. Do you think it's an organised conspiracy, or could there be substance to it?

One factor might have been that there were many user problems with all versions of Windows prior to XP, and that was the first to contain drivers for most plug-in peripherals people used. So it was found to be pretty user-friendly. With a product that most people find suits them and meets their needs, they have a lot less incentive to go and try something totally new, especially when they're probably going to have to upgrade significant quantities of application software that under XP works just fine.

MS had a mountain to climb on this one, and IMO tackled it with even more than their usual ineptitude. For the first time ever significant numbers of "people in the street" are talking about alternatives to Windows, and to MS software generally. This could become an exceedingly expensive flop for them.

And of course the spying aspects of Vista are slowly becoming better known, and are really quite horrific. THAT's the key reason I'll never run it.

Vista is a good OS. I will stand by that. You disagree, and that is cool, each to their own. I work with a number of OSs on a daily basis and I choose to run Vista on my main PC at home (I am an avid gamer though so that has a lot to do with it). I have copies of all Windows OSs back to 98 but Vista is my favourite and will run that on any computer I set up now for personal use. This doesn't mean I think XP is bad though, and I think there is no point in upgrading to Vista from XP unless you are buying a new computer with OEM Vista included.

I don't think it is an organised conspiracy at all, well I don't really care if it is or not. I actually have not bothered to follow the sales of Vista at all as I know I like it so don't really care what others think. I do know that none of my techy friends have tried it, they all said it is a horrible OS - without actually trying it. I think this has something to do with Microsoft's terrible marketing though and how they did not respond well to the criticism from others (a lot of which is unfounded).

Also I would hardly consider Microsoft usually 'inept' given their huge profits and the fact that they still have an enormous share of the OS market (over 90% I believe). I would be interested too, to hear the percentage of 'significant' numbers that are switching to alternatives to Windows given that their market share sits above 90%.

 

[Hoomi]

I always wonder how much of the anti-Vista stuff I hear is really from people who didn't like the OS itself, and how much is from people who just don't like having to learn anything new (not suggesting that applies to anyone in particular, here or elsewhere).

I also wonder sometimes how much of the negative comments are based on the person's personal experience, and how much is based on perceptions they've gotten second-hand (or third-hand) from other people.

I mean, seriously; if Vista was as bad as I've heard some people say it is, my laptop wouldn't be useful for much more than being a paperweight.