It's no
shock that Windows Vista isn't, shall we say,
universally loved, and it's also unsurprising that a plethora of businesses have voiced their preference to keep on runnin' their operations on Windows XP. Presumably in response, Microsoft is "quietly allowing PC makers to offer a downgrade option to buyers that get machines with the new operating system but want to switch to Windows XP," but the program only applies to Vista Business and Ultimate editions. The likes of Fujitsu, HP, Lenovo and Dell all have processes in place to ensure that customers have the ability to downgrade if they so choose, and while some firms are
still selling their PCs with XP pre-installed, debates are already swirling around how long that tactic can remain in place.
posted Sep 21st 2007 5:01PM
Great - in January, you'll be buying PCs with Linux installed (saving money on Windows) and then you can install XP on that PC - no junkware to remove with a fresh install. MS will have more and more people exploring linux as that will come on their PC slowly eroding some of their market share - Bill could be strict but he was very smart - Balmer just has momentum (partially from his girth).
Awwww, look at the cute little Linux boy. Mommy told him 8 years ago, and every year since, that this was "The year of Linux", and he believed her (just like when she told him that he was a handsome little boy). And you still have not broken the 5% marketshare yet. Don't worry I am sure that next year will be "The year of Linux" (snicker).
That was harsh. Boe didn't make any of the allegations of which you accuse him.
No one buys Linux. Linux for the average user at Starbucks or Stickam is never going to happen. Never going to happen linux fanboys!
gee - "No one buys Linux"
Yes, that's because it's free!
LOL @ stephenbratz2
Your a joke dude...
Actually, aren't there some loonics distributions that are charged for?
Ummm...Red Hat? I don't really know, I haven't used Linux in years...
"slowly" is right. I'm all for Linux as a complement to Windows, but surely you have to admit that none of the distributions are anywhere near mature enough to be distributed with a new PC to people who've grown up on Windows or Mac OS. When I have to spend 4 hours compiling various libraries to get my MP3 player synchronised I know that something isn't quite finished yet. Until there is a seamless graphical interface for absolutely everything in the OS it just isn't ready for mainstream consumption, and right now that's not the case with any of even the friendliest Linux distros.
He still has a good point that this creates opportunities for other operating systems. And if there's more interest, there will be more development. It's obvious now that there is a big market of people who are frustrated by bad quality Microsoft software who can't afford (current) Macs.
I don't know what all the whining about Vista is about. Sure they had some kinks to work out, as it has been for every new Windows release but my machine is working far better than XP ever did. Can't really picture it performing any better. Hoping that SP1 will take it that extra step forward though. =)
I've been using Vista for quite a while and I have very few problems. In fact, my only problem was solved with the patch that was leaked a few weeks ago. It's stable, beautiful, and does _very many_ things my mac mini can't do.
Anyone who thinks Vista has issues obviously doesn't use the OS.
Yeh I cant find any problems caused by vista by it self. However I did buy a new computer recently and I am going to install my own copy of vista because I have had allot of problems because of all the crap companies put on it to make it "easier" to use. And I don't mean just demo's I mean their own software 2.
I agree, and why don't you guys ever "blog" about the various fixes that have come out over the past couple of months that have fixed nearly every problem?
Nothing you can argue will make Vista run slower or worse than XP on my PC
Of course Engadget won't blog about the improvements in Vista. They're too busy having their noses up Apple's ass to do it. Besides, I don't think their contract with Apple would allow it.
Please remember kids that just because YOU don't have problems that's not to say other people don't. Some of this is to do with legacy programs (of which one of my clients has two applications that stop them moving to Vista) and some are to do with Microsoft's own software working with Vista i.e. Visual Studio. Vista has problem like any OS but blindly denying this fact doesn't get these issues fixed.
My attempt at running vista over the summer ended in disaster. I ran it for a week, but my system ran slower, I couldn't use my webcam, joystick, DVB-T tuner and half my USB devices. In the end, I reinstalled XP.
I will try vista again - probably when SP1 is released. However, until then I'm sticking with XP.
I know that my hardware manufacturer is partly to blame, but I feel vista should have more backwards compatibility with drivers. Anyway, I liked 3/4 of vista and disliked the rest. Unfortunately, the 1/4 I disliked got in the way of day to day usage more than the 3/4 I liked.
Leo (Hi fishjew)
I agree, have been using Vista for some time now, I had a few minor problems right after the install but was able to resolve everything. It has been running just fine without any problems for many month now. I like it and I think it is a lot nicer than XP.
Brian, first off, I'm probably old enough to be your father. Second of all, we aren't denying the fact that Vista has problems, we are simply stating that there are fixes for everyone of them and Vista has been pretty open about them, while Engadget never mentions it. Most people are just ignorant or don't have the patience to get things working and they want it done right away, regardless of the possibilities this new OS can give them, hence why they settle for something easy and basic (Mac OS).
Leo, Microsoft didn't just upgrade a pre-existing OS like Mac OS are done. They completely started from scratch and have revolutionized the file system to a much more secure and reliable state. Vista wasn't a runoff like XP was to 98, and 98 to 95 and so on. It's supposed to set new grounds for future OSes which is exactly what .NET is all about: being dynamic. I guarantee you that future OSes won't have this incompatibility issue as everything will be derived from this root. People just need to be a little more understanding and not bash something they have invested so much on and obviously know that in the long run will be beneficial for both them (Microsoft) and the customers they rely on.
PS - I do not work or intend on working for Vista. I just know good things when they come my way.
XP was not a 'run off' of 98. Windows 98 was DOS based and used the FAT32 file system. XP is NT based with a DOS emulator and uses the NTFS file system by default but also had support for FAT32.
DOS -> Windows 3.x -> Windows 95 -> Windows 98
Windows NT -> Windows 2000 -> Windows XP
Vista, well IE crashes out of the box on some PCs, I have seen a few high end systems that refuse to boot Vista but I have also seen customers that are very happy with their Vista computers and the IE problems can be sorted with Firefox or Opera so I guess its just down to luck!
@Alex
"Most people are just ignorant or don't have the patience to get things working and they want it done right away, regardless of the possibilities this new OS can give them, hence why they settle for something easy and basic (Mac OS)."
And you cite ignorant people, Alex? Pot calling kettle. I've been into computers for over 20 years, and have used many different OSes. THink I am "ignorant" or just can't handle the complexity taht is Microsoft? No, I don't use MS because they make crap.
Ignorant people just blindly walk into a computer store and buy the cheapest garbage box, and that is how they end up with Windows. Sort of the same wayu people end up with a Kia when they go buy a car. Then, if they make any progress with it, enough to impress one of their equally ignorant friends, they too end up with the same Microsoft garbage. Influencial ignorance. Then, there are the people who listen to someone like you, who is also ignorant, just on another level.
I'm sure you are mighty impressed with yourself & autocad, and your video editing and consider yourself an *expert* and easily impress the uninitiated. Then recommend they use Windows. What a disservice...
Fanboys are always annoying but a MS fanboy is much more so. Like a Bush supporter, a blind followalong. Most people who actually research the two end up with Macs.
But unfortunately, it isn't a purchase many look into before the plunge.
"Microsoft didn't just upgrade a pre-existing OS like Mac OS are done. They completely started from scratch and have revolutionized the file system to a much more secure and reliable state."
Yes, that is What Apple did too, SIX YEARS AGO. Mac OS9 & MAc OSX are completely different from the ground up. Little late in the game MS with your Longhorn, oh, I mean Vista.
And even after all that time to catch up, they HAVE NOT.
To listent ot you babble on about all the wonderful MS technologies is like listening to a Jehovah's Witness try to convert a normal person, the brainwashing is apparent.
BalmerBrainwash?
*shudder*
IgnoAlex, first of all, I am not going to stoop down to your level and begin calling you names. Apparently, you don't know the definition of ignorant so I'm going to give it to you:
1. Ignorant: lacking knowledge or information as to a particular subject or fact.
I didn't mean to use the word insultingly, but simply to point out that the majority of consumers are people that are using the machine for basic tasks such as web browsing and word processing and are unaware of fixes to problems that are present.
Now, your knowledge on Mac OSes and the complexities of 98 and XP is impressive, but your 5th grade attitude isn't. Now to say that MS makes crap has discredited anything you had to say. I'm not going to get into a MS/Apple battle with you because your cult-prone personality won't get the discussion anywhere.
Enjoy your "Appl3" buddy (don't know if they added that word as well to their dictionary of copyrighted words and don't want to get sued).
" Ignorant: lacking knowledge or information as to a particular subject or fact."
Yes, and that encompases your post to a T.
You label me an Apple fan, yet you are the one posting anti-apple comments every chance you get. MS DOES make crap - their security is atrocious, their memory footprint is giant, and to run the full version of Vista, you need to have quite the hardware set up. Microsoft has thier market share for multiple reasons, but none are quality. Sort of like McDonalds - great marketing, lousy food. How many billion burgers have they sold? And they were all delicious, I'm sure. You are resistant to anything Apple, and that is obvious. I spend time with both OSes daily, I bet you can not say the same, can you?
Yes, if people knew the complexities & could fix them, they would flock to Windows. Yeah, OK...
And if everyone were a mechanic, we wouln't need warantees on our cars. I guess all non mechanics are ignorant, according to your logic.
Hey buddy, I'm not even going to waste anymore of my time on this immature argument. You were the one who turned this into an Apple/MS argument, so just walk away.
BTW, it's warranty, not warrantee. And as far as the mechanics being ignorant, I don't understand how that follows my logic? That would actually support my logic as they are knowledgeable and won't migrate to something lesser because of it. Dumbass.
Anyways, have a good life.
*snicker*
just keep on proving my point!
And you call me the dumbass?
Try running it in a network environment - SLOW file transfers unless you have a 2008 server running IP6 and even then it is SLOW. And in case you think I'm wrong - just do some research - identical hardware using the latest drivers, no bells and whistles on, no AV or AS or firewall - still MUCH SLOWER in file transfers - not useful for business users. Also slows down Outlook clients - OH and for home users you'll get much better gaming performance running XP. OH - the security updates are so annoying that the first thing most people do is turn UAC off. No advantage to Vista except it runs DX10 for the 2 games that support it although there is very little visual improvement for those games.
Actually, my version of Vista Business runs comparable to XP without the bloatware. The amount of drivers included with the install of Vista are excellent, and only a fool would disable UAC because it's "annoying." My firewall (on XP systems) can be annoying too, but I don't disable it. On Vista, I don't need to run anything besides antivirus. Oh yeah, games work just fine on Vista for me too and in some cases, they look better on Vista. I think that Microsoft should get some credit for a job well done.
Sorry, this reply was meant for wslcrew. I'm not sure what happened here.
very little visual improvement?
DX10 isn't going to automatically update all old games an make them look absolutely f'king amazing (y)
The slow file transfer/copying got fixed some time ago.
Actually, our Vista boxes clearly beat our XP boxes for both throughput and latency in our internal testing.
Vista is bloated though. I will agree to that.
This is very interesting. To think that a company will promote downgrading their products. I particularly don't care for Vista. I've recently bought 3 computers and chose XP over Vista. Even the one that came with Vista, I changed to XP.
I don't want to pay for eye candy. Even my XP systems are changed to classic view so I can get the best performance possible.
Vista's turning into the next ME?
To. Andir3.0
Haha, I was thinking the exact same thing! I feel that the single biggest threat to Vista so far have been XP. Heck, I can get a free genuine copy of Vista right now from my school but I still won't upgrade.
@ Jake,
Why are you acting like such an MS fanboy?
MS has had real problems introducing Vista to the masses and this "option to downgrade" is a clear sign of that. Other than being pushed down the throat of anyone who wants to get a new computer, people prefer XP because it's a tested and supported OS. Everyone that I've talked to has chosen to downgrade their systems from Vista to XP. And they're not alone. I've done it too.
So, unless you own stock in MS, try to stay focus to the subject being discussed. Engadget is an equal opportunity basher. So, don't take your defense of MS too personal. I'm not taking cheap shots at you or being disrespectful. But, Vista has not been well received by the masses. And please, don't push the "40 millions copies sold" or whatever number MS has thrown around. Because, when you decide to buy a new pc, you haven't had much choice. It wasn't until the summer that companies like Dell started to offer you that choice. Otherwise, you were stuck with Vista. So MS is doing what it has no choice to do; and that's to allow people to downgrade to XP without any hassle. So the interesting thing to find out is how many people have downgraded their systems from Vista to XP. That'd be a nice number to show MS's real success with Vista.
Wait.. You turn off the themes in xp for a performance boost? I'm curious, what are your system specs?
@ Ellianth
I've been doing that for a long time. I tend to use my P4 2.4 most of the time for internet browsing. But, I use a Core2Duo E6550 for video and audio production. Anyway, I still try to turn off as many services as possible, turn themes off, work on the "Startup" section so I don't have unnecessary applications running. I'm no expert, but common sense dictates that the less non-required programs/applications I have running, the more cpu power I get. What I do is go to "Control Panel", "Sytem", "Advanced" tab, in the "Performance box select "Settings" button, then click on "Adjust for best performance." That works well for me.
wow they pretty much admitted defeat right there
Instead of downgrading to XP why don't they upgrade to Ubuntu for free
they should have just fixed up xp's issues, added the new skin, gadgets, etc isntead of wasting all that time going from scratch, then scrapping it, then rushing off another attempt.
I have xp with a vista theme installed and it's just fine, and runs work files like 3ds max/photoshop far faster than a vista machine with the same hardware.
ms coders need to learn a VERY simple lesson, you go over your old work. look at it and laugh, and say, wow, I could do the same thing in half the lines with what I know now.
if they went and did that to xp it would have been faster/better.
I can't understand them at all at this point, they've thrown all the basics out the window.
Why would they spend more time and effort into XP when they can do all the fixes you've mentioned, but instead, sell it to you as Vista. I completely agree with those that think that moving to Vista is not the greatest idea yet. But, like Apple, MS makes money from their OS's. And they want to sell you the same product over and over again. Sure they make updates to them periodically. But, if they can squeeze $129 out of your wallet one more time, they're more than happy to do so.
ummm... becuase xp came from nt.. so I'm saying vista could have evolved from xp...
I'm not saying they can't charge money for things. you've misread that completely.
instead they started from less. which means things like networking, which were stable and running on xp. now aren't.
@Rob
I'm moderately certain that Apple makes little money from sales of their OS. They do, however, make a lot of money if you buy a new Mac to run the new OS. As with software that Apple makes, it's mostly there to drive sales of Macs which is where the real money is made. Microsoft, of course, doesn't have this option and that goes some way to explaining the high cost of the OS and Office software.
kelmon, that was completly.. wrong. ms makes alot of money from windows, it's on almost ever single laptop or desktop being sold. they could charge $2 and still make billions, think about how many computers are sold per year.
Try getting the downgrade from Lenovo. We had a X61 Tablet from Lenovo and came with Vista Business pre-installed. Each time I requested the downgrade I was told to go to our supplier, they directed me to Microsoft, they directed me to Lenovo.
*sigh*
I don't know i'm in a small business environment running 25 vista business and one vista ultimate machine with Small Business Server 2003 and there hasn't been a noticeable hit nor a noticeable gain in network speed. All in all i say my machines run about the same as they did running xp. UAC is still on for all but a few users. Most of the PCs we're running were purchased in '03 so they're a few years old but they run vista just fine. I'm not saying Vista's perfect but this reminds me of all the clamoring there was when XP first came out, where people just didn't want to upgrade to XP in preference of Windows 2000. Now i wouldn't try to run vista on hardware from 2000 and i feel like alot of people are trying to do just that. Yes it requires faster hardware resources and it will run sluggish if you're trying to run it on a machine which just simply doesn't have said resources, but on any of the machines i've purchased in the last two years its been running just fine.
it depends what you're doing.
running 25 vista machines with office at a law firm.
and running 25 vista machines at a video game company are 2 different things.
if you don't need cpu power, or large 2gb+ files transfers, then sure, I bet vista is fine.
a lot of people out there need their computers to do complex computational tasks besides keyboard input and that's where vista starts to choke.
That's the thing i'm doing 25 vista machines @ an architecture firm 10 machines of which are doing heavy 3dsmax work, the rest running autocad and photoshop mostly. So far none of the rendering staff has complained about slowdown, as to the other set of staff (of which i'm a part) we haven't noticed much of a difference in either direction, though i might be the exception.
if you benchmarked them you'd notice a difference. if you still have an xp box around but the vista next to the xp machine, load the same scene, and render a 2300 frame file as an example.
vista eats more cpu cycles and ram than xp does, so how you haven't noticed a difference with that sort of work I'm not sure.
I don't agree at all. It all depends on what software you're using. I would say that about 70% of my CPU usage time I am either using AutoCAD for school or editing my videos with Vegas 8.0 and Premiere. I can assure you that my render time have improved at least 25% over XP and I haven't had any of these programs crash on me once.
Like it has been said before, there are fixes out there to resolve all the issues. Whether it is third-party app fixes or OS fixes, it's out there.
Well it does help that i'm as blind as a bat and have no sense of time :) Unfortunately the few XP boxes we have lying around are underpowered compared to any of the rigs running vista so i can't run a true side by side comparison. I'll concede that vista does indeed use up more resources than XP; now has that made an appreciable difference in our overall rendering times or capabilities, not as far as i can see, nor as far as the rest of the staff here is concerned. Now am i miffed that vista isn't any faster than XP, yeah a little but i wouldn't call it any slower at least perceptually than XP. This seems like the same argument as NT4 to 2000 and 2000 to XP, i'm sure in however many years as it takes for another PC OS to come out we'll have people complaining as to why they can't downgrade to Vista. Either that or we'll all be running OSX.
@Anthony: HA! I'm running Mac OSX on a p4 1.7ghz in the bedroom. it doesn't run max, but it's surprisingly VERY fast on an integrated 8mb video card. it really makes me consider switching to a hackintosh permanently. or atleast dual booting.
glad to hear vista is working for you though.
I'm not the hugest fan of OSX but i was pretty close to buying a macbook for trips and such but opted for a vaio instead, though i think i could have lived with the integrated graphics in the end.
You know a new OS is in bad shape when enough consumers requested the downgrade option and force Microsoft relent to the demand.
My laptop came with Vista. I love it, there's no going back for me. While businesses aren't expected to enjoy the OS change (I can think of several good, obvious reasons), as a home user I find Vista fun and fast.
"as a home user I find Vista fun and fast"
Just wait till you try Mac OS X ;)
I have tried Mac, but I prefer Windows.
Heh... I use both on a daily basis, but its just so much fun provoking Windows users ;)
LIES!!!! No one PREFERs windows to OSX!!! They're just cheapskates
i don't find vista fun and fast? i have a five year old laptop running XP and a new laptop with a lot more grunt including four times the RAM and guess what... the old lap top is faster by a mile.
I am ditching vista and going back to XP.
i guess resistance is not futile after all.
I have Vista Ultimate, came with my 4 gig Dell in May, Love it and am never going back to XP. I loved XP when I had it, I just dont understand all this vista fuss being a home user. It is "NOT" another Windows ME.
just tried vista few days ago lol
my god first thing i do when i hit desktop i open task manager 640MB of ram usage what F$#&*# a hog + few apps are not compatible yet with vista they work but work arounds take time to doing manually.
I thought with all this time since launch they might have lower the memory footprint of there bloated OS, i grad my XP backup image and restored my HD.
how come Linux distros can use Compiz Fusion (3D desktop) with less then 200MB of ram usage and very little CPU usage we taklkig about less then 2% when playing with cool effects vs vista cpu usage jumps to around 25% to 50%
windows XP uses 128MB of RAM out the door
I said it once, I'll say it again:
The only major issue with Vista, is the lack of drivers for compatibility with old pieces of software.
That's practically the only thing that's stopped many consumers. One of the consequences of something new. That's it.
Otherwise than that, you can dual-boot XP, or just use XP only. It's not a big of a deal. It's not really Vista as a problem in itself, it's the software/hardware makers who won't update their drivers for these devices/programs.
So as long as you have a new compute with, say, 4GB of RAM, Vista seems like a totally cool upgrade.
What a bunch of whiners everyone else is, why don't they just buy new computers, man?
No, two GB is enough.
I have 1 gig and it's enough.
The problem is there is so much FUD being spread by the vocal minority (and Linux fanboys) that no one even tries Vista to find out how much of an improvement it is.
I use XP at work and Vista at home, and my preference is hands down Vista.
our school got new vista computers but they wanted xp for their stuff. im not sure how they got it, but the coa on the computers are vista business licenses.
Vista is a resource intensive OS and not all applications are compatible. I think in the beginning a lot of video drivers were not ready and OEMS were not able to configure the OS properly with all the other bloat-ware they added.
Reformatting your drive and reloading Vista may help some having issues. I feel MS should have been on top of Dell, Sony, HP, etc. on how they were setting up the OS. Those companies were at fault by not testing the configuration.
This is NOT news at all. MS does this with EVERY business release. Windows 2000 Pro allowed a "free" downgrade to NT 4 Workstation. XP Pro allowed a free downgrade to 2000 Pro.
While Vista may be a disappointment, it's not the reason the free downgrade is available
It's just these Apple-biased sites trying to use this as negative publicity. To me, having the option is better than not.
@Alex:
I agree. I'm a Linux user, and I appreciate the ability to go back if things don't work out. Feel free to correct me, but I haven't seen a way to back out Apple updates when I was supporting OS X machines (in particular, the Airport update that added WPA2 killed some old-school iBooks).
As an IT pro, it's much appreciated to be able to simply go back when all your users complain about something "Well, it worked BEFORE".
I was not aware of that. Thank you. I do agree with alex though, this topic can easily be swayed to make it look like Microsoft realizes Vista is terrible.
There are reasons why MS does this. I know this because well we own a business. We have software and hardware here that will downright not work with Vista. We need XP to run our systems. So if we wanted a new computer and all the have is Vista, then we would have to go out of our way to have it downgraded to XP. Plus not everyone is all that great with computers. It would cost companies too much retraining all their employees for Vista.
Remember the old days when a product was sold on the strengths of its merits?
I have a 17" ASUS notebook from 2006 which has 2.0Ghz Core Duo CPU, 3GB Ram, 256MB (512MB shared) GPU, and I bought Vista Ultimate edition at a retail location and it cost a pretty penny ($390). Now, I will admit it performed alright and wasn't giving me too many problems even though it is very bloated. The driver issue isn't so much M$'s fault but as another has pointed out, it is SLOW over a network. It was unbearable and my home gigabit network was reduced to a crawl. Transfereing files took hours instead of minutes and my music collection on my nas kept slowing down during playback. Well, I was pissed. I googled the problem and a lot of other people had same issues. Sure, there was some supposed fixes by the user communities but it didn't work for me.
So, three weeks ago I downloaded Linux Ubuntu 7.04 and couldn't be happier. Granted, the linux setup for my particular notebook was a bitch but after it was setup, it is working great. Actually, linux and the command line terminal is what I really like about it. Very powerful (yeah, it was a pain to learn, almost like another language) and the free software (F/OSS) is very nice.
So anyway, Vista is what made me change to linux. I'm just pissed about the money I spent on vista and ms office.
I'm not sure about you, but I don't experience those problems that you mentioned.
Don't forget - Hardware matters as much as the software on it, itself.
I haven't heard Asus being known for Vista-quality or anything like that at all. If they're specs are bad, they're bad. So it doesn't come as a surprise to me. I also remember Engadget mentioning, in an article, about how Asus' own CEO claims that their computers aren't up to Vista's standards.
I hear so many stories like yours, it's a wonder if they're conducted by exactly the same group of people.
"Vista users switching to Linux. It's that bad."
I don't buy it.
Re: Michael
I listed my primary hardware spec's to note the fact it isn't that dated and is plenty powerful enough to handle vista ulitmate and my notebook did handle it just fine. Nothing is subpar about my Asus hardware and I consider myself pretty competent in regards to my computer and network usage. As I said in my original post, I had a problem with my network traffic. I have a lot of large files, graphics, music collection, movie collections (avi's, mkv's, & iso's) that is stored on my nas through a gig network. XP did not have a problem with my network but vista did. From what I understand from memory is that the problem is while playing any type of audio the network will prioritize the multimedia files first and slow everything else in the network and this is a "feature" that was added on purpose.
This was the "major" issue I had with vista. Not the drivers like a lot of other people since Asus has been very good about issuing vista compatable drivers (except for the GPU ATI x1600 which is ATI/AMD's shortcoming, not Asus's). I could have just re-installed my XP but, like you said, I too have read a lot of people trying out Linux so I gave it a shot.
Now, if people think they have a hard time finding drivers in vista for their hardware, on Linux Ubuntu for my particular Asus W2Jb notebook was a pain in the butt and I would not recommend at all for them to try it out on their notebook without first checking the web for similiar notebooks and finding out the success/frustration rate. But, as much a pain it was to initially setup my notebook, now that it is setup I am VERY happy about it and VERY happy that I did switch. I'm learning a lot of new things and I enjoy that but a lot of people would not agree with me on this issue.
Anyway, sorry but, I'm not part of some predetermined group trying to sway the public opinion one way or another. Just sharing my gripe, thoughts, and experience.
I'm actually fairly pleased with Vista, been a lot more stable for me than XP
Ha! you said we had processes in place?!? have you ever called us here at Dell? Good luck with the downgrading!
Called you? At Dell? Jeffry does not sound like an Indian name to me! You can't be at Dell! They don't employ Americans!
Habbib with one B maybe!
I'm in medical school, and we were forced to buy laptops through my school from a computer dealer (lenovo). Vista was pre-installed on our laptops. We have had so many compatibility issues. On top of that, everyone's laptops were crashing 4 to 5 times a day. Lenovo is supposed to be replacing everyone's laptop, with better memory, speed, etc. with XP installed instead of Vista. Half of our class ended up switching to mac on their own.
ncix has had this aug.14. talk about bad reporting!
http://forum.ncix.com/forums/index.php?mode=showthread&forum=198&threadid=1408353&pagenumber=1&msgcount=24&subpage=1
That's a great option for those that are having problems with a new OS configuration.
I wouldn't downgrade to XP if they paid me.
I am using Vista in my business with no problems, it is much better than XP.
Vista is a huge complicated OS, but I find it has stability and since I upgraded all my computers my business has run more smoothly.
I think Vista Business is great and would not change back to XP.
http://business-success22.blogspot.com
http://www.adversityovercome.com
I don't think that this is anything new. I'm pretty sure Microsoft has allowed downgrading of OEM licenses for some versions of Vista since launch.
I'm just a regular student user. Vista has been far more stable than XP.
Even my wife has no hassles with it. That's saying something you don't know!
Vista is a huge pile. Plain and simple.
Dad bought a new HP with Vista and I tried to help him do simple things like:
* Find things
* Setup the WiFi connection
* Install and remove applications
* Just get the F-ing computer to work well.
Guess what, nothing like XP, we both were confused as he!! and nowhere as easy to figure out than either XP or OS X.
Kept telling him to buy a Mac, but he wishes he could go back to XP.
Vista is shaping up to be the next ME - I'd bet that many won't go to Vista for years, if at all. There are pretty much 0 reasons to get off the stability, reliability, and familiarity of XP.
Like Office 2007, you will have to pretty much retrain your entire IT and regular staff. At that point, it makes sense to look at other options where it makes sense.
you know a nice thing about Vista?
up in the corner of control panel there is a nice box.
type things like: "wireless" or "remove programs" or what ever you need.
not that difficult.
We did find the WiFi, but it wouldn't accept the key - it's a valid key that worked on my Powerbook, the wife's MacBook, and his old XP laptop. Would never connect.
And, that box - you mean like the one I've had on OS X since 2005? :)
I'll stick with reccomending OS X. Less calls for me, better experiences for them. "It just works" is pretty much true (I used to be a skeptic).
took me 5 minutes to understand vista and what it was they were changing. setup? there is no setup outside of disabling control settings. office 2007 can be used by a monkey its that easy. the html abilities of 2007 make previous versions an embarrassment.
I was a early adopter of Vista and I have to admit it was pretty buggy to begin with but the updates that have been released since I first installed it have it running just as smooth as XP, and as far as compatibility issues I'd say 99% of my hardware and software functions properly on vista, and the newest versions of software are being designed to work with Vista so people will eventually need to upgrade to Vista, or continue to use outdated software.
Y'all so damn proud declaring being one more XP luddite is just sad.
Well idiots are born everyday. Vista is a far more user friendly interface. Only fool looks back and doesn't embrace tomorrow's genius. It may take time to get use to but it is worth the effort.
Wow. Finally. I just hope they offer the same for home premium. I had a laptop that came with vista, takes up at least 80% of the processor idling. Then I installed XP on it, but HP didn't want to make drivers. Even though it booted in about a second. Literally 1 second. Then I reinstalled vista and it went back to taking a half hour to boot. How can you say that vista is better for people who want to do anything with a computer? I was using it for word and internet, and it was still way too horribly slow. My old 800mhz laptop with 256mb of ram running ubuntu was faster than my 2.8ghz with 2gb of ram laptop running vista.
Vista is horrible. It's a great concept, but computer manufacturers need to give us the option of using vista or XP. I'll always choose XP.
Sounds like M$ is pulling a "Coke II"
People should first update their Vista with the latest patches before coming to conclusions. I agree Vista fresh from the box is unstable, but a lot of these issues were fixed via patches. I have a 1.1 GHz tablet PC with 1.5 gig memory and Vista runs fine. I was even able to do some light work using Maya (3D). For web and writing, Vista is very capable.
MS has a monster job on trying to get their product to run on thousands and thousands (being conservative with this number) of different computers configuration. I don't know of any company who is capable doing such task.
Talk about "backwards" compatible.
I think they should sue themselves for re-inventing their own ideas.
And for added fine print to announcement, might I suggest:
"We are not responsible for downgrading your adware/spyware/malware infections. Alternatively, you can special purchase our MS ASM package (Microsoft AdwareSpywareMalware), for a limited time only with a valid Product ID, your personal information (again) and our "call home" featured WGA download. This does not apply to customers who purchased XP before our new Vista downgrade, SOL license needs to be purchased separate. Fees for First, Second, Third Incident, License Transfer, Product ID Transfer, Serial Number Transfer and our MS Lawyers will apply. Additional fee for the service fee will apply to the first fee and may apply to the second fee but not necessarily to the third fee which does not include the first fee or the second fee and must include our fourth fee which you will not know about. Please be sure that when contacting us you do not use any toll free members as our waiting time will be long, have at least 3 credit cards ready to update our database (again) and have a spouse credit card ready. Firewalls not included."
I had been using windows for as long as I could remember. I was a reasonably happy XP user, and I do believe that when you have XP setup well, it runs reliably and fairly quick. I tried windows vista and I liked some things about it, but it wouldn't support my webcam, printer, and a whole bunch of programs. I hated the security screen that came up every few seconds, locking out the whole screen till you click continue. I thought it looked quite cool, but I find the glass windows blurs the lines between the windows making the edges less defined. I went back to XP for a few months and then I decided to switch to a mac. I've been running a macpro for 3 months now, and while I hated it at first (I know XP inside out and knew nothing about macs) I love it now. It's very very stable, I mean, in the 3 months I've had it it has not crashed once. I was fighting with explorer on a daily basis with windows, and getting pissed off with things like MSN file transfer. every time a recieved a file on msn, it said the file had been blocked for saftey.. it was a freakin mp3, my friends new song they just made. Stuff like that REALLY pisses me off.
I'm fairly pleased with the mac, though I do miss some programs I had for windows like Sony Vegas. I don't think I'll buy another windows machine currently... the new Mac OS has Spaces, which I'm really looking forward to.