RE: Several reasons not to upgrade to Vista right now

  • Thread starter Thread starter duhpastor
  • Start date Start date
D

duhpastor

"tairobi" wrote:

> I'm not sure what's up with all of the hateful posts from Chad Harris, who
> obviously has mental issues. This post is meant to convey facts about
> Microsoft's newest operating system.
>
> First, let me say that I've spent a lot of time with Vista from Beta 3 to
> the latest RTM version. After months of working with Vista and comparing to
> the mature Windows XP operating system, I'm less than impressed with Windows
> Vista.
>
> For the latest RTM release from MSDN, I completely formatted and installed
> the x86 RTM to a P4 2.66 MHz system with 1 GB of RAM. I timed the
> installation. It took three hours and 17 minutes from the time I popped in
> the DVD that I made from the ISO image from MSDN to the time the operating
> system was on the screen, with the pointer, awaiting input. Upgrades from
> Windows XP take even longer. On my machine, an upgrade from Windows XP SP2 to
> Vista Ultimate took four hours and 43 minutes. On these very forums, other
> users posted about the long upgrade times. One user said his was going on for
> 10 hours. Paul smith with Microsoft replied "I've had Vista typically take
> about 90 minutes to upgrade XP in virtual machine. So yes, 10 hours is slow.
> 8-)" and then proceeded to offer no technical help. Translation: It upgrades
> fine on the 4 GB RAM Core Duo machines we're testing on here internally at
> Microsoft, therefore the problem is yours, not ours.
>
>
> Now onto usage. Here's what I've found:
>
> 1. Instead of an OS that boots faster, Vista takes a full 5 minutes to go
> from the computer being turned off to being responsive enough to let me do
> tasks. What that means is between the time I turn on the computer and the OS
> gets through the "splash screen" and then to the actual desktop, it takes
> about three minutes. Afterward, the machine is completely unresponsive for at
> least another two mintues. CPU usage during this time is pegged at 100%.
> There are no running programs or processes listed in task manager, so I have
> to conclude that it's a bunch of services initializing. There is a services
> tab on the task manager, but no CPU usage column to tell you which one is
> hogging so much memory. You actually have to launch the resource monitor and
> get familiar with it and try to decipher what's using up so much of your CPU,
> and even then it's not clear. So, 5-6 minutes to boot and become usable as
> opposed to 2 minutes on Windows XP. This was clearly a step backwards from
> what we, the users, wanted.
>
> 2. Media Player 11 that ships with Vista has some major issues. After
> loading the OS, I found that DVDs which would play flawlessly on Windows XP
> no longer played well on Vista. The picture skipped and hung and was full of
> artifacts. I had to set hardware acceleration to be completely off before it
> calmed down. The problem doesn't happen when played on Real Player or
> PowerDVD, only Media Player 11. I posted on these forums about this problem
> and of course no one from Microsoft bothered to respond.
>
> 3. Many applications that worked in XP run poorly on Vista or don't run at
> all anymore. Most notably is Office 2003. My Office applications are dying
> for no reason or giving obscure error messages. I had to download the Office
> 2007 Pro suite off MSDN to get Office stable again. Don't expect Microsoft to
> take you seriously when you report these errors. For example, several users
> on these forums posted an error connecting with Live Messenger 8. Jim
> Pickering replied with "Unable to duplicate on a 32 bit system running a
> clean install of Vista RTM." Another user reported that Time.Windows.Com
> (developer) didn't work on Vista and cited the behavior he was seeing. Colin
> Nash with Microsoft replied with "Works for me..."
>
> Translation: We don't believe you.
>
> Other posts for help with applications not running on Vista are going
> largely unreplied to. Nice way to treat your customers, Microsoft.
>
> 4. The added security is more of a pain in the butt than a help. I'm
> constantly plagued with Vista asking me if the application which I double
> clicked on is okay to run or the operation I'm trying to do in Internet
> Explorer is okay to do. You know, this was mildly interesting at first, but
> now I'm really annoyed. I know it's possible to turn these stupid warnings
> off, but you cannot do it from the dialog box.
>
> Pros:
>
> I find Windows Vista "pretty". That's about the ONLY reason I can think of
> to upgrade from Windows XP at this point. The aero interface is nice and
> creative.
>
> Cons:
>
> Takes hours to install or upgrade.
>
> The performance is sluggish at very best because of all the background crap
> that Microsoft crammed into the operating system. For better performance,
> plan on buying a Core 2 duo processor or at least 2 GB of RAM (and there's no
> guarantee that will help much).
>
> Vista eats an additional 2 GB of hard drive space over what Windows XP took.
>
> Media Player 11 is buggy and frustrating to use.
>
> The beefed up security in Vista isn't readily apparent except for annoying
> dialog boxes that constantly ask you for approval. For the end-user, it's not
> easy to disable these dialogs.
>
> Unless you have antivirus software, plan on getting used to that little
> yellow shield with the exclamation on the system tray. There's no way to
> disable it without hacking the registry or buying some antivirus software.
>
> The "improved" user interface for sorting and displaying files seems only
> improved by appearance. The sorting scheme seems to be exactly the same as in
> Windows XP.
>
> Bottom Line:
>
> It's like Microsoft completely ignored what the average user wanted in an
> operating system. You're better off waiting for Vista to mature for at least
> a couple of years before you decide to abandon Windows XP. The number one
> issue I can see Microsoft getting hit hard with are the home and small
> business users with relatively fast machines and performance issues.
 
"duhpastor" <duhpastor@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:E476D0E6-CD7B-40B7-AFA3-AAF1A683254F@microsoft.com...
>
>
> "tairobi" wrote:
>
>> I'm not sure what's up with all of the hateful posts from Chad Harris,
>> who
>> obviously has mental issues. This post is meant to convey facts about
>> Microsoft's newest operating system.
>>
>> First, let me say that I've spent a lot of time with Vista from Beta 3 to
>> the latest RTM version. After months of working with Vista and comparing
>> to
>> the mature Windows XP operating system, I'm less than impressed with
>> Windows
>> Vista.
>>
>> For the latest RTM release from MSDN, I completely formatted and
>> installed
>> the x86 RTM to a P4 2.66 MHz system with 1 GB of RAM. I timed the
>> installation. It took three hours and 17 minutes from the time I popped
>> in
>> the DVD that I made from the ISO image from MSDN to the time the
>> operating
>> system was on the screen, with the pointer, awaiting input. Upgrades from
>> Windows XP take even longer. On my machine, an upgrade from Windows XP
>> SP2 to
>> Vista Ultimate took four hours and 43 minutes. On these very forums,
>> other
>> users posted about the long upgrade times. One user said his was going on
>> for
>> 10 hours. Paul smith with Microsoft replied "I've had Vista typically
>> take
>> about 90 minutes to upgrade XP in virtual machine. So yes, 10 hours is
>> slow.
>> 8-)" and then proceeded to offer no technical help. Translation: It
>> upgrades
>> fine on the 4 GB RAM Core Duo machines we're testing on here internally
>> at
>> Microsoft, therefore the problem is yours, not ours.
>>
>>
>> Now onto usage. Here's what I've found:
>>
>> 1. Instead of an OS that boots faster, Vista takes a full 5 minutes to go
>> from the computer being turned off to being responsive enough to let me
>> do
>> tasks. What that means is between the time I turn on the computer and the
>> OS
>> gets through the "splash screen" and then to the actual desktop, it takes
>> about three minutes. Afterward, the machine is completely unresponsive
>> for at
>> least another two mintues. CPU usage during this time is pegged at 100%.
>> There are no running programs or processes listed in task manager, so I
>> have
>> to conclude that it's a bunch of services initializing. There is a
>> services
>> tab on the task manager, but no CPU usage column to tell you which one is
>> hogging so much memory. You actually have to launch the resource monitor
>> and
>> get familiar with it and try to decipher what's using up so much of your
>> CPU,
>> and even then it's not clear. So, 5-6 minutes to boot and become usable
>> as
>> opposed to 2 minutes on Windows XP. This was clearly a step backwards
>> from
>> what we, the users, wanted.
>>
>> 2. Media Player 11 that ships with Vista has some major issues. After
>> loading the OS, I found that DVDs which would play flawlessly on Windows
>> XP
>> no longer played well on Vista. The picture skipped and hung and was full
>> of
>> artifacts. I had to set hardware acceleration to be completely off before
>> it
>> calmed down. The problem doesn't happen when played on Real Player or
>> PowerDVD, only Media Player 11. I posted on these forums about this
>> problem
>> and of course no one from Microsoft bothered to respond.
>>
>> 3. Many applications that worked in XP run poorly on Vista or don't run
>> at
>> all anymore. Most notably is Office 2003. My Office applications are
>> dying
>> for no reason or giving obscure error messages. I had to download the
>> Office
>> 2007 Pro suite off MSDN to get Office stable again. Don't expect
>> Microsoft to
>> take you seriously when you report these errors. For example, several
>> users
>> on these forums posted an error connecting with Live Messenger 8. Jim
>> Pickering replied with "Unable to duplicate on a 32 bit system running a
>> clean install of Vista RTM." Another user reported that Time.Windows.Com
>> (developer) didn't work on Vista and cited the behavior he was seeing.
>> Colin
>> Nash with Microsoft replied with "Works for me..."
>>
>> Translation: We don't believe you.
>>
>> Other posts for help with applications not running on Vista are going
>> largely unreplied to. Nice way to treat your customers, Microsoft.
>>
>> 4. The added security is more of a pain in the butt than a help. I'm
>> constantly plagued with Vista asking me if the application which I double
>> clicked on is okay to run or the operation I'm trying to do in Internet
>> Explorer is okay to do. You know, this was mildly interesting at first,
>> but
>> now I'm really annoyed. I know it's possible to turn these stupid
>> warnings
>> off, but you cannot do it from the dialog box.
>>
>> Pros:
>>
>> I find Windows Vista "pretty". That's about the ONLY reason I can think
>> of
>> to upgrade from Windows XP at this point. The aero interface is nice and
>> creative.
>>
>> Cons:
>>
>> Takes hours to install or upgrade.
>>
>> The performance is sluggish at very best because of all the background
>> crap
>> that Microsoft crammed into the operating system. For better performance,
>> plan on buying a Core 2 duo processor or at least 2 GB of RAM (and
>> there's no
>> guarantee that will help much).
>>
>> Vista eats an additional 2 GB of hard drive space over what Windows XP
>> took.
>>
>> Media Player 11 is buggy and frustrating to use.
>>
>> The beefed up security in Vista isn't readily apparent except for
>> annoying
>> dialog boxes that constantly ask you for approval. For the end-user, it's
>> not
>> easy to disable these dialogs.
>>
>> Unless you have antivirus software, plan on getting used to that little
>> yellow shield with the exclamation on the system tray. There's no way to
>> disable it without hacking the registry or buying some antivirus
>> software.
>>
>> The "improved" user interface for sorting and displaying files seems only
>> improved by appearance. The sorting scheme seems to be exactly the same
>> as in
>> Windows XP.
>>
>> Bottom Line:
>>
>> It's like Microsoft completely ignored what the average user wanted in an
>> operating system. You're better off waiting for Vista to mature for at
>> least
>> a couple of years before you decide to abandon Windows XP. The number one
>> issue I can see Microsoft getting hit hard with are the home and small
>> business users with relatively fast machines and performance issues.


To an extent I would have to agree with you. I don't generally believe in
upgrading an operating system unless you are having significant problems
with the one you're on, need to evaluate a new operating system, or need
something that is available on the new OS that you can't get on the old.

As you stated, you really had a fairly low end system that you upgraded
(slightly slower than mine) and that can create some of the problems you
noted. However, in fairness, I had a very different experience. I upgraded
a P4 2.8 with 1 GB of RAM. Including all updates that needed to be loaded,
my system was done in about 2 hours. My boot times from power on to
available is about 1 minute to 1 minute 15 seconds with it being fully
booted in about 2:30 (including starting blocked programs). I had
absolutely no problems with Office 2003 (and my daughter still runs 2003 on
her Vista system [although much more capbable then either your's or mine]
and only upped to 2007 to be able to do systems support for word computers
(long story).

As far as the added security goes, it's just like the airports after 9/11.
We screamed there wasn't enough security, then we scream that security is
inconvenient. Thing is, you can shut down most of the security and lose the
prompts, hide the warning bubbles and ignore the red shield and run your
system open to the world, under vista! Not recommended, but the complaints
there are irrelavent because, as the user, you can change those.

Can't say much about Media Player because I generally use this system for
working or playing, I only watch video that get e-mailed to me. However, I
have never had a problem with that program (admittedly probably because I so
rarely use it.).

Bottom line, I prefer Vista even though I don't have the optimal hardware to
run Vista. And even this little problem will be rectified this summer.
 
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