Vista

[Maxine370]

CHuck,

You made a comment about Vista earlier. What can you tell us about it. Too early to upgrade? ANything great about it, not great? Anything that makes editing better, easier?

All should feel free to add their opinions, too.

[Chuck Engels]

I would love to hear from the early adapters and beta testers if there are any.

My only concern is that I remember Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 2nd Edition, Windows ME (remember that nightmare?), and Windows XP sp1 and sp2. Every upgrade was scary at the beginning, I won't even think about it until the first service pack is ready, that is just from experience.

I don't even know what all it does or doesn't do, I have heard that rendering times are as much as 25% slower on Vista right now, that definately turns me off.

[Steve Grisetti]

I think the general feeling out there is definitely DON'T upgrade from XP to Vista -- unless your system came from the factory Vista ready.

Reports from the field are that it seems to run well on computers that were built for it. It's just not worth all the liabilities to upgrade a current XP machine.

Besides, most of the functions of Vista are available, in pieces, for XP anyway. And, if you just want to upgrade the aesthetics, there are lots of look-alike packs out there.

I put this one on my computer, and it's almost as cool as the real thing (and it shows no signs of adding any spyware or other such malware).
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Desktop-En ... Pack.shtml

[Chuck Engels]

I'm just not sure I am ready for my PC to look like a MAC

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

My Pentium D (2 x 3.2Ghz), 2Gb Ram Windows XP Pro SP2 works and I am a firm believer in 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it!'

So for me, Beth, I'll be sticking with XP for a while yet.

I might (strong emphasis on MIGHT) move to Vista when SP1 is released but until then I'm not even going to think about it.

[Don Whitten]

I have the upgrade coming (business version) but only because it was offered when I bought my laptop. I am not going too upgrade though for awhile as xp pro is working great.
Drivers seem to be lacking in some areas.. Mostly printers as I spent a good amount of time yesterday trying to get Vista Home premium working with a Hp Lasercolr printer to print duplex as it does with some other xp machines. Never did get it working and have to call HP tomorrow. That was for a local ministry here which bought a new computer with it already installed.

[Bobby]

I had to buy a Vista PC for my business, just to learn on.

It is far from "WOW!" as the MS advertisements would have you believe.

If you buy a new PC, it will have Vista, so get used to it.

But upgrading will cost you lots of time and money, and you will find that many older programs and hardware don't run (you can't get drivers). My HP camera drivers just refused to install on Vista, and HP did not have updated ones yet. The last time I looked, even iTunes didn't run on Vista and they actually recommended on the website not to upgrade to Vista yet!

So, if you have a current PC that you are happy with, don't upgrade. If you buy a new PC, enjoy Vista!

[Chuck Engels]

That's why I like the Dell Outlet, plenty of new machines, all with XP loaded

[Bobby]

Re: Dell

Interesting. I don't use or have an outlet, but Dell made it quite clear to the public that it was not selling Windows XP any more. All you can get is Vista, except on certain business PCs and then only on special order.

I am not sure what is going on here - perhaps the outlets are purging out old stock...

Bob

PS - oh, thought you meant those Dell stores in the mall. I just looked at Dell Outlet and yes that is the bargain basement for old stuff!

[Dave McElderry]

I just purchased a Dell Latitude D520 notebook on behalf of a client who's using an XP desktop machine and isn't very computer savvy. She'll be using both the desktop and notebook in the same environment with some simple networking. When I first began to shop for her I was concerned that all I would be able to find was Vista machines. It was a pleasant surprise to find that Dell was offering the D520 with a choice of XP or Vista. Without going into all the details, it's going to save her a lot of upgrade headaches to be able to run XP on the new machine, and she has absolutely no need for Vista anyway.

[Bobby]

Yes, the D520 is in their business class, but I was surprised to see XP right there - I had heard that it was special order only. But when I looked at a home / small office PC, it was only Vista.

Glad it worked out for your client.

[Dave McElderry]

And of course this begs the question, Why? And then the question, How? Dell must understand the difficulties business users are going to face in making the transition. So are they doing this with Microsoft's blessing, or are they doing it because, contractually, Microsoft can't stop them? Or is Microsoft also understanding of the need for a transitional period? Sometimes it's hard to believe Microsoft is understanding of much of anything.