XP's life extended as Vista stumbles

[corfy]

Microsoft Windows XP will now be available at retail establishments through June 2008, instead of cutting off sales in January 2008 as originally planned.

Microsoft is also allowing some Windows Vista computers to be downgraded (or should that be "upgraded") to Windows XP Pro.

http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/20...oft-buckl.html

There’s been much ado about Windows Vista and it’s hardware requirements versus XP, and the web is filled with tales of disgruntled users “upgrading” back to XP after experiencing problems with Vista.

http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/005512.html

Hate Vista? If your PC is running Microsoft Windows Vista Business or Windows Ultimate and you're fed up with the OS you may be able to ditch Vista for XP Pro. Microsoft is quietly allowing you to downgrade to Windows XP Pro.

http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-978...?tag=nefd.only

With each passing day, it's becoming blatantly clear that Microsoft released Vista too early and the company's continual mistakes and promises that can't be kept are further annoying the Windows faithful.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20070929/tc_cmp/202102847

Among other things, software buyers have railed against Windows Vista's price, lack of compatibility with existing software, and system requirements that exceed the capabilities of PCs more than a couple of years old.

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/126509/x...les-mount.html

Vista has been dogged with performance and compatibility problems, that Microsoft has made efforts to address with hotfixes ahead of the early 2008 release of Service Pack 1.

http://www.madpenguin.org/cms/?m=show&id=8019

It is hardly a fluke that Ubuntu really began to attract former Windows users roughly around the same time as Windows Vista came out.

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2190228,00.asp

Today, I think of Vista as the zombie operating system. It stumbles around, and from a distance you might think it's alive, but close up it's the walking dead.

I'm glad I have been able to stay away from Vista so far, both at home (Linux rules) and at work.

[j7wild]

Yeah I read a similar article last week and I laughed...



So glad I'm still using Windows XP Pro and it runs every game I have purchased so far!!

[Mithrandir01]

I'm thinking about laptop. I'm sure I'll buy one with XP, not with Vista.

[michalz00]

My first impression of Vista was not very good... I wanted to get back to XP immiedietly but I couldn't!! It just won't install on my new PC! So I was stuck with Vista.

After few weeks of using it I have to say that it's pretty good OS It would be hard for me to get back to XP.

Freecell and Mahjong on Vista rules!!

[Mithrandir01]

I saw Vista on my friend computer. Looks very nice, but there are so many mistakes... I'll wait for better version.

[st39.6]

Haha, say that all the time. Vista sux!! People dont want it
When I was buying laptop, I had to buy older version just to avoid Vista. My mum didnt avoid it and since then she has just problems with it ....
Man I´m so glad I´m on XP. I´ll save the copy even for my next PCs, Vista has looooong way before being bulletproof

[Mithrandir01]

Next reason for me!

[Jean-Pierre Bazinet]

I got myself a new HP Media Center (Intel Quad Core CPU) and it came pre-loaded with Vista.
Even though I've heard all the horror stories (and I've got a version of XP sitting next to me in case I ever need it) i've had no problems at all.

The biggest problem with Vista is older hardware compatibility.
If you're buying a new PC, you shouldnt have a problem.

[michalz00]

Exactly. Same story here

Plus, as long as it runs Quicktime, it's a good OS

[Jax]

I'm running it for over 4 months now and I'm very happy with it, I don't know where all those negative comments come from. Ok there are some compatebility issues but those were also present when XP first came out and everyone was whining about how bad it was and how perfect windows 98 or 2000 was. Just wait until a year and a half from now, almost everyone who's serious about pc's will run vista (or linux for the die hard fans) by then. Also don't whine about vista if you haven't even tried it for at least a month, it's a good OS and in my personal experience to me it's even safer.

[corfy]

I'm running it for over 4 months now and I'm very happy with it, I don't know where all those negative comments come from.

I think the biggest complaint I have heard is... it just isn't worth it. There is very little added functionality in Vista that isn't available to add on to XP.

However, Vista requires a considerably stronger computer to run (and if you don't have a computer strong enough to run Vista, you will end up with considerable problems). Recommended processor on XP is 500 Mhz, but can run on 300 (we have XP running on two computers with 350 Mhz processors... yes, they are slow, but they work for email and word processing). Recommended processor for Vista is 2 Ghz, but supposedly can run on 1 Ghz, although I have heard 1 Ghz is not enough to run anything else. As for memory, minimum system requirements jumped from 128 MB in XP to 1 GB in Vista. For comparison, most Linux distros will run quite happily on 800 Mhz with 256 MB memory, although I know of at least one desktop Linux that will work with a 486 processor (that isn't speed, that is the pre-Pentium processors... our first computer was a 486 processor that clocked in at a whopping 66 Mhz).

Most of the Aero 3D effects can be added to XP using third-party programs that cost about $30, the desktop search can be added to XP using free programs like Google Desktop, and most people seem to turn off the UAC (User Access Control) in Vista because it is too annoying, which eliminates a large security feature in Vista. DirectX 10 only works on Vista and not XP, so if you want to play games that can use DirectX 10, that is a major reason to upgrade. If you don't want to play those games, or don't care if they don't look quite as good as they could, then that isn't a major concern, either. Yet this new operating system can cost up to $400 USD (MSRP of Windows Vista Ultimate).

I have also heard a lot of problems with getting Vista to work properly on networks, especially getting Vista computers to talk to computers not running Vista (and vice versa). That is a major problem for businesses who don't upgrade all of their computers at once (I know when I first was made the IT guy at my office, we had WinNT4, Win95, Win98, Win2K, WinME and WinXP all running somewhere in the building, and that isn't counting the servers... we are now down to Win2K and WinXP on our workstations). For that matter, it is a problem for non-business users who have multiple computers at home.

[Lafce]

Useful info, thanks.

[jmcc]

I am very happy with Ubuntu (even more, I want to buy a new hard disk drive to install another distro, like Fedora Core or openSuSE). Congratulations on your new machine, JPB Then are you the first ML user that has a quad core PC? Can't you tell us something about it?

[st39.6]

for starters - it has four cores
j/k

[Jean-Pierre Bazinet]

This is the media center I got:
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/ca/en...-80450713.html

The only thing really lacking in it is the video card which I'll probably upgrade in the near future.