Vista Review on Homepage

Interesting review... really makes me re-consider buying my new system with Vista. Who here is using vista with a new d630 and has positive experiences with it? I'm debating holding back and just buying with xp.

 

I have not really had much, if any, experience with Vista thus far. I believe the complaints about lack of stability and driver support, much in the same way XP suffered as compared to Win98SE for the first year or two. However, as long as the laptop will come standard with Vista, and assuming you can get Dell to send you an original Vista install disc (how is this done if it doesn't come with it?) you won't have to pay for Vista in the future. Undoubtedly, Vista will continue to improve over time and XP will slowly fall to the wayside much like previous Windows versions did. So even though you may prefer aspects of XP, it won't be long lived with the overwhelming shift to Vista.

 

I can get the 32bit version of Vista Ultimate from my school for ~$20. If this is the case, would it be best to get my system shipped w/ XP Pro installed, and then run a clean install of vista so that I can have both versions?

The only issue I see would be the compatibility issues with the DVD-RW drive, since there seem to be 2 options listed -- one for XP and one for Vista. Any insight into this?

 

In the limited time that I had Vista, after turning off User Account Control, it was a good experience.

 

I only have 2 weeks of experience using Vista with my D630, but I have been very happy with how it works. It is quick and I have had no issues with any of the programs that I run. Granted, I don't play any games on my laptop just your regular Microsoft programs (Office, IE, etc).

The one feature I absolutly like on Vista is that the Sleep/Hibernation modes work. I remember trying to use it on XP and I never could get that computer to wake up properly.

 

Why are the 64-bit versions of Vista so hard to come by? And what are the drawbacks with using the 64-bit versions? I thought we were finally in the 64-bit era.....

 

Vista is great for me

My next laptop I'm going x64, but right now I'm x86. However, I know the advantages and disadvantages of x64. The advantage is if you want over 3GB of RAM, you need x64 because x86's max is 3GB. However, even if you have under 3GB you can get a small performance increase if you have 2GB or more. The major disadvantage, is all drivers need to be SIGNED by Microsoft. Sometimes this causes problems, because not everything is...

 

I'm sure it's fine and will only continue to improve.

Remember He-Man? You don't see Skeletor coming, right behind the curtains, then POW! magic spell.

That said, I went with XP. Still to new for me.