Windows Vista - Good Or another lame program?

When the hell is windows vista coming out?? Well some time soon I suppose, but I can't wait. But it's pretty much gonna be the same as the older versions, just a fresh new look to the interface and some new features. So , Microsoft need some new things in Windows Vista, and I hope the new operating system won't be disappointing. Microsoft can really make the operating system better by putting photo editing software, better media players and anti-virus protection all in one program. After all, the program will cost a lot to buy, around £200.00...lol. Microsoft can really make this operating system better! :base:

 

Windows Vista will be comming out sometime in the first half of this year... 32bit version first then 64bit later.... The main focus is the "mac like" look and newer higher resolution icons, and 64 bit. It also requires a deacient GPU to run all of this, however you can disable some features. Microsoft doesn't want to put an Antivirus program on there... more work for them, and other companies will hate them. A better media player would be better... Supporting a larger variety of formats... especially video formats would be nice.... I think vista will be very nice, and I can't wait till it gets here....

 

Yeah me too...

 

We saw a bunch on this at the CES keynote last night, I'll be posting an update with some shots in the next day or so.

 

im kinda mad, i used windows xp a few months before everyone else, my uncle wasnt a beta this time i guess

 

I'm personally not excited about this at all, I don't see it really being revolutionary from XP, looks more like an upgrade to me.

 

It may look the same, but there may be several stability improvements, and other hidden features packed into the new software. After all, almost all the world's PC's run on windows and we all would probably be using windows vista after all. Looks can be deceptive!

 

I thought Vista was slated to come out in late August. This version would then be followed by a 64-bit one that is supposed to come out 6 months later.

 

i am also pretty sure vista is slated for the end of this year, maybe beginning of 2007.

 

who cares about windows vista?? XP is fine atm. XP plays vidoes, songs and pretty much anything vista can do.

I had windows ME up until Dec 2003 and I still think its better than xp coz xp is crap and cant play dos games.

Though i have to admit vista looks nicer and has a lot of cool features... but im not interested in cool features. Im just interested in playing games, browsing the net etc.

 

winme sucked. at least use 98se :/

 

winme owns!

 

Microsoft Vista has some welcome changes from XP (Thanks to the OSX, Microsoft could easily copy and implement things the right way) and will not be like the picture Lil Mayz posted at the start of the thread.

A sneak peak is provided by microsoft itself at
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/features/default.aspx

And yes, they will be including an antivirus software "Windows OneCare"!!, though I'm pretty sure i'll be sticking with Symentac AV

 

Oh god, Windows ME was such a horrible OS, 98SE worked better for me.
XP has been awesome since I got it early 2002 and I don't plan on getting rid of it anytime soon.

I see no reason at all to upgrade to Vista. And whats all this talk about its amazing graphical abilities? The only thing I saw were transparent windows, YAWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And you need a high powered GPU for that!? I hear Intel's integrated graphics can't even do that! Whatever, forget Vista, looks like a peice of junk to me.

 

yeah i agree! You can also make windows transparant and choose the transparancy with XP (depending on what gfx card u have and drivers)

 

you may as well get the upgrade, especially if you are thinking of an illegal version off BitTorrent or Limewire. I also suggest you get the full version of Windows instead of the upgrade. I'd format the hard drive first and wipe it clean to get rid of unwanted files files such as viruses before making the fresh install of Windows Vista!

 

I agree with you guys though. It's like the seriously crap Windows ME when it came out and everyone got excited, and indeed it turned out to be a piece of crap, which kept on crashings with about half a dozen error messages in about week using ME!!!

 

I just don't get it. I had far fewer system crasher, much more stability of my system with Windows ME than Windows 98SE, Windows98 or Windows95. Many many folks have told me otherwise but whoever I personally knew were just repeating the words of others more than first hand experience. All the people in my hostal never even upgraded to ME because of the wide spread rumors that it very unstable!! I had ME and had a much more stable system than them, evidently better performance while gaming, NTFS partitioning by default and overall a much better experience.

From my experience of not only using ME but also from the numerous other people on whose computers in which i installed ME, I stand firm in my opinion that ME was indeed a more stable OS than 98SE.

 

hmm...well my comment on ME isn't just based on rumors, but it actually happend, believe it or not, i got error messages, and the system crashed whenever I put a CD in the drive!!! Well, maybe there were viruses on my system...i don't know??

 

I don't think it takes a very bright guy to figure out that Windows ME is a pile of dog crap. I am a computer technician and have worked on a good amount of computers. By far the worst of them have been Windows ME related issues.

Heck if you want to see it for yourself, look up Windows ME reviews and try to find one positive review by a reputable source. You won’t find one. At least one that does a through assessment and a follow up. Because everyone knows that a fresh install of just about anything runs fairly well. It's down the road the really puts the system to the test.

http://www.computergripes.com/WindowsME.html

Source: http://www.winmag.com/windows/winme/longterm/default.htm

 

My $0.02

Windows Vista - was really looking forward to the new File System but that feature has been delayed. Not sure I will upgrade. I own 5 computers , 4 XP Pro ,1 SUSE Linux 10.x- for me at least hands down the stablest thing MS has come up with that and W2K (although W2K was not very game friendly). I have been running Windoze since 3.1 and have run them all (except ME but as with others heard and read of the unstability issues but have no personal experience with it)

The 'Blue Screen of Death" and system crashes are far and few between since XP pro for me. For all the bashing MS takes they do a decent job of supporting an infinite number of configurations (I think Linux does as good a job in this regard except a generation or two behind supporting bleeding edge stuff)

What I hope for Vista - better file system (delayed) - better search capabilites (maybe) - better explorer functions (hate the XP hour glass when looking at folders with 8 files in it wtf is it doing !!), better network capabilites (ie: intergrate with Mac / Linux / whatever you have on the network) - at least as secure as XP SP2 (MS will always have security issues unless they decide to build an OS from the ground up a do over - pretty expensive option ) and finally better (or best yet get rid of the registry) registry management since I belive Vista still uses the registry ...

So bottom line not exicted and will not upgrade day 1 - but liklely will eventaully (if for no other reason as I buy a new computer and it will come pre-loaded)- I think it will be as good as XP pro SP2 and perahps a little better so I guess it depends on what you think of XP Pro .....but as other stated here I see it as an incremental upgrade (think XP pro SP3) and not a Windows 3.1 ==> Winodws 95 kinda change.

 

Well I'm gonna go out and buy me $2500 worth of new laptop so I can use Vista, and have it run as quick as XP on this laptop, that runs XP fine, bought 2 years ago for $1600...


NOT!!!

 

Unless you've tested this yourself, I don't think that anybody here has a basis of saying whether Vista will be a success or not or whether it will bea mere upgrade or a major one. Screenshots don't do justice (either way) to convey how such a large piece of software works. It's only when you sit down and use it that you can form a justified opinion.

 

Windows XP only seems great because Windows ME sucked.

In any case, I've tested Vista and I am still waiting for that "WOW" factor to pop up in a build. Maybe in Beta 2...


Until then, everyone stick with XP. No real reason to change.

 

Well, let's hope Vista is as good as everyone says it is. If it's as good as Mac OS X (which it probably will not), then it will be a major upgrade. Otherwise, its just a facelift for XP with some new gadgets and some security upgrades.

 

THANK YOU!!!

I installed it on my "old fasioned," 5 year old P4 1.7Ghz, 512MB RDRAM, GeForce2MX desktop, and vista looked and ran quite well. I'm sure it would run beautifully on any hardware released this or last year.
I absolutely love the progress that's been made in vista, and by release time, I honestly think that it's going to be a stunning OS.

EDIT: This is a message to future posters in this thread:
Don't even think about saying that vista is merely a facelift to XP. Install and run vista on a reasonably spec'd computer (I guess mine is ok, preferrably better) and then voice your opinion, please. Sorry, but VMWare doesn't count.

 

Would you mind telling us what you liked about the build??
I haven't tried about the build yet, so I guess I'm not one to say Vista is just a facelift to XP, but it still feels like it.

 

I myself am looking forward to Vista. One reason is not only for the security/useablility enhancements that have already been mentioned, but due to the fact that they are finally cleaning out all the cludgy legacy code that's been hanging around since Windows 3.0.

If I may, I'd like to attempt to clarify something else in a little more depth. As has already been mentioned previously, the reason behind the necessity for more graphics horsepower is mainly because MS is moving away from a 2D bitmap-based desktop to a 3D vector-based desktop. Having said that, if you are running older hardware I wouldn't worry too much. Vista can run the interface in one of three modes and will scale itself down accordingly by measuring your systems performance at first boot with an API called WinSAT (Windows System Performance Assesment Tool):

Legacy - An interface similar to Windows 200
Aero - Most of the eye candy without transparency
Aero Glass - Full on Vista eye candy

Also, adding to aindfan's comment that he has run it pretty well on a P4 1.7/GF2MX, it's been reported that the machines running Vista demos at CES are using middle of the road P4's and a Radeon 9600/9700. I wouldn't exactly call that heavy duty hardware by today's standards. I'd be more concerned about having either a dual core or 64-bit processor to take advantage of Vista's under the hood qualities, such as improved multi-threading capabilities. Bottom line is I don't think you'll necessarily need the latest and greatest unless you want "the full Vista experience", as MS puts it.

Just my 2 cents.

 

And, yes aindfan, please do give us some firsthand insight into what your likes/dislikes were. As closely as I've followed Vista's development I've yet to be able to talk to someone who has used it firsthand yet.

 

DRM = I won't be buying Vista anytime soon.

Nuff said

 

I honestly think the new interface is pretty hot. We got a lot of time in on Vista at the CES on several different devices. They even showed the glass pane working on a machine with integrated graphics, so the fear of needing a higher-end video card for the advanced features may not be accurate. There are more power tools for managing mobile profiles, more control over startup programs and services and tons of other goodies. No word yet on battery impact when compared to XP.

 

From the screenshots I saw, Vista looks almost exactly the same as XP, though maybe those were from an early build.....

 

Many of the new features that Microsoft is touting in Vista, are, in fact, MacOS original ideas. Though I'm highly considering switching to an Intel Powerbook come their release, I do plan on installing Windows XP on a separate hard drive partition, for use as a gaming OS, and would most likely upgrade to Vista upon its non-OEM release (release in stores as software, which'll happen a few months after it appears in new computers).

Honestly, I also am a HUGE fan of the Aero look. I've long been dissapointed with Microsoft's revisions to their UI, but, for once, they are doing something right.

So, I'll most likely end up having it in one form or another, even if only as part of a dual-boot solution on a Powerbook.

 

I hate Mac's and never got along with their various OS's and setups. I don't care for the cleaner look in Vista as that's not a big deal for me. XP does the job and that's what I'll stick with. Sure, Vista has some nice features, but I'm not going to go run out and buy it to "upgrade" my machines. A new computer have Vista come with it, but my current systems all get along well with XP.

 

If someone can confirm this, please do, but isn't most of the DRM stuff dependent on hardware integration, i.e. Palladin? I've also heard rumors that MS has decided to make it an optional thing as well (if that makes any sense ).

 

Well, actually from the screen shots I've seen of Vista, it sort of looks like Linux (the Apple Toolbar and the Windows "Start"). Mac OS X is horrible for a Windows user at first (you really don't understand a thing), but you get used to it after a while.

 

We all know an Apple has much inferior, almost a potato chip processing power and much lower GPU than most PC that people buy. Yet, the MAXOS has such stunning GUI. Now that they plan on moving onto Intel Processors, they are all the more elated at enhansing it even further.

The reason Windows finds it like hell handling simple transparancy effects and 3D is undoubatedly how the code is written and running. Its a sluggish grandma and I am sure Microsoft knows it, but unfortunately with so much of market share, they just are not compelled to make a full fledge improvement.

I am believing for the time being that they have ironed out some legacy codes with Vista, but personally, I am more excited about the new MacIntels. Having them enter the same arena, especially with Mac running MacOS and Windows simultaneously will put the two OSs Face to Face and may put more pressure on Microsoft as more and more users come to realize the attention to detial the MacOS provides over Windows. Anyone who has used a MAC will know many of the features Microsoft is incorporating is a copy of the MAC. Its a shame and pity that they can't do creative breakthroughs on their own.

 

For the sake of saying whether Vista is good... it's good. It has new stuff that XP doesn't have, like the live taskbar thumbnails and such. Also the IE 7 mozilla thingy. Now I know MS just ripped off Mozilla, but who cares? Unless you created Mozilla, I don't mind using something that's useful to me.

All that matters is that is Vista good for you? If it is, then you use it. You don't boycott something because it was ripped off from something. Unless MS is employing some human rights violation. But besides that, I'll be more than gladly to use Vista. It looks cool (sure, it was ripped off OSX) and I've always imagined an OS that has the looks and features that Vista has.

I guess the only problem with Vista is the cost of upgrading to it. How much will it cost consumers to upgrade? MS better market this thing that'll make consumers outweigh the benefits to the costs.

 

Apple's no saint either. A lot of their software and goodies were either "borrowed" or acquired from smaller fish. Good examples are iTunes (SoundJam), Dashboard (Konfabulator), Sherlock, and later Searchlight (Watson), GarageBand (derived from Logic, originally developed by eMagic), and of course the majority of the core technology in OS X came through Apple's acquisition of NeXT since Copland was turning out to be such a disaster. And just about everyone has heard that disputed tale of the first Mac OS getting it's interface ideas from Xerox PARC. I have nothing against Apple and used Macs for several years. The point is that everybody steals from everybody else (heck, KDE looks more like Windows all the time) and all the major players in this industry all have blood on their hands.

 

Yup - afterall, EVERYONE, and I mean EVERYONE stole the original BIOS designed by IBM.

 

Yeah, the G4 was pretty slow...but the G5's got to be an improvement, hasn't it? I'm kinda shakey about the Dual OSes running at once though. I was confronted about this idea (in another thread), and have put the thought out of my mind every since. Maybe we could "dual-boot" and choose from either Mac OS X or Vista.

Link to the thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=35923&highlight=Vista+Macs

 

Either its an old build or the screenshots were taken on a graphics card that didn't have the capabilities Vista requires.
You can do a google search and find millions of Vista Beta 1 screenshots. The look of "windows" in Vista are semi-transparent with a tint of white. Its made to appear as if you're looking through glass. Get it? Windows... Glass...

But Aero? Wind???? No idea on that one..
But you really can't tell by screenshots. There are a *lot* of beautiful animations in Vista covering everything from dragging and dropping off of the sidebar to playing with aero enchanced skins in Media Player. Its very hard to describe animations.
But some of the Aero based stuff for customizing Media Player skins is absolutely incredible.
Each of the skins has their own theme and animations that are specific to that skin. They're actually fun *GASP* to play with and watch. Really, I don't think Mac OS X has anything quite like it. Though the Mac OS X widgets do come pretty close.

This power to customize your user interface in Vista does have some very real limits, but even so, it still blows that One-Themed-Brush-Metal-Look of Mac OS X out of the water.

Finally, in the screenshots, look closely at the icons... Some of them are really beautiful, but you can't tell because they're so tiny. Try looking for a screenshot with large icons enabled.

 

Again, Microsoft gives the screenshoots at

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/default.aspx

 

I don't understand what the disadvantages are, after all, is Windows Vista really that bad, I don't think so, if you're thinking of an illegal version. I don't think Vist ais going to "wreck your notebook" if you've average specs!!

 

that is true 'xAVD vs Intel', I've got Windows 2000 and Windows XP to boot from for some reason, cause i got some viruses and I simply repaired Windows 2000 and installed XP, but yes you could have a dual boot, but I'm not quite sure if you'd want that, I'td just take up space on the hard drive, i certainly need to sort my notebook out!!!!!

 

I'm sure a lot of people would like that luxury - I mean Windows and OS X are the two major OSes people use apart from Linux. It would surely make everything a lot easier, especially for those in the buisness world. I'm sure there must be a away to figure out how to dual-boot.

 

I don't understand why people are giving MSFT a hard time for adopting features from Linux, Mozilla and Apple. Isn't that what good companies do? Take the features that have success in other areas and integrate them. Anyway, the look is very similar to XP in general layout terms, but there's much more. No one's going to get lost in navigating Vista if coming from XP.

 

Microsoft should not be pushing out for a new OS so quickly.

There are still a lot people who uses Windows 95 and 98!

Instead Microsoft should be fixing up the bugs and improving on the previous operating systems.

If you really want to try out the features on Vista you don't have to wait. You can try them out on Mac OS X!

Maclive_net Windows Vista First of a Kind Features
Maclive_net Windows Vista A Revolution in Information Access

 

For me the main atvantage is the 64 bit. I have an AMD 64 3200+ overclocked to the speed of a 3500+, and I still can't use my 64 bit. I would like to take atvantage of the 64 bit when vista comes out. Also I think the icons and stuff look awesome, although that doesn't justify $200. But the 64 bit might make enough of a difference to upgrade.

What other atvantages will Vista have besides looking cooler and supporting 64 bit?

 

You do realize thats a 64 bit version of Windows XP right?