Author Topic: Is Windows Vista really that big of a disaster? (Read 3806 times)

border · « **on:** October 31, 2007, 02:06:12 PM »

When it was released at the beginning of the year, the general consensus seemed to be amiable acceptance. "Nothing that revolutionary, but the interface is cool, it's got DX10, and there is some great new housekeeping/security stuff going on underneath the hood" was the general vibe I got.

Now we are 9 months removed from the launch. It seems like just in the past couple months the enthusiast press has turned on Vista, making it sound like the biggest mess since Millenium Edition. "It's bloated....everything runs slower....driver support is still awful....there's a ton of bugs and random screwups.....the security features nag you to death over everything.....the overhead consumed by the UI bogs everything down" is now the vibe I get. There was a column some weeks back where an analyst said that Microsoft should just abandon Vista as a platform and continue to support XP until they come up with something better. I imagine there's far too much hubris for that to happen, but the future does seem really muddy. I'm sure Microsoft will be okay on home PCs since OEMs will just keep bundling Vista, but for the business market it sounds like things might be pretty grim.

I've had virtually no experience with Vista as a user, so I'm curious what people who've bought and used Vista have to say about it. Is this just the Honeymoon being over, or is there something seriously borked?

The Fake Shemp · « **Reply #1 on:** October 31, 2007, 02:08:48 PM »

Yeah, I really can't remember a backlash against a Windows OS like this since ME.

Smooth Groove · « **Reply #2 on:** October 31, 2007, 02:10:09 PM »

I use Vista X64 ultimate and I think it's great. The only drawback about Vista was the subpar gaming performance but that has been significantly improved since launch.

Mupepe · « **Reply #3 on:** October 31, 2007, 02:10:33 PM »

Vista is still great. I've had it for about 6 months now (i think). It runs faster than XP did on my machine actually. I didn't have any problems with drivers. Nvidias need to be spiffed up but they're nowhere near horrible.

MrAngryFace · « **Reply #4 on:** October 31, 2007, 02:17:25 PM »

Vista has made plenty of profits, most of what people who spend all their time on the internet percieve are internet opinions, which dont account for a whole lot.

The govt probably doesnt wanna upgrade cause they use PCs from the early 90s and dont have budget. Also Server 2008 will be much more useful for big business than Vista, which is largely client focused.

If anything DX10 is what as been taking on the most water. Sure, Dell offers Linux, but that doesnt change the fact that Linux is made for the nerds who rejected windows for being bloated, which is the unfortunate side effect of usability and compatibility,.

Smooth Groove · « **Reply #5 on:** October 31, 2007, 02:24:41 PM »

Quote from: Weighted Companion Cube on October 31, 2007, 02:17:25 PM

Vista has made plenty of profits, most of what people who spend all their time on the internet percieve are internet opinions, which dont account for a whole lot.

If anything DX10 is what as been taking on the most water.

Wasn't it reported recently that Vista was one of the majors reasons for MS' increase of profits?

I"m still not sure if it was technically necessary to make DX10 vista only. Apparently, some people figured out how to turn on the DX10 features in the Crysis demo.

border · « **Reply #6 on:** October 31, 2007, 02:27:23 PM »

I don't think anybody doubts that Vista is making money. Whether or not it's the bungle-up some have made it out to be isn't really related to MS's balance sheets though.

I have not read anything about Server. What is MS's roadmap for business clients?

Ecrofirt · « **Reply #7 on:** October 31, 2007, 02:35:36 PM »

We've had a slew of Vista problems with students on campus recently.

The wackiest one was yesterday when a girl somehow unassociated .exe files from her machine. Fixing that was bitch since you couldn't open any programs without getting an unknown file type error.

Saint Cornelius · « **Reply #8 on:** October 31, 2007, 02:37:19 PM »

Windows Vista sucks balls. It was installed on my old roommates new PC and transferring files using "Microsoft Easy Transfer" took on nightmarish proportions.

It also doesn't play well with iTunes at all. iPod owners, tread lightly.

MrAngryFace · « **Reply #9 on:** October 31, 2007, 02:41:25 PM »

Wow, I use itunes all the time on vista, even the more arcane 64 bit edition! Then again 'sucks balls' isnt the most qualified Vista review ive read.

Smooth: Im not even sure whats up with DX10 anymore. The only acceptable use i've seen is in CoH, but even then its really light. Crysis apprently wont run on even the more powerful setups.

Smooth Groove · « **Reply #10 on:** October 31, 2007, 02:42:27 PM »

I think it all depends on whether you use the upgrade or clean install option. Personally, I always use a complete format and clean installation to avoid any problems.

Mupepe · « **Reply #11 on:** October 31, 2007, 02:46:42 PM »

upgrading to vista was a mess. I'll give it that. When I upgraded, I had all sorts of problems. but after a clean installation everything was fine.

Saint Cornelius · « **Reply #12 on:** October 31, 2007, 02:50:33 PM »

Quote from: Weighted Companion Cube on October 31, 2007, 02:41:25 PM

Wow, I use itunes all the time on vista, even the more arcane 64 bit edition! Then again 'sucks balls' isnt the most qualified Vista review ive read.

I guess you missed the part where I said the Easy Transfer wasn't very easy? The thing crashed or timed out at least ten times while trying to transfer files from the old XP machine to the new Vista machine.

As far as iTunes is concerned... (Macnewsworld teh bias lol)

Quote

Weeks after Apple warned PC users not to install Microsoft Windows Vista until they had resolved the glitches between iTunes and the operating system, the compatibility issues still aren't completely resolved. Nevertheless, Apple has made progress. Some of the earlier problems -- such as the corruption of an iPod when ejected from a Vista PC -- appear to be solved.

Have you ever played a video bought from iTunes on your Vista PC? Every time I tried on hers, it would either freeze up or give me a blue screen of death.

Mupepe · « **Reply #13 on:** October 31, 2007, 02:56:21 PM »

i've never had a problem with itunes on vista

MrAngryFace · « **Reply #14 on:** October 31, 2007, 02:57:36 PM »

I bought videos on the store a lot, BONES for example.

Saint Cornelius · « **Reply #15 on:** October 31, 2007, 02:58:07 PM »

It must just be me then, and all these other dummies.

Smooth Groove · « **Reply #16 on:** October 31, 2007, 03:00:42 PM »

It's really hard to prove whether MS or Apple is the culprit for Itunes' problems on Vista.

MrAngryFace · « **Reply #17 on:** October 31, 2007, 03:01:38 PM »

I willing to suspect there are problems, but to say the OS sucks balls cause one computer user you personally know had trouble using an application in Vista developed by one of its primary competitors.

TVC15 · « **Reply #18 on:** October 31, 2007, 03:02:35 PM »

Quote from: Smooth Groove on October 31, 2007, 03:00:42 PM

It's really hard to prove whether MS or Apple is the culprit for Itunes' problems on Vista.

Yeah, I always took Apple's warning as a passing the buck way of saying "we haven't bothered making our shit compliant with the new version of Windows, so don't buy it."

I haven't had problems with iTunes in Vista. I didn't use it for a while after launch, though. Now I use it on all 4 of the Vista machines I use everyday, and I can't say I've ever had any problems with it. Well, at least no problems that weren't there with iTunes XP. Note that I use a Mac as my iPod machine, though, so any hardware issues have been dodged.

MrAngryFace · « **Reply #19 on:** October 31, 2007, 03:03:43 PM »

I think the only thing I had issues with while using itunes was playback of video, it was choppy most of the time. My new videocard fixed that real fast. So maybe that wasnt Vista after all, but then again maybe it was. Who is to say.

Van Cruncheon · « **Reply #20 on:** October 31, 2007, 03:06:28 PM »

i have played countless videos over itunes on vista pcs. customer response to vista has been largely very positive. the only weak spot seems to be with a certain breed of "intermediate" pc users -- the internet videogaming/shashdot minority who know enough to simply get themselves into shit, and not enough to fix it or avoid it altogether, and who have enough silly hubris to remove or alter features that should be left alone unless one really knows what they are doing (like the lua and file associations).

edit: the culprit is often folks installing non-certified (and often poorly-tested) video drivers, which most know-it-all-but-not-enough intermediate type users do.

TVC15 · « **Reply #21 on:** October 31, 2007, 03:08:45 PM »

For the record, I don't use video in iTunes on Vista, either. Not trying to dodge problems or anything. That's just the way the cookie crumbles. My Macs are my main iTunes machines, so my subscribed videos download directly to them.

I do watch plenty of divx and other shit on Vista, but that is mostly via Media Center/Media Player + codecs.

TVC15 · « **Reply #22 on:** October 31, 2007, 03:14:01 PM »

Also, the "warning" Apple issued about upgrading to Vista is especially funny, considering that they haven't issued a similar warning for Leopard, indicating that Aperture and a significant portion of iMovie features do not work on Leopard, and that people interested in them should stick with 10.4.

Saint Cornelius · « **Reply #23 on:** October 31, 2007, 03:17:54 PM »

Wow, how did I know I'd get ganged up on like this? And by the exact same people as I expected, too!

What, am I lying about the problems I've had? Are the people I linked to lying as well?

Saint Cornelius · « **Reply #24 on:** October 31, 2007, 03:18:56 PM »

Quote from: Weighted Companion Cube on October 31, 2007, 03:01:38 PM

I willing to suspect there are problems, but to say the OS sucks balls cause one computer user you personally know had trouble using an application in Vista developed by one of its primary competitors.

Yeah, I'm sure Apple doesn't want iTunes to work well with MS. They'd rather go back to iPod-only-works-with-Macs sales.

T234 · « **Reply #25 on:** October 31, 2007, 03:20:25 PM »

I don't have any beefs with vista yet. Matter of fact, my only computer beef at the moment is Starforce and it's incompatibility with Vista.

SPACE RANGERS 2, I WILL PLAY YOU

MrAngryFace · « **Reply #26 on:** October 31, 2007, 03:20:59 PM »

I dont think anyone claimed you were lying. My issue is that an isolated case of problems with an application developed by a competitor who is in no way obligated to ensure compatibility, backed by a link to a forum full of people who post at cnet of all things, is not a valid reason to say the whole OS 'sucks balls'

Im totally willing to call it out on its faults. Ill admit openly that I am rolling back to the 32-bit Vista because 64-bit doesnt seem entirely baked yet. Ill recall all the initial driver issues in the first few months. These things are valid.

T234: If youre really into the older games i'd be wary of the legacy support from Vista for games released early in the XP lifespan, and id even raise eyebrows at stuff release in the Win98 days.

Mupepe · « **Reply #27 on:** October 31, 2007, 03:24:22 PM »

No one says you're lying SC. We're saying that most internet fuck-offs blow things completely out of proportion. We can still make out.

TVC15 · « **Reply #28 on:** October 31, 2007, 03:25:57 PM »

Quote from: Saint Cornelius on October 31, 2007, 03:17:54 PM

Wow, how did I know I'd get ganged up on like this? And by the exact same people as I expected, too!

What, am I lying about the problems I've had? Are the people I linked to lying as well?

Yes, I accused you of lying, that's what I did. I live to get on yr nuts.

T234 · « **Reply #29 on:** October 31, 2007, 03:27:29 PM »

Apple is just a bunch of cunts who can't make a usable browser or an OS worth a damn. If I can't play Warsow as easily on a mac as what I could on XP OR The OFFICIAL OS of The Nerdlinger, an OS is officially not worth a damn.

REAL TALK

Drinky: I realize that. Certain things work fine outta the box, Darwinia and Space Rangers 2 are not among them.

MrAngryFace · « **Reply #30 on:** October 31, 2007, 03:29:20 PM »

Quote from: T234 on October 31, 2007, 03:27:29 PM

Apple is just a bunch of cunts who can't make a usable browser or an OS worth a damn. If I can't play Warsow as easily on a mac as what I could on XP OR The OFFICIAL OS of The Nerdlinger, an OS is officially not worth a damn.

REAL TALK

Drinky: I realize that. Certain things work fine outta the box, Darwinia and Space Rangers 2 are not among them.

Leopard is getting some pretty good reviews, overall. I heard there were a few issues, even then.

I think the main thing for gamers is that Apple cannot currently provide an OS that is compatible with games not made by Blizzard. Of course they did the next best thing by making Vista a swap option with Leopard.

Also, im not Drinky!

Saint Cornelius · « **Reply #31 on:** October 31, 2007, 03:29:48 PM »

Quote from: Mupepe on October 31, 2007, 03:24:22 PM

We're saying that most internet fuck-offs blow things completely out of proportion.

It took me three fucking days to transfer files from one PC to the other. I used to be able to do it in a few hours with a fucking crossover cable. :'(

TVC15 · « **Reply #32 on:** October 31, 2007, 03:30:05 PM »

The only major issues I have with Vista are game performance, which I live with (it's not particularly bad for me since I use uber-hardware everywhere), and copying/moving files between machines (particularly when it is an operation between two different OSes), which is sometimes a major pain in the ass and requires a workaround I shouldn't have to do (like breaking out a thumb drive or burning a DVD).

MrAngryFace · « **Reply #33 on:** October 31, 2007, 03:31:14 PM »

Did you get leopard yet?

I just use an external for my swapping.

Smooth Groove · « **Reply #34 on:** October 31, 2007, 03:31:44 PM »

Quote from: Weighted Companion Cube on October 31, 2007, 03:29:20 PM

Quote from: T234 on October 31, 2007, 03:27:29 PM
Apple is just a bunch of cunts who can't make a usable browser or an OS worth a damn. If I can't play Warsow as easily on a mac as what I could on XP OR The OFFICIAL OS of The Nerdlinger, an OS is officially not worth a damn.

REAL TALK

Drinky: I realize that. Certain things work fine outta the box, Darwinia and Space Rangers 2 are not among them.

Leopard is getting some pretty good reviews, overall. I heard there were a few issues, even then.

I think the main thing for gamers is that Apple cannot currently provide an OS that is compatible with games not made by Blizzard. Of course they did the next best thing by making Vista a swap option with Leopard.

Also, im not Drinky!

This is what you get after sending him a PC?

T234 · « **Reply #35 on:** October 31, 2007, 03:32:25 PM »

Maf: I SWEAR IT SAID PROFESSOR PROLE NO I HAVE NOT BEEN DRINKING AT WORK

Mupepe · « **Reply #36 on:** October 31, 2007, 03:33:53 PM »

Quote from: Saint Cornelius on October 31, 2007, 03:29:48 PM

Quote from: Mupepe on October 31, 2007, 03:24:22 PM
We're saying that most internet fuck-offs blow things completely out of proportion.

It took me three fucking days to transfer files from one PC to the other. I used to be able to do it in a few hours with a fucking crossover cable. :'(

oh i'm not referring to your comments. i've never tried the file transfer shit.

i'm talking about the losers on GAF who all says "it's bloated and runs so slow blah blah blah" when I bet most have never used it.

MrAngryFace · « **Reply #37 on:** October 31, 2007, 03:35:03 PM »

He must be SPACE CRAZY

TVC15 · « **Reply #38 on:** October 31, 2007, 03:35:33 PM »

I use Leopard. Out of the box, I'd have to say I'm experiencing probably just as many

problems as I did with the release version of Vista. I've only upgraded one Mac to Leopard because I need at least one powerful Mac I can rely on at all times for video editing.

Leopard has SMB problems. SMB worked fine in Tiger, and it hasn't been significantly updated in a loooooooooong time. I have no idea why there are problems there.

EDIT: The last real non-bug fix updates to SMB were in 1996.

T234 · « **Reply #39 on:** October 31, 2007, 03:37:40 PM »

I WANT ME SOME DAMN GAMES THAT AIN'T QUAKE CLONES AND STARFORCE IS GETTIN IN THE WAI

GTFO COMMUNIST STARFORCE PEOPLE

MrAngryFace · « **Reply #40 on:** October 31, 2007, 03:41:05 PM »

Starforce is such crap

aoi tsuki · « **Reply #41 on:** October 31, 2007, 08:22:24 PM »

Quote from: Saint Cornelius on October 31, 2007, 03:29:48 PM

Quote from: Mupepe on October 31, 2007, 03:24:22 PM
We're saying that most internet fuck-offs blow things completely out of proportion.

It took me three fucking days to transfer files from one PC to the other. I used to be able to do it in a few hours with a fucking crossover cable. :'(

Why didn't you yank the old hard drive out and put it in the new box, then transfer from there?

xnikki118x · « **Reply #42 on:** November 01, 2007, 02:25:47 AM »

I never used the atrocity that was Windows ME. =) I went from 3.1 to 98 to XP. I did use Windows 95 quite a bit, but because a good friend of mine had it--it was never on my own machine. All we used the computer for at that point though was AOL and PUNTING people.

MrAngryFace · « **Reply #43 on:** November 01, 2007, 04:03:14 AM »

NO ONE liked ME :p

basically 95 was ugh but NEW, 98 was NEW with old 95 UGH, 98se was SEX, ME was ahhhhh! Vista is wheee but arghhh but wheeeee.

Thats my review of the client os stuff. I havent dabbled a lot in the server side of things

Smooth Groove · « **Reply #44 on:** November 01, 2007, 04:06:41 AM »

Quote from: Weighted Companion Cube on November 01, 2007, 04:03:14 AM

NO ONE liked ME

So that's why you became MrAngryFace?

MrAngryFace · « **Reply #45 on:** November 01, 2007, 04:07:19 AM »

oh the lolz

zeergoth · « **Reply #46 on:** November 01, 2007, 04:08:21 AM »

Wasn't 2000 pretty good?

Smooth Groove · « **Reply #47 on:** November 01, 2007, 04:08:40 AM »

Freudian slip

MrAngryFace · « **Reply #48 on:** November 01, 2007, 04:14:03 AM »

zeegroth: From all i've heard but I never really used it.

TVC15 · « **Reply #49 on:** November 01, 2007, 04:18:07 AM »

Quote from: zeergoth on November 01, 2007, 04:08:21 AM

Wasn't 2000 pretty good?

Yes, it was. Look at it this way XP was 2000 + the good features from ME (yes, there were a few notable introductions there. . .though they all didn't work so well at the time). Windows ME introduced things like system restore (though its system of restore points was not as elegant as the XP version, and I think the feature was broken in general), a close-to-modern version of windows update, the first decent USB support, and an updated networking stack that was half from NT (I think). It also had something that resembled the driver model of XP, but it was hilariously broken, and iirc, the source of many of ME's inherent stability problems.

I think some of those ME/XP features did make it into 2000, but I'm not sure which. . .my time with 2000 is limited, but XP is basically 2000 with good versions of some of the ME shit.

xnikki118x · « **Reply #50 on:** November 01, 2007, 04:36:56 AM »

Yeah, but Windows 95 introduced the START MENU!

MrAngryFace · « **Reply #51 on:** November 01, 2007, 04:38:15 AM »

and the blue screen

Smooth Groove · « **Reply #52 on:** November 01, 2007, 04:48:46 AM »

xnikki118x · « **Reply #53 on:** November 01, 2007, 05:16:30 AM »

I would wear that shirt.

TVC15 · « **Reply #54 on:** November 01, 2007, 05:28:55 AM »

You folks did see what the icon is for a Windows PC when you use the network browser in Leopard is, right?

Smooth Groove · « **Reply #55 on:** November 01, 2007, 05:47:59 AM »

Quote from: xnikki118x on November 01, 2007, 05:16:30 AM

I would wear that shirt.

Hot. I'll let Synbios know about this so he'll find you one.

Quote from: TVC 15 on November 01, 2007, 05:28:55 AM

You folks did see what the icon is for a Windows PC when you use the network browser in Leopard is, right?

How's Leopard better than the old Mac oses? I don't know anything about it.

drozmight · « **Reply #56 on:** November 01, 2007, 05:51:25 AM »

I like Vista. It works great on my PC.

I did turn off most of the annoying bullshit on though... such as the User Account Control. I then told it to stop telling me it's disabled because I don't much care.

Van Cruncheon · « **Reply #57 on:** November 01, 2007, 12:26:44 PM »

2000 was NT5, and built off the much more stable (ands resource-intensive) NT branch. XP is just an extension of 2000 -- all MS OSes are "NT" based, now.

Mupepe · « **Reply #58 on:** November 01, 2007, 12:33:07 PM »

Quote from: xnikki118x on November 01, 2007, 05:16:30 AM

I would wear that shirt.

i would buy you that shirt just so i could see you wear it *shifty eyes*

News:

Author Topic: Is Windows Vista really that big of a disaster? (Read 3806 times)