Comments on: History repeating? Recalling the Vista 'upgrade'

With Microsoft's Windows 7 beta all the rage, it's easy to forget the Vista operating-system purgatory that many people were stuck in.

[vamman]

Reboots are excessively slow in Vista and the 'wait' seems to be linked to USB devices such s backup drives hooked up to the PC during reboot. What professional upgrades a Windows OS? A fresh install is always warranted for stability (this has been this way since 95).

The nice thing about Windows 7 is that is actually a service pack for Windows Vista more than anything and we hope it works better. Though if you ever tried to upgrade Windows 98 to Windows 98 SE you would have experienced the hell of all hells so don't get your hopes up too much.

[jypeterson]

If your comment has to go to two posts, you need to get a therapist...

As for the discussion, this is about Vista and its various headaches for the author. No OS is perfect, no hardware is perfect, et cetera, but Apple users have a higher attachment to their computers because they identify with the social view of what a Mac is. Everyone can spout off why this or why that is better in Mac world or Microsoft world. Who really cares? What matters is the fact that if you approach both platforms from a holistic point of view, detached from bias and look at the functionality and quality of the OS, Apple is gaining ground and it is increasing even during tough economic times.

Microsoft has a perception issue with Vista. It started with Longhorn and the "features" that were to be included and then was whittled down to what is perceived today by the average consumer. Vista's single largest competitor is not OS X, it is XP. Microsoft has not been able to rid itself of the VIsta stigma. Their only choice is to quickly get Windows 7 out to the public as a working OS. Only then it can convice the consumer and business to upgrade.

The public trust has been lost and it will take time and corrections to rebuild. If they don't get Windows 7 right, Microsoft will go down very quickly as consumers will look to Apple and Linux as viable alternatives to XP.

[camp88]

@ hafenbrack

And how does your computer compare to PC World's findings? You seemed to left that part out.

Besides, the point with the Mossberg observation, is that (in very relative terms) it's the best he's seen: the fastest of any machine he's tested.

All it's saying is that there are reviews out there by well-respected authors and publications (PC World and The Wall Street Journal) that make the claim that the fastest consumer machine running Vista is an Apple. No more, no less.

You want to quibble with that point . . . have at it. I'm sure the editors of these fine publications are awaiting your call.

[Nirvahna]

Why is it relevant to bring up old Vista upgrade woes again today? Ruminating over something that's been fixed and/or is in the process of being superceded isn't helpful to anyone.

[Seaspray0]

@Brooke Crothers. Your article has no problems "Recalling the vista upgrade", but you did not even touch the other half of the title to this article "Is history repeating?" Please answer it to get full credit on your title. Windows 7 beta is available. Have you tried it yet?

[naraiz]

Apparently, I'm in a small group of happy Vista users. I purchased my Vista Business the day the operating system was released (two years ago this January 31st if I'm not mistaken). I loaded the operating system on my Dell Inspiron E1505. My inspiron has two GIGs of RAM on a 667Mhz FSB, with the Intel T2400 1.83Ghz Core Duo processor and a 120GIG HD, my graphics are the run of the mill Mobile Intel 945 Express chipset at 256MB. I admit for the first 6 months I was frustrated at some software incompatibilities (namely my Zonelabs Zone Alarm Pro would not run) and it never did. Once I worked through any driver or software issues Windows Vista Business has been the most reliable, stable, and secure operating system I have ever used. I put a full load on this notebook daily using MS Office 2007, Nero 9, HP Solution Center Software, as of today IE8, and others. Admittedly, while the Aero feature is cool looking I don't find it very useful in my day-to-day activities. So to close this comment I am a fully satisfied and productive user of Vista Business. I have no regrets in this purchase at all. Good day.

[blaster009]

>>Granted, there were a few lucky people out there who upgraded with few problems. But I would submit that these few lucky souls used Vista on a relatively simple, straightforward workstation.

I'm running Vista on a laptop, 4GB of RAM, dual core 2.2GHZ processors. My machine boots in about a minute.

Furthermore, I'm a computer science major, and I routinely make use of Visual Studio (and sometimes Notepad or VIM if I'm feeling masochistic) to crank out and test whatever programs I want.

I have had no trouble with Vista, and find that it's supremely easy to use, even if a little bit of a resource hog at times. My mother has trouble operating the DVD player at times, and even she has been able to effortlessly access "Youmovies" through her own laptop running Vista (although I don't expect her to figure out Facebook for a while).

My contention is that you sir are either biased or an idiot, and that you should spend less time making using a wireless network with a (deprecated) copy of Windows server sound difficult - you are certainly NOT a 1337 haxx0r by accomplishing this, I guarantee you - and more time writing factual articles.

[Grem135]

Hmmmm guess I must be one of the luckiest person on this planet. Time to buy a lotto ticket!
I have Vista home premium 32bit on my HP lappy with AMD TL60, 2 gig ram 8400sm vid. no troubles at all. Vista Ultimate 64 on my intel 6600quad that i just upgraded to 8gig ram, BFG 9800GTX vid. and Omega HT Striker audio (will never use creative crap again after hearing this card!!). Runs GREAT! I also installed Vista Ultimate 64 on my old AMD 4200+ (old socket 939 chip) with 1.5 gig ram and dual 7600GT vid cards and it accually ran call of duty 4 better on Vista... this was very surprizing to me since it ran great on XP.
I also built a triple core AMD and a 6000+ AMD for family members and not 1 problem.
I also installed my beta version of Ultimate on a 1.6 ghz P4 just to prove i could... was slow with 1 gig sdram but ran and had full driver support...
Just goes to show you, use quality parts (another reason I will never use Creative Products) and common sense, and you will have a trouble free system.

[khwajakhurram]

People such as Brooke Crothers who bad mouth everything Microsoft have one thing in common - they know absolutely nothing about computers and OS's.
Vista, if one knows what one is doing, is extremely easy to install and configure and runs flawlessly. Most people who have lived with Vista for more than a week refuse to change or revert to XP or any other OS

[ianto39]

If 20 years of using Windows teaches us anything it's that:
1. Windows upgrades don't work.
2. Windows systems degrade over time as you install/uninstall stuff or just turn the machine off overnight.
3. When installing Service Packs, see 1 above.
If you want the latest Windows version or SP, expect to reinstall from scratch, it'll be quicker overall and you'll have a more stable machine afterwards. And it's not all MS's fault, we wanted a quasi-open system, that's why we didn't buy Macs, and we didn't want to pay very much for it, else we would have at least looked at Macs. MS knows what they're selling doesn't work, we know if doesn't work, no real surprise then.

[tcr071]

"Granted, there were a few lucky people out there who upgraded with few problems. But I would submit that these few lucky souls used Vista on a relatively simple, straightforward workstation. Anything more complex--e.g. an IIS web server and a wireless network with a windows 2003 file server--and things could take on the consistency of molasses. "

The "few people" you are referring to as simple, straightforward workstations are the VAST MAJORITY of Vista users.

[Grem135]

Again i just must be plain lucky.... 2 of my 4 Vista machines had been upgraded to SP1. no troubles. BTW my machines are far from straight forward workstations. they are built for gaming, video conversion/editing and I beta test on 2 of them ( some would say i lost my mind beta testing on a Vista machine...lol) I have lots of stuff installed and un-installed on my systems... but I am careful to NOT get any of that crapware BS on my machines also. I have found most people are what i call "Yes clickers" and never read what they are doing when they download and install something........ and i dont care what OS you use, if you are a "yes clicker" your Pc will be sh*t in short order.

[DLWilson61]

It is my belief, it is probably more a pipe dream then any thing else, is that Microsoft should in some way or fashion compensate all of us who have been stuck in Vista Purgatory. My feelings are that they should offer us Windows 7 at some sort of substantial discount after it's full release, hence my pipe dream. I know not all would want this type of offer as they have already migrated to other systems, but for those of us still stuck this would be a really nice reward for remaining loyal (for whatever reason you held on to Vista). Maybe MS will see this maybe they won't but now atleast I have aired my grief...... DLWilson61