JSngry Posted February 24, 2008 Report Posted February 24, 2008 On the cusp or ordering a new system, comfortable w/XP, leary of Vista BUT.... My son has Vista & so far so good. He says that if you don't have a least 4 GB memory (which he does), it ain't gonna fly right. XP, otoh, he says, only (effectively) supports up to 2GB RAM. Is this correct? I want to believe him, and I want to do like I always do, which is to buy a system that'll be practical and functional w.o after-market upgrades for as long as possible. If Vista is really as bad as the buzz, I can't imagine some serious patches not coming out at some point, but....who knows... Plus, the systems I'm looking at that meet the above criteria all come with more than 2GB RAM. So to get that and XP seems kinda...dysfunctional. So anyhow, if you're using Vista and aren't happy, specifically what kinds of problems are you having, and what are you system specs, specifically amount of RAM? Likewise, if you're using Vista and are happy, what do you like about it, and how much RAM do you got? Got to make a movesoon, so any and all input will ne greatly appreciated. Thanks! Quote
Free For All Posted February 24, 2008 Report Posted February 24, 2008 Well, my contempt for Vista has been well documented here. My OS has been buggy at every turn. I'd much prefer XP. I'm going back to Mac very soon. YMMV. Quote
Chalupa Posted February 24, 2008 Report Posted February 24, 2008 My wife got a new Dell last year w/ Vista installed. It has worked fine for her except that our printer is incompatible w/ it. Quote
Chalupa Posted February 24, 2008 Report Posted February 24, 2008 Oh here's the specs... Intel Pentium D Processor 820 with Dual Core Technology(2.80GHz,800FSB) 1GB DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz She's running Vista Basic. You only need the 4GB if you running the full blown version of Vista. Quote
Free For All Posted February 24, 2008 Report Posted February 24, 2008 the full blown version of Vista. My Vista fully blows. Quote
7/4 Posted February 24, 2008 Report Posted February 24, 2008 I've been sticking with XP, I have no time for experiments. I got a new PC at Thanksgiving and one for my Dad last week, both XP. Quote
GA Russell Posted February 24, 2008 Report Posted February 24, 2008 Vista is considered a bad joke at Digg.com. One well-dugg link was to a photo of a repair shop with a big sign out front that said "We remove Vista". I plan for my next computer to be a Mac. Quote
Free For All Posted February 24, 2008 Report Posted February 24, 2008 I plan for my next computer to be a Mac. I'll second that with a laurel and hearty "type here"! Quote
Rooster_Ties Posted February 24, 2008 Report Posted February 24, 2008 I'm about to replace the computer that was stolen from our house back in December, and I'm going to get XP pre-loaded on it, for sure. Prior to Vista, I had the misfortune of having Windows ME running on the machine we purchased back in late 2000. I was and am pretty used to XP from the machines I use at work. Vista reminded me of Windows ME, if that's any indication. Mostly hated Vista, here. Quote
JSngry Posted February 24, 2008 Author Report Posted February 24, 2008 For those down on Vista, I'd really appreciate hearing the specifics if your problems, as well as you system specs, Quote
A Lark Ascending Posted February 24, 2008 Report Posted February 24, 2008 I've had a laptop with Vista since September - haven't had any problems apart from a printer being incompatible. I have no technical knowledge so probably don't need it to do what the more computer minded require. It does all I need. Quote
Tom 1960 Posted February 24, 2008 Report Posted February 24, 2008 (edited) I bought my new Dell about 9 months ago and have been having ongoing issues with Vista. Specific example: For some unknown reason on occasion IE will unexpectedly shut down, then reboot. It used to happen more often, less as of late. Looking at the specs if I'm reading this correctly: Processor: AMD Athlon64 x 2 Dual Core Processor 3800+ 2.00 GHz Memory(RAM): 1022 MB 32 bit Operating System Edited February 24, 2008 by Tom 1960 Quote
RDK Posted February 24, 2008 Report Posted February 24, 2008 My wife was given a new PC with Vista, but it only had half a gig of RAM. Ran absurdly slowly. It never should have been (and isn't recomended to be) configured that way. I had an extra gig lying around and replaced the memory. It ran okay on just 1 gig; it should sing with 2-4. From everything i've read/heard, Vista should be superior to XP provided that your system has enough memory to support it. I wouldn't waste time and money upgrading from XP, but on a new system I'd definitely go with Vista. I've also heard a new Vista service pack is due out soon, which should help with any current "problems." Quote
seeline Posted February 24, 2008 Report Posted February 24, 2008 (edited) I bought a laptop with the Home Edition Premium preloaded, back in Sept. - after I learned how to tweak a few settings (like turning off the "permission" and "admin" stuff), I've found it very easy to work with. (MUCH easier than XP in many respects.) Now, all the good things about Vista (and there are quite a few) have more or less been directly copied from various Mac OSs, so... And I hasten to add that I'm *not* a tech type - I just looked up some things via Lifehacker.com and Google, and then followed the (very simple) directions to change a few settings. The worst part of everything was installing software on the new machine, as every time you reboot, you have to log back on. Edited February 24, 2008 by seeline Quote
Jim Alfredson Posted February 24, 2008 Report Posted February 24, 2008 Like all Windows OS's, Vista is a resource hog. Your son is correct that you need serious RAM for it to run like it wants to, which is ridiculous, but that's been Microsoft's m.o. forever. I have not upgraded any of my computers to Vista. If I build a new machine, I might install it but it depends on the machine. The next computer I can see upgrading or re-building would be my music machine, which is the one I use to multitrack with Cubase and so far Cubase isn't too happy with Vista. Quote
vibes Posted February 24, 2008 Report Posted February 24, 2008 I have two computers, a desktop and a laptop, that are running Vista. I have had zero problems with it. Specs: Desktop 2.66ghz Core 2 Duo processor 2GB RAM Laptop 2.2ghz Core 2 Duo processor 2GB RAM 4GB of RAM is definitely NOT needed to run Vista. I would not, however, do it with any less than 2GB. I use these computers for several hours a day, and having not experienced a single problem with either, I'm a little baffled by all the reports of people who say they hate the OS and that it's so problematic. For me, it looks great, runs great and is very smooth. Quote
Rosco Posted February 24, 2008 Report Posted February 24, 2008 I've been using Vista Home Premium on a Compaq/ HP laptop for the last eleven months. 2GB of RAM, 1.6Ghz Core 2 Duo. I have had absolutely no problems to speak of. I use my laptop a lot, so it's been working hard but it's still quick and reliable. I much prefer the look and feel of Vista and it makes the layout, organizing and searching of files very easy and intuitive. Administration settings are a little less so (Vista likes to hide these) but it's just a question of getting used to them and shouldn't occur too often anyway. As has been mentioned elsewhere, check the compatibility of any printer, camera, phone etc software. I have read a lot of negative comments about Vista that almost put me off getting it (although in the end I had little choice in the matter). Reading those negative comments I sometimes wonder if I'm using the same system. Absolutely no complaints here. Quote
seeline Posted February 24, 2008 Report Posted February 24, 2008 (edited) I have read a lot of negative comments about Vista that almost put me off getting it (although in the end I had little choice in the matter). Reading those negative comments I sometimes wonder if I'm using the same system. Absolutely no complaints here. I hear you - and I have a feeling that the early rollout of Vista was problematic, but by last September - not so much. It actually is running better for me than any version of XP ever did. (In fact, i desperately wanted to "downgrade" to XP, but... there are too many advantages to Vista to make me want to do that!) I also have 2 GB RAM. Edited February 24, 2008 by seeline Quote
JSngry Posted February 25, 2008 Author Report Posted February 25, 2008 (edited) Sincerest thanks for all the comments! Looks like I'm gonna gamble w/Vista and lots of RAM, probably 4GB. This is gonna be a new system w/all newly loaded software, so backwards compatibility, system or software, shouldn't be an issue. From the sound of things here, people w/amped and new systems aren't having but minor issues, if that. We'll see how it goes... Edited February 25, 2008 by JSngry Quote
Chalupa Posted February 29, 2008 Report Posted February 29, 2008 Vista price drop http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=1393 Quote
Hot Ptah Posted February 29, 2008 Report Posted February 29, 2008 We bought a new home computer which came loaded with Vista. After a few stumbling transition moments at first, caused by our being prisoners of old routines, we neither like nor dislike Vista. It's just not that big a deal. It isn't wonderful, and it doesn't cause any major problems. We are limited in what we know how to do on the computer. It could be that we are so dumb that we don't know how to find the problems with Vista. For the limited scope of what we do, it is fine. Quote
JSngry Posted March 9, 2008 Author Report Posted March 9, 2008 Looks like I'm gonna gamble w/Vista and lots of RAM, probably 4GB. This is gonna be a new system w/all newly loaded software, so backwards compatibility, system or software, shouldn't be an issue. From the sound of things here, people w/amped and new systems aren't having but minor issues, if that. We'll see how it goes... So far, so good. The new Dell XPS is running like a champ, and Vista Ultimate, although presenting "reacclimation" issues in terms of interfaces, etc. is actually turning out to be kinda neat. However, it looks like Vista is not an OS to "upgrade" to. Instead, it seems like it's one to "start over" with - new hardware, new software, the whole shebang. And only then if you can get stuff with the juice to make it do what it's supposed to do. And it looks like Microsoft's known this from jump: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/business...p;th&emc=th Quote
BERIGAN Posted March 9, 2008 Report Posted March 9, 2008 Looks like I'm gonna gamble w/Vista and lots of RAM, probably 4GB. This is gonna be a new system w/all newly loaded software, so backwards compatibility, system or software, shouldn't be an issue. From the sound of things here, people w/amped and new systems aren't having but minor issues, if that. We'll see how it goes... So far, so good. The new Dell XPS is running like a champ, and Vista Ultimate, although presenting "reacclimation" issues in terms of interfaces, etc. is actually turning out to be kinda neat. However, it looks like Vista is not an OS to "upgrade" to. Instead, it seems like it's one to "start over" with - new hardware, new software, the whole shebang. And only then if you can get stuff with the juice to make it do what it's supposed to do. And it looks like Microsoft's known this from jump: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/business...p;th&emc=th Thanks for the link, very interesting! Quote
Christiern Posted March 9, 2008 Report Posted March 9, 2008 (edited) Jim, your posts often show keen vision, but when it comes to computers.....well Macs will run your flawed Windows, too. That said, their Leopard easily outruns anything the Gates people can try to emulate. Afterthought: What happens when computers crash? It's been years since that happened to any of my Macs. Edited March 9, 2008 by Christiern Quote
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