Is Vista really worth it?

[Theclow]

After hearing about all the bugs and high requirements, I want to get an opinion from the people here. Do you(yes, you)think vista is worth the upgrade?

[Radiosity]

Nope. XP is still a good OS, and will be for years to come. It's stable and works with most hardware and software. Really, the only reason to get Vista is DX10, and that's going to be utterly pointless until games start to actually use it. I doubt I'll be getting Vista anytime in the next two years, to be honest. And I certainly wouldn't get it before the first service pack, that's just asking for trouble.

[nooc]

If you actually LIKE spending the next year or so doing full time OS maintenance then any new Windows OS is probably what you want. As for me, I'll stick to XP. I don't see any reasons why I should upgrade(?) from XP as it's operating nicely and has become somewhat stable over the last couple of years of endless patches. I hate bells and whistles and that's probably what I'll get if I upgrade.

I don't think you will actually know if it's worth an upgrade, in your case, unless you try it out. Who knows, perhaps hasta la Vista is something for you.

[Andu]

It's got too many bells and whistles, plus the bugs.
I prefer XP and probably wont upgrade unless i really need to...

[felix]

No, Vista isn't worth it... it's just pretty.
I and my friends have tried it...
Most see it as junk ATM.

[Shinoto]

Right now it isnt...Just like all new OS's. They really are not worth it right away since they have to do alot more debugging in them...Stablize..and everything else.
In a year or two it will definitly be worth it.

[Sai the Dreamer]

I'd say it depends on whether you can afford the money. They make you pay for the freaking visual style, after all. Even if you can, wait another year or so - everybody will be storming over to Vista, which means XP will be relatively more secure, at least for the time being.

[martino]

I will wait as well, probably two years or so. I don't think it's worth upgrading now...

On a side note, I would gladly go back to Win 2000 :P

[npal]

Well. I'm a Microsoft fan I admit it. I always buy legal Windows copies and I DO believe that Windows are much easier and functional (at least up to XP) and more supported by developers compared to others.

HOWEVER, investing 250 euro (or 370 if I want a clean install on the go) for a Vista Home Premium system whose greatest adversary is a reasonably well performing previous Windows version (XP), nope, the new stuff aren't really worth that high price. If you want 3D desktop, Linux's AIGLX implementation is better and delivers more eye candy than Vista. Linux itself of course has problems, and I'm still waiting for the morons in Creative to get a decent driver out since they don't want ALSA to make one for my card, but if eye candy is the only thing you want from Windows, Linux is free and better performing I think, so you're better off with that.

The problem with keeping XP of course is that Microsoft will eventually cease supporting XP, and since XP is good, they'll probably do it sooner to make you get Vista. Developers will start focusing on Vista more, DX10 is only Vista supported so when that becomes the game standard, you'll be forced to upgrade.

If the price was reasonable, I'd be the first to buy Vista, even if it was just the eye candy. But the price tag is too much and I'd rather buy a pc upgrade than waste money on something I have 2 OS that perform well, each with their respective strengths. And I hope this makes a)developers take the initiative and consider supporting Linux decently, b) the linux community working on a standard and making it less quirky for the average user and c)Microsoft dropping prices to 50% or I don't know how they're supposed to attract even loyal fans like me back to buying Vista.

[Lambda]

Microsoft is several years behind its competitors now. The only thing which keeps Windows even worth considering is its huge user base, and all the resultant compatible software and drivers. Since Windows 2000, they've just gone backwards. XP was a small downgrade from 2000, but Vista is a big downgrade from XP. You aren't even allowed to keep software on your computer which Microsoft disapproves of.

[npal]

How was XP a small downgrade from 2000? If you ask me, 2000 was crap for usual home use, the software and game support were terrible, the only good thing it had was stability, which XP share more or less.

But I agree that it does seem like Vista is giving less than XP for a terribly overinflated price.

[Theclow]

Originally Posted by Lambda

You aren't even allowed to keep software on your computer which Microsoft disapproves of.

Wait are you serious? Aw man and this week I went out a bought a nVidia 8800GTX so I could play MSflightsim on vista, but now it looks like microsoft wont even let you have DX10 or anything else for that matter on your computer.(Because we all know microsoft disapproves of everything.)

[npal]

Eh, no, actually wasn't Vista advertised as DX10 compatible, blahblah? Nah, you did ok. And the "you can't keep software on your computer which Microsoft disapproves of" doesn't really stand, unless you're talking about the extra security stuff, in which case, it's the software developers that need to adjust their products to the new OS and not the other way around.

[Theclow]

Originally Posted by npal

Eh, no, actually wasn't Vista advertised as DX10 compatible, blahblah? Nah, you did ok. And the "you can't keep software on your computer which Microsoft disapproves of" doesn't really stand, unless you're talking about the extra security stuff, in which case, it's the software developers that need to adjust their products to the new OS and not the other way around.

I know it was advertised as DX10 compatable I was saying I spent all this only on a DX10 card that I can't use to it's fullest untill I get vista(and after hearing that I was saying I wasted money on the card.), and what do you mean it doesn't stand unless it's extra security?(I'm really confused )

[SeijiSensei]

You might want to consider this comparison of Vista and Linux as desktop operating systems. The author installed both Vista and MEPIS, an Ubuntu derivative, on a one-year-old HP media center PC, a machine which received PC Magazine's Editor's Choice award when it was shipped. Overall he gives the nod to MEPIS. Some people here might find his experiences with Vista's DRM controls especially enlightening. He cannot play CDs through his S/PDIF optical audio interface because it doesn't have the required DRM features:

"That was a kick in the head. I have a fully legal CD in my hand. Any other version of Windows will play it, Linux will play it, Mac OS will play it, and my CD player will play it, but if you're using S/PDIF for your computer-driven audio and Vista, you're out of luck."

Also, when there were no other applications running, MEPIS consumed about 100 MB of memory; Vista was pushing 500 MB. On a system with a 1 GB chip, that doesn't leave much room for application programs, especially memory hogs like Azureus or Office applications. My guess is that the OS must need to do a lot of swapping to disk in these situations.

[Sai the Dreamer]

Originally Posted by npal

Well. I'm a Microsoft fan I admit it. I always buy legal Windows copies and I DO believe that Windows are much easier and functional (at least up to XP) and more supported by developers compared to others.

There's a good reason why they say, "Once you go Mac, you never go back." It's actually a lot easier to use than Windows, and a lot of features from Vista were ripped from Mac. But that's another subject, so.

[npal]

I don't like Mac I'd rather have Linux if I'm about to drop Windows for something.

[Theclow]

Originally Posted by Sai the Dreamer

There's a good reason why they say, "Once you go Mac, you never go back." It's actually a lot easier to use than Windows, and a lot of features from Vista were ripped from Mac. But that's another subject, so.

Chalk up anyther reason to reinforce my statement "No need to go mac, you will come back", I had a lot of problems with mac such as program compatablty issues and most of the hardware I buy doesn't work with a mac. But I don't mind adding Mac into this argument I mean we already added linix .

[npal]

Well, most of the hardware I have works ok in linux, if you don't mind the mysterious occasional failure to boot the kernel for unknown reasons (my money's on something wrong with the mainboard, some USB device or because I have both onboard and add-on sound card active). My main gripe is non-availability of X-Fi drivers (crap...). And I don't know, writing in my USB stick has failed repeatedly. For some reason the data is corrupted when I try to bring it to Windows... I don't know what might be wrong. But anyway, overall Linux is a good alternative and it's free

But I'm a MS fan, I like Windows So I dual boot

[Takeru]

NO, because Vista isn't as "easy to use" as they make it sound. I, after using Windows all the way up from 3.1, can say that it made me rip my hair out trying to find my stuff when I was beta testing RC2. And I don't see the power that you were allowed in previous versions, I like to modify my systems, even my iPod is modified. If I buy an OS I expect to be able to mess with it to make it adhere to MY needs. Because, it's not like I'm going to sell it or redistribute it, I'm going to use it and be happy. And it's also nothing but glitz an glamour. I don't like it, and I never will. That's why when my 4yr old laptop dies, I'm going to Mac.

Originally Posted by npal

How was XP a small downgrade from 2000? If you ask me, 2000 was crap for usual home use, the software and game support were terrible, the only good thing it had was stability, which XP share more or less.

But I agree that it does seem like Vista is giving less than XP for a terribly overinflated price.

Does the "Professional" in the name ring any bells? 2000 wasn't designed to be a gaming machine. That's what the home systems are better designed for.

Sorry, but Vista just makes me write paragraphs. I have more about it on my blog if you click the link under my sig.