how do you like vista now? » Forum Post by bmorenmiami

Try buying a a 300 dollar soundcard and it not work.

Did that...bought a Soundblaster Audigy 4 that worked fine in the Vista betas, thinking it was going to suit my needs. Wrong, when Vista went gold it (hardware & software) didn't function properly.....lucky for me, basic drivers for my card were available via Windows update, so at least I am able to listen to 5.1 sound through my Creative Inspire digital processor, if nothing else.

To access full hardware & software functions I need to upgrade to Soundblaster's X-Fi Xtreme Gamer card, which I will do in a few weeks. That's my only gripe (having to spend on another soundcard), but it's not MS or Vista's fault that my current card is older and a bit behind the eight ball in technological terms.

I must admit that I have now had a couple of BSOD's since installing Vista....cause was recently updated video drivers from nVidia malfunctioning or something...however, I've reverted to the 'previous' drivers all is well again.

All in all my Vista experience has been a good one and I'm as happy with it as Robinson Crusoe in a 5 star suite with room & pool service.

yeah, I can get sound but none of the software, mixers, effects work,

X-Fi Elite Pro, Useless... bah!

i'm using my bose companion speakers thru a usb port. my system doesn't have a soundcard or onboard sound in it these days. i have a 200 dollar soundblaster x-fi sitting on the shelf. i'm really liking these bose companions, tho

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yeah, I can get sound but none of the software, mixers, effects work,

Yep, that's it for me, too....no record or mixer software with the Audigy 4

X-Fi Elite Pro, Useless... bah!

That's not encouraging news...I was planning on upgrading to the X-Fi Xtreme Gamer, not that I do games that much, but for the newer record, mixer software being compatible with Vista. Everything I've read states that it should all work fine with the updated drivers and software, and an acquaintance says that his runs fine in Vista with them, so I'm hoping that's all correct. Hmmmmm, needs more investigation, me thinks.

The worst thing with Vista was that I often got a blue screen at boot up . Then the computer would prompt me whether I wanted to run windows recovery. It did this at least 5 times in a week. This was on a new computer running an Athlon duo core 5000+ with the latest main board. It was an open box computer that had previously been returned. I do not know if Vista is glitched or if I had a corrupted copy. At any rate I took advantage of the 14 day return policy and took it back to the store. Is it possible that their could be compatability issues with certain main boards? Now I am using my 6 years old computer with a 100 front side bus and am between a rock and a hard place needing a new system but knowing that the new system may not function properly with Vista. I once loaded Explorer 3 times before it would work. The first two times it was not responding.

Has anyone else had failure booting the system?

It was an open box computer that had previously been returned.

That may be all there was to it...returned faulty....put back on shelf unfixed.

You might be better off going to one of the smaller PC stores and speak with someone about your needs and what might suit you best. In most smaller stores you can get a competitively priced custom build that's tailor made to your requirements.

I personally like Vista, but XP may be better suited to your needs, so the best thing would be to discuss this with a reputable store that can build a system around your needs, rather than be lumbered with something from (purely) a Kmart type salesperson with limited or no hands on/practical experience.

From my experience, Vista is a good, stable and very capable OS in a system that's quite capable of running it, but it's your decision at the end of the day, so pick the OS you'll feel happy/most comfortable with.

Been running it for a year and as far as I,m concerned theres no comparison with XP, I normally run 4 or 5 different progs at the same time, some thing I couldn't even think of
doing withe XP. It's a lot more stable.

I've been running vista for a while now, The computer above is new and runs vista home premium wonderfully (See full specs here). I'm able to play my games, NWN2, RCT3, BF2, Sims 2, Zoo tycoon 2 and a host of others I'm not going to bother listing them all. But yeah no problems. I also had home premium on my older computer (See Specs here) which originally when I bought it came with windows xp media center, it's still running vista and no problems, other than the fact It needs more memory.

since i finally decided to get it, to make up my 'own' mind about it......i loved it from day one...and still do.........id never look back even after upgrading........

since i finally decided to get it, to make up my 'own' mind about it

'Ere... I remember you saying that I talked you into it.

Seriously... I'm pleased it all worked out for you, that you're happy with your decision.

Personally I hate Vista! Not that I have it...but because I'm subjected to its configurations even though I still have XP...such as where my stardock programs "have" to be now. And as far as Vista being able to run numerous programs at once...yeah....so....I've always been able to do that with my XP...so there!

Honestly though...if Vista works for you...great! But I still like my XP! Works great....runs all the programs I need it to when I need it to.

This has been a public service announcement!

It's not as good as I once thought. Vista SP1 lacks the performance improvements that it claims to have. Vista SP1 is in fact, slower than SP0, based on my PC's configuration. Many Vista drivers are basic compared to their XP counterparts. I own a 3 1/2 year old PC which uses XP based hardware, and I have found ways to install certain XP drivers on Vista, such as my sound card. From my experience, the XP drivers deliver more functionality than their Vista counterparts.

On the other hand, Vista is prettier, and can be customized a lot more. I've added wallpapers in Windows Explorer, and the "Favorite Links" panel. This is something I can't do in Windows XP. Vista also is more secure and has enhanced features.

But the no comprimise solution is to dual-boot Vista and XP on the same machine. I have Vista Business SP0 and XP Professional SP2 on my machine. I'm happy with this.

Not sp3?

Anyway vista im sure it will be a great OS in about a year or two still isnt good enough i think, until then i will use XP primarily.

Vista is a great "concept" not necessarily a great OS for those of you whom aren't adventurous. I've been personally working with Vista since it's alpha stages. The main complaints I have are:

-NOT a resource hog, but demands better hardware than 1/2 the consumers I know can afford. (At least to run Home Premium or Ultimate) - This could also vary given area you live in, of course.

-A rather annoying feature called the UAC (User Account Control). Whereas, I see it's purpose, it makes me mad and I want to rip it out of Vista. However, TweakVista gives you nice control to tame the beast if you don't just decide to turn it off entirely.

-Compatibility! It works with all of my hardware and applications. Being a tech geek this is expected. 1/2 the consumers I know (that can run Vista) run it very poorly based on their hardware and software.. Some of their applications don't work period, that were fairly expensive applications.

-SP1 - It helped Vista along a short way. It did clear up SOME compatibility issues, helped speed SOME.. And, did some other MINOR advanced with security, functionality, etc... Honestly though, could have used a bit more work.

-Windows 7 - Why should I convince consumers, or enterprises I support to purchase Vista when Windows 7 will be out in the very near future?.. Let that one boil for a while and see how you feel about it.

Overall, Windows XP SP3 adds many security features Vista has. It is 20x faster than Vista or Vista with SP1... And, you don't need to worry about as many compatiblity issues with software and hardware requirements as you do with Vista.

From a techie stand-point, I'd never go back to XP myself. I love vista, I'm accustomed to it, and I know enough to make it play nice.

From a consumer's standpoint with my recommendation, don't bother with the upgrade. Update to SP3 for Windows XP and wait for Windows 7.

That's my two cents, sorry for the long post. Hopefully, I added some good in-sight for those of you on the borderline.

-Chris C.
MCP, MCDST, MCTS: Vista, MCITP: Enterprise Support Technician, MCSA
"Hopefully I'm certified enough for you to believe me."

Overall, Windows XP SP3 adds many security features Vista has. It is 20x faster than Vista or Vista with SP1.

MCP, MCDST, MCTS: Vista, MCITP: Enterprise Support Technician, MCSA
"Hopefully I'm certified enough for you to believe me."

Um... I dual boot between Vista Ultimate SP1 and XP Pro SP3, and I must disagree that XP SP3 is faster. On my rig (AMD Athlon x2 6400 3.4ghz/4gb RAM), I find that Vista runs a good deal faster and is more stable... better than XP for multiple apps to be open/used.

I do agree, however, with the UAC comment. It's a real pain in the arse when it keeps asking for permissions after you've allowed the various apps over and over again... hence it's turned off via TweakVista.

-Windows 7 - Why should I convince consumers, or enterprises I support to purchase Vista when Windows 7 will be out in the very near future?.

And when Windows 7 is released, the same detractors and nay-sayers as there was with XP, Vista, etc, will come crawling out of the woodwork saying things like: "But it's not as stable as Vista or XP... my advice is to stick with Vista/XP until Windows 8 comes out."

There just ain't pleasing some people! They're not happy unless they're bitching about something... and who better than Microsoft/Windows to pick on.

Um... I dual boot between Vista Ultimate SP1 and XP Pro SP3, and I must disagree that XP SP3 is faster. On my rig (AMD Athlon x2 6400 3.4ghz/4gb RAM), I find that Vista runs a good deal faster and is more stable... better than XP for multiple apps to be open/used.

Curious.. Different users report different things. I'm happy to hear this in your situation starkers. I guess it also really depends what all is loaded in XP as supposed to Vista as well for booting speed and overall speed in general.

I'd agree with the stability however. Windows 2000 junkies would love Vista on the fact you rarely will ever need to reboot it. Personally, I haven't seen one BSOD yet, but I have friends that have.. WEIRD.

And when Windows 7 is released, the same detractors and nay-sayers as there was with XP, Vista, etc, will come crawling out of the woodwork saying things like: "But it's not as stable as Vista or XP... my advice is to stick with Vista/XP until Windows 8 comes out."

There just ain't pleasing some people! They're not happy unless they're bitching about something... and who better than Microsoft/Windows to pick on.

Ya know, I'd agree with both of those statements starkers. In this situation (newer windows, etc...) There really is no winning. I'll also personally be behind Microsoft 100% and try out their latest and ::cough:: greatest. Unfortunitally, enterprises and consumers in general won't. Immediately anyways.. But, well put at either case.

All in all. I didn't intend on deterring anyone from Vista. But our specs and their own may not, and probably will not match up. Surely, our PCs can handle it's power starkers.. But, how many others will really have the hardware requirements? Not even as much requirements, but "enough" hardware to keep everything running smoothly and not at a crawl?..

-Chris C.
MCP, MCDST, MCTS: Vista, MCITP: Enterprise Support Technician, MCSA
"Hopefully I'm certified enough for you to believe me."

I guess it also really depends what all is loaded in XP as supposed to Vista as well for booting speed and overall speed in general.

I have pretty much the same apps in both OSes - to save more frequent booting between them to access programs in need to use - and Vista is faster at bootup/shutdown and running apps in general... mind you, XP is no slouch these days, either, not with this new AMD Athlon x2 4600 3.4ghz CPU I'm running.

Personally, I haven't seen one BSOD yet

I had some a while back, but that was due to a faulty graphics card that had issues with DWM and Aero. XP was fine with it, but Vista kept going to the dreaded BSOD once the desktop loaded. All was resolved with a new graphics card, however, and I've not seen a BSOD since.

Unfortunitally, enterprises and consumers in general won't. Immediately anyways..

I can understand businesses being reluctant to upgrade to a new OS, particularly when it requires upgraded hardware across the board, but for general users who purchase a new PC with Vista pre-installed, I fail to understand why they'd downgrade/pay for a copy of XP and dismiss Vista entirely... in some cases without giving it a decent tryout to give it a fair go. Now that SP1 has resolved various issues and most driver incompatibilities have been fixed, I can see no logical reason to do that.

Sadly, Vista got a lot of bad press and less than encouraging reviews, and according to what I've heard from various people who are reluctant to try Vista, is that they're not prepared to give it a go based on negative comments/remarks they've heard about it. Now if the majority of those comments/remarks were actually qualified, well informed judgements, I could understand their reluctance, but when it's heard from a friend of a friend who knows somebody who has a brother whose wife's fourth cousin said it was no good, according to a friend of his, I have to question their ability to think for themselves.

All in all. I didn't intend on deterring anyone from Vista. But our specs and their own may not, and probably will not match up. Surely, our PCs can handle it's power starkers..

Me either, I generally tell people of my own, trouble-free Vista experience (been running it since the 1st public beta), but I also advise people considering an upgrade that Vista requires decent/more up-to-date hardware to run it efficiently, that it does not perform well on older, more low powered machines.

Having said that, I wouldn't deter anyone from going with XP if that's what they want (and can still get it), because I still run/use XP for various reasons. For example, I have a USB AVerMedia TV/FM tuner card that's capable of recording from VHS video, and while I find this runs more than well enough in Vista, it does operate more efficiently in XP when multi-tasking ... probably because theres fewer background services and no Aero/DWM.

I'll also personally be behind Microsoft 100% and try out their latest and ::cough:: greatest.

Yep, me too... I'm rather looking forwards to Windows 7 being released. I'll give it a go despite what the detractors and nay sayers may come out with to rubbish it. I've never allowed others opinions decide what's good/right for me, so I'll sign up for Windows 7 to assess it's worth for myself... just as I did with Vista.

Amen, WebGizmos! My sentiments exactly. I cannot and will not "upgrade" my systems to Vista, as I run both plenty of older apps which will not run on it, and require better use of my system's resources for my programs, NOT my OS!

Been running it for a year and as far as I,m concerned theres no comparison with XP, I normally run 4 or 5 different progs at the same time, some thing I couldn't even think of
doing withe XP. It's a lot more stable.

Terribly sorry to hear about your lousy XP experience. I've got to say that makes absolutely no sense to me, though... as XP is MUCH less of a resource hog than Vista. I constantly run about 7 applications at all times on my XP rigs. Much of my work is done using VMware virtual machines, and with an XP host and 2 GB of RAM, I am able to run 3 or 4 guests at the same time with minimal-to-zero performance loss. If I tried that on a Vista host, I'd be able to run 1 guest only, as the host OS would suck up so much resources it's pathetic.

Well i love vista...... i think it works great and i could never go back to XP...

I can still remember when XP came out, every one was saying the same then "it's crap, none of the software works, ect..."

so it's just the same with Vista, everyone will be using it soon enough.....

I'm running both now, and I really like Vista! Everything works twice as fast as XP, as it should! But an OS is an OS to me!

And being that I own both platforms, my question still hasn't been answered, "what is it that I can do on Vista, that I can't on XP?"

The answer is not Dreams!

All in all, to me there's no reason other than a noticable difference in speed, to rush out and get Vista if you're already running XP!

Cp