Windows Vista

[JackFetch]

I upgraded tonight. I'll talk more about it when I get more used to it. One thing is if you use Outlook to check your Hotmail, well, you can't anymore. Outlook is now Windows Mail, and it doesn't support Hotmail anymore(even though it is owned by Microsoft).

It's a little overwhelming right now, but I'm a geek so I love this stuff.

[James D.]

Please do let us know more as you get more accustomed to it. I've heard nothing but iffy-to-bad things about it so far, but I still want to know as much as possible about it.

[JackFetch]

The overall look is very slick, but I don't like the gadgets(think Widgets). Itunes doesn't work very well with it. It took 3 tries to get my podcasts onto my Ipod because Itunes kept freezing. I'll have more time over the weekend to mess around with it, and I'll try some games like World of Warcraft, Dungeon Siege 2, and Farcry.

My first impression is the same as when XP launched. Once the support is there for all the programs, it's going to be good.

One cool thing is you can preview windows by hovering over them at the taskbar.

The desktop seems kind of cluttered with the gadgets on it. Also the start button has been replaced with just a logo.

This lets you switch to different windows. This feature is also in linux. I don't really find it useful unless you have 20 windows open at once.

The search in Vista is just as useful as Google is with the internet. I typed in fir, and it found every program with those letters on my computer.

Viewing pictures with the photo gallery is a little cluttered. I don't see myself using this.

The control panel has alot of new things in it.

There is a neat dvd making program. I'll tell you later how well it works.

All the games end up here, right where they should. My poor little computer only got a 2.6 and it runs everything fine so I don't know what their benchmarks are.

[MaxPower]

I'm not liking your comment about itunes not working, the suspicious mind in me doesn't see that as a coincidence....

A friend of mine runs the IT dept for a company with 1000+ employees. He said they'll upgrade in 2 years. But any machines they by between now and then will be Vista compliant. Don't know why I mentioned this, just sounded like something I might do.

[Missy]

I'm not liking your comment about itunes not working, the suspicious mind in me doesn't see that as a coincidence....

From what I've read, Apple will release a Vista-only iTunes update in a few weeks.

[Dread]

All hail Apple!

[JackFetch]

I haven't had any iTunes problems since that first time, and they are working on a fix for it. I do have, however a problem with my sound in games. It also makes WOW stutter pretty bad. All I can do is wait for drivers. Belive it or not it's not Microsoft's fault this time. Nvidia decided not to make drivers for their older NForce versions.

In case you didn't know, there is a security feature in Vista that happens every time you install anything, or even change settings. A box comes up making sure you really want to install or use that program. It's annoying, but I hear there is a way to turn it off.

The thing that annoys me the most is when you want to update a program. Lets say for example you open RealPlayer and need to download a new codec or something. Sometimes a box comes up and says you don't have permission to do that, and you need to log in as administrator. The thing is you will get this even if you are logged in as administrator. To fix it you have to right click the program, and select "run as administrator".

[J Marv]

The thing that annoys me the most is when you want to update a program. Lets say for example you open RealPlayer and need to download a new codec or something. Sometimes a box comes up and says you don't have permission to do that, and you need to log in as administrator. The thing is you will get this even if you are logged in as administrator. To fix it you have to right click the program, and select "run as administrator".

Word. I HATE this crap. It's not terribly new though. I had to deal with it back in Windows 2000 because I didn't like the 3 million admin tools running in the background, so I tried to stick with a power user account for daily use. Eventually I gave up just because of annoying shit like that.

There HAS to be a workaround though. Even its a registry hack or a path modifier. Probably will just be an added option in the control panel come SP1, at least I hope.

[JackFetch]

I figured out how to turn off the nag screens. It's not in the security settings like you would think, but in the user account settings. You have to turn it off for each account.

[JackFetch]

A couple of things since I've been using it for awhile.

iTunes usually works, but every once in awhile it will lock up. One weird thing is that whenever I plug my iPod in Vista asks me if I want to check the disc or not.

Hitting ctrl-alt-del now takes you to a bunch of options instead of going right to the task manager. That's annoying as hell when a program needs to be turned off like that. Sometimes Firefox won't open and says it's already running and you have to turn it off in the task manager. It did that in XP also.

I usually set up my bottom taskbar to auto hide, and then set another taskbar on the right side that also auto hides with my most used programs. I can't setup a second taskbar, only move the one on the bottom around the screen.

WarCraft III works just fine, but I'm using it in compatability mode since it said it woudn't work when I installed it.

World of Warcraft works fine also, but only in window mode. If I go full screen my sound gets messed up.

Guild Wars runs perfectly.

GimpShop does not run at all. It's a free Photoshop clone.

The hardest thing to get working right were the codecs for my videos. I don't even remember what I used but everything plays now.

Google Earth works great.

If you guys have any questions about specific programs, If I have them, or can get them, I'll let you know how well they work in Vista.

[drqshadow]

Sometimes a box comes up and says you don't have permission to do that, and you need to log in as administrator. The thing is you will get this even if you are logged in as administrator. To fix it you have to right click the program, and select "run as administrator".

Yeah, OSX does something like that initially too. Extremely annoying.

Speaking of which, I got a new Macbook Pro this weekend.

[S-T]

Outlook is now Windows Mail, and it doesn't support Hotmail anymore(even though it is owned by Microsoft).

Windows Live Mail is another option.

I tried it, didn't like it, switched back to webmail.

[JackFetch]

It's been awhile so I thought I'd revisit this.

I haven't had any real problems except with printers. My laptop runs vista and it keeps reinstalling the printer. Sometimes I'll go to print something and it has the wrong copy as the default. I'll look and 5 copies of the printer are installed. I don't know how to fix it yet. I read somewhere that the problem is that it installs a new one every time Windows does an auto update for some people. I hope they fix this in the service pack.

I got a new wireless printer today and went through hell trying to get it to work. I don't think it's a Vista problem though because checking online I found XP users have had the problem I had.

Everything else I use works great for the most part. I bought a new PC that came with Vista and got a high end graphics card and haven't had any problems with it. The only games I found that won't run are older games that aren't supported anymore(The Longest Journey ran really bad). iTunes still runs like shit and locks up constantly(and wipes my ipod clean once in awhile). I think my next mp3 player is going to be a Zune for the wireless sync

I do have some small glitches sometimes, but no more than I did with XP.

One last thing. The nag boxes that always ask for permission can be turned off. That's the first thing I did with all 3 computers I have.

[MaxPower]

I bought a new laptop midyear (HP Centrino Pro Core Duo 1.8 with 2gig Ram) and I removed VISTA after maybe 4 or 6 weeks. Seriously after reinstalling XP the speed is crazy different. The only thing that I miss if the VISTA search function, but that was what was slowing it so much (did you ever notice that the HDD light never (or hardly) stops running. VISTA is always indexing). Great for searching for files, but slows the thing. I'm on XP and will be for a long time. I kept 2000 for at least 3-4 years after XP launch, I think I'll do the same this time.

Same friend I mentioned in my first post, he was given a macro test that you do in excel to test performance. It was done on the following:

1. Windows 2000 and Office 2000

2. Win XP and Office 2003

3. VISTA and Office 2007

Option 1 was almost 10 times faster in running the macro. This is kinda of backed up with the new SP3 for XP, with people reporting a 10% increase in performance with the update. It wasn't even meant to increase performance, just fix some bugs. So for 4 years, people have had an OS that was using more resources than it needed to. Seriously, how did we get to a point when we allowed the computer world to be held to these lowly standards?

There is every chance my next computers will be linux based with open office. I just don't need to be a MS slave anymore.... (and Jack, Gimp definitely works on Yellow Dog or whichever you choose)

[JackFetch]

There is every chance my next computers will be linux based with open office. I just don't need to be a MS slave anymore.... (and Jack, Gimp definitely works on Yellow Dog or whichever you choose)

Linux is only good for basic stuff like web surfing and office work. It is not user friendly for the average person, and doesn't play most games. Installing stuff is too technical for most people, and there are too many versions of it. I think people like it because it's free.

Gimp works fine in Vista. It's Gimp Shop that didn't work.

[MaxPower]

Yeah it is harder, but some of the GUI's are pretty good and most homes only surf the web, check email, listen to music, so it does that. If you do anything graphic intensive based (like games or heavy 3D stuff) then it isn't suitable. At my work though, I could switch everyone to it pretty easily, especially as I'm about to develop a web/mysql based system.