# How Bad is Windows Vista?



## NaphtaliPress

Ok, I've seen so many complaints about it; just how unstable, bad, confusing, hard, etc. is Vista? I just don't think I want to face it on my next PC upgrade.


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## Casey

Never used it. I ditched Microsoft years ago.


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## Backwoods Presbyterian

My only problem is that it runs slow.


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## Simply_Nikki

Where's the option "Vista is the Devil!"


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## DMcFadden

Chris,

I have used it for several months now. Some people love it and swear by it; the rest of us swear at it. 

Much of it is intuitive and easy enough to follow. They have added some functionality in the multi-media area, rearranged some old things I was used to in XP, and made some things more irritating (e.g., the constant confirmation of every single step to be taken in some operations. I am just about frustrated enough to apostasize to Mac on my next computer purchase.


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## PuritanCovenanter

My Dad bought a laptop from Dell with Vista on it. I am greatly disappointed. We have had nothing but issues with it and peripherals.

Problems with Vista. Not the puter.


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## NaphtaliPress

Simply_Nikki said:


> Where's the option "Vista is the Devil!"


That's the same as the "Get a Mac" option.


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## Poimen

It does run slow at times mainly because of (as far as I can see) all the eye candy. 

Otherwise I am fairly happy with it.


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## Answerman

I bought a cheap laptop with vista installed last year and it is very slow. I don't really use the laptop much, so I can't comment on it's features but if you have a faster setup, it might not be bad. I have had no stability problems.


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## fredtgreco

DMcFadden said:


> Chris,
> 
> I have used it for several months now. Some people love it and swear by it; the rest of us swear at it.
> 
> Much of it is intuitive and easy enough to follow. They have added some functionality in the multi-media area, rearranged some old things I was used to in XP, and made some things more irritating (e.g., the constant confirmation of every single step to be taken in some operations. I am just about frustrated enough to apostasize to Mac on my next computer purchase.




Windows Security Center --> Other Security Settings

Disable User Account Control

Never worry about prompts again.


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## VictorBravo

I think I posted this elsewhere, but here is one "Technolawyer's" opinion. After working with it for quite a while, he opted for the "downgrade option" back to XP.

TechnoLawyer Blog: Ross, Tell Us What You Really Think About Windows Vista

I don't have it. I've tried it but didn't see the need to buy it.


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## Answerman

I haven't tried any of these tweaks yet but they might be helpful for those of you where Vista is slowing things down.

PC World - Business Center: How to Speed Up Windows Vista

If you try any of these and find they work, please report back on the tweaks that seemed to work the best for your system.


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## jambo

I have had Vista now on my new PC since Feb last year. I have no complaints and think its great although admittedly during the first couple of months some programmes such as my normal anit-virus and anti-spyware wouldn't work and had to use another type. If it is running slow perhaps its because Vista was installed over XP or whatever and other factors are slowing it down. On my previous PC I upgraded Windows 98 to XP and it was never the same as new PCs with XP installed from the start.


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## ModernPuritan?

vista can work like a charm, you have got to train it though. 

Id suggest surfing around majorgeeks.com for help on making vista work. (pro pc)
go to macrumors.com to get a balance pro mac side

games may become vista only(on the pc side)
I would simply advise you to look at macs very closely, they are completely different, but easy to learn. so i voted get a mac.

there is a way to get about $300 off brand new macs from apple. If you want i can direct you to the info needed to do it. Its not illegal, or unethical its just off the beaten path, hence ill share it in PMs only.


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## Richard King

If you get a minute 
...read this thing I heard Glenn Beck say on the radio yesterday. 
It is funny and in my opinion it is so true about Vista frustrations.

Glenn Beck - Current Events & Politics - Glenn Beck: DocX


and then there is this...

Vista fails the Grandpa test | Computerworld Blogs


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## ReformedWretch

It's Windows ME all over again.


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## greenbaggins

Vista does need to be trained. I am no geek. But the book _Hacking Windows Vista_, by Steve Sinchak, takes you step by step (and I mean every step; that's why the book is absolutely brilliant for non-geeks!) through all the steps you need to go through to get Vista zipping along at a great speed, and not only that, it will speed up your browser. I really like Vista. But you have to train it. It takes about 4-6 hours to go through Sinchak's book and speed up the machine. I am convinced that if everyone bought that book and went through the whole bit, step by step, there would be considerably less frustration with Vista.


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## Herald

Backwoods Presbyterian said:


> My only problem is that it runs slow.



I have Vista and it runs extremely fast. But I also have 4 GB of memory. Vista is a memory hog. 2 GB is a bare minimum. 4 GB is preferred.


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## Presbyterian Deacon

*Yuck!*

I downgraded to XP after three weeks of frustration!


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## shackleton

I hated it at first because of all the security, the constant asking for verification having to type in a password every few seconds but I figured out how to shut that off so now I have gotten used to it. 

The thing I don't like is that after about 2 years of it being out a lot of things still are not Vista compatible. I had to go back and repurchase some programs and had to just let some go because it was getting expensive. 

I have heard programmers say that it is a real pain to work with. My wife says the Tech guys where she works absolutely hate trying to do anything with it. Unless you want to go for a Mac, this is what we are stuck with. Or squeeze more life out of your old computer.


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## historyb

I had customers with Vista that wanted to downgrade. I myself use PCLinuxOS best little Linux distro out there In my humble opinion.


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## Semper Fidelis

I like it for many of the features it has. Organizing files and its Media Center are both great pluses for me. I've been running Vista since it was Beta and I'm happy with it.


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## regener8ed

I like it too. You just need a beefy machine to run it smoothly. I disagree about the windows "me" thing. I am a computer technician by trade and Vista is FAR superior to what windows me ever was.


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## fredtgreco

North Jersey Baptist said:


> Backwoods Presbyterian said:
> 
> 
> 
> My only problem is that it runs slow.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I have Vista and it runs extremely fast. But I also have 4 GB of memory. Vista is a memory hog. 2 GB is a bare minimum. 4 GB is preferred.
Click to expand...


RAM is also very cheap nowadays. I am running 4GB as well. I got 4GB from CompUsa for like $40 after rebate.


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## toddpedlar

PuritanCovenanter said:


> My Dad bought a laptop from Dell with Vista on it. I am greatly disappointed. We have had nothing but issues with it and peripherals.
> 
> Problems with Vista. Not the puter.




I bet if you go to Microsoft.com, they'll direct you to an online store they have and sell you peripherals that will work with Vista...


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## Presbyterian Deacon

toddpedlar said:


> PuritanCovenanter said:
> 
> 
> 
> My Dad bought a laptop from Dell with Vista on it. I am greatly disappointed. We have had nothing but issues with it and peripherals.
> 
> Problems with Vista. Not the puter.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I bet if you go to Microsoft.com, they'll direct you to an online store they have *and sell you peripherals that will work with Vista*...
Click to expand...



That's the problem. Why should you have to buy something else to get your OS to work? Shouldn't a good product work properly "out of the box?"


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## fredtgreco

Presbyterian Deacon said:


> toddpedlar said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> PuritanCovenanter said:
> 
> 
> 
> My Dad bought a laptop from Dell with Vista on it. I am greatly disappointed. We have had nothing but issues with it and peripherals.
> 
> Problems with Vista. Not the puter.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I bet if you go to Microsoft.com, they'll direct you to an online store they have *and sell you peripherals that will work with Vista*...
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> 
> That's the problem. Why should you have to buy something else to get your OS to work? Shouldn't a good product work properly "out of the box?"
Click to expand...


I know. The nerve of a company. I could not imagine a company that would expect you to buy all your hardware from them. That would be like expecting you to buy all their software from them. It would be like expecting you to buy all their products, with their logo on everything. They might even have the nerve to "lock out" third party vendors so that you were virtually forbidden from using a non-monopolistic product. A company that draconian might actually force people to invent a way to "unlock" their product that would involve canceling the warranty, hours and hours of work, so much work in fact that it would become national news.

Bad, bad, company.


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## Herald

fredtgreco said:


> Presbyterian Deacon said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> toddpedlar said:
> 
> 
> 
> I bet if you go to Microsoft.com, they'll direct you to an online store they have *and sell you peripherals that will work with Vista*...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That's the problem. Why should you have to buy something else to get your OS to work? Shouldn't a good product work properly "out of the box?"
> 
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I know. The nerve of a company. I could not imagine a company that would expect you to buy all your hardware from them. That would be like expecting you to buy all their software from them. It would be like expecting you to buy all their products, with their logo on everything. They might even have the nerve to "lock out" third party vendors so that you were virtually forbidden from using a non-monopolistic product. A company that draconian might actually force people to invent a way to "unlock" their product that would involve canceling the warranty, hours and hours of work, so much work in fact that it would become national news.
> 
> Bad, bad, company.
Click to expand...


I have to chuckle at the expense of Mac owners. Macs are great machines. They out perform Windows machines hands down. But they are the opposite end of the same coin. Microsoft and Apple are both monopolies. Apple is worse than Microsoft. As Fred said, they have everything locked down. You have to bow down to and pay homage to Steve Jobs. Mac users are like cultists; they follow the Mac company line dutifully. Hey, come to think of it so do Windows users.


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## Timothy William

Fred Greco - exactly, and I'm always amused when Mac devotees complain about MicroSoft being a Big Horrible Monopolist, when Apple really does do all the things that anti-trust regulators accuse MS of doing, like forcing users to use other Apple products (eg. hardware) if they want to use Mac OS.


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## Blueridge Believer

Overall it's been OK on my daughters new laptop. It takes forever to do a defrag. I have XP on my desktop. Like it much better.


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## JonathanHunt

I bought a new compaq pc in december, I have 3 gb ram and it came with vista home pro. I have not had any problems. In fact, compared to XP, my experience has been very good. 

I dare say in a few months after updates etc it might slow down some, then I will just get another gb of ram. As Fred said, it is very cheap these days.

It came with lightscribe. I never knew what it was till I got it home. Now I love it. No more printing cd labels! Yippee!

So, I just don't relate to all these 'vista is bad' stories. Sure, some old software creaks a bit because it was built for xp, but I expect that.

J


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## refbaptdude

Vista is great! Yes you should have a beefy machine but it runs better than XP in my opionion. I have not had a single problem.

Macs are way over priced.


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## Archlute

I just ordered a Dell Inspiron 1525 laptop with Vista Home Premium as the OS. I would have stayed with XP out of familiarity, but it is not offered for the 1525 series. Having read about memory issues I purchased 3G RAM instead of the max of 4G, since several reviewers noted that the 1525 will only make use of 3.5G out of 4 (I have no idea why). 

My question to the computer pros is this - would that extra half gig have made a significant difference, or should I not worry about it and stick with the three I already have?


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## fredtgreco

Archlute said:


> I just ordered a Dell Inspiron 1525 laptop with Vista Home Premium as the OS. I would have stayed with XP out of familiarity, but it is not offered for the 1525 series. Having read about memory issues I purchased 3G RAM instead of the max of 4G, since several reviewers noted that the 1525 will only make use of 3.5G out of 4 (I have no idea why).
> 
> My question to the computer pros is this - would that extra half gig have made a significant difference, or should I not worry about it and stick with the three I already have?



Adam,

I think it will run fine. I have 4GB that is only recognized by my Sony as 3GB, and it runs fine (I have 2x2GB sticks). I consistently run at the same time: Outlook, Word, an AV program, Logos, and Dragon Naturally Speaking.


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## Archlute

fredtgreco said:


> Archlute said:
> 
> 
> 
> I just ordered a Dell Inspiron 1525 laptop with Vista Home Premium as the OS. I would have stayed with XP out of familiarity, but it is not offered for the 1525 series. Having read about memory issues I purchased 3G RAM instead of the max of 4G, since several reviewers noted that the 1525 will only make use of 3.5G out of 4 (I have no idea why).
> 
> My question to the computer pros is this - would that extra half gig have made a significant difference, or should I not worry about it and stick with the three I already have?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Adam,
> 
> I think it will run fine. I have 4GB that is only recognized by my Sony as 3GB, and it runs fine (I have 2x2GB sticks). I consistently run at the same time: Outlook, Word, an AV program, Logos, and Dragon Naturally Speaking.
Click to expand...


Thank you, Fred. That's a reassuring report. I added a 7200rpm hard drive and a good processor as well so it sounds like I'll be set.


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## VictorBravo

Archlute said:


> . . . . so it sounds like I'll be set.





I'm not trying to be cynical, but I remember thinking the same thing back in 89 when I got my Tandy laptop with dual floppy drives and WP 4.2. Man, who could ask for anything more? (BTW, it *never* crashed, but I often lost documents by forgetting to save before the battery ran out).


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## wsw201

Bought a Dell about 2 months ago with Vista and I have had no problems at all.


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## regener8ed

Archlute said:


> Having read about memory issues I purchased 3G RAM instead of the max of 4G, since several reviewers noted that the 1525 will only make use of 3.5G out of 4 (I have no idea why).



If you get the 64 bit version of Vista it will recognize all 4 gigs. 32 bit operating systems have a 3.5 gb limit when it comes to recognizing RAM.


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## Poimen

I run Vista on 1 GB of RAM with few problems. In fact one thing I have noticed is that programs that get hung up for awhile tend to recover more often than not. Compared to previous versions of Windows OS, that is a serious difference (at least for me).


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## historyb

Presbyterian Deacon said:


> That's the problem. Why should you have to buy something else to get your OS to work? Shouldn't a good product work properly "out of the box?"



I agree and that is what Linux does, PCLinuxOS, Mepis, Ubuntu etc. anyway.


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## Presbyterian Deacon

historyb said:


> Presbyterian Deacon said:
> 
> 
> 
> That's the problem. Why should you have to buy something else to get your OS to work? Shouldn't a good product work properly "out of the box?"
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I agree and that is what Linux does, PCLinuxOS, Mepis, Ubuntu etc. anyway.
Click to expand...



I use XP...and don't want to change. Recently downgraded a new computer from Vista to XP. Maybe, I just don't have patience to learn something new, but for 3 weeks VISTA made me ,, and


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## Richard King

Another guy's opinion...
Vista's 11 Pillars of Failure - Columns by PC Magazine


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## Archlute

Richard King said:


> Another guy's opinion...
> Vista's 11 Pillars of Failure - Columns by PC Magazine



Hmmm. I haven't used the system yet, but I didn't really see anything of substance in Dvorak's critique. Petty complaints, but no real set backs. I'm suspicious that he either has an agenda, or he just had nothing of real importance to write upon for that issue.


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## Reformed Musings

Vista...just say no. Vista is what pushed me to Ubuntu Linux. Haven't looked back.

Few of the Vista promises have been delivered over a year later. We'll be running XP at the church until I can no longer support it, which will be a long time, or until we switch to Linux. If Power Church ran under Wine, we'd be using Linux now.

The power of free...


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