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Windows Vista

Jim Drewes Posted on Wed Dec 13 00:44:38 CST 2006

So, I just put Windows Vista on a machine. Yeah.. my Linux preferences aside - I'm not impressed. If you want UI, get a Mac. If you want techie stuff, install Linux. If you want industry standard, install XP. Vista is bells and whistles. Why take the hardware hit just to get a prettier version of a box of crap?

Okay, so maybe that is an unfair representation. I'm a geek, I understand the so called "benefits" of Vista. Granted, they are there. In terms of security, usability, etc., etc., Vista is superior to XP. BUT, I don't think its worth the performance hit.

Vista may be better than XP. Vista may be a decent OS. But having a memory requirement of 512MB just for the OS is crazy. On top of that, the price for upgrade is nuts.

Lets examine a typical computer user - someone who sends email, listens to music, browses the Internet, and writes documents and spreadsheets. Vista WILL NOT help you do these things better. In fact, you will LOSE productivity in the learning curve of figuring out the new OS.

Now, to be fair I will say that I haven't used Vista as a primary OS, which I personally think is the best way to fully evaluate an operating system.

For the money, save your cash until it becomes more of a standard, or buy a Mac, or buy a Linux PC and still have most of your money left over.

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:: Response posted on 2006-12-14 by Kurt Hoeman

I have not used vista yet, but I have one thing to say. The learning curve for Mac or Linux has got to be steeper than what it would be for vista.

:: Response posted on 2006-12-18 by Jim Drewes

What are you talking about? You haven't used Vista yet, so I don't think you can say that.

Disco - you want to pipe in here on the Mac learning curve?

Besides, the point wasn't that people should go get Linux or a Mac instead of Vista. The point is, get Linux, a Mac, or stay on XP.

:: Response posted on 2006-12-21 by Stu Belden

You're a lunatic if you think the learning curve on a Mac is steep. There are only two Windows behaviors I see in people that cause problems when they switch to a Mac:

One, the maximize on a window acts differently. On windows, it takes up the entire screen. On a mac, it takes up only the amount of space needed to display everything in itself. This bugs some people.

Second, hitting enter when a file is selected starts editing the file name instead of launching the app like in Windows. In this case, they just need to learn the correct "launch this app shortcut:" Either command-O or command-down arrow.

:: Response posted on 2006-12-27 by John Ebel

Can't say I really disagree much with your original post Jimmy. But I'll throw out that the "performance hit" upgrading to Vista, while indeed very real at present time for most extant systems, is pretty negligable for most new systems currently being shipped. And in 24 months this will really be totally negligible for new systems. Back in the day, many people said the exact same thing about XP vis-a-vis 2000.

Stu, I'll never fault anybody for ever switching to a Mac (I've found that, all other things being equal, an Apple anything tends to generally have a more intuitive UI than an analogous product). However, I do believe you're underestimating the learning curve involved by an OS switch. Though it really depends on the user and what they're doing with the system.

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