XP v's Vista

[Seawitchartist]

Hi all
I may soon need a new PC as this one, my first, is three years old and I'm ever told that means it's old and could fail in big way.
What is making me unhappy is Vista, it seems really hard to find a new computer that hasn't got this pre installed.
My neighbour has this on his computer which he has asked me to teach him to use.
Jeepers, why did I show him mine....it's my fault.
I can't stand this new Vista, did they fix something that wasn't broke or just change things for the sake of changing things?
I'm hearing it's incompatible with all sorts of things and it's problematic with Microsoft Outlook, enough trouble there without dropping a spanner in the works!
I'm seriously thinking that when I can afford a new computer I'll strip out Vista and load XP if I can't get what I want with XP on it.
Would that be hard to do, or indeed the wrong thing to do?
Your thoughts?

George
www.seawitchartist.com (http://www.seawitchartist.com)

[Croc Hunter]

You can uninstall Vista and install Xp no problem, it's not hard to do. Most who stick with Vista do prefer it to Xp. And you should consider if you plan to use your existing copy of Xp on the new computer Microsoft may detect it is a second computer and refuse you updates.

[tpoynton]

my two cents...vista does everything I need it to do, and I dont find it better or worse than XP for my purposes; it's just different. security-wise, user account control is a little annoying, but I dont mind it given the security benefits. While it looks nice, that doesnt really matter very much to me. were I a parent of a computer-using kid, i'd appreciate vista's built-in parental controls.

while i'm not on vista right now, I think there is a way to bring back the 'classic' menu? there was in xp for people accustomed to pre-xp. I seem to recall reading about it...i dont think it was included in early releases of vista, but complaints led microsoft to include it.

In the states, Dell and HP are still offering new computers with XP (I just checked; inspiron line for dell, and 'small and medium business' offerings for HP offer XP as an option, at a minimum).

[BerksWebGuy]

There is a big learning-curve with Vista and some of the apps build for it (like Office 2007). Just have to realize that this will be the big OS in the future and might as well learn it now. Why go with a 7 year-old OS (XP) when you can go with a OS that will be the current version...its different...but you won't be able to avoid it in a few months. Good Luck :cool:

[mjandreau]

I have to agree with tpoynton, I've had Vista since August, and have no complaints.

Sure, it's different, but think back to when XP first came out. No one wanted it, either.

The only thing that I've found to be incompatible was my printer, which was 4 years old anyway. It gave me an excuse to buy a new one, which I gladly did.

The learning curve shouldn't concern anyone. Vista looks enough like XP to fool anyone, and there's even an XP "Skin" you can apply. You wouldn't know the difference.
Sure, there's different functionality, but overall, I have no complaints.

I, like you, had the same intention of wiping Vista, and putting XP on the machine when I first bought it. But I thought "I'll never learn to like it, if I don't give it a chance." 5 months later, I still use it, and have no concerns with it.

[IanS]

My 75 yr old mother got a laptop with Vista on in November 2007. Initially she didn't like it but has managed to master the parts she needs. These are not complex management tasks on the computer (I do those for her and I find it hard as it's the only Vista machine I've got access to)) but using her regular programs and e-mail for research on the family tree.

Give Vista a go, stick with it for a while. If necessary 6months down the line you can always install XP if you really must.

[Doc C]

Just because a machine is 3 years old doesn't mean failure is imminent. I had one for 6 years before it developed a thermal problem. That's when I replaced it. I also do a full backup once a week of all 3 drives, just in case.

[IanS]

As Doc says, 3yrs isn't a sign of failure to come! If it was we'd have very computers working at work.

[Doc C]

Where I work, most machine are replaced after 3 years as they are used by programmers and developers who need the horsepower.

Personally, I'll keep running them until they drop. As long as it does what I need it to, I figure to keep the money in my pocket. I will do upgrades like memory and video card.

I actually had to get a new video card for a machine I'd only owned for a few months just to play a game! The game was on sale but ended up costing me 80 bucks more for the card. Now it looks like I have to upgrade again because I can't play World in Conflict w/o the trees flickering which drives me crazy!!

As for Vista, if that's the only choice I have when I decide to upgrade again, then I'll go kicking and screaming. :D

[tpoynton]

just echoing the sentiment about 'future proofing' your purchase; might be best to suck it up now, as chances are that xp support will wane (meaning no more security/bug fixes) within a couple of years post-purchase. I could be very wrong about the time line, but this article (http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060103-5891.html) basically says XP home support will end two years after xp stops shipping? and xp pro support ends 5 years later...the article is dated, and it's my interpretation.

SO, if you must buy xp, get xp pro...unless you plan on keeping the computer for more than 5 years.

[Doc C]

If memory serves, Microsoft is extending the support time for XP since Vista was so popular. (yes, that's sarcasm, folks)

There are a lot of people whose machines came with Vista that were re-loaded with XP because Vista wasn't doing what people wanted.

[YvetteKuhns]

There are a lot of programs and drivers that won't run on 64 bit computers. Many older programs were written for 32 bit. I am seeing this on occasion with Windows XP 64-bit. I had to buy a card reader to see the images I took with my digital camera since Sony didn't make a driver for me to connect my camera directly to the computer as I did before.

With so many people using older software, they don't want to replace an OS and everything else, too. If Microsoft made drivers or other software to make the old software work, then people would be happy.

[Seawitchartist]

Hi ll
Thanks for this response! Well, in a place where I'm surrounded by experts who largely say go for it, but suggest there may be hiccups, perhaps a compromise.
Wait some more months and hope a Laod of vistas issues are ironed out while I practise on my neighbours computer!
I failed to find a free anti spyware I could load for him without being told I can't...to replace the awful windows defender.....any suggestions?
George
www.seawitchartist.com (http://www.seawitchartist.com)

[mjandreau]

Anti-spyware? Free? AdAware Free (http://www.lavasoft.com)

Best money can buy. And since you're not spending any, it's your best bet. :)

[Doc C]

Windows Defender isn't too bad either. I use it and AdAware on my home machine and they've done a good job of keeping me bug free. For AV, I use NOD32.

[symo]

The three that I use are:

Spybot S&D http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

AdAware http://www.lavasoftusa.com/

And AVG http://free.grisoft.com/doc/download-free-anti-spyware/us/frt/0

I do have one Vista box that hates AdAware and refuses it run it, but another one doesn't have any problem with it. Go figure.

I also run ThreatFire. http://www.threatfire.com/download/ Haven't been using it long, but it seems to work to do what it's supposed to do.

For my antivirus, it's AVG all the way... http://free.grisoft.com/doc/2/us/frt/0

And finally for my firewall it's Comodo http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/

symo