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It took about a few hours to finish the installation. That was a long wait but was worth it. The newer edition seems much better and improved. The most major improvement to me was probably the looks. It has changed quite a bit. The new thing I like the most is the sidebar, it shows the weather, news, stocks and many other things that can be downloaded or that came with it. The newer version is more secure and comes with Windows Defender to protect from spyware. My computer did slow down a bit compared to when it used XP, also slower than the computer I bought that came with Vista. I suggest not to upgrade unless your computer is ready or if it can meet the standards, 1 GB RAM, 1 GHz processor, and a decent amount of disk space. I would wait for the upcoming Windows 7 in 2012ish since a few people are complaining about a sluggish computer after upgrading. Overall I would not really recommend to everyone, but I like the new OS.
This is by far the worst product Microsoft has ever produced next to Xbox 360. Very buggy and completely unsafe product to use. Windows is the standard used by the majority of computer users today, and yet some how Microsoft expects consumers to pay for this. It is a miracle the software even works! But it ultimately does more harm than any virus created by a hacker. In the past, the company had trouble addressing various issues with Windows but at least made reasonable attempts at resolving the problems. The updates on the Windows website if applied to Vista may result in a total loss of data and files, and require the user to completely reload the Operating System. Now imagine yourself working on project that took many weeks of work and the operating system routinely updates one morning but the system cannot even load! Weeks of work would be flushed down the toilet due to the complete incompetence of some contracted programmer working at Microsoft.
The total lack of reliability in Microsoft products in the past 2 years is completely unexplainable. The Xbox 360 is yet another product created by this so called company that is expected to be the main video game system of the next generation, but its plagued with hardware problems and has so far become a money losing debacle. In the past leading firms that sold inferior products that have ultimately lost business and the public has switched to competitors. It may finally look like Microsoft's turn to ride off into the sunset has arrived.
What a freakin nightmare! I can't believe how much time i have spent trying to figure out this system. Lots of troubleshooting. Programs kept freezing on me and the screen would go black, like it was turning off, then come back on. I also got the blue screens and even white blank screens. I don't know what is going on but this system seems to have alot of glitches. I don't like this anti-virus screen either that keeps popping up telling me to update and then freezing on me. I have xp on my laptop and another desktop and i haven't had any problems. This system definately has issues.
I recently purchased a very high end desktop that came installed with Vista Ultimate. Unbelieveable!
New hardware, new software - exactly what does work with this over priced mess?
If you buy this disaster, you better enjoy slow performnace and lots of blue-screens of death.
Microsoft should offer free "UPGRADES" to XP, or ME for that matter.
Why isn't there a zero or negative star rating?
I am NOT a Microsoft hater...I hate lousy software that wastes my time and costs far too much. Bought a new top of the line machine loaded with Vista...returned it the next day. Time to go Apple, if I have to learn a new OS, time to go with what my friends have been urging for years.
I purchased this upgrade hoping it would alleviate some issues I had with the home basic graphics accelerator. It was no help at all. The screen looks a little more colorful but I can't see any significant difference.
This system is very slow even in my 2GHZ and 2 GB of ram laptop.
I too was concerned about some of the reviews indicating serious problems with this upgrade, but I needed some of the Business options, so I ordered this upgrade, and obtained an Anytime Upgrade disc from Microsoft. The Amazon license key purchase was nearly instant, and I made sure that all applications were turned off/shut down (esp. the "quiet" ones in the toolbar), and I was NOT running antivirus, as those programs are known to interfere with system-level activities.
Also, I had a clean install of HomePremium that was only about a month old, so I suppose the system was still pretty "clean". I also allowed the installation program to search for updates before beginning, and it downloaded a large file, then started installation over again. These are NOT Windows Updates -- after it was all done, Windows Update installed 37 additional Recommended updates, and I chose another five or so of the Optional ones.
The only glitch I ran across was during the first restart - Windows was not able to shut down, and I couldn't shut it down from menus either. I finally powered the system off, and when I powered back on, it went back into Setup and continued the process. Subsequent restarts occurred without incident.
It does take a few hours, as advertised, and I did back up my personal folders and settings just in case. Ultimately (no pun intended), all my programs and settings were preserved, and I'm back up and running Vista Ultimate, which is the version I should have bought in the first place.
I had read all the reviews and decided "What the heck". After all, i use a laptop and want bitlocker and the other security enhancements.
I ordered from Microsoft (I wish I had from amazon as I've a $25 certificate) and installed it according to their directions and recommendations.
Keep in mind I had a 3rd party antivirus security product installed.
When I started the upgrade process, I got a prompt asking if I wanted to get product updates online (recommended) - I said 'yes' to this. Maybe that was why my upgrade was successful.
Note, I own a Gateway MX8739 and it came with its own Anytime Upgrade disc.
The actual upgrade took almost 2 hours and was mostly automatic. Once it got back to the login screen, I entered my name and password as usual. My desktop reappeared normally. I started MS Word 2007 and it re-initialized and had to reboot. I said "no" to that prompt because Windows Update was downloading and installing 30 updates at the same time.
I did have to re-activate, but that went through without a hitch. Vista Ultimate is now the installed version, it's activated, antivirus program's definitions downloaded without fail, Office did its update and my settings remained unchanged, I am very happy.
I'm sorry some people had problems. I almost did not buy because of what has been said. However I did buy, and am glad I did. Hopefully my two cents will help address the balance.
I installed with no issues. This is the 32 bit version only. Make sure this is what you want.
I purchased this to upgrade from Windows Vista Home Premium to Windows Vista Ultimate so that I could run Virtual PC 2007. The first time I tried the upgrade it failed (after about 3hours) with a non-specific error: Windows was unable to upgrade a component or components. I tried it again with the help of Microsoft phone support. The second time it also failed but it also took out my hard disk so that I had to restore it from my latest backup. This product is still in the alpha stage. Don't buy it unless you have at least 8 hours to play around with it. It is not a stable product.
The inplace upgrade is more expensive than simply buying ultimate upgrade and be done with it -- home premium ed. costs 150, this upgrade is 150 -- all the while Ultimate upgrade is 250 flat. You are wasting 50$ for no apparent reason.
Windows vista is great!!! and all your things are still there you just need to do a search for what you are looking for and it's there!!!
way to many problems with this version, if you want to replace all your printers, scanners, sound cards and so on, go for it.otherwise stay away.
i have installed vista business on my dell, dual core, 4gb ram. it's fast, but too many things just don't work. this is driving my crazy. i've tried to search a harddrive and then move some of the contents over to another external....no! vista just doesn't want to move my files. it's bug after bug.
i guess they were so pressed to release longhorn, they just released it 98%. xp was so much better. and i guess all these problems are the reason they 'extended xp's' life.
i do enjoy the new office suite - with little problems. but you can use xp and the new office together.
it's just not time to upgrade to vista. don't give microsoft any money for a product they haven't finished or properly tested.
Though assured that my nearly new laptop would support Vista, I have not found that to be the case. I feel as though I have wasted my money, but will hang on to it in case I have to buy another machine. My, how I wish I could go 'Mac!' Why can't Microsoft pirate Mac's software and make it run? The prices that go along with the upgrades, such as Microsoft Office, are ridiculous! If it keeps going this way, I will have to switch to Mac. I will take a killing with software, but it may prove worth it.
My business software did not work with Vista and it is rigged to make it impossible or difficult to downgrade without buying a new Windows XP.
There are serious speed and compatability issues with Vista. Count on some of your software not running at all and if your computer is less than brand new it will probably slow dramatically as Vista is Processor and memory heavy.
No one therefore should be considering upgrading a less than brand new this year computer to Vista and would be putting their business at risk with compatability issues. Wait at least a year and check all of your hardware and software for compatability issues.
I have the "business" version installed. I depend on a reponsive systemfor my livelyhood. VISTA does not deliver. WHomever designed does not have the end user in mind. It forever is going into a heavy disk activity mode and freezes the user out during this period. in esence you are not able to do any work until it gets done doing "what ever". XP-pro is a more dependable application. Maybe if Microsoft ever gets this worthless system to work I will use it until then Goodbye Microsoft VISTA. Maybe Apple has something to sink my teeth into.
I installed this with no problem and absolutely love it. I enjoy the Vista interface and have found the navigation to be pretty user friendly.
Before anyone installs this, they have to do their homework. Microsoft offers a Vista Upgrade Advisor to let you know of potential problems with your current hardware and also software that you currently have installed on your system. If you decide to go maverick and install anyways then you get what you get...a mess.
I had a friend that didn't do his research and guess what. I got the call that Vista is crap. WRONG! He didn't do his homework. So I ended up helping him reinstall XP to factory and THEN installing Vista. He is rocking and rolling now.
So people, do your homework and here's some advice. Run the Vista Upgrade Advisor, look at the programs you all ready have installed and get in touch with the vendor to make sure their software plays nice with Vista. If it doesn't then look at incurring a fee to buy the version that does. If you look at everything in advance then there are no suprises; and yes, Norton Internet Security will have to be upgraded to the Vista capable version but I all ready knew that because I did my homework.
Excellent O.S
"Setbacks" Problems w. registration & use of some of my favorite Win XP. softwares
e.g Nero 6.0; Dragon N.S 8.0 & Pinnacle Studios v.9.0
I have not found any software that will run reliably on Vista without eventually crashing. Every game crashes. Microsoft Office crashes. Even Internet Explorer and File Explorer crash routinely. You may need to run Windows DVD Maker a dozen times to get it to actually burn a DVD. This on a year old computer that has never had problems running XP and Debian Linux. And yes, it just crashed again killing Never Winter Nights 2. Microsoft has become a sick joke.
Be careful before you install this "anytime" upgrade. I installed it on a new Dell that came with Vista Home Premium on it and first of all, besides wiping out all my data files which it said it wouldn't do (I did have backups but still), wiping out drivers such as for the computer's speakers that it came with, it turns out that Dell will not help with ANYTHING because they say that I have voided the one year warranty by upgrading the OS from one version of Vista to another. It's probably in the fine print somewhere but it still seems that a more visible warning should have appeared courtesy of Microsoft OR Dell.
I purchased the Vista Ultimate Upgrade disc in April and have had alot of trouble with it since then. I'm still having trouble getting Vista to share my HP printer with the other computers on my home network. Everything on Vista seems to takes about twice as long as it did with XP and three times as long as with Windows 2000. I get this performance with 2GB of ram, a 4.2 mhz intel processor and a 7200 rpm 350 GB hard drive.
I had trouble with my Yahoo Music Jukebox software, Nero 6.6, and several other applications. I running Office 2003 and that has also slowed noticibly. This Thanksgiving weekend I'm uninstalling Vista and reinstalling XP Pro. I'm hoping that when more of the bugs are worked out performance will increase. At that point I'll give Vista another try.
Oh yea, I forgot to mention that I also had problems upgrading from XP to Vista. Microsoft's authentication process said my Vista product ID was invalid which prompted a call to the help line and a lot of time working with a tech trying to figure out what happened. Vista happened.
I upgraded to Vista and have had numerous compatibility issues with the previously installed programs and drivers. It's also slower than XP. Not recommended!
First of all, let me say that I have only really been working in the IT Field now for about 6 years, but DO know what I'm talking about (Famous Last Words, right?).
I have been using Windows Vista since last October and even THEN, I haven't experienced as much grief with this product as all of these people. It really leads me to believe that they really just don't know what they're doing. When I purchased Vista Ultimate on it's actual Release day in January, I purchased the Vista Family pack as to get the two additional Upgrade licenses of Vista Home Premium and I was able to install Vista, both editions, onto 3 completely different PCs with virtually no problem issues at all; no driver compatibility issues, no major performance issues (2 of the PCs that got Home Premium are about 3-4 years old, so of course they are going to run a bit slower than my main PC with Vista, a P4, 3.4Ghz).
I am using a Linksys WRT55AG Wireless Router (Absolutely NO Issues at all)that was discovered right away and I have yet to have ANY issues with it. I also have an NVidia GPU and other than not having the ability for Desktop Spanning, all is well on that front as well. Even both of my WD External Drives Drivers were installed with no problems. My Printer was also installed right away without any issues. I have an HP PSC750, and it's about 7 years old.
Like I said in the Title, I just don't get it. So many people want to find ANY reason to hate Microsoft... Well, why did you buy this in the first place if you were just going to bash it? Why not just stick with all of the cracked copies out there and save your money?
I purchased Vista because I believe it to be a far superior product over XP. Yeah it's flashy and looks like another very famous OS, but it's not that OS. It's not XP. It's new and better and over time, people will see that it's not just another Windows Me.
Microsoft has many enemies. That's what happens when you are #1 and many below you wish they could be at the top.
Vista is a solid product. It was not as solid the day it was released, but what is? It's now only been a few months and the updates that apply the moment you install or upgrade to Vista provide you with a smooth experience.
Is the interface different? Oh yea. Is it bad? Is it slow? No. It's fine. Vista runs only SLIGHTLY slower on an older PC with a Pentium III chip or older but why wouldn't you expect that? You can't get more features AND more power and expect a faster machine when your hardware is getting along in the years.
In addition, if you simply don't understand the nature of Vista, then you haven't yet read Greg Perry's "Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Windows Vista All in One" (Amazon Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Windows Vista All in One (Sams Teach Yourself)) and frankly, this is hands-down the best way for a newcomer - even if you are or are not comfortable with XP - to master EVERYthing you REALLY need to know about Vista.
Software is not always obvious. That does not mean it's bad or difficult to use or requires a huge learning curve. Once you get Vista, beg or borrow or buy "Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Windows Vista All in One" and you will be ready to become a MASTER at the product. I went through what YOU are going through and I know most Vista books and sites DO NOT give you what you need to make this product work well FOR YOU. This book does and I've read all the top-selling Vista books.
Now I don't care if you get "Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Windows Vista All in One" or not, although you should, but you need to stop listening to the hype of those who have axes to grind with Microsoft. If you want to move FORWARD with your computer you need to have the juice needed which means a moderately recent PC and you need Vista.
The number one reason for getting Ultimate and not a lower Vista product is the BitLocker encryption technology and the ability to make a ghosted image of your disk drive that Vista can restore. If you've used Symantec's DriveImage or Ghost products then you know these alone can run you more than $50. It's thrown in with Vista Ultimate and you'll REALLY use these tools a lot.
Don't buy Vista--any version, yet. MS released it WAY too early. Some examples why:
* Too many hardware drivers not yet available, i.e., Creative Audigy sound cards; Nvidia graphics cards, and Linksys wireless network components, just to mention a few. When I contacted product manufacturers, I sensed a ho-hum attitude. Moreover, some peripherals are totally incompatible. Example: My Epson Perfection 1650 scanner was rejected by Vista, so I was forced to buy a newer model (Epson Perfection 4990 Photo). Hmmmm. One wonders whether these sorts of incompatibilities result more by design (purposely?) than from insurmountable technological deficiencies.
* Too many Vista compatible application updates are not yet available.
* The "Upgrade" versions of MS Vista (versus the "full" versions) seem to be full of bugs. Soon after I installed Vista Ultimate, I encountered a major problem that MS tech support has been trying to resolve for over two weeks. It is so pervasive that MS Outlook 2007 has been affected to the extent that some of its features are not available. It appears that during the installation process, something went awry with "Windows Event Log" and the "Event Viewer." Furthermore, the latest version (Vista compatible) of Diskeeper 2007 Pro will not launch, most likely for the same reason.
* It appears MS went way overboard on security features to the extent of paranoia. Every time you click on just about anything, a pop-up will appear asking your permission to "allow" it to launch. Very annoying, and VERY unnecessary. It's as though MS adopted an underlying assumption throughout the development process that the average end user has an IQ of about 85.
* MS tech support quality has deteriorated substantially. Most of the time when you call you will reach someone in India. Albeit these people are very polite, they cannot think "outside the box." Nor are they in touch sufficiently enough with the nuances of the English language, thus impairing expeditious understanding on both sides of the conversation. Based upon my recent experience with these folks, I sense that a soccer mom could be trained as a MS tech support rep in very little time. What I mean by that is this: During my multiple contacts with them I developed the feeling they rely totally on reading from manuals, scripts, and on-line knowledge bases. In other words, they seem not to be able to analyze and troubleshoot problems independent of external references.
* Bottom line: Do NOT purchase Vista until AFTER service pack 1 is released, or whatever they happen to name their first major fix-it update package. For now, stay with the more reliable XP versions. I truly regret that I had to discover all of this the hard way. It has been very costly in more ways than one.
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