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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!
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.
I've been testing Windows Vista in my "lab" for a few weeks now. Some of the problems I have encountered:
1. The addition of a Linksys wireless network adapter card caused 3 different Vista installations on 3 different platforms to blue screen.
2. If the Windows Update via the Internet is interrupted, the system becomes corrupt (happened twice), requiring a total rebuild. This is BAD!
3. After a successful Windows Update, Vista required me to register and validate the software a second time.
4. System performance when running various applications (including Office) decreased by more than 60% due to memory management issues.
5. A Toshiba thumb drive simply wouldn't work under Vista--how this can be is beyond me.
6. In order to play various games, such as World of Warcraft, you need to operate under an account with Administrative privileges--this is an obvious security risk.
7. Upon losing the network connection, the user has to manually restart the connection--Vista will not repair the network connection. This is something I have never seen before. Even Windows 3.11 knew how to repair a broken network connection.
8. A great deal of software (including various Adobe applications) do not work under Vista. Same problem with games. Neverwinter Nights 2 will not work under Vista depending on your hardware configuration. From what I have read and tested, I would estimate that 75% of existing software will not work under Vista, or will experience problems.
I could go on and on, but needless to say, Vista is an unmitigated disaster for Microsoft and the public. Their CIO was recently fired for reasons "unknown," but one has to speculate that it had something to do with the failure of Microsoft's new flagship OS.
Save your money. Stick with XP or buy a Mac.
I wonder why so many people hate it. I have never had a problem that was unique to Vista that I did not have with XP. Moving and copying files seem easier it feels slicker and those annoying security windows can be turned off. I guess it's just cool to hate Microsoft. I just upgraded to the 64 bit Ultimate version and so far so good.
If you look at the history of Vista (aka "Longhorn"), it is no where near where it should be. Microsoft went over deadlines on multiple occasions and the features that were to be so definitive are missing. And the new features are buggy at best.
Do yourself a favor and leave Windows. It's far beyond where it should be and this garbage is overpriced. I mean, c'mon. Over $300 for an operating system with subpar features, and a horrible interface? No thanks.
I'm just happy my college partnered with Microsoft so I didn't have to actually pay for it (well, I did but through student fees).
No, I don't work for Microsoft and I am not a Microsoft "Yes man." I've used their products since the DOS days. And while I do feel that Vista is a little bloated, the operating system is stable and works.
I have Vista installed on three PC's in my home: A Core 2 Duo with three gigs of RAM and Ultimate, Vista Enterprise for work on a Celeron 3.5 GHz and 1 gig of RAM, and Home Basic on a Celeron M 1.8 GHz laptop. All three of them run well, if not a little slower on the Celeron systems. Ultimate is by far the best version.
Vista is both pretty and more intuitive than XP. I like the new directory structure and Aero interface. Organizing your photos is both easier and more pleasing than in XP. I like AERO and glass but it does hog the system resources and you need a decent video card and RAM for it to run smoothly.
I will say that Vista is a little bloated and I hope that Microsoft will work on this MinWin kernel for Windows 7. Also, too many casual users are comfortable with XP and when XP came out, a lot of non-PC users were finally getting one and they simply don't want change.
Vista is far from the dog people make it out to be and I do recommend it if you have a newer machine.
Vista came on my new computer and a dark day it was. I should have replaced the bad hard drive on the old one and loaded XP. Five days straight and I have had to 1.purchase new printer 2. purchase new Office Suite 3. purchase new Norton even though I renewed in September. 4. purchase new Quickbooks 5. Probably have to replace my scanner since Microsoft says it is incompatable. Family Treemaker does not work. Buy a $600 computer and get to spend another $1500 on programs and equipment. WHAT A DEAL!! No wonder Gates has billions, he makes it on slick deals like this. R.E.T.
Long awaited, but well worth it....... installed it in less than 15 mins. Yes, plan for a bigger Hardrive, and unlike many other reviews, the Driver issues are all being worked out. I didn't have to search the world over to find my driver, it picked everything, even things that only got as far as Win 98 SE support.
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 978-0672328893) 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.
The best yet. Solves networking problems once and for all. Must get used to new user screens..AGAIN, but graphics are better looking.
When Microsoft says this is an upgrade, that's exactly what it is. Unless you are an advanced user, forget clean installs; also, do not think you can install this on one machine, uninstall it, and then install it on another. Microsoft has changed the rules. Overall the interface is beautiful. There are some glitchy problems with the windows update feature. Many of your software programs will require upgrade due to incompatibility. The bottom line? Do your homework before upgrading.
Do your homework on hardware compatibility. While you may be able to run Microsoft's analysis tool during install which is supposed to alert you to any problems with existing hardware ... it does NOT work in all cases.
Good luck !
The new ribbon design is supposed to make it easier to learn and use. It may be for some new users but for experienced users, it isn't. This version takes away some critical nuts & bolts customization features and many tasks now take longer to perform. This is not due to the learning curve, it is the inherent nature of the way the ribbon works. Once you are familiar with the program, nothing is faster than the old menu structure. If Microsoft added an option to allow users to choose between menus and ribbons, it would be the best of both worlds, satisfying the needs of both new and experienced users. The new version does not run macros as fast however. My recommedation for existing users: keep Office 2003 for as long as you can and consider going to Open Office when Microsoft no longer supports 2003 (unless they restore the functionality in a newer release of 2007).
Microsoft has significantly advanced the Office suite of products to the next generation. Tight integration from one aplication to the other and the highest degree of "look and feel" standardization yet ensure that this suite of products will remain the industry standard for years to come. The ribbon is great - it "reveals" product features and functionalities formerly hidden in layers of menus or option windows. The ribbon groups make it fast and easy to locate what you are looking for. The newer applications (OneNote, Groove & InfoPath) enhance productivity and help the user prepare documents for sharing via Microsoft SharePoint Services. Microsoft has also significantly improved Outlook with Business Contact Manager, resolving most of the database problems in prior versions. Microsoft needs to weave other Office applications (e.g., Project and Visio) more tightly into the integration.Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007 Upgrade DVD
This is the best version of Office yet. The differences are numerous and very significant, it is well worth the investment!
A great new interface including control layout, easier than ever to use, and complete. There is no other product in this class. It looks great in XP and even sharper in Vista.
Subject to some agreement with Adbobe, you'll have to download the free PDF writer from Microsoft (the beta came with it), but it works exactly the same and otherwise no suprises.
The product is pricey and you may want to purchase a smaller release (less applications in the suite) depending on your needs.
Seems like the most cost effective way to get Groove and OneNote. I could really have used Visio and Project as part of the package though...the pricing for Project has become frankly insane.
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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