Lots of guys in my area went with vista, then switched back to XP-Pro because of the hangups and headaches. I've been using XP Pro for a little over a year, it's very stable, and it's compatible with all my ME programs.

Good Luck,

Gary

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Travlin' Easy

My friends in the Computer business are saying that MS decided to complete the SP3 Pack for XP because of the general malaise of the public in buying Vista...or to put it more down-to-earth..Vista is going to be a thorn in MS's side for a long time and may go the same way as other models (already mentioned here).
cheers


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Eddie from Rotherham
Skype:eddiefromrotherham
www.yamahakeyboards.info

Stay with XP. Even if you buy a new computer with new hardware, XP will use it better, you will have a blazing fast PC compared to Vista. Take RAM usage for example: just booting the OS and going to task manager you will see a 250MB RAM usage on XP and 800MB Ram usage on Vista. Now even if you have 2GB there's plenty of RAM wasted only to give you eye-candy effects and slowing down CPU.

Also, hardware-assisted audio from Vista is compromised, without special drivers, cards like Creative X-Fi or Audigy can't use the special hardware features under Vista.

Well I'm certainly not going to defend Vista to anyone. I'm just offering my opinion with my experience with it. It is the OS of the future. If you are not comfortable with new technology and need the comfort level of proven mature technology stay with XP. I'm a technologist and my company is migrating all 60,000 desktops to Vista and I need to get comfortable with the OS.

My home needs are actually more more rigid than my business needs. I have in fact tweaked the crap out of Vista to the point where it is Fast, Reliable, and efficient. In many respects, it is more secure than XP, does networking and Internet much better, and does seem to be more robust in some areas than XP. Please keep in mind, I have already upgraded my computer to the Vista Service Pack 1 updates which address many performance and compatibility issues.

Is Vista perfect, No way. Microsoft has done some really stupid things with this OS. But long term, Vista is poised to be one heck of an Operating System.

As far as the search goes, take a look at the following article to explain the differences between search on XP and Vista. Bottom line is there is a new search engine in Vista which indexes your entire hard disk much like Google Desktop. As a matter of fact, Google challenged MS to remove this feature as it infringes on their product/patent/technology.
http://www.bentuser.com/article.aspx?ID=332&page=1

In closing I will say that I am not the type of person who is easily influenced by opinions. I am the type of person who likes to try things out for myself and learn first hand the pro's / Con's regarding new products.

When all is tallied up; both pro's/con's, I give Vista a firm Thumbs Up and I am actually quite confused by folks that are having difficulty with it. It's probably attributed to a rigid mindset that keeps thinking that Vista is XP and it is not. It's an entirely new OS with new paridigms. Just keep an open mind and learn to embrace new technology and you will have a better time evaluating/using Vista.




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Al Giordano http://www.arrangerworld.com


Tyros 2, Yamaha P-250, Korg Triton Extreme 76, Roland VK8-M, DW Collectors Series Drums, Roland SPD-S.

[This message has been edited by kbrkr (edited 12-30-2007).]

Many good responses here, but this makes the most sense for MY needs. I'd rather be making music and playing tennis than spending time taking on the Vista challange right now. Thanks to all replies.

At present time, Vista is in pretty much the same situation as XP was after introduction.

When You compare Win98 to Win XP, until SP2, XP was to buggy, to slow, quite unstable, and practically useless as an operating system for doing some serious business.

The history repeats now, Vista is still in some kind of "unfinished state", some great features announced a year ago are missing (indicating that the OS was finished in a hurry for a marketing reason), some features (security) is so lossy implemented so most users are turning it off, current XP drivers are useless and new drivers are very few, laptop users experiencing very low battery autonomy (compared to XP), program compatibility is also an issue, so You have to check each specific program to test if it would work.

All in all, no matter what You hear, do not buy Vista (e.g. downgrade from Vista to XP if You were "forced" to buy it). Otherwise, you might be investing Your money into busted product (remeber Windows MilleniumEdition).

If the 60.000 desktops are used for office work, better if they migrate to Linux (Fedora or Ubuntu)... this would save a LOT of money...

I'm just kidding here... but...
I use Linux in my office and never see the necessity to launch that crappy WIndooze again...



[This message has been edited by mrdave (edited 12-30-2007).]

Theoretically Vista has the potential of being an excellent operating system at some point. But at present it falls way short in my opinion. If what Al is saying is true about Vista SP RC1 then it seems Microsoft is on its way to making Vista a little more palatable to the masses. But the reports that Vista's SP RC1 hasn't added any additional driver support to the mix is troubling to say the least.

Why the lackadaisical approach by Microsoft in providing desperately needed driver support? I think the main reason is that in Microsoft's mind (which would be Bill Gates noggin I dare say) it all revolves around marketing and the making of money and not necessarily the consumers who buy their products. Vista requires component upgrades, peripheral upgrades and also software upgrades for probably the majority of people who upgrade to Vista. Which further drives and expands the technology industry but also, for people like you and me, we are the ones who end up fueling the industry and lining their pockets in the process. If Microsoft was more diligent in providing driver support for older hardware and in providing better support, integration, and compatibility with older software, that would mean you and I wouldn't need to buy near as much new hardware and software to run Vista and therefore the computer industry conglomerate would stagnate and suffer financially as a consequence. In other words Microsoft WANTS you to buy new hardware and software (preferably their software of course ) to keep fueling the technology sector and all the while keep lining Microsoft's and other computer companies pockets in the process. And because Microsoft essentially has the world by the tail because of its predominance in the OS market most people therefore bend and sway to Microsoft's leading and direction and they begrudgingly do the upgrade dance. Some, like Al, who are technology enthusiasts, do it willingly and with a smile on their face but most people dread the thought of pouring hundreds, if not thousands, of additional dollars just to upgrade to an OS which has proven to be severely lacking in many ways and in which it predecessor i.e. 'Windows XP' has shown to be relatively stable, robust, and also works with peoples older hardware and software. Yes, it is true that Microsoft will soon pull the support plug on Windows XP, but at least they will give it another shot in the arm with SP3 before they do. I think it is in 2012 or 2013 when Microsoft will officially pull the support plug on XP PRO. XP Home on the other hand will only be receiving support until 2009 I believe. But hopefully between now and then Microsoft will have improved Vista sufficiently enough to make it a desirable upgrade. And who knows, the way Microsoft repeatedly launches new OS offerings every few years, something completely different and better than Vista may be knocking at the door by then. >> I won't hold my breath about the "better" part though. That, or possibly millions or even billions?? of people will have made the switch to open source versions of Linux in the next several years and quite possibly knocking Microsoft off its high horse in the process. Time will tell. But for now I'm sticking with XP and refuse to do the Vista upgrade dance. Much like I refused to do the Tyros to Tyros2 upgrade dance with Yamaha. Tyros3???.. maybe. If it has 76 keys and is more than just an incremental upgrade that I think the Tyros2 was compared to the Tyros. And Ian says no 76 key Tyros3 so my future prospects for a TOTL 76 key arranger are off on the horizon with another keyboard manufacturer such as Korg, Roland or possibly Ketron. But I digress..

Back to Microsoft: until Microsoft can prove to me and to the world that Vista is actually worth its upgrade price tag I refuse to fork over my hard earned cash for it. And in its present state I don't think it is worth the price unfortunately. And I myself am also a tech enthusiast at heart but needless to say I am a little more cautious than some of my comrades.

Best,
Mike

[This message has been edited by keybplayer (edited 12-30-2007).]

Mike,

Just a correction to your post. Microsoft does not write nor provide drivers for hardware nor are the responsible for doing so. The hardware manufacturers are responsible for this. In my case, I have two Canon printer which are now obsolete because Canon decided not to write drivers for these printers but instead wanted me to purchase a newer model with updated drivers!!!

Canon is no different from HP, Creative, Logitech, etc... they will not spend the money on developing new drivers for older (3years old) equipment.

It isn't a Microsoft problem.



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Al Giordano
http://www.arrangerworld.com


Tyros 2, Yamaha P-250, Korg Triton Extreme 76, Roland VK8-M, DW Collectors Series Drums, Roland SPD-S.

HOw about neither.... go Mac.. I'm about to..... as soon s I get the money saved up I'll be switching...


Jeff