I hate Vista...

[Francis Farmer]

I agree, I am using my laptop with 2 gigs of ram. Still have some problems. Yes nothing is upgradable to work on vista. Even my spyder calibration unit is no good.

It is a horrible os

Hands down bad

[R_Fredrick_Smith]

I've been using Vista since it was released and I have yet to have a blue screen of death. In fact not once has it locked up which is more than I can say for XP that runs on my other machines. In fact it has consistently worked better and faster than XP which it replaces. Of course, I'm on a machine that is well configured for Vista (2.4 ghz dual core, 2gb ram, etc). I have found that Vista can be sluggish on machines of a lower ghz and anything less than 2 gb of ram. All my old software runs just fine and so does my Spyder and my EyeOne. But as I said in an earlier post, if you install the software in the traditional default Program Files folder, then you will have problems with older software. You must install in your own folder that you create for installing older software (either that or get an upgraded version). I chose this simple approach and it has worked well.

The reality of how the OS world works is not going to change soon. Microsoft is dominant and they will likely stay there. We ultimately have to upgrade to the newer versions as they stop supporting the older versions. We might not like this, or think its fair, but that's the game we're currently playing in.

But also, keep in mind that one can always continue to use the older systems through the use of virtual systems (vmware, etc).

Cheers,
rfs

[isaiahbrink]

I think that there are 4 words that were never previelent these days than "Shoulda bought a Mac"

Isaiah

[RHWeiner]

Are there any computer companies still loading XP on new machines? I'm trying to hold onto my setup here now for as long as I can. Vista has been out for a long time now but I still hear horror stories!

I remember when I did a switch from '98 to XP and suddenly my perfectly good and working scanner was not supported. Even the manufacturer of the scanner said that there was nothing they could do with the existing technology of the scanner. So I ended up giving it to my nieces who had an older computer still running '98. Damn Mickeyware, Damn Gates!

[UNLIMITEDFOTO]

Originally Posted by RHWeiner

Are there any computer companies still loading XP on new machines? I'm trying to hold onto my setup here now for as long as I can. Vista has been out for a long time now but I still hear horror stories!

Look for a Gateway 7330gz, thing is a tank, runs xp, I've got it and upgraded the ram, but thats it, it's bascially a desktop in a laptop, I also use a sandisk memory card reader, thing will blaze through downloading compact flash..
The memory card readers on a computer are slow...

you can occasionally find them on ebay, heres one item number 330170581855

hope it helps
steve

[lsc1]

RFS,

I thought I was technically saavy but I can't for the life of me understand why installing in a different folder makes an application run better. Care to enlighten as to why this works?

[R_Fredrick_Smith]

Originally Posted by lsc1

RFS,

I thought I was technically saavy but I can't for the life of me understand why installing in a different folder makes an application run better. Care to enlighten as to why this works?

Its part of the extra security that was added to Vista. When a program attempts to write to the Program Files folder, Vista intercepts that write if it is not done according to the rules set up. This means older software, would not have these rules implemented and so the write would fail. Many times this is because of poor programming practices of older software. For example, some software will make setup changes by writing to the executable itself. This is something that would get intercepted by Vista because that is what viruses also attempt to do in some cases. In other cases, information will be written to INI files or LOG files, and the like, and these might pose a hazard also. So many software products have to be updated to use system calls that Vista provides to make these writes. In general Vista is saying that the only time you should be writing files to the Program files folder is when installing the program. If data needs to be written in the future, then it should go outside the Program files folder (in general).

If you install the older product in a different folder, then sometimes this solves the problem and you can continue to use the product (of course, it has less security than it could have).

Here is a link that goes into the techie details

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/tec.../05/FirstLook/

Take a look at the "Data Redirection" heading.

Cheers,
rfs

[RobArtLyn]

Originally Posted by RHWeiner

Are there any computer companies still loading XP on new machines?

Microsoft has announced in the past week that they are letting manufacturers sell systems with XP through June 30, 2008. Previously, the cutoff was January 1, 2008. This is in response to strong demand for XP over Vista. You will find that all of the major manufacturers will offer at least some models with XP as an option.

[RHWeiner]

So...the buying public DOES have a voice when dealing with the juggernaut!

It's encouraging to read this. When it comes time to upgrade my system the very first question out of my mouth will be, "Can I get XP with this?"...and then let my money continue to do the talking for me.

[Titan]

Originally Posted by RHWeiner

Are there any computer companies still loading XP on new machines? I'm trying to hold onto my setup here now for as long as I can. Vista has been out for a long time now but I still hear horror stories!

I remember when I did a switch from '98 to XP and suddenly my perfectly good and working scanner was not supported. Even the manufacturer of the scanner said that there was nothing they could do with the existing technology of the scanner. So I ended up giving it to my nieces who had an older computer still running '98. Damn Mickeyware, Damn Gates!

When I was shopping for my lap top a few months ago the guy at Best Buy told me that I could order any of their machines with XP instead of Vista