Windows Vista

Who has this version of Windows? I do and it SUCKS!!! There are so many freeze ups (I can't update it because it freezes up), almost nothing downloads (errors keep popping up), and so much is incompatable with it (my printer/scanner/fax can only print and nothing else). In the past I would make MP3/WMA discs so as to listen to them in my car (my CD player only plays regular CDs while the car isn't running) using Music Jukebox. The new version won't download, the old one is incompatable, and not even Nero will download!!!! If I hadn't spent $150 on this piece of crap I could go back and get XP but as it is, I am stuck with it until my money situation improves!

:kickbutt:

I have it. Without 2 GB of memory, expect the freeze ups. I will be upgrading my laptop from 1GB to 2GB next month. But XP is far superior.

That is so lame. I'll never upgrade to VISTA. My next home system will
be an Apple. I've been using them for 15 years. And OS X is just
absolutely SOLID!

Not only Vista, everything MicroCrap sucks!

Be a proud Linux user, and BE FREE! Welcome aboard!

I would love to check out Linux. What's it like?

Well, Linux is an operating system based on Unix. The problem with Windows is it's architecture itself, and the marketting strategy as well.

With Linux, almost everything are free softwares. The architecture is very stable, and secure. No virus and trojans. The memory and Hard Disk management is fantastic, and even a computer that is 20 years old can be made userful (with minimum resources).

Even though there are various flavours of Linux, for a new person (especially for a Windows user), the best distros to check are Ubuntu and PcLinux.

PC Linux is perhaps the easiest to change over, since it is almost a Windows clone. Ubuntu is a stable system, very easy to use, have excellent support, and they send you free CD's. To check out Ubuntu, you do not need to install it, you can run it from the CD drive, and have a trial run (to browse the internet and checking out other options)

Here is the link to Ubuntu: https://shipit.ubuntu.com/

and PCLinux: http://www.pclinuxos.com/

what about all my software, can i use PC stuff on it, games, office, that homeschool programs we use with the kids?

The only thing is Microsoft if better for computer illiterate bums such as myself. XP has it's problems but not anything near Vista's. When I got this new computer last year, it had service pack 2 and was fine. However, I soon had problems and used my warranty to get it fixed. The problem was that it had XP already installed but no disc so when they fixed my problem they only had service pack 1 on hand. I finally had to cough up some money for a hard version of Windows. I had heard some good things about Vista so I decided to pay a little extra (only $50 more than XP with SP2). Now that it is WAY tool late I am stuck for another year or so til my finances are back in order. I'll live but I won't be happy.

No, none of the programs that run on Windows will work on Linux directly, but every program have an alternative (nbetter too). But there are options through which Windows programs can run on Linux (but that requires a bit of technical knowledge).

for eg: I run Macromedia Flash on Linux. Adobe does not support Linux for Flash, but I have a software called Wine, which stimulates Windows environment and I can run any Windows applications. But it is a bit of technical side.

For the M S Office package, they have a better (I mean it), alternative called Open Office. Since I see that you have lot of education programs, better consult someone with technical expertise........

As I mentioned, Ubuntu sends you free CD's and you don't need to install to check it out, it is worth a try.

interesting

i use Red Hat at work & Windows Me at home. never had a problem with either of them.

OS Tiger is the most stable, fastest OS I've ever used.

Windows ME sucked for me. A year and half of pure agony.

I have it, works fine, but I do have 2GB of memory - I would have prefered to wait until MS came out with SP1, but I got Halo 2 for my B-day in Aug and it only runs on Vista, so I just had to upgrade to play it

Madden 2008 runs well on it

I did upgrade to 2GB memory when I bought the upgrade

SPECTREFATE - check Best Buy, they always have deals on memory - I had to buy 2 GB of memory because of the way my system is set up (I had 2 512's, DDR2), got the 2GB for 80 bucks

T-Roy wrote:

That is so lame. I'll never upgrade to VISTA. My next home system will
be an Apple. I've been using them for 15 years. And OS X is just
absolutely SOLID!

I hated Apple up until OSX comes out

Me too. OS 9 and beyond has got to be one of the all-time WORST operating systems ever made. Besides ME lol!

I like Vista.... It works fine for me, (and mostly I like the actual computer, as opposed to Vista itself (it's not a perfect OS, none are). I dual boot Linux though, and have a fare share of macs lying around, (also, a PC Jr.)

IS vista crap then? i always found Xp to be a good operating system that i have never had any problems with so i will stick with that until such time i get a new computer whenever that may be

T-Roy wrote:

I would love to check out Linux. What's it like?

These days, it's like any other OS. Details vary (just the way Windows and MacOS have differences) but if you use one of the "desktop" distributions (like the aforementioned Ubuntu) it's just as easy to learn/use as those other systems.

The key difference with Free Software is that it doesn't have anything in it, which is designed to serve interests other than the user's. That doesn't mean it's perfect, but can get closer to perfection than proprietary software.

What am I talking about? Well, for example, one of the first "how does this weird 'feature' help me?" encounters people have with Windows, are the anti-piracy controls. Windows is deliberately designed to not fully work if it isn't "activated." The purpose of this is to prevent or deter piracy, and that's fine, but even if you don't pirate, you sometimes get into fights with it. (Ironically, people who don't pirate get into fights with it more often than pirates, since pirates simply remove the restrictions.) Install, and suddenly you find you're spending your time typing in a serial number, or connecting it to the Internet (assuming it's not already a net-connected machine) just to talk to their licensing server. Update a driver or plug some new hardware into your computer, and the system can think it's on a 'new' computer (i.e. it thinks it has been copied) and will intentionally cripple itself, until you make a phone call to MS tech support.

That particular problem usually isn't a big deal, but when it hits you, it's sure inconvenient. And the presence of features written for someone else's interest is pervasive; why do you need a special application to copy your music back from your iPod? Why do you need to "unlock" your iPhone to use a network other than AT&T? Why do you need an "approved" video driver in order to watch high-def TV on Vista? Why can't all of a Windows server's capabilities be fully accessed by a non-Windows computer? Why doesn't your VoIP application support serious cryptography, without some kind of deliberate hole so that Law Enforcement (or someone else) can decrypt it? Why are you presented with a window full of huge legalese when you install something, and aren't allowed to proceed until you agree to be legally bound by the terms of a license that you can't even understand, in which you give up rights that you would otherwise have according to copyright law? If you upgrade, why can't you resell the old software that you're no longer using?

There are reasons for these things; maybe they're even good reasons. But those reasons aren't yours, the user's. The "features" aren't there for you, and sometimes they work for someone else at your expense.

Free Software doesn't ever have anything like that. It's written for the user's interest and no one else. If a developer does add something of negative value, it gets "forked" out by other developers, because Free Software licenses allow maintenance and derivative works without special permission. And it allows usage (you can install and run the software) without you having to get any permission (i.e. agreeing to a license) at all.

These newer products like Vista and the iPhone, are unusually extreme in what they try to take away from you. And all that can be avoided, if you Just Say No. Linux is there for you, without any trickery.

yeah like you say sloppy what are you talking about

Sloppy wrote:

These newer products like Vista and the iPhone, are unusually extreme in what they try to take away from you. And all that can be avoided, if you Just Say No. Linux is there for you, without any trickery.

Yeah, but I heard that if you don't know much about computers, Linux isn't for you. If that is true than someone like me would not get much use out of it (I know basic computer skills, but apart from that...nothing).

The days when you'd have to sit at a terminal and type in commands are (for the most part) over. Most linux distro's have enough hardware support for the vast majority to not have to sit down and write a driver for it. For the most part now, linux is simple and kinda straitforward. The only sad thing is not many games are made for it. If your after software that isn't games though, a linux distro that you find would work great.

Damien Solta wrote:

The days when you'd have to sit at a terminal and type in commands are (for the most part) over. Most linux distro's have enough hardware support for the vast majority to not have to sit down and write a driver for it. For the most part now, linux is simple and kinda straitforward. The only sad thing is not many games are made for it. If your after software that isn't games though, a linux distro that you find would work great.

Yeah, these days, using Linux isn't particularly harder than anything else. If you need to play games, or have a requirement for certain specific application which haven't been ported yet (as opposed to types of applications, e.g. you need PhotoShop, where other photo twiddling programs won't do, for some reason) then Linux may not be right for you. The thing is, with all the compatability problems, Vista might not be right for ya, either. ;-)

I don't think I will ever run Vista. I only use XP on my wife's laptop and at my work. I use a Linux box (Puppy Linux) to play my tunes at work. At home I am currently using PCLinuxOS but will probably switch to Ubuntu or Linux Mint. Check out this video of Compiz-Fusion running on Ubuntu
7.10.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvnQE1EAEZY

Who needs Vista?

I also use Knoppmyth Linux (Mythtv desktop Distribution) as my PVR (Like a Tivo).

I'm on Vista, it came with my laptop. I also have 2 Gigs, but it's still damn unreliable. It looks pretty, but after a while, you begin to realise how bloated an OS it really is. It does have it's useful features though, which is why I haven't reverted to XP... yet.