I hate Windows Vista

I already hate Windows Vista, and I'm not even running it.

My mother, who lives in Missouri, has decided to finally plug into the Internet. She bought a laptop, which came with Microsoft's latest operating system, and ordered a DSL line from her local phone company. A relative managed to get the DSL modem and wireless hub configured yesterday after a bit of telephone consultation.

So today she's trying to browse the Internet, and she's having troubles.

Microsoft has made such a buggered-up mess of the IE7 user interface, which looks like something a teenager designed as a Winamp skin, that I can't even help her over the phone. And regardless of what Microsoft claims, Internet Explorer is a bugwad just asking to be infected by a virus.

Solution? Install Firefox.

She managed to find Google, run a search for Firefox, and click on all the right link to make the download happen. But Vista won't let her install it, popping up an alert that it's not digitally signed by Microsoft.

Signed by Microsoft?

As has been noted, that's not security. It's business terrorism -- frightening the user in order to protect Microsoft's business interests. This sort of nonsense doesn't happen on OSX and Linux, which simply require the user to confirm the installation with a password.

I swear, next time I get up there I'm going to wipe the hard drive and install Ubuntu Linux, Picasa, Abiword, Firefox and Thunderbird.

Update May 2008: I am closing comments on this thread because it's primarily attracting spammers. If anyone cares, I long ago migrated both my mother and my wife's mother (and my kids as well) to Ubuntu Linux, so I no longer have to worry about viruses and upgrades. It works, it's rock-solid stable, it's easy to use, it delivers much better performance than Vista, and they're all very happy with the universe of applications available to them.

Comments

There's a well-known mechanism for companies to get their software signed. If Firefox isn't willing to do that, not sure what it has to do with Microsoft.

Either way, just have your mom install it. Firefox runs great on Vista.

Microsoft makes you do a lot of stuff to protect against people accidentally installing things that bugger up the system.

IE7 is a lot better than you think, by the way. Far more secure than IE6.

I AGREE.
"It said I needed Windows 98 or better, so I installed Linux."

frankly i find this pretty narrow minded as a comment. i agree that the ui for ie7 is quite horrible, but vista as a whole is actually pretty good if you run it on the appropriate hardware. i never run in the same issue as the one you mention re: firefox and i've installed it on 3 separate vista machines. i am writing this from a mac running tiger. so i am pretty much aware of both os'. there are good and bad in each. give a real try before writing such a headline.

Oh, for God's sake. What a load of old crap. You hate Vista and you've never used it?

If open source is so much better, let's see your sainted mother install Ubuntu Linux, Picasa, Abiword, Firefox and Thunderbird on her own without any help from you.

Do us a favour and STFU until you get a clue.

No offence.

Thank God I still have my old computer with XP on it. I just got back from trying to help my parents with their new computer that is running Vista and I thought if it asked me one more time if I knew that I was trying to install a program or run a program and did I really want to, I would scream. I never could my mom's new digital camera to run it's software right and it's just like my camera. I'm no master computer user who thinks the solution to Windows problems is to switch to Linux - I wouldn't know how - but I was expecting consumer level stuff to do basic normal stuff without so much headache. Maybe folks out there download and install strange crap that breaks their systems and they need that kind of babysitting and handholding to "keep them safe" but when I want a computer that thinks it knows more than me about the safety of the software CD in my drive, I'll know to get a Vista system.

There are soooo many reasons why I do not like Vista, not the least of which is it will not accept my programs that are compatible with XP or previous windows os versions. So, that would mean I need to replace ALL my software (including some statistical software packages that are beacoup bucks). It won't accept my internet software, printer driver, and lots of other things. But it sure junked up the memory with AOL and other crap! Since Vista is only a trial on my new PC (60 days), I am paying someone to replace it with XP. Sorry folks, I think Vista is a stinker. It's prettier, that's about it.

I dealt with the same issue when my dad got a new computer. He decided to get a new Toshiba laptop with Vista. He couldn't install AOL or some other apps because Vista kept asking for permission to install and even though we'd say yes it still would not install. I've never been so irritated with a computer in my life. The best way to deal with this was to return the Toshiba and get a mac. Like most common users, the computer is used for email, internet, basic word processing and chat. The mac does all of this flawlessly. I got him a new MacBook. We opened up the box, did the initial OS setup, setup email and iChat. He was up and running in less than 30 minutes. For users who are not technically inclined to manage a PC for viruses, worms, etc the Mac is a better choice because there are no documented viruses or worms for the Mac. Just had to teach dad to make sure not to download any files from any unknown email address, how to use the internet correctly. Although the cost of a mac seems more than most Windows based machines, it really isn't when I did a cost comparison of a Dell with similar specs. The Mac was actually a little bit cheaper. To me this was the best answer and so far my dad hasn't needed any tech support from me or anyone else.

Sorry, but your comment has not been digitally signed by Microsoft and therefore I am prevented from reading it.

The only people who like Vista are IT geeks who messed with it long enough to get it to work.

Everyone without an IT degree can go suck a lemon, apparently. All you nerd-o's calling 70 year old pre-internet generationers "stoopid dum@zzes" should be ashamed of yourselves. Show some respect... not all of us live life in our mother's basement surrounded by pop-tart crumbs and centerfolds of Bill Gates on the wall.

I am an IT geek and i can tell you vista sucks from the poxy look to the pathetic most patronising "are you sure" messages. Computing is meant to be quick especially if you know what youre doing. THIS OS IS A COMPLETE JOKE!!!

A couple of nice touches but tell me WHAT WAS WRONG WITH XP??? My motto, If it aint broke then dont fix it!

Its just a scam, the same as all the other scams the world over. As for IE7, well lets not even go there. Just uninstall it and go back to user friendly IE6.

I have 4, count'em, FOUR, external drives that work fine in XP
and Vista refuses to recognize or even let me format.
(Maxtor and Western digital). 2 others
work fine in Vista. It says the drivers are fine. Disk management
sees them sometimes and sometimes not. When it does see the hardware, is says they are "working properly" but shows them with a RED PLUS SIGN. Clicking the damn icon won't give any useful options (just propertied + help). I've reformatted them in XP, they work fine there, but Vista is blind to them or
won't do anything but offer the useless options "properties" and "help". Vista is a POS and should be recalled and I'm going back to XP. Also, my Vista computer lets the fans run in sleep mode, so I need to shut down all the time. XP has Hibernate, which shuts down all power, fans and all, but come back with the programs I was running in their last active state. F*** VISTA!!!

I am in complete sympathy mode when it comes to users who hate Vista. I built a very loaded rig in October of last year and everything ran quite smooth under Windows XP (I own a copy, thank goodness). I am a digital artist by trade and I have spent several thousand dollars on software alone. I decided about two months ago to upgrade to Vista. I purchased a copy, backed up my files, formatted my HD and installed. While I was happy with the ease of installation, the rest of the OS was/is complete crap. Vista gave me problems all the time with my Wacom Intous 3 (I indeed installed the correct drivers from Wacom's web site). My Bluetooth keyboard and mouse would go in and out; sometimes after a restart requiring a 'secure' password. When Vista goes into power saver mode my internet connection bugs out...OH, not to mention most of my old software worked VERY poorly on Vista. Since I am not a rich man, I cannot afford to go out and buy all new software that is Vista compatible. I know there are growing pains with each new OS update; however, XP runs 98 programs just fine. Hence to say, I reinstalled XP.

P.S. Don't listen to what they say, my rig sports a ATI Crossfire setup with dual Radeon 1600 Pro cards and even though it is suppose to use vid card memory, Aero is a system hog. Plus trusted computing can bite my ass...

I have to agree - I absolutely hate vista with a passion. If I get one more message saying 'COM surrogate isnt working' I going to smash the thing. Half my software wont run (even after Ive tried playing with the compatibility). The digital signature lark is driving me crazy - I dont care really if microsoft has signed it off or not, if they really cared that much Vista should have come with a warning label slapped across the box saying 'stick with XP'. Sorry people but Im switching back to XP until they do some major fixes on Vista.

What is wrong with the windows xp? Some of my old favored programs can not run in my new vista laptop. My new $1000 investment. We should have the rights, as the consumers in the U.S., to choose what program run in our computers instead of being forced by the MS to use Vista. They should provide the drivers for us instead of searching and buying the drivers over the internet. I hate that.

While cleaning up spam I accidentally discarded a comment from "Scott in Minneapolis" who wrote:

"I can NOT stand Vista AND I own it. I feel like all Micro$oft has been doing is making their OS's pretty with horrible functionality. Hell give me Win98 SE back."

I want any other OS but not vista !!!!
I tried to download firefox also and it wouldn't let me press the download button.Finally I downloaded it on a zipdrive from my son's xp computer and it installed.But I'm having so many other issues that I guess after spending $ 850 after rebates for a new laptop I can now cough up some more dough to buy a new OS and then spend some more time in learning how to wipe off vista and install XP.
Bravo Microsoft, way to get richer !!!

Andrew Thomas' "STFU" comment above reminded me that I have not taken a look at the latest Ubuntu. As it turns out, Andrew is full of malarkey. Here's a review of Vista vs. Ubuntu from the trade pub Information Week that demonstrates just how out of date most Winheads are in their beliefs about how easy it is to install Linux. For those who can't click and read, the bottom line is that installing Vista and installing Linux are pretty much the same process, and Linux actually comes out ahead on some points, such as the ease of adding software. (There are thousands of add-on programs in the well-organized Ubuntu repositories, and installation is a matter of point and click.)

I did run into some problems with Ubuntu when I tried it on my wife's fairly new Sony Vaio laptop. Ubuntu runs just fine, connects automatically to my wifi network, detects and properly configures the video, et cetera, but it stumbles on Sony's proprietary (and apparently undocumented) sound hardware. There are some projects under way to fix that.

Fortunately you can discover these issues before committing, as the Ubuntu disk can be run Linux directly from the CD. It's somewhat slow in that mode but you can test out most of the features.

I really HATE vista. It never works properly and is so OTT and slow. Go back to XP everyone.

Check out www.ihatevista.co.uk!

People call on me for help with their computers. I don't make a living at that, but I am an Engineer and use PCs every day. I have two servers running Linux that are rock solid. I like XP and use it on my personal PCs. It's pretty stable and runs my software and is compatible with the wide variety of peripheral hardware I must use to perform my engineering duties. I had high hopes for Vista.

I tried to help a friend get his Vista Home PC (brand new fancy Dell notebook) set up with a printer. MS has made it very difficult to do what you want. I couldn't find a way to create a new folder for his printer driver installation files from the browse dialog. This is something I commonly do with XP. I had to settle for one of the existing folders. It was a pain just to get the files into that folder, since as many others have mentioned- Vista goes to ridiculous lengths to impose it's concept of security. So I had to clear numerous show-stopping hurdles. I wrestled with it for over an hour, but never got the printer to work. Vista saw the printer, it saw the driver files. I could not get it to install the driver to make the printer work. Also I could not find a way to display the ".inf" extension for the setup files.

Bottom line- for me Vista is completely useless and counter-productive. Remember Microsoft's "Bob" OS user-interface? I think MS has forgotten. MS said that XP stands for experience. Evidently they haven't learned from experience. Hopefully they'll drop Vista in all it's over-priced flavors, in favor of something useable. Or they will face the likes of Unbutu, and Mac, and be their own undoing. This is already proving to be the case with Open Office vs. MS Office. Why do they always have to "improve" things until they're useless???

Thats it......it just sucks. I dont have XP so I might just revert back to windows 98 SE..hehehe. This is the worst OP Microsoft ever put out.

Ubuntu Linux has made great strides in the area of usability, and I half expect it to see it more as time progress. And as for your rude comments towards someone who was just merely expressing their opinion, I have only one thing to say. Why do you stop sucking on Microsoft's tit for half a second and actually try a different OS? The sooner we get to a truly OS OS, with the usability that is necessary for popularity, the sooner we can stop hearing from ignorant Microsoft fan boys like you. And just for the record I use three operating systems currently, Windows XP, Slackware 11, and Ubuntu. And I'll admit Microsoft knew what they were doing with Windows XP, but Slackware and Ubuntu both have features I enjoy and take advantage of.

I bought a new PC with Vista installed, what a fricken nightmare! Within 24 hours I had to wipe the drive and re-install the OS, because the peice of crap crashed 9 times and nothing would run. Since then, I have installed 1 piece of software that no one I know has ever had problems with, yet Vista is constantly freezing, locking up, Windows Explorer doesn't respond other programs won't respond, Vista interrupts and shuts down software that I am using to tell me to update, when I have auto-update off, it also interrupts and shuts down software to suggest turning on stupid crap like filter keys and other accessibility options. And to top it all of, at least twice a day, Vista crashes.
I hope that Bill Gates will burn in hell, but I'm already there.

Just finally decided to leave MS behind forever, not for open source, but for an Apple. We're running several of the Intel-based Macs in our office, and while not perfect, at least Apple's software doesn't get WORSE with each new release. None of my programs work correctly with Vista (I was forced to get it with a new computer purchase) and I am back to the bad old days of rebooting my computer about 10 times a day. Plus, what is this crap with asking me every time I move a file if I really want to move it, and Vista asks me twice! Get ONE single designer in the group guys. All of your pointy headed engineers have NO CLUE!!!

I actually didn't mind XP so much...

Ok heres the deal Im really not liking Vista!( To many reason to list here, or it would be way to long and no one would read it) My last computer died on the way to Korea(yea Monson Season) so I had to get a new laptop when I got here but because they dont even give you a choice when buying a laptop or a way to trade it in for XP Im stuck with it for now. Why they would release a OS with out major driver support is beyond me!

You might say Im a fanboy of Windows buy Im not, Ive Actually tried a couple versions of Linux, But if you play any kind of games (well new games anyway) or use exspensive software that you've accumlated over the years your stuck so not only do you have to learn a new OS you have to learn all new software as well. So until someone backs Linux as a uniform OS (because seriously who can keep up with all the version out there) and the software people see it as a worthwhile option for everyday users then well face it were pretty much stuck with windows and that is bad because a pretty car that runs like crap is still crap. Well thats my 2 cents anyway.

We are the beta-testers - and we don't even get paid!
Remember Win98 before SE or XP before SP2. I hated them too. Ever since it has been possible to distribuate updates trough the Internet products are launched for sale, when they are still in a somewhat working beta-state. Imagine the casualities if they used the same concept for cars og airplanes!
I've not really made up my mind about Vista yet, but there are sure a lot of [OK]-buttons to press for every simple task, but don't blame the OS for that; blame spammers, hackers and virus-programmers!

I can't stand this abomination known as Vista. I didn't see any problems with XP. I think that Microsoft should offer new copies of XP to people who bought computers with Vista and can't stand it. I have thought seriously about having someone install Linux or going out and trying to find a copy of XP somewhere. Even the updates don't help with all the bugs. We have two laptops. One older one with XP, slower processor, and smaller HD. It runs twice as fast as the new one with Vista and a processor that is more than twice as fast. Mine is still booting up while she is cruising the net. I hate this OS. Bill Gates should be ashamed of himself for fixing something that wasn't broken and breaking it in the process.

My parents bought a brand new HP PC which obviously came with Vista. I'm a mac os X and XP user myself. I expected vista to be better than XP. But i was let down horribly. First of all, vista has sooo many compatibility issues with a lot of software.
It took me and my brother (computer savvy) 3 hours to try to figure out how to share photos over our home network with an XP comp. And of course we never did. Vista won't share the printer with my mac! Even after installing seperate printer drivers, etc. All in all, i'm glad i didn't upgrade my XP to vista. And who would willingly do that considering it costs over 200 for upgrading!!!
Vista is a headache to use. Certainly didn't make things user friendly... just decided to make all our decisions for us without asking us anything! excepts for the popups that ask you "are you sure you want to do this?!?"

I want to replace my old computer with XP - not becuase XP is a problem- I love XP - but because I want other upgrades. But my boyfriend - who is pretty good with computers - just bought a new one with Vista - he hates it and I tried it and I do too. For example, we downloaded pictures into his computer, then tried the customary instruction "file", "print". well guess what - with Vista when you are in a picture and open "file" it does not let you simply print. You have to go to a whole different window and respond to more options than you need. I think it is evil that Microsoft controls so much of the computer market, that we consumers no longer have a choice -we are FORCED to buy Vista if we want a new computer, even if we think XP works just fine - I understand some people might want Vista. But why should those of us who don't be forced to buy it? This hurts the consumer. Why isn't the justice department investigating Microsoft again??

What's wrong with Microsoft? They provide a wide range of free software, with constant security updates. Tell your mother to go to windows update site, custom, and install all updates. That's your solution right there. Also, if you hate IE7 interface, there's many Trident based browser to choose from. I use Avant Browser.
http://www.avantbrowser.com/
There's also Maxthon, which is also good because of it's wide variety of plugins, but I still prefer Avant Browser.
Btw, FireFux is full of security flaws. With each new update is a new security hole. I mean, no browser is perfect, but Mozilla fails to release security patches as fast as Microsoft. Genuine copy of Windows = your best friend.
Also, Microsoft donates money to organizations all the time. It's not like they keep all the money for their own personal greed. I really admire Microsoft. I just can't wait till I get my new computer with Vista on it, when I turn 17. :-D

After 2 weeks of Vista, I am going back to XP, too many problems with this ******* Vista. I really don't understand how they can release a product in development.

My old computer just died after 8 years so I went out and bought a new computer. Little did I know, Vista was the OS or I would have left it at the store. It is so slow and keeps crashing on me. I am so fed up and I am trying to erase vista and download XP. Is that possible??? I work from home and the system I use is not Vista compatible so every 20 minutes or so it freezes up on me. I called up Microsoft for some help and the lady said she would help me, but first I had to give her my credit card number since Microsoft charges a sixty dollar fee. This is effecting my livlihood so if you can help me, I would appreciate it. The lack of support is a joke. I was told by one lady at the call center that this is the way it is and if I dont like it, go buy a computer with XP. I will do my best to avoid all microsoft products in the future.

I HATE VISTA THATS ALL!!!!

I have the same problems I use the program autocad and it is a older verison and can't afford the new right now and have to open it a certain to even it to run I talked to the Geek Squad @ a locate best buy and they told me you can downgrade however there is no gurantee your computer will work b/c take a guess the hardware may not be compatible LMAO
I am sick of this this is also my livelihood while im in school
so if you find a way to get your pc down-graded let me know.

There are so many reasons to hate microsoft. Actually windows is the largest virus ever programed. And Bill Gates is the worlds most dangerous terrorist because he makes people all over the world doing things like smashing computers, freaking out, hitting others or stuff like that. I'm pretty sure that no one ever tried to find out if the reason for most rampages ever happened weren't caused by people freaking out after windows errors. And probably no one ever will because these people usually kill them selfes at the end or get shot...So Bill Gates causes world terror effectively and silently...

Vista, i must admit is a pretty looking operating system, and there are a number of "features" that i find appealing. first up, is the real time preview of the windows in the taskbar. great for those who have a lot of widows running simultaneously and often need to check progression status of certain tasks, i.e. copying/transfering/downloading/etc.
Another thing i like..........nope, thats it.
Over to the dark side! But before i continue on this, i'll explain my situation. I am a regular user of computers, enjoy high end/realtime games (First Person Shooters/Real Time Strategy), do a lot of networking, done a couple of low IT courses and have a reasonable knowledge of what im doing. My previous computer had XP Pro and i must say ran like a dream. Not once did it play up...at least not unless i physically crashed it by doing things that i really shouldnt have been doing anyway. But that's besides the point. Considering the hardware components that it ran on, many programs (although not recommended for such a low machine) ran great with little to no trouble. I recently purchased a Brand new high end gaming machine ($5000 worth) and as a reward for my patience to save up to get as best i could, vista was the operating system that i got. Microsoft Windows Vista 64-bit..."Ok," I said, "I have heard that this OS has gone through extensive testing and is reputed to be the best ever!"
How wrong i was. The system constantly crashes on me, programs colapse mid-way, i get re-occuring network issues, internet problems, and navigation to find specific files can be frustrating, if not impossible at times. In fact the only reason i have not uninstalled Vista and installed a 64-bit version of XP, is that microsoft no longer produce XP, THUS forcing Vista to be the ONLY available Windows to come installed on new PC's. They have forsken the customer in pursuit of unearned revenue. However, i may have to find an illegal version of XP if they cannot come up with fixes for this pile of S*** they have created.
I would LOVE to know what monkey the used to push the dozen or so keys before saying "That'll do. Lets release it to get even more money coming in."

I'm an MCSE, CCNA and I am the Network and Systems Administrator in a small government department of around 600 users. I also write and sell software in my spare time. My point is I use, administer and write software for Windows desktops and servers on a daily basis.

I ran Vista on my new HP laptop for 2 months. In the end I just couldn't take it any more. It's just frustrating to use. It seemed fairly stable although it did crash a few times... and it only had factory drivers. I just hate the way it takes longer to do everything that it does with XP. Not just because of its hardware requirements but it's just so convoluted and patronizing. What was wrong with using tabs to group options, settings and information. I mean Microsoft had to adopt (rip off) Firefox's use of tabs in IE7 because they were loosing market share with IE6... but then they try to eradicate the use of tabs in the OS... are they insane or just drunk on power? Vista is a step backwards in interface design. I think they ran out of ideas or inspiration... all they could come up with is "let's make it pretty. Users want bling!" and "let's cram if full of DRM and FUD so users will only trust Microsoft"

Anyway, XP works great on my new laptop. I can do all my day to day tasks from administration to writing software or even writing and recording music. I want refinement not a new world order. Productivity is what it's about not WOW. I fear Vista may be the 32/64bit version of ME.

Anyone remember Microsoft ME. Yeah, thought so.
Vista is fighting for the top spot in forgettable Operating
Systems.

When you have to FIGHT the OS you paid for to do
the things you want to do then the design of the
OS is flawed. And coming from a company that can afford
to do better that is pathetic. I guess they are more interested in
the body count of off shore labor then delivering quality software.

There used to be something called "fast and intuitive"
when talking about applications and operating
systems. It seems Microsoft is more interested in barfing up
this disaster of an OS.
1) Its SLOW. Aero EATS UP tons of resources and slows down
Everything.
2) Its not compatible with its previous generation of software.
3) Its not intuitive.
4) Its annoying. Are you sure we should install this? Did Microsoft
say you could install this? (HEY I BOUGHT the OS to do MY bidding
not the other way around. )

The only thing to like about Vista is some of it looks nice.
Cant use it but is that important when you have a MONOPOLY?
Break MS up NOW!

I just realized that the main reason of these new wave of brand new vista laptops it is because of the SATA Hard Drive compability, it seems to be more difficulto to install any operating system (Except Vista) in a Computer with a Sata Hard Drive, because when you go to install the xp or other OS, they don't recognize the Hard Drive, so how to install it? well it is a lil bit complicated, but I have an XP ripped version that runs even in a Pentium 2 with 64 MB, so can u Imagine how fast would be in a Turion X2 or a Core 2 Duo? This version does not support the win updates, which I hate, or the system restore but I use to freeze my c: partition with the deepfreeze and problem solved, I need an extra fast processor for my sound engineering sessions, so anyone interested in doing this, just download the Win XP Fenix Team version, from ares or whatever and download your sata driver if u have a Sata HD and let me know hot it works.

Yes IE7 is BETTER than IE6 but then you thimes the good pints together square the result then your getting close to how good Firefox is. the only reason i have IE7 is to use the OEM section of microsfts website as microst wont let any other browsers access it. while im in that one area of microsots site i get 20 messages warning me about security and im only viewing microsfts site, well if there own site isnt safe enough for them whose is???

Have a good long look at my blog at http://vistasucks.wordpress.com

I wonder if MS has the faintest notion how bad Vista is... or have they so isolated themselves that they just think it's all jealousy? IE7 is even worse; I thought I was back in dial-up days; I finally (with a struggle, fighting with Vista kicking and screaming) switched to Firefox... my God, it was like night and day; a HUGE increase in speed. I will never, ever buy another MS product.

As an experienced Windows programmer, Vista is a horrible for me. Every their new OS was better, then previous. But Vista is even worse than Windows 95. It is unstable, incompatible, resource hog, poor user experience. It has really LOW quality and is broken by design. I've bought a Mac now and I'll be developing a software for Mac OS X.

Started on win 98- unstable, cost 180$
Next, got a free copy of 98se with an (un paid for) laptop, stable for a month then re format! otherwise ok!
Caved, and during a new build spent 90$ for a upgrade copy of the new fangled XP home, just as bad as 98se! Got talking to a friend who just got a cracked copy of XP corp, burned a disk for myself and ---WOW! 9 months without a format! not one crash! not one blue screen, not even a glitch!!!! 18 second boot with 60 gb of programs!!!

Having not bought an 0S for some seven or so years, news of an impending brand new OS had me reading all sorts of drivel written by so called experts, about how it was going to make my life so easy and SOOOO pretty and ONLY 400 bucks!
Sitting here typing this piece on a XP corp classic interface powered by the latest dual core monster, I have to report that this current machine is a wonder compared to any before, has me smiling in kind of a smug way, with a few clicks I can do anything I want, I dont look at the desktop, I am to busy USING my machine, If I want something I just go and get it from USENET.
Anyone not happy with MS latest offering should get on USENET or a Torrent and download the latest slipstreamed win XP corp OS for free, don't worry about the 'ethics' involved, you have paid for something, you should demand something that works!!! SEND a clear message by voting with your feet! XP will work easily with the latest hardware out there and is as secure as it gets with windows washer, Win firewall and Nortons corparate antivirus, all just a Torrent away!

Words of wisdom,
The only blue screen is your desktop!
Don't save the planet by catching the bus, go in the dodge and don't breed!
Never go out with a girl who's chest measurments (in inches) exceed her IQ!
If it smells bad and tates bad, find someone else!
Warm regards, Shane

Dear I-Love-Microsoft:
I take it you haven't read the multiple testimonies within this listing regarding their having all the updates and still gettting poor functionality from Vista? It freezes, (among other things, lol), freezes, freezes for no apparent reason, period! Gate writes bloatware and floats it out there for feedback so they can develop umpteen patches to try and get it to do what it was supposedly esigned for in the first place. No WAY would I get a new OS. The shiny is welcome to wear off before I consider changing ANY major program. XP has been pretty dependable for me, but then, I didn't get it until it had been out for quite some time. Hopefully, you won't turn 17 too fast or your love-bubble may bust. ;-)
I'm disgusted with the grief Microsoft customers must suffer due to lack of care in design and maybe even sheer ineptitude.

P.S. What about Netscape? I used to prefer it and had it set to bring up the IE home page, which I happened to like, UNTIL it started giving me problems with some web games. It may not be the best around anymore, but I noticed no one was mentioning it.

Stay away from Vista if you use older (EXPENSIVE) Adobe products. I didn't want Vista, but was stuck with it when I had to replace my old PC with a laptop.

Just a quick comment. I am running Vista Home Basic, not that I like it, but I am giving it a chance.

I HATE IT!

Anyway, I have not had any problems installing FireFox. If it is not Digitally Signed, you can still install it.

The only problem is, my company and several banks will not allow you access to their systems unless you're running IE7, but then I get three or four popups in the proces. Ok, so I can deal with that, but for the majority of my surfing, I use FireFox.

Regardless, I suggest you have a very good anti-virus and anti-spware proram running - ALWAYS.

I filed a complaint on another website about the auto scroll feature. It takes off and either goes to the top, bottom or sides of a document, webpage or unfortunately for me, in AutoCad and Alibre 3D modeling. This is driving me buggy. It also without warning increses or decreses the size of my icons on my desktop.

Tony

I have a desktop running XP PRO and it works great with my Lexmark X74/75. Driver installation time 10-minutes.

So I went out and bought an Acer Aspire 9300 notebook running Vista Home Basic. I couldn't use the Lexmark so I went printer shopping at Staples. They had a newer Lexmark on sale but had sold out at the one store, but told me that they had three at another. So off I went and at the other store they too indicated that they had three printers in stock but could not find them So we compromised on a Brother MFC240C 4 in 1. They knocked off a chunk of change to meet the sale price of the Lexmark and keep me as a customer.

So I took it home, and carefully read the instructions, a first for me and four hours later, I had it running and it wasn't the fault of the printer. Each time I ran the installation software, it failed. It went something like this.

Hardare found - Do you want to continue? - Sure - Error, drivers not found.

Reboot

Hardware found - Do you want to continue? - Sure - Error, drivers not found. Not enough space to install the software. 44MB of drive space needed.

Duh, I had 20 GB

Reboot

Hardware found - Do you want to continue? - Sure. (Only this time, out of frustration I did not point the location to the CD or the folder, but to "C:\")

New Hardware found - Do you want to continue? - Sure! New Hardware found. Drivers not found

Reboot.

New Hardware found. Do you want to continure? Sure. Select the location for the drivers - C:\ - Drivers installed

New Hardware found. No Drivers found.

Reboot

++++++++++++++++++++

I don't think I need to go on, as I think you got the picture.

Four hours later I printed my first test page.

What a nghtmare! The thing is, now I'm afraid of it. If VISTA crashes, I'm outta here.

Tony

Man, it's so messed up that Vista doesn't support many of the games I used to play flawlessly on my old XP. One such example is City of Heroes which exclusively uses Pixel Shader 3.0 for many of its graphics. Vista uses DirectX 10.0 and many, many games out there do not support it yet, and probably won't without a major patch or even reprogramming the game. So bye World of Warcraft, by Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. F*** Vista.

PS. Oh, don't get me wrong, I was able to run every program I tried, except my old antivirus and I was running Windows Vista Ultimate with all the pretty grapics..... BUT when it comes to gaming Vista is a joke.

I hate Vista! I think a new name would be appropriate. "Windows Titanic!" This turd sank on it's maiden voyage but the builders are not hearing the SOS calls. Microsoft executives need surgery to remove their heads from their you-know-what's, and take an honest look at the huge customer dissatisfaction issues. Every new PC is pre-loaded with this dud and in most cases, it can't be removed due to SATA versus IDE driver issues. It must be nice to be so rich that you don't need to worry about an enraged customer base.

I bought a new Toshiba Laptop and also XP for 190. My friend has Vista and does not work. Computer hangs up, printer did not work, XP programs don't work. Camera does not work. And had problems with the internet. What crap to pass off on the public. Unfinished software is what it is. JUNK. He fixed problem and got XP. I did not even want to deal with it so got XP when i bought my laptop.