Vista. It's already happening---people are asking me questions about Vista
that I can't answer.
I've been resisting the upgrade because XP has been working fine for me, and
I have a lot of critical data that I need to run on a stable environment.
Thus, I can't really afford to upgrade and work through any of Microsoft's
bugs just yet. After all, I have a business to run.
I guess I'll need a dual-boot system to support those poor people who have
walked into a computer store and seen the glamour and glitter of this new
operating system---gosh, those floating bubbles are so cool!
One of the problems with consumers is that they seem to have very few
options. Even if you wanted to buy a new system with XP installed, you'd be
hard-pressed to find one. In fact, Dell doesn't even offer XP for it's "Home
User" customers. Interestingly, if you tunnel down into the business
options, you'll find XP is offered on new systems. What does this tell you?
Well, it tells me that businesses, like mine, can't afford to run critical
programs on an unstable system.
Dell doesn't want to lose money, so they are offering XP for those
businesses that request it. I haven't tried, but I'd bet that even the home
user can call Dell and insist on having XP installed on a home system. This
is what I recommend.
Vista's beta version has been out since 2005. In a few short weeks, it will
be 2008. You'd think that Microsoft could clean-up most of its code in three
years, but apparently not. The long awaited service pack 1 for Vista should
be out soon, but based on the information I've read, this service pack still
won't do it. It sounds like a ploy to somehow build confidence in the minds
of business owners that Vista is now "business ready". As a former IT
manager, I'd be taking on a HUGE risk if I suggested an office update to
Vista right now.
So what happened to Microsoft? Why can't they produce a good operating
system the first time around. Sure, we've put up with them in the past by
waiting for service pack 1, but now not even that will ease my mind.
Microsoft is so fixated on security and piracy that they've lost focus on
the honest consumer trying to use her computer as a tool rather than a
shield. Let's just add a few more lights to this dead tree and maybe people
won't notice the brown needles in the dark.
Okay, so you get that I don't recommend upgrading your current system or
buying a new system with Vista installed. Now it's time I uncover some of
the specific issues I have with Vista and some of the reported problems.
1) How many versions of Vista does the consumer need? For crying out load, I
don't want to study 6 different versions to find the one I need. Most people
just buy the most expensive "Ultimate" version if they can't decide. Nice...
Perhaps this is exactly what Microsoft wanted us to do? Let's face it, they
went overboard with the versions---we really only need two versions at the
most.
2) Apparently, changing your password with Vista is a mystery. Several users
have reported that they tried to change their passwords, and Vista spit back
that it couldn't do it. Yet, when you log back in, the password was changed.
Hmmm...
3) Hardware compatibility is always a struggle, and I accept this. This is
one area where service packs do come in handy---they fix incompatibility
issues for the most part. However, now to take advantage of a High
Definition viewing experience, you'll need a monitor that can support it. I
understand buying a new video card, but the monitor too???
4) The BSOD is alive and well. Several people reported the infamous Blue
Screen Of Death upon reboot. Blue is a nice color for Intel, but not for
Microsoft! Of course, this usually indicates a hardware compatibility issue,
so I guess until item #3 is addressed, we have to live with this.
5) Wireless networking is pretty common these days. Yet Vista has this
annoying problem with connecting to an available signal. It reports "no
connection", but lets you surf the Internet anyway. What gives? Of course,
not everyone has this problem, but XP has never reported "no connection"
when one existed. This concerns me.
6) Here's a strange one... Read this on a Vista newsgroup. A user disabled a
few startup programs using the "msconfig" command from running the next time
he booted. However, when Vista rebooted, it said that some startup programs
were blocked. Apparently, it was blocking the actual msconfig utility that
was trying to remind the user he had made changes to his startup group.
Nice... Vista was blocking part of itself from running.
Okay... Enough said. Here's my recommendation: If you are ready or need to
buy a new systems today, then insist on XP. Eventually, the software
monopoly will have its wish, and we will all be using Vista, but let's wait
a little longer.
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