Ask Your Vista Questions Here.

it could always be worse. you could be a physics major.

 

Well you got me there.

 

Oh, sorry. I think vista is a resource hog.

 

10 reasons not to get Vista

* 21st January 2007
* Ashton Mills
* Kernel Knowledge, Linux, Vista, Windows

It's all too easy to get caught up in the million dollar marketing engine as we approach the consumer release of Windows Vista, so lets not forget that it isn't the second coming, and by all counts is an upgrade you can do without.

There are many lists out there on why to get Vista, so here's ours on why not to.



1. You don't actually need it -- No, think about this. Vista doesn't do anything you can't already do with XP. About the only significant shift requiring Vista is DirextX10, but as no titles support it yet and, according to John Carmack (the godfather of modern gaming) there's no need to yet either.



2. Cost $$ -- It's so blindingly obvious, most people will be blinded to it. You already have XP, and alternatives like Linux are free. If you really want to throw money away, go give it to a local charity.



3. On that note, it's outrageously overpriced -- at least in Australia. As revealed in the current APC, even after taking into account the profit margin Microsoft Australia previously applied to XP (as well as exchange rates, as you would expect), Australians are paying hundreds of dollars more for their copies than in the US. In fact, it's cheaper for Australians to buy Vista direct by mail order from the States. If you think Microsoft Australia is reaming us, vote with your wallet.



4. Upgrading hardware -- XP was demanding at release, but Vista more so. If you have an older machine that struggles with XP at the best of times, Vista is out of your ballpark unless you spend even more money to upgrade. If this is you, see point 1.



5. Driver support -- Key hardware like video and sound is crippled at the moment -- while Nvidia is working furiously to get a stable driver for the 8800 out by the 30th, there's still no SLI support for any of the Nvidia range. And thanks to the removal of hardware accelerated 3D sound in Vista, Creative's popular DirectSound based EAX no longer works at all, muting this feature for just about all gaming titles on the market today. Creative is in the process of coding a layer for its drivers to translate EAX calls to the OpenAL API which is seperate from Vista, but going by past experience with Creative drivers we won't see these any time soon.



6. Applications that don't work -- there's been plenty of coverage about applications that won't work without a vendor update. These include anti-virus, backup and security software such as those from Symantec, Sophos and ilk; CD and DVD burning tools like the suite from Nero need updated versions to work; and even basic disk management and partitioning tools such as Paragon's Hard Disk Manager are awaiting an update for Vista to be compatible. How many more will fail as Vista enters mainstream? Even Firefox has issues with Vista.



7. It's a big fat target -- with a new and untested in the global wild architecture, virus and malware authors are going to work overtime exploiting the holes Microsoft missed. In fact it's already happening. Loath though I am to use the word 'security' and 'Windows' in the same sentence, Windows XP has at least been patched to the hilt and can be used with a plethora of reasonably effective security tools that work now, without waiting for an update down the track.



8. UAC -- Oh yes, the Microsoft solution for an operating system where mutli-user was an afterthought. Sure, you can disable it, but the OS then makes it clear then that the onus is on the user for any damaging programs that got to run with permissions, rather than with Windows in the first place. If you do have it on, it is going to annoy the hell out of you. It pops up far too frequently, and even on a fast PC, the UAC screen takes too long to come up and disappear.



9. DRM -- And to a lesser degree TPM -- were made for the RIAAs and MPAAs of this world, and the even tighter integration of copy protection mechanisms and 'Windows Rights Management' into vista are nothing more than a liability to you, the user. This ComputerWorld piece says is succinctly: 'it's hard to sing the praises of technology designed to make life harder for its users.' As for TPM, this short animated video shows just how far the rabbit hole goes. And to think you pay for the privilege of having the use of media you purchased and own dictated by third parties, even on your own system.



10. The draconian license -- somehow, Microsoft has forgotten that it built its business from products that empowered its customers, not hampered them. Of course, we forget that Microsoft's customers aren't you and I, afterall (see point 9). Aside from the backward thinking that is licensing, and not actually owning, your software new terms with Vista include being able to transfer the license only once; half the limit compared to XP for Home Basic and Premium on how many machines can connect to yours for sharing, printing and accessing the Internet; limits on the number of devices that can use Vista's Media Center features; activation and validation governing your ability to upgrade hardware and use Windows itself; and outlawing the use of Home Basic and Premium with virtualisation software, and Ultimate only if DRM enabled content and applications aren't used. But then again, who reads these anyway?
Kernel Knowledge | add new comment
http://apcmag.com/5049/10_reasons_not_to_get_vista

 

Understanding the Windows Vista Family Discount

On Tuesday, Mary Jo broke the news about the Windows Vista Family Discount. Today, Microsoft made the formal announcement, and Joe Wilcox immediately lambasted it as a bad idea (no surprise there). The problem is that Joe based his analysis on incomplete information. Fortunately for you, dear readers, I have all the facts (for reasons I discuss in my next post).

Before I delve into how the plan works, here's how the existing upgrade pricing works for a family of 3:

* Upgrading 3 computers to Vista Home Basic will cost you $99 for the first copy, and $89 for each additional copy, for a grand total of $279. If your computer is more than 2 years old, this is the way to go.
* Upgrading 3 computers to Home Premium would cost $159 for the first copy, and $143 each additional copy, for a grand total of $445. This is where it starts to get hairy. Most families would rather buy one new computer than spend this kind of money upgrading all three.
* Upgrading 3 computers to Vista Ultimate would cost $259 for the first version, and $233 for each additional copy, for a grand total of $725. While it may be relatively unlikely that a family has 3 computers that should be running Ultimate, the price makes it even less likely that they would.

It should be noted that most people aren't really going to know about the additional license packs, so most people would end up just buying 3 boxed copies.

So the target position is really the 3 upgrades to Vista Home Premium. Now, Microsoft has a few additional problems to combat in positioning this program. One is that they don't want the system to be abused by people who would buy a crapload of Home Premium upgrade boxes, and then use the Anytime Upgrade system to get discounted keys that they can turn around and sell for full price. They know it's going to happen, but they need to minimize the damage.

The second is that they need to consider the scenarios where this will actually make sense. They want as many people as possible to move to Vista, because it's far more secure than XP. So the scenario that they miss in their pricing is the family that purchased a computer in late 2006-early 2006, and has a couple older computers in the house. The new computer is still relatively fast, but the older ones are slowing down and constantly infested with spyware. Since even the upgrade editions of Vista wipe the system clean, these machines will perform better than on XP, even if they might not be able to support Windows Aero.

So here's how the Windows Vista Family Discount works. NOTE: All prices are Microsoft's MSRP. Amazon.com is offering most copies at a $10-20 discount.

* Purchase a Retail Box Copy of Windows Vista Ultimate. Since we're talking about upgrades, most people will get the $259 Upgrade version (and not the $399 Full version that Joe used in his analysis).
* You'll have the option to acquire two additional product keys for Windows Vista Home Premium at $49 per key.
* Grand Total (Upgrade): $357
* Total Savings: $220 (if you buy the same SKUs)
* Total Savings (vs 3 Home Premium): $120 (if 3 upgrade copies are purchased) or $88 (with additional license packs)

Under this plan, the new computer would get Ultimate, and the older but still capable systems would get Home Premium. By using Ultimate as the "barrier to entry", Microsoft can blunt some of the effects of people abusing the system, while at the same time introducing more people to the Ultimate experience.

Joe's wrong about OEMs being the ones that hurt in this equation. It's actually the Retail channel that will have the most issue with it, because the $49 in pure profit goes directly to Microsoft. CompUSA, Circuit City, Best Buy, etc don't want this to work, because they want people to grab boxes off shelves. Whuch is why I doubt you'll see signs touting the plan in any retail store come February.

So while people like Joe Wilcox will berate the decision, and say that "The choice of nothing would be better than the Family Discount", I completely disagree. This is an experiment to see how the market will respond. If it responds well, you may see better multi-computer bundles in the future, that may be less complicated than the current incarnation. And instead of criticizing Microsoft, Joe should be praising Microsoft for FINALLY listening to the needs of the market, and doing something that he himself has argued for in the past. It may not be perfect, but at least they're taking a risk and trying something different. And that can only be a very good thing.
http://www.windows-now.com/blogs/ro...anding-the-windows-vista-family-discount.aspx

 

MS clearly dose not understand anything for home PCs in network you should get the first 3 or 5 F R E E
you heard me F R E E,this only adds to anti consumerisms and makes non shepples back off and wait till tools are available to fix Monolithic Software new OS .

 

so good to have ireland back.

 

Microsoft offering free Vista "test drive"


test drive set up
http://www.windowsvistatestdrive.com/

1/22/2007 1:37:29 PM, by Jeremy Reimer

Microsoft recently unveiled a new web site called "Windows Vista Test Drive," designed to allow business users, consumers, and the merely curious to find out what running Microsoft's latest operating system might be like, without actually having to install it.

The web site requires Windows 2000 or XP, Internet Explorer 6 or 7, and Microsoft's Virtual Machine Remote Control (VMRC) Advanced ActiveX control, which is installed when the user first visits the page—IE 7 dutifully reminds the user of all the inherent dangers of installing ActiveX controls first, but eventually allows the installation. For fun, I tried out the site under Windows Vista itself, and it worked fine.

After getting through this process, the user is presented with a web page that mimics Windows Vista's desktop, although all the options on the Start Menu have been replaced with links to various "exercises" that one can enter to find out more about Vista's new features. At first, it seems as if this "faux desktop" page is the actual Vista test drive, but in fact it merely serves as a launching pad for the real OS running in a virtual machine.

Getting to that stage, however, requires one more security verification process. The page pops up a dialog box that says: "Using NLTM authentication, the client cannot verify that the server "vh07.virtuallab.microsoft.com" has not been impersonated. Although your password is never sent over the Internet, it may still be discovered through an attack on the authentication token sent to this server. Do you wish to continue?" The instructions on the web site say that this is nothing to worry about, and the password that is given out to test drive users is a temporary one.

Finally, the OS lights up in a small (about 640 by 480) screen, after which the user can click on the regular Vista Start Menu and explore various features, guided by a separate information bar on the right that lists common tasks, such as using Vista's new search features. As expected from a virtual machine running over the Internet, display performance is extremely slow. One can see the screen slowly "painting" from top to bottom as new screens and menus appear. However, the virtual disk performance is quite speedy, so programs load without annoying waits.

I tried clicking on the Microsoft Excel 2007 icon, and Excel dutifully loaded with the Office Activation Wizard in the foreground. Attempting to activate this VM copy resulted in a communications error, which was quite hilarious. However, I was able to muck about in Excel and enter a few formulas.

Microsoft is hoping that making the trial available will help people evaluate the software without resorting to piracy. Last Friday, Microsoft's Cori Hartje was in New York to discuss how its Genuine Software Initiative (GSI) was proceeding. GSI launched in July 2005, and has spawned such programs as Windows Genuine Advantage, the controversial method by which Windows' license key is checked against a list of known pirated keys, and operating systems that fail the Genuine test are prevented from downloading non-critical Windows updates and other Microsoft programs such as IE 7 and Windows Defender.

Providing free test drives of Windows Vista is not likely to make any significant dent in piracy, although it does remove one excuse that some pirates use to justify "sampling" commercial software. More important than any antipiracy efforts, the test drive is a useful marketing tool that many computer companies have used over the years to promote new products. The original Apple Macintosh, for example, was once offered to prospective buyers on a "Test Drive" basis, and ads even showed users sporting leather driving gloves. That promotion fell flat, as most people who participated in the test drive turned out to be tire-kickers, not buyers. Will the Vista test drive end up the same way? With new computers being sold with Vista prebundled starting next month, it may not matter too much.

The Test Drive also serves as a promotion for Microsoft Virtual Server, which is used to deliver the trial over the web.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070122-8673.html

 

how about give vista home free to all for a limited time and let them upgrade it to pro for 100.

 

how about go back in time and wipe vista from existence. pull a Terminator ripoff, but succeed.

 

I wouldn't take Vista if it were free.

 

Only if can MS....and the disease.... wipe all all MS's

 

not all MS OSs...we've learned from them. well, what not to do. but now is the time to leave it in the ground like grandma's corpse and move on.

 

I wouldnt take vista if they paid me top dollar

 

?! You wouldnt?! From the conditions you gave, I would! After all, its not like you signed anything saying you would actually use it...

 

Thats redundent, of course were talking about using it and not letting vista software box laying around somewhere.

 

Well is there a specif amount of time you have to use it? Cuz I would install it and only use it the minimum amount. IF, the money was a hansom sum.

 

Not even for £100,000 would I use vista.. I mean it.

http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/54/295688#2756121

 

wierdname, forget it, now were getting into school kid nonsence.