 
Ray1936
Member
Username: Ray1936
Post Number: 1869
Registered: 01-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, September 01, 2007 - 9:55 pm: |    |
Just got a new Dell computer that came with Windows Vista. My old one (which had major problems) had Windows XP Home. So far, doesn't seem to be a helluva lot of difference; some different graphic symbols and icons, but nothing overwhelming.
Any of you Vista users have any warnings for me to watch for?
Old printer wasn't Vista-compatable, but a visit to Canon's web site had me downloading a quick fix and it works just fine now. That's the only glitch I ran into so far. |
Vetalalumni
Member
Username: Vetalalumni
Post Number: 638
Registered: 05-2007
| | Posted on Sunday, September 02, 2007 - 12:43 am: | |
I'm avoiding Vista as long as possible. Running Linux and XP. |
Ray1936
Member
Username: Ray1936
Post Number: 1870
Registered: 01-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, September 02, 2007 - 1:34 pm: | |
Well, so far, no real probs, Vetal. I tried loading one program from CD from my old puter that doesn't seem to take, but I'll work on that this week.
Damn, I was really comfortable with XP, too. |
Vetalalumni
Member
Username: Vetalalumni
Post Number: 651
Registered: 05-2007
| | Posted on Sunday, September 02, 2007 - 1:40 pm: | |
Please let us know how it goes with Vista. Maybe provide us with an update post in a week or so. |
Ray1936
Member
Username: Ray1936
Post Number: 1871
Registered: 01-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, September 02, 2007 - 6:35 pm: | |
Okay, will do. Loaded a few more programs today with no problem (photoshop type programs) and the internet connections are working just fine. I do get a few oddball messages I don't really understand on their timing, but I'll post a note later in the week with an update. |
Gannon
Member
Username: Gannon
Post Number: 9964
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Monday, September 03, 2007 - 6:37 am: | |
quote:Damn, I was really comfortable with XP, too.
They don't WANT you comfortable with technology, Ray. Far as I can tell, comfort is not one of the goals of technology. |
Ray1936
Member
Username: Ray1936
Post Number: 1873
Registered: 01-2005
| | Posted on Monday, September 03, 2007 - 11:31 am: | |
No argument there, Gannon. Also interesting is that while this Dell computer came loaded with Windows Vista, there was no manual packed in the box. I'm guessing if I run into problems I'll have to pick up a Vista for Dummies book at my local 'puter store. Meanwhile, so far no problems. |
Digitalvision
Member
Username: Digitalvision
Post Number: 319
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Monday, September 03, 2007 - 11:58 am: | |
I'm a mac guy, but have to use all operating systems (Linux, Server 2003, XP, Vista, and god forbid, one ME machine).
As for Vista, I think UAC (User Access Control) comes up way too often, interrupting you, to be effective - and I've found Outlook 2007 to be a complete dog with POP email.
Also, networking is sorta screwy on Vista. It took a lot of love to get it to play nicely on a mixed-platform network - and it still isn't 100% right.
That said, Vista has lots of improvements and as much as I hear what you're saying Vetalumni, MS will be pulling the plug for XP support for consumers (as usual) sooner than they initially state, so Vista, for a new machine, is the way to go. I'd almost never install it on an old one, though.
What edition of Vista do you have, Ray - if you do some higher-end functions, your version my limit you. However, if it's you, yourself, and I with this laptop, it's not as big of a deal.
Gannon: It's been stated that computer manufacturers, now that we're at a computing power that will more than do for all consumer tasks, are going to follow the "Detroit model."
New computers, every year, but go on looks and style for the consumer market with minimal hardware upgrades. |
Vetalalumni
Member
Username: Vetalalumni
Post Number: 670
Registered: 05-2007
| | Posted on Monday, September 03, 2007 - 12:55 pm: | |
You can evaluate the entire computer series of "... for Dummies" books for free. See the thread titled "Try before you buy Books (eBooks)".
I'm just starting out on Linux. Prior to XP, I used Server as well. At work we were using VMWare on a blade and it had all MS OSs, and both Red Hat and SUSE Linux. Generally speaking, whenever possible, I avoid the bleeding edge. Let the dust settle and then join the foray. I do try betas from time to time, but never for production.
(Message edited by vetalalumni on September 03, 2007) |
Digitalvision
Member
Username: Digitalvision
Post Number: 322
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Monday, September 03, 2007 - 5:04 pm: | |
Smart thinking Veta - it's why XP is going to be around for quite awhile in the workplace, and Server 2003 will continue to have a huge presence. Businesses rarely replace something that works fine for the new shiny thing - unless they're a tech business - or in my case, predominantly a mac shop that follows the Gospel of Steve Jobs (please detect some self-deprecating humor there).
Linux only now is starting to get ready for more widespread adoption - SUSE is fun, but Redhat is the one I use for production machines.
Gannon: Get a modern mac. Use an iPhone. You'll then know comfortable technology. |
Jimaz
Member
Username: Jimaz
Post Number: 3137
Registered: 12-2005
| | Posted on Monday, September 03, 2007 - 9:05 pm: | |
NetBeans 5.5.1 seems to be causing my XP VAIO to reboot intermittently. Have any Java™ junkies encountered that before? Nothing else has ever caused that problem before. |
Mayor_sekou
Member
Username: Mayor_sekou
Post Number: 1442
Registered: 09-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 04, 2007 - 3:28 am: | |
Vista in my opinion is a nice combination of XP and the latest Mac OS. Some of the "borrowed" elements from the Mac are useful, but others like those extremely useless widgets just annoy me. And it is SLOW, you need at least a gig of Ram to run programs decently. My sisters computer, the one with Vista, came with the standard cheap computer 512 mb which slowed down quite noticeably when I was attempting to install memory intensive programs. I probably wont bother with it until I upgrade to a new PC in a couple years as I think my system is in pretty good shape. |
Crash_nyc
Member
Username: Crash_nyc
Post Number: 1010
Registered: 08-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 04, 2007 - 4:16 am: | |
As a devout Mac guy, all I can say is wait until next month when Apple releases "Leopard", the Vista-killer. |
Mayor_sekou
Member
Username: Mayor_sekou
Post Number: 1450
Registered: 09-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 04, 2007 - 5:41 pm: | |
Really? I dont really see anything that awesome about Leopard that would just outright kill Vista or improve on, what was the last one, jaguar? That time machine thing is cool but not that cool. |
Digitalvision
Member
Username: Digitalvision
Post Number: 333
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 04, 2007 - 7:29 pm: | |
I think improvements in the dock, in expose' - I'm also eagerly awaiting spaces... see, I think Tiger's already past Vista, but on the other hand, I've had so many wars with Vista machines over networking, Outlook 2007 (DOG. Complete and utter dog-slow, even on fresh accounts on a Intel core 2 duo machine with TWO GIGS of memory), as well as program installation. Can't wait for SP1 coming very soon.
UAC on windows is nothing like a mac's authentication for installation... UAC is like the annoying kid brother who keeps going "Take me! Take me!" |
Ray1936
Member
Username: Ray1936
Post Number: 1888
Registered: 01-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 05, 2007 - 12:50 pm: | |
Minor thing on Vista that takes a little getting used to....while a site or program is in the process of booting up, instead of the little traditional hourglass, Vista has a little spinning blue circle. No big thing, but us old folks hate change........ |
Chris_rohn
Member
Username: Chris_rohn
Post Number: 329
Registered: 04-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 05, 2007 - 1:44 pm: | |
I still can't get my XP laptop to read or write to the external drive on my Vista desktop. I've 'shared' the drive and I'm pretty sure permissions are OK, everything worked fine when I had XP on it. Can anyone provide any tips? |
Matt
Member
Username: Matt
Post Number: 1200
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, September 08, 2007 - 10:59 pm: | |
Minor thing on Vista that takes a little getting used to....while a site or program is in the process of booting up, instead of the little traditional hourglass, Vista has a little spinning blue circle. No big thing, but us old folks hate change........
You've got to me kidding me. ... ... Well, regardless, you ARE aware that you can change the mouse pointers, right? |
Ray1936
Member
Username: Ray1936
Post Number: 1902
Registered: 01-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, September 08, 2007 - 11:37 pm: | |
Yeah, but I gotten used to the standard mousie pointer, so I stay with it.
Anyway, so far, no problems. And the computer itself is just super great with my high speed cable....internet sites pop up nearly instantly. Come a long way from my first 2400 baud phone modem! |
Digitalvision
Member
Username: Digitalvision
Post Number: 353
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, September 09, 2007 - 4:45 pm: | |
Chris_Rohn: Vista's got some networking quirks, to say the least.
One idea is that Vista, by default, disables all file sharing for accounts without passwords. XP doesn't always require passwords for user accounts.
Are you running XP SP2, patched all the way up? Seems silly of a question, but you'd surprise how many times I run into issues with people who are still running XP SP1. Always, if not an enterprise, stay completely patched and updated.
Check your firewall settings too on Vista - Vista does security much differently than XP. You may need to manually allow it in. Can you see your network topology (neighborhood)? Can you see the drive - and just can't write to it, or can you not even see the target drive?
Also, DHCP may not be enabled as well on one of the machines - this didn't matter before Vista as much.
Editors note: The above is a perfect example of a large reason I am a mac guy and mac shop. I like to keep these issues to a minimum when they'll cost me money :-) However, if I can help, I'll try. |
Vetalalumni
Member
Username: Vetalalumni
Post Number: 731
Registered: 05-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, September 13, 2007 - 3:33 pm: | |
Setting up 2 VMs running Vista and another running Ubuntu and an oracle dB for development. Testing out Vista in the relative safety of the vm. |
Ray1936
Member
Username: Ray1936
Post Number: 1965
Registered: 01-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, September 22, 2007 - 5:57 pm: | |
Well, I found another snag that is going to cost me money.
Trying to hook up my old HP (5200C) scanner to the new puter, found out that it is not compatable with Vista. A visit to HP's web site also showed that there is no fix for it. So one scanner is out the window.
I went to HP's web site for new scanners, and found there tech info does not include OS requirements. Very poor. But then, HP has been screwed up ever since the Carley whats-her-name scandal. So I tried Canon's web site, found a good scanner for $79 bucks plus delivery and their tech data clealy shows it is Vista compatable. So Canon has a new customer, and HP has lost one probably for good. |
Livernoisyard
Member
Username: Livernoisyard
Post Number: 4019
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, September 22, 2007 - 8:43 pm: | |
My ThinkPad had XP Pro installed via a corporate network (for a large firm that doesn't exist anymore). Back in April, XP Pro went south, and no installers were available.
Fortunately, Microsoft invited me to attend its day-long market launch at Cobo in February with bribes of free Groove, MS Office Professional 2007, and Vista Ultimate. Switching to VU was easy, and only a very few apps, such as my AVG, were temporarily unavailable.
Even Adobe FrameMaker 7 (which wasn't supposed to work with Vista) works without a hitch--even better than FrameMaker 8 (buggy?).
(Message edited by LivernoisYard on September 22, 2007) |
Ray1936
Member
Username: Ray1936
Post Number: 1966
Registered: 01-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, September 22, 2007 - 9:34 pm: | |
I've got some ancient programs that I loaded on to the new computer and they all work beautifully. LViewPro (image program) is one I've had for well over 12 years, and Ancestoral Quest (Genealogy program) has been in use for 11. No probs.
Guess it's mainly drivers that just don't have the ability on Vista. Interesting. |
Ray1936
Member
Username: Ray1936
Post Number: 2001
Registered: 01-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, September 29, 2007 - 11:39 pm: | |
New Canon scanner arrived yesterday and got hooked up today. Works just fine; very pleased so far. Sample picture below of an old photo I scanned.
Interesting to note that the new scanner has no power cord, just a USB connection. Guess that supplies all the power it needed. It's also only 1/3 or less the size of my old scanner. Maybe it was time I upgraded anyway. 
|