Culture

Have you made the switch to Vista?

MSNBC.com is reporting that Windows XP users are revolting against Windows Vista. According to the report, PC users simply do not want to learn the new interface, and they are not at all confident that Vista will be compatible with common hardware devices. I am among those who have not made the switch to Vista. When our college got new computers last year, we all had the opportunity to upgrade to Vista, and I declined.

Here’s an excerpt from the story:

‘A petition to “Save Windows XP” has drawn more than 111,000 supporters — and continued shots across the Microsoft XP vs. Vista bow, a battle that began with Vista’s release last year.

‘The operating system succeeded XP, which came on the market in October 2001. Despite Vista’s much-improved security measures, it has met with criticism and some reluctance by consumers and businesses that don’t want to make the switch. . .

‘Among the concerns about Vista are the amount of computer memory and space it requires, its seemingly slower speed and frustration over the fact that third-party drivers for some printers and other devices are still not available from the companies that make those devices.’

Have you made the switch?

[For all of you elitist Mac users who are tempted at this point to fulminate about the inferiority of PC’s, you need to take a chill pill and read this.]

24 Comments

  • Jesica

    Nope. I like XP.

    I borrowed the laptop of a friend recently, and she has Vista. I think she likes it pretty well, but it was tough for me to get used to.

  • Brett

    I actually have made the switch to Vista and have been using it for the past 8 months. Before I bought my new computer, I researched and thought very seriously about getting a Mac. However, I already had Office 07 and Bibleworks 7, and after much researching and asking others, I decided to stay with the pc for at least the next few years.

    I haven’t actually had any problems with Vista, so I don’t know what most people are talking about. I can count the number of times it has shut down on me with one hand, and I have 2 GB of RAM (which is about the standard you need to get these days) so the “memory hog” thing just doesn’t affect me at all.

    Quite frankly, the apple people scare me. I have worked on a mac a number of times and just don’t see the big deal with them. They are cool, they look good, they have some decent software, but in my opinion they hardly have anything that cannot be matched on a pc. Also, pc’s are cheaper, and even though you don’t get the “cool” ilife suite, you can purchase Adobe Elements (premier and photoshop and soundbooth) for like $120 or something, which still puts you ahead of getting a mac.

    Sorry, I’m getting off on rabbit trails. I have made the switch, and I like it very much. I prefer Vista to XP any day of the week. The whole “virus” thing just doesn’t resonate with me either. I have had a pc laptop for the last 6 years and have never, ever had 1 virus…so the apple dudes play that card for more shock value and marketing than reality. Just get a decent antivirus software program, don’t download anything stupid, and you’re good.

    Vista looks 10 x’s better than XP as well, and even though people say “I don’t want to learn a new OS”, there is really nothing to it at all. I had it figured out in about 2 hours and am thankful for it b/c I believe it is much more intuitive and advanced.

    These people need to grow up and realize that you can’t stick with the same OS for you’re entire life…that’s just not the kind of age we live in.

    I am considering purchasing a mac for my next laptop in about 2.5 years or so. I wouldn’t do this or even consider it were it not for the face that a windows OS can run natively on a mac via bootcamp. This would give me the best of both worlds, b/c I could still use the pc version of MS Office, as well as Bibleworks which I am far too familiar with to switch to Accordance.

    I personally think the mac people are a cult and they scare me with the way they talk about it. I have friends who I’m considering breaking fellowship with b/c they’re too dang cultish about this apple crap. I’ve tried both sides out, and it’s really just not a big deal to me and mac is really not much…if any…better in my mind. Windows has never given me any problems…both with viruses, freeze-ups, crashes, slow-speeds, etc.

    Sorry for the rabbit trails. All that to say, I think Vista is great and have had 0 compatibility issues with it. People need to move on.

  • Brett

    By the way, I was joking about the “breaking fellowship” remark about mac people. I meant to put a “!” but must have forgotten.

  • Ben Stevenson

    Fairly or not, I often think the reason my computer is often annoyingly slow is because of Windows (I have Windows XP).

    I think I might try Linux.

  • John

    I have had Vista since last Spring and I have enjoyed it. You can personally set it up to fit your needs. After a few weeks, I thought it was more user friendly than XP. I have enjoyed the switch. I have never understood the problems with it. All programs I have used have always been compatible.

  • Chelsey

    I got a new computer in February 2007, and it came with Vista. I had used XP for a long time before that, so at first it was hard to get used to, but it didn’t take me long to figure it out. There are some aspects of the interface I don’t like, but they are pretty minor. I haven’t had any problems with it running slowly or anything, and I much prefer the “feel” of it to Windows XP (which now, when I see it, seems archaic).

    I should probably say that I’m in college, though, which I think makes me inherently flexible when it comes to new technology. At least that’s what the experts say.

  • Stu Wright

    Denny,
    I appreciate your blog and I learn from it.
    I’m an old geezer (77). I’ve got three computers on my desk, a lap top w/XP. a desk top w/xp that I built and a new Desk Top w/Visa that I built. I like both OS’s. There have been no problems w/either system.
    If I had any negative comment on Visa it would be the frequent dialog boxes that come up requiring you to verify for sure you want to complete the order you just issued. It’s a pain, but not fatal.
    I’ve heard some complaints about the 3D graphics, however I understand it can be limited to 2D, if desired.
    In a nut shell, I like Visa.
    I can’t believe 140,000 signatures are going to change MS’s mind when you conside how many million copies of Visa are sold a month.

  • micah the pilot

    i appear to be getting crushed for wanting to include links. oh well.

    don’t consider whether it’s worth switching to vista. keep your xp running. microsoft isn’t about to phase it out yet. not while apple is crushing them to the tune of 22% american market share as of 1q 2008 (you’ll have to google for the cnn/fortune blog article). apple lags behind dell still in total machines sold, but dell is shrinking (negative growth) and apple leads all manufacturers in rate of growth.

    also, consider that microsoft seems to be as disappointed with vista as you are; windows 7 seems to have been pushed forward to a 2009 release date and “longhorn”, the vista-based server os is still non-existent. the strength of windows is the enterprise-class software run through its servers. adding vista to your work environment doesn’t change the servers that are the backbone of that environment and ultimately does little for the user until that server backbone changes. when microsoft is comfortable with the vista-based (or windows-7-based) server, then it’s time to switch from xp.

  • D. Taylor Benton

    got a desktop that runs XP and a laptop (which I am typing on) that runs Vista. My Vaio laptop is much more capable machine, I have had Vista since release day 1 and have not looked back, I can customize and make my desktop look all cool just like my mac friends can and I paid half the price, Vista being a memory hog? well if you compare it to other OSs, yes, but anytime a new OS comes on the market, nine times out of ten it uses more memory and all around space than its predecessor… so that is a moot point.

    all in all, I like Vista, I have had some issues with USB drivers but that is just been some growing pains because i was trying to use older equipment with newer equipment…

    I give it a 3 out of 5…. i took two stars away because they could have done much more and included alot more in Vista then they did, and second, they could have made it a bit more innovative, it really is just XP with a hardcore GUI(graphical user interface) put on it.

  • Ted

    I HATE VISTA!

    I had no choice but to switch after our church computer crashed last summer.

    Powerpoint 2007 is not compatible with the last version.

    Word 2007 is not compatible with the last version. Fortunately, in Vista you can still save documents using the .doc extension.

    I do like Word 2007 interface, after spending time with it. Much easier and less cumbersome than last version.

    Vista’s start up time though is notoriously S-L-O-W. Programs I need are either not compatible, or require extra labor so they do work.

    I did buy Logos for the first time, version 3E. It works flawlessly on Vista. I really like Logos. It might make me overlook Vista’s cumbersome flaws.

  • Joshua

    I have used Vista in a work environment, as well as a education environment. Both places have reverted back to XP because of problems, on brand new machines. I saw each of these problems first hand.

    I plan on eventually buying Home Premium because of the Media Center part, but then again I could buy AppleTV and do almost the same thing, minus the DVR function.

    I just rebuilt a new computer myself, for my wife and I, and I opted to keep XP only because I could upgrade the hardware, and it work faster with XP. Rather than upgrade the hardware within my budget, and have it at nominal output that Vista requires.

    Vista to me will be a mute subject to upgrade, until the fix everything, much like XP was the first 2 years it was out. And we won’t even mention Windows ME….

  • Fletcher

    Above someone said that Mac users tended to be cultish. Take a look at the Linux users, oh wait, I am a Linux user also, but hey, I am a XP user also, but I use Safari for my browser on XP. ummm maybe everyone should just use what is comfortable for them.

    Used a copy of Vista while it was in beta. It was pretty, but seemed to be a resource hog. It also felt like an attempt to replicate Mac OS X a little too much. I prefer to use OS X simply because I can have the best of both worlds. I have XP loaded under Parallels so that I can use the programs I need there also. Yeah it was bit more expensive to set everything up in the end though I have a great little tool.

  • D. Taylor Benton

    Ted:

    I ran into the same issues regarding MS office, but like you said…save it as a .doc and your cool…

    the other thing is that the people i have heard that say they absolutely hate Vista is because they were “forced” because of certain circumstances..thats just an observation, nothing against you…

    also, you said you hate Vista but then for the majority of your post say that you are somewhat liking Vista? what gives?

  • Robert

    I have been using Vista since October 2007. And I have not even considered going back to XP. I user XP at work and wish I had Vista because it makes me more productive. I have not had a single software compatibility issue. And I recently installed Service Pack 1 and it made my machine so much faster I did not realize how slow it was pre-SP1. Vista is so much better with SP1 it is almost like a new OS.

    I agree with Brent in what he says about Vista and purchasing a Mac. I was considering purchasing a Mac as well. But when I read about Windows Media Center, I decided to purchase the windows machine because of what I can do with Media Center. It turns my machine into a media powerhouse. Apple TV does not even come close! So Joshua is incorrect in stating that Apple TV can do almost the same thing as media center. They are not even in the same league. Apple TV is a great product but needs more time to mature into what media center is today and will be next year.

    The fact that I can watch internet tv from my computer and keep up with all the sports scores and highlights from one program is a pretty big bonus for me.

    Ultimately, I really like Vista, and as long as you get a new machine that is powerful enough to handle it and not try to go “cheap” on hardware, you will be fine in making the switch. I use Bibleworks 6 and Logos Scholars Library which I purchased in 2004. Both of them work flawlessly!

  • Brett

    Robert:

    Is SP1 something you have to purchase? I only ask b/c every month or 2 Vista automatically installs updates on my computer and I figured maybe SP1 was just the release version of Vista with all the updates installed on it. Am I right, or do I need to purchase it? Thanks

  • Paul

    “It seems that many Christians have helped perpetuate evil in the support of Microsoft!”

    This needs space next to other great conspiracy theories throughout the last 50 years or so…

    How many people were in the plot to kill Kennedy?

    Did Neil Armstrong walk on the moon?

    9/11 was an inside job.

    etc, etc, etc.

  • Brent

    I have heard awful, awful things about Vista.

    On another note, ranting about a single-click mouse (Apple has double-clickers out there) isn’t hip, cool, or “just better” either. So poo on you for trying to be cool.

    Sorry, I get a little snippy sometimes. I’ve owned PCs and Macs (well, one Mac) and I prefer the Mac. The End.

  • Robert I Masters

    Paul,
    I assume you support monopolies! see this link
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft
    Microsoft is the largest supporter of abortion in the world.
    Microsoft has done more to bring the gay culture into the workplace then any other company.

    Lastly from a purely technical side: why would you buy something that you can get for free that you can modify and freely distribute.
    Free software is the future. Join the revolution!
    Robert I Masters

  • Paul

    Robert,

    I never said I “support” Microsoft. I just took umbrage to your line about Microsoft supporting evil throughout the world.

    “Microsoft is the largest supporter of abortion in the world.”

    Proof?

    “Microsoft has done more to bring the gay culture into the workplace then any other company.”

    They’re in Seattle, hiring “creative” people left and right. The size of their gay workforce is much larger than normal. Of course they’re going to do what they need to do to make their employees as happy (and therefore, productive) as possible.

    When free software is as good as a Mac for running print shop, photo shop and Finale, let me know.

  • Robert I Masters

    Paul,
    One question…. have you tried Ubuntu 8.04.
    Yes or No.
    Most people I know say GIMP is much better then Photoshop.
    May want to try UbuntuStudio

    In Christ
    Robert I Masters

    Actually the largest supporter of Abortion quotation
    came from material I received at a BerkshireHathaway meeting in Omaha. More precisely it would be the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. I think you understand my point!

  • Paul

    Robert,

    nope. Haven’t tried it. Finale won’t run on it, it’s worthless to me.

    re: Microsoft = abortion supporters…you’re still not offering any proof. Just that someone else said something. Meh.

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