Is Vista a Trap?

logube writes "BBC has up an article about the trap of installing Vista in your existing desktop. Written by Tim Weber, a self-confessed 'sucker for technology,' this article is a good introduction to the pain and extra money required to get going with the newest version of Windows. See how you can spend an extra 130 british pounds, and still have no working webcam! Says Weber, 'It took me one day to get online. The detail is tedious and highly technical: reinstalling drivers and router firmware didn't work, but after many trial and error tweaks to Vista's TCP/IP settings, I had internet access. Once online, Creative's website told me that my sound card was a write-off. No Vista support would be forthcoming.'"

Comments

Re:My Vista Install

[David Horn]

Ooh! Ooh! Let me tell you about my experience installing Linux (my Vista experience as easy as OP's).

HP dv2000z laptop with AMD Turion 64 X2 CPU, 1GB RAM, Geforce 7200 graphics, based around an nForce chipset with Atheros WiFi. What didn't work when I tried to fire up an ubuntu Live CD?

1) Accelerated graphics - didn't seem like it, slow and sluggish with painful redraws.
2) Sound? What sound? Vista autodetected the Conexant HD sound card.
3) Wifi? *Derisive laugh*. When was WiFi EVER worked properly on Linux?
4) Card reader? Nope. Firewire? Nope.
5) Power management? I didn't try to suspend or resume 'cos it was a Live CD, but it couldn't read the battery status.

I know people will say that I could have faffed around with config files and compiled drivers and other bollocks, but I don't want to do that. I LIKE it when Windows grabs all my drivers off the internet. If I need to update the graphics driver, all I do is download one from nVidia and run the setup program.

Why can't Linux be like that? I have no idea what you need to do to install drivers in Linux, and I don't want to be screwing around on the command line for it. This is why Linux has failed to take off in the home market, not because of Microsoft's monopoly but because it's a pain in the arse to make anything work how you want it.

I should think my grandma could - just - manage to install Vista. All she has to do is drop the DVD in the drive and click "Next" a few times. Linux? Chances are she wouldn't even be able to get on the internet to find out how to make wireless work.

*Watches karma come crashing down*