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The Advantages of Upgrading From Vista To XP
An anonymous reader passes us a blog posting, which may be just a bit tongue-in-cheek, about the pros and cons of upgrading from Vista to XP. "...there is only one conclusion to be made; Microsoft have really outdone themselves in delivering a brand new operating system that really excels in all the areas where Vista was sub-optimal. From my testing, discussions with friends and colleagues, and a review of the material out there on the web there seems to be no doubt whatsoever that that upgrade to XP is well worth the money. Microsoft can really pat themselves on the back for a job well done, delivering an operating system which is much faster and far more reliable than its predecessor. Anyone who thinks there are problems in the Microsoft Windows team need only point to this fantastic release and scoff loudly."
Other than DX10.x in Vista for purposefully DX10.x limited specific games releases (HALO 3, et al), what IS the killer app in Vista?
(Don't flame me man! I am serious, what is the Real "advantage" to Vista for gamers?) What is the performance advantage? Is it designed to fully take advantage of future generations of multiple quad-core processors with 8+GB of RAM and not really current hardware which is not optimized to utilize it?
Not intending to get into a flame war at all, I have used Vista and I just don't get it.. why the bloat? Why so much DRM? Why specifically break Direct3d and EAX and force the rapid development of OpenAL sound cards and drivers, etc.. Why completely eliminate the look and feel of the UI users have mastered since Win9x/2k (or at least leave a Classic Win2k option for the UI) I play my games in XP and I love it. Once WINE, etc.. can match the performance in gaming of native XP, this discussion will then be between XP and XP emulation.
I play MP3's all the time in the background on Vista. I have a duel-core 2.6Ghz Intel with 4G of memory, and as the screen changes... menus popping up, heavy disk activity, you can hear little glitches in playback. Almost like a 1/10 of a second cut in the song.
It's amazing they managed to struggle with all the processor power and memory when Amigas can play MP3's.
I just don't get it.
You have failed to demonstrate an actual harm. What precisely is it that Vista does that you are mad about?
It makes a new laptop feel 5 years old?
"We returned the General to El Salvador, or maybe Guatemala, it's difficult to tell from 10,000 feet"
No, I run vista on a second partition - I installed it when I thought Crysis was going to be DX10 only. Turns out, if you don't boot it up for a month or so, it comes up in reduced functionality mode, and wants to re-authenticate/authorize itself by calling home. That's totally, completely, and *utterly* unacceptable. I'm not paying MS a monthly fee here - the don't have the right to cripple my shit just because it hasn't been on the internet for a while. Individual applications shouldn't have this power de-facto either. If I pay for something, I should be able to use it - period. So I'm claiming "actual harm" on the GP's behalf. ...There.
Why can't all fpga/microcontroller manufacturers just release free optimizing compilers???
How many years late was Vista? Three? five? In all that time, nobody managed to grab significant market share off Microsoft.
On the contrary. In the business world, Linux as a server has been a significant player for a long time now. In the home world, the latest generation of games consoles now command something like 80% of the market, which removes the one really compelling advantage for many home users that a Windows PC has had over alternatives like Mac and Linux boxes until recently. Even if home users haven't started switching in large numbers yet, they are much more able to if gaming is a major factor for them than they used to be.
Even without all of this, we can see the irony that the biggest competitor to Vista for many users is XP.
In any free market, being several years late and then coming up with the excrement that is Vista would kill your company.
I think Microsoft are already on the way out, they just haven't realised yet. With the momentum they have behind them it will take several years for the life support machine to be turned off, but for all practical purposes the lemon that is Vista marks the end of their time as the uncontested leaders of the modern software world.
It's not clear yet whether the alternatives will come from platform-neutral web services, or from increased take up of alternative platforms like Mac and Linux, or from other technologies like games consoles and more powerful PDA-like devices, or perhaps from some new idea that someone has been developing during the past few years but not yet shown publicly. I suspect the reality will be a balance, and five years from now we will have some genuine diversity (and perhaps a renewed appreciation of the need for compatibility and standards) in the IT market for the first time in years.
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
That was an excellent summary. As in the past, most Windows users won't know what they have gotten themselves into until it is too late. At least for those willing to be educated, word is getting out. I'm tempted to cut and paste your post an e-mail it to a few non-Slashdotters I know.
At least then, in the future when they come whining I can say "You were warned!"