I was almost scared to buy a new laptop as I didnt want to be lumbered with Vista.

Isnt it funny how times change, when no one wanted XP as it was the "Devil's Spawn"

So, I did the only thing I could think of, when my hard drive died on my trusty sidekick laptop ... I BOUGHT A MAC

It is taking some getting used to


I have gone from a 17" screen to a 15 ... [shudder]

I just found a great version of Microsoft Office 2004 for OSX so I can continue to use my stories, pictures, and presentations.

all in all, I think I should just about get by using this "thing"

I have contacted my retailer for a new hard drive, and he says I should get one in 2 weeks!!!

So I should have two ... one pc and one mac ...

A balanced diet - a computer in each camp!

Now ... which one do I turn into a Unix machine ?????

I, too, live in fear of Vista. Everybody I've talked to says it's a pain in the posterior. Nobody likes it (at least nobody I've talked to). I'll keep my XP as long as possible, thanks.

"Now ... which one do I turn into a Unix machine ????? "

Both! Knoppix.

i am not seeing the problem in Vista. I have been using it for almost a week now and have not really come across any real problems. I mean sure it is up grading a lot, but just need to understand that it is a new OS and does have some tweeks to work out. I mean everybody hated XP when it first came out and now it is there and people are using it with out any real complaints. You just need to be patience with it. Eventually like XP all the problems will be worked out.

Belushi,

If you buy Vista, you can downgrade to XP for free.

whispertoascream,

For the average user, Vista vs XP shouldn't matter. It's primarily gamers who are going to be complaining about Vista. I work with a guy who has Vista on two computers and he has no complaints.

window xp pro is best program thats out vista is another windows me program with lots of hype and will not play well with others windows me failed so will vista

I have only played with Vista once, when I was looking into purchasing new computers for our entire office, I made sure to do my homework. Everything seemed like a go with Vista until I spoke with the company that helps maintain our server. They told me that Vista was basically going to cost Microsoft a lot of money down the road. It's full of bugs, and people are having a hard time adjusting to it.

One of the companies that contracts me to do some work just got Vista, and I'm trying to figure it out, but I am having a hard time with it, especially since I am trying to network it with XP. It's not wanting to file share.

I would recommend that no one gets Vista. Atleast not until Microsoft fixes it.

Take your PC and make that a UNIX box, please do not do that to that glorious Mac. If you have any questions about your Mac just let me know and I'll try to help or point you in the right direction. They're suppose to or have released a new version of Office and if you need to run Windows as you may or may not know you can run Windows on your Mac.

vista kicks ass... just have to get used to it ... and let the older software companies catch up.

have run vista ever since first week it was out...have had no probs and like several things better than xp...

Belushi turn the pc into a unix machine

Not sure if you're wanting pure unix or the unix clone called linux but either choice is good.

just get another machine

and run all three

vista is getting better for me.

i play a lot of computer games and I had some weird hang ups online, but downloading a few (ok a LOT) of drivers fixed this up.

the mac is already a unix machine. as well, you can run virtual machines and install xp, vista, ubuntu or whatever else you desire on the mac.

i run a pc right now with virtualization, and am going to be purchasing a macbook for the strict purpose of virtualization.

make sure that you're using at least tiger though, and its helpful if you're running the duo core processor by intel (though I do believe that all macs now come that way as standard builds).

cheers!

Glad you are adapting to the downgrade of XP, Duncan. I am still happy with ME.

I’m happy with ME too!

I think everyone should be happy with ME

Bill Gates can never do better than ME.

When you have ME, you have the BEST!

I've been looking at buting a laptop and I want absolutely nothing to do with Vista. I have heard way more bad than good. Just like XP but why should I have to suffer with all the BS until they get around to fixing their mistakes.
I'm using 2000 Pro on my PC and I'm happy with it overall except for running windows media player and a few other Microsoft features.
I'm leaning towards a Mac but they're worth a fortune here in Canada. I'm thinking a trip to the US is on order seeing as how our dollar is doing well and Macs are quite a bit cheaper there.

i bought a notebook with no OS, installed XP on it. Installed Vista..and went back to XP after a few months.

Vista made my new laptop crawl in a snail's pace. Not very good for me bec i run a lot of graphic intensive sw. I need something that processes fast.

Plus i have a lot of hardware and software that is not yet vista compatible. i had a hard time looking for drivers :(

I just bought a new HP with Vista Home Premimum. I would have kept Vista on it but it does not run all of the programs that I need to run. Vista is an awesome operating system. Take some advice do not try to run any programs that are not specifically designed for Vista. Microsoft has spent a long time perfecting the OS. Some of the things that will cause headaches:

1. UAC - User Account Control - not all programs understand how to use it - makes installs and configuration settings require administrative authorization

2. Documents and Settings are changed to C:\users - this now the home for My Documents and My Pictures etc.

3. If you want to get the most out of Vista then have a least 2GB of RAM. The video card should have at least 128MB of VRAM. This will give you the experience that you bought Vista for in the first place.

4. Buy Enterpise or Ultimate - these two versions will give you the best bang for the buck. The other versions are watered down and not as robust.

5. Some of the cool features include
a. Enhanced Firewall with Input and Output filters
b. Bitlocker in Enterprise and Ultimate
c. NAP - Network Access Protection
d. Powershell to create some pretty cool management scripts
e. Microsoft Defender - Anti-Spyware
f. UAC - for protection of autoinstalling programs
g. WER - Windows Error Reporting - helps to resolve error quickly
h. Easy Install
i. Network Sharing Center - Automatic configuration of Network and troubleshooting

There are a lot of headaches with any new OS, but there are benefits to them also. XP is 2002 technology that was started in the late 90's early 2000. Vista is today and now.

Thanks for reading,

If you want anymore information or help just email me.

Huntingandlook, MCSE, MCT

advice from me:

run all your programs as admin. simply right click the program icon and select RUN AS ADMIN.

works well with games and other programs.

also vista is goofy with c:\program files... due to UAC....
so i just save it to root c:\ directory and problem solved.

any grief you got with vista pm me.