I don't see what the big deal is with Vista. My son is a gamer and he hasn't had any problems at all.
I just think you have to get use to it like we did XP.
We just bought 2 new computers in August and I actually like Vista.

I switched to vista on the first day it retailed...like it lots better than any other system they have had since win 3.1 and NT.took a little getting used to, but, like it more every day

I downgraded to XP. My games run better that way.

nVidia nForce 68oi
2GB RAM
nVidia GeForce 8600 GTS x 2 @ 256 MB RAM

you'd think that kind of hardware would be able to run Vista and games rather comfortably...but man, Vista is a system hog!

Linux works much better if you have the time for it.

.02 cents

I bought a laptop from del and had vista a week and then i hated it so much i payed someone 150 to put xp on it,xp will have to retire befor i use any thing else

My son is considering getting a new computer. I'd like to hear specifically what kind of issues anyone is having with Vista. Any info would be helpful.

I've been using Vista since I bought my new computer in June and I think its great! I have never had any problems with it, although it did take a week or so to get used to it. Like someone said before...Vista kicks azz!

I just recently purchased a new computer system..they wanted to shove VISTA down my throat.. I was insistant on keeping with XP Pro.. and they charged me MORE for it's new license go figure..

I work in the engineering field.. I deal with hardware/software designers daily.. and even with their advanced technology they're ALL like OMG.. the Vista won't TRUELY be ready for the consumer market for another year OR 2 THEY feel...

although it MAY work with SOME older programs.. all you're other software will need to change .. if you have specific programs needed for working.. and are not VISTA compatable sadly.. well.. you've no choice but sticking with XP

ultimately.. it's just Microsoft's way of keeping ahead.. AND forcing the market to keep up with THEM!

I have doing some research for a home laptop and all the user ratings that I have found for laptops with Vista have been poor, unless you have at least 1GB or more memory installed. They all state that Vista is super slow and takes up too much memory space in the computer.

Actually with my drivers that I installed Vista is very good.
I dont really use it to its full potential - I turned off all the silly effects etc.

But all games and programs work fine.

Thanks Kasp, ZE, Beach and Timo. I'll pass this on to my son. He was mostly concerned with the MS Word, some of his games, and compatability with the printer he bought two mos. ago.

I have had Vista (Ultimate) from the get and have had no problems from it. Only a few programs would not run, but I will let the vendors catch up to the Vista technology. There was so much of a hassle making DVD's with XP, but it is a whiz with Vista. It rocks....

As to the original posted. Open Source *Nix systems really can't be called Unix due do copyright, nit picky I know but my .02, on that. As far as which system to install a *Nix type Operating system on, I would say the PC. try looking at http://www.distrowatch.com as they list the more popular distributions of Linux and BSD. And an early poster was correct as saying that you already are running *Nix on your system as OS X is built on FreeBSD (forked into Darwin).

For others here, I have been trying to make my escape from windows for years on end, and I finally accomplished that goal. Granted *Nix is not for everyone, but for the adventurous, it is defiantly worth trying out. On my primary desktop that I built, it has solely been running FreeBSD for nearly a year now (and I still get to play Unreal Tournament :) ). As for my laptop I paid the extra money not to have Pista installed on it (Have XP instead). IMHO, it was released to early, and being a computer tech (doing house calls) the interoperability with existing XP machines can make a man rip his hair out.

Windows vista really sucks. I tested it even in the beta stages, just like I have the other windows OSs.
People that think that vista rocks are the same people that like all of the glorious eye candy that comes with the OS. What people don't know is that Linux Ubuntu 7.04 with beryl really rocks the socks off of all of the windows OSs combined. Yes I said combined. Beryl makes the eyecandy in Aero look sick. Bad sick.
Check out my screenshot of my linux desktop in my profile.
Oh and as was said by others in this post,(in so many words) Screw letting microsoft decide my computing experience.

I must say I dont agree with this posts title. I believe it is an upgrade to XP

Well after using vista for a week, I have come to the conclusion that it is crap!

Hardly any of the programs that I use on XP work. My printer software is not supported.
My wireless network card software is not supported.

I need a disk to be able to reboot my computer, wipe the hard drive and load XP.

So ... I hate Vista!!!

belushi

remove your hard drive

put it in an exturnal usb case

and copy your xp drive on to it that is in your other computer

just a thought

but hey what do i know

ajd4u that works for a lot of hardware Vista doesn't automatically find, or even hardware that Vista determines a generic Microsoft Driver will work for.

However, it doesn't work for everything. My laptop from Japan (has the sticker for Designed for Windows XP, Windows Vista Capable on it). I figured Vista would be a nice upgrade for it. However, it wouldn't find the correct drivers, so I had to use my disc that came with it to find all the correct drivers. The only bad part was it couldn't load the driver for my WLAN or my WLAN Switch, so I had no wireless internet after loading Vista.

The other problem was battery life. On XP, I get 8 hours battery life, but with Vista I only got 3.

For my desktop, I already posted it doesn't run games as well. I guess Vista runs games that are labled, "Made for Windows" just fine, but then you are letting Microsoft monopolize your gaming experience (BIOSHOCK has such a label). I know on Warcraft 3, you cannot adjust your gamma screen brightness if you are running Vista (tested with 3 video cards). I don't know what other things Vista makes more difficult, only used it for 3 weeks before I switched back to XP.

Generally, after a new operating system is released and has been on the market for a short while, techies are excited about the improved ease of use, the wealth of new features, and enhanced performance, while the average desktop user has problems getting used to the newness of a system that isn't quite the same and might not support older peripherals and so forth. With Vista, however, even most techies are loathing the OS — and not just the drivers issues, but serious networking problems, inconsistency in identical setups, performance issues, overly restrictive security measures (that can be turned off, but then leave the system vulnerable). I think the growing pains for end-users are expected (and probably quite similar to the problems encountered in the early days of XP), including the driver and software support issues, but what's really telling is the aversion to Vista so many tech people have. In time, Microsoft will likely work out the bugs in Vista much the same way they did with XP, but it seems unfortunate that before Service Pack 2 is released, Microsoft treats their OS as a beta release. Give Vista a year or two more and it will likely be truly ready for consumer use. Until then, the suggestion I've heard most is to opt for the XP downgrade.

On a related note, Apple releases their new OS (OS X v. 10.5, code name Leopard) today. I'm a Mac person, but I'm not jumping on the bandwagon like so many others are. I figure it's best to give any major operating system at least a few months of real-world use by the early adopters so the serious bugs are revealed and addressed before the rest of us get into the game. That said, however, I do like the looks of Leopard — new features include "Spaces" (an enhanced version of the multiple workspaces available in most Linux GUIs), a new iChat with the ability to turn over control of your computer to someone else with that iChat (not to mention nicely enhanced video conferencing, including the ability to display slideshows, presentations, etc. while still engaging in the video conference), Apple Mail to let you easily connect to Yahoo Plus, Gmail, and other web-based e-mail services, Time Machine for easy and intuitive backup, and a "cover flow" view that allows you to flip through files and preview content quickly. There are lots of other enhancements as well, but these are some of the most notable.

Leopard is a major upgrade, and according to Apple the upgrade installation typically takes an hour or two (but you don't have to sit and monitor it that entire time). I've done several installations and upgrades of Mac OS X, and it's always been a painless experience — so I have no reason to doubt that this time will be similar. Anyway, if anyone is interested in getting a Mac as an alternative to Windows (though it can run Windows also), you may want to wait a little while until the operating system has been in widespread use for a couple of months.

i did not realize it was a laptop

i am note sure if you can wipe it clean and use ghost

to move it or not

not sure how ghost works exactly but

i think you would want to wipe vista off completely

b4 putting xp on it

but hey

what do i know