Vista came with my laptop, and while I have enough RAM to run it optimally now (thanks for helping me out a while ago, by the way), there are just too many things that are really irritating about Vista that's just killing the whole 'experience'.

For one, the whole 'locking down half of your security measures to protect idiot users from themselves' thing in Vista is killing me. So many times I've wanted to smash my laptop for telling me I needed permission to delete, move, or access a simple folder when I'm the Administrator and sole user of my laptop. Don't even start with the User Access thing either, that seems to be a damned if you do damned if you don't deal. My other beef is that Vista chews up resources and memory like a motherfucker. I understand it allocates more memory to programs you use often, but the overall memory that it takes just to RUN Vista is immense.

I have various other issues with Vista, but it all boils down to this; should I keep it, or should I go back to XP? Is there some features on Vista worth having that I wouldn't get with XP?

If you're talking about UAC (User Account Control) that can be turned off in User Accounts in Control Panel. You can also google it up for more better and secure way of disabling the dialogs.

As for memory, if you have 2 GB (the recommended) it should be enough to run the OS and most productivity apps smooth. You can also always switch to classic theme and turn off the new effects.

I have a laptop (AMD Turion64 2x 1,8GHz, GF M8400GS 256M, 2 GB RAM, 5400 RPM Harddrive) with Vista and it runs good and smooth.

If it's an HP you will not be able to downgrade unless you sacrifice a virgn black lamb to Bill Gates.

I am going to have to argue that xp is easier to use and manipulate than vista. You are probably just saying that because he is more comfortable with XP, but vista has a lot more functionality that makes it easier to use.

Also XP stops you from editing system files more so than vista. In vista you can take over a file from its properties dialog and replace it. In XP, replacing system files is a much more intensive process.

Anyway, you said you had various other issues with vista, so maybe you should tell them to us and we can help you fix them before you go through the trouble of installing a new operating system.

While vista may at one point be worth upgrading to, XP is a good bet till then. The only lure it has over me is DX10, but I'll worry about that when I have a DX10 card.

I say stick it out - work out the kinks and issues you have.  It has to get better eventually.  I still use XP and purposely bought a used computer recently with no OS installed so I didn't have to deal with Vista yet.  I imagine that I'll have to bite the bullet eventually, though.

....maybe.

comments:

For one, the whole 'locking down half of your security measures to protect idiot users from themselves' thing in Vista is killing me.

actually it's locking down the computer to protect users from malware.

I'm the Administrator and sole user of my laptop

you shouldn't be running as administrator.

Don't even start with the User Access thing either' date=' that seems to be a damned if you do damned if you don't deal.[/quote']
as mentioned, you can turn this off (although i'd personally keep it on.)

Quote from: 'Perpetual Moogle

My other beef is that Vista chews up resources and memory like a motherfucker. I understand it allocates more memory to programs you use often' date=' but the overall memory that it takes just to RUN Vista is immense. [/quote']
i'm not sure what you meant by "allocates more memory to programs you use often" because it uses a simple (on the outside) paging model. less accessed areas memory are paged out in favour of memory you're using right now.

with regards to memory usage, vista has no problems running on a machine with a decent amount of memory and you shouldn't be running into any.

Quote from: Perpetual Moogle

I have various other issues with Vista, but it all boils down to this; should I keep it, or should I go back to XP? Is there some features on Vista worth having that I wouldn't get with XP?

you're the one using it. we can't tell you if you should switch because we don't know what you want/don't want in your operating system.

if you like using vista and feel it's better than XP for you, then keep it. if you preferred using XP and feel it's better for you, switch to XP (although you'll be passing up MANY improvements in security, usability etc)

by the way, a vista service pack is coming out soon, which among other things increases performance so you might want to try that out before switching if you do decide to.

Wait, one thing that stuck out; why shouldn't I be running my own computer as Administrator? And about malware, I've never, EVER had any kind of problem with malware, or any other problems with security either, ever. A lot of Vista's security measures are to prevent things I've never had a problem with.

Wait, one thing that stuck out; why shouldn't I be running my own computer as Administrator? And about malware, I've never, EVER had any kind of problem with malware, or any other problems with security either, ever. A lot of Vista's security measures are to prevent things I've never had a problem with.

because user privileges are there for a reason. you use the administrator account when you're doing administrative tasks. you use a normal user account when you're doing normal user tasks. running as administrator reduces the effective security of the system because anything that manages to compromise instantly has full administrative privileges, meaning it can ruin your system. if you run as a normal user, the damage possible becomes very limited.

and just because you haven't had any problems YET doesn't mean you WON'T in the future. just because you think you're a power user doesn't mean you're immune to security vulnerabilities. in fact if you think "i don't need it i'm fine" is a reasonable response to security then you're just as bad as the users who barely know how to operate a computer.

i once installed a fresh copy of windows XP unpatched. minutes after i connected it to the internet it was infected with a whole host of malware without me even visiting any sites other than microsoft.com, and i had to format and reinstall a copy of SP2. that's why security is important even if you think you're fine without it. you're not fine without it, you're a sitting duck.

You can turn off the UAC (User account control) just search for it on google.

Guys, I illustrated above that I already know about the UAC.

I think MWD was intentionally exaggerating about the security issues...

uh. no, i wasn't. i expect that coming from the guy who thinks running an unpatched system is a good idea though, you probably have the same mindset.

But putting that aside' date=' Honestly I strongly recommend any windows system except vista at this point. Even ME has better program support than vista. I had the liberty of using vista for 30 days on my laptop and numerous programs just wouldn't run.[/quote']
what programs were they?

Photoshop 6.0 doesn't work on Vista?!

because user privileges are there for a reason. you use the administrator account when you're doing administrative tasks. you use a normal user account when you're doing normal user tasks. running as administrator reduces the effective security of the system because anything that manages to compromise instantly has full administrative privileges, meaning it can ruin your system. if you run as a normal user, the damage possible becomes very limited.

and just because you haven't had any problems YET doesn't mean you WON'T in the future. just because you think you're a power user doesn't mean you're immune to security vulnerabilities. in fact if you think "i don't need it i'm fine" is a reasonable response to security then you're just as bad as the users who barely know how to operate a computer.

i once installed a fresh copy of windows XP unpatched. minutes after i connected it to the internet it was infected with a whole host of malware without me even visiting any sites other than microsoft.com, and i had to format and reinstall a copy of SP2. that's why security is important even if you think you're fine without it. you're not fine without it, you're a sitting duck.

Please say you were specifically talking about Vista and not actually preaching to people about how they should use Castrated Limited User accounts in XP.

Please say you were specifically talking about Vista and not actually preaching to people about how they should use Castrated Limited User accounts in XP.

pretty sure everything he said is basic RUNNING A COMPUTER 101 that applies to every PC.