Is it wise to use Vista yet?

[999tigger]

I am doing a new build. I have stayed away from Vista because of all the teething troubles. Are Hexus dudes still using XP or have you all gone dual boot or Vista?

[Pazza]

Vista SP1 has arrived - so maybe a good time to take the plunge depending on what you will be using it for.

I run both but on different machines. I find Vista OK for general usage but when you start going into using other non-MS apps or games - this is when you get most problems.

If you can afford it, I would go dual-boot - if not, get XP and go with Vista in a years time when all other developers have caught up.

[Funkstar]

I use Vista every day on my laptop. I might have been tempted to switch to XP, but being a tablet, Vista wins hands down.

None of the apps i use have problem with 32bit Vista (Lightroom and other Adobe products have issues with 64bit systems, which is ironic because these apps could really benefit from the >4GB memory support in a 64bit OS).

Also, with being a new laptop wih Vista pre-loaded, i haven'had any driver probems at all.

[Splash]

Vista SP1 has arrived - so maybe a good time to take the plunge depending on what you will be using it for.

I run both but on different machines. I find Vista OK for general usage but when you start going into using other non-MS apps or games - this is when you get most problems.

If you can afford it, I would go dual-boot - if not, get XP and go with Vista in a years time when all other developers have caught up.

SP1 RC1 has arrived. It might not be a big difference to you, but it is to me.


That said, I've been using Vista since not long after release. So long as you have some decent hardware and not a Creative soundcard I fail to see (FUD aside) why people are holding back.

[Jay]

I use Vista everyday on my work laptop, pretty fast if you ask me. I also use it for my media center, its the 64bit version and isn't as easy to use as the 32bit.

If you want to use vista stick to 32bit for now imo.

[bobbyzero]

I've had Vista for a few months now and it's no better or worse for reliability than XP. It does support installing on SATA drives without the need to cobble together a modified disc, which is nice.

[0iD]

I've been using it for months (x64 Ultimate) & apart from the X-fi problem, it's been great. Stable & 0 crashes thus far, everything works.

It does benifit from 4 gb ram tho.

[Agent]

Provided most of the app's you use are 'main stream' stuff, you shouldn't have any issues compatibility wise.
If you use specialist software or stuff people ain't heard of, you may have issues - it purely depends on what it is. On the whole though, these are getting less and less common

Performance is a different matter though. I installed Vista last night again (64bit) on my spare HD to give it a try, and just doing the most basic of tasks compared to XP makes it dog like.
Copy and pasting files is one prime example. As I deal with a lot of small files (2 meg each usually), but loads of them, the difference is huge. I'm still no closer to solving it.
Microsoft slammed for badmouthing benchmark - The INQUIRER is interesting

It all depends what you use your machine for

[Koolpc]

Vista is fine. Works a treat for me.

[speardane]

its pretty much accepted it has about half the performance of XP - what do you get out of the upgrade?

[iranu]

If you already have an XP disk (license and all) that can be used for the new build then I would use that until vista is required. I don't see a reason to switch for the sake of it until it is needed which will depend on your needs and hardware compatibility. Once you do decide to switch then a dual boot is a sensible option until you are happy with vista.

Making sure all your hardware including peripherals are supported i.e drivers etc is a good start regarding vista - it's the area where I've seen most people and friends have problems. I've not spent any time looking at performance yet, simply because I've not had to seriously consider using it, but from what I have briefly seen from friend's machines then a) it is new and requires some time to get used to - and b) doesn't offer a greater speed advantage over XP in windows tasks.

Personally I won't switch to vista until I see a real need for 64bit and DX10. I expect this to be middle of next year seeing as my needs will primarily be gaming.

[Dreaming]

From my xperience most people are holding back out of paranoia that's it's the next windows ME rather than any technical reasons. It is superior to XP. I've had one or two issues - command and conquer generals, for instance, requires you to create an options.ini file since one isn't automatically created in Vista for some reason.

Nothing major though, and certainly no more than I'd run into on XP or any other operating system.

I'm running vista 32 bit.

I' m not sayig peope need to switch or anything like that. But if you're getting a new system, have the choice between the two, why would you pick the lesser option?

[5cupa]

xp sp3 is due out but had to be stifled because of the release of Vista SP1. i read that XP sp3 has a nice speed increase.

vista yet? not for me. maybe in another year.

vista came with a new pc i bought but I have put xp pro 64 on insted. for £80

[Blitzen]

its pretty much accepted it has about half the performance of XP - what do you get out of the upgrade?

You what>?????? Pretty much accepted by who exactly?

Where the *&^%* dya get that from?

[b0ned0me]

From my xperience most people are holding back out of paranoia that's it's the next windows ME rather than any technical reasons. It is superior to XP.

My impression has been that people have been holding back from upgrades because they know XP, and can see no compelling difference to face the Vista learning curve (and its odd few foibles) when it offers no compelling advantage over XP. Inertia is king!

[ionicle]

XP Ftw tbh

had vista...

liked its nick-nacks, but disliked its lack of performance, so..