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The Vista Immersion Experiment

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wreckedcarzz:
I have 3 Vista PCs and 2 XP PCs in the house. My computers are the only ones that work correctly (when I say "my", I mean the ones that I actually own - 2 desktops and a laptop). The Vista machine (primary, gamer and handles grueling tasks) has had... 2? (not sure) major problems back last year. I reformatted 2x (first reformat I botched the filesystem, my own fault) and after a reinstall, Vista is perfect. All updates, the Error notification actually helped me fix my hard drive issue (it was intermittent but it tracked the source for me, partially both my and the computer's fault caused the error).

My dad's Vista desktop won't install SP1, and the Realtek drivers (there is a problem there, install new sound card is on the to-do list) keep muting the microphone while he is using Speech Recognition??? Other than that, the machine flies, but it still loses to my single core Vista PC. His laptop is a prime example of why people hate Vista - it was not rated as Vista compatible, but I talked him into getting it on there anyways. It takes about a minute to boot, but you have to close and reopen the lid to get the screen to turn back on (Vista sees it as a REMOVABLE DEVICE, and TURNS IT OFF??? WTF??). Once its up and running, it takes a minute to load large applications like Firefox (with addons, not being sarcastic about "large applications"), but it works well. 1GB RAM... might explain it. He does like both machines, and even though he bashes Vista a lot (partially personal (in)experience, partial "believe the media!" syndrome), he can't deny that he likes it more than XP.


My experiences (see my DC profile for my PC info):

AERO runs like a beauty, even in 1080p (actually, ESPECIALLY in 1080p... talk about the "OOO" effect :P). Games run at max detail without problems, with DX9 or 10.1 (but FPS drops like a rock on 10.1, but I don't have the best GPU).

Never had a BSoD, just the rare hard automatic reboot because something BAD happened (un/plugging IDE hard drive power at 2AM, hard drive failure (after 6 1/2 years of loyal service as a great slave IDE drive!) - actually, that one didn't cause an auto reboot, just freaked Vista out. Nothing ran (including shutdown.exe), and the BIOS went loony until I disconnected the drive.

I used to use F3D (Flip3D) on a very common basis, but now I have such a fast mouse (default @ 2k DPI) that I use less energy moving the mouse + clicking rather than hitting Win + Tab.

The volume, network, battery and other Tray Notification Icons ability to change dynamically is freaking awesome. I would have LOVED to have this in XP. When using my XP laptop I always glance down at the volume icon and go "crap, gotta click it...".

I hate IE, but IE7+ in Vista does have its advantages for those that use it. Enhanced security and bla bla... I use Firefox anyways :P

The Start menu layout owns FARR (IMO), and it is probably my most commonly used accessory of the OS. Start, type to search or run, and click to see all my applications, organized both in alphabetical and personal ordering (with the latter taking priority over the former).

I keep UAC, the Security Center (not the service, though) disabled (the notifications), the Firewall is off, Windows Defender is off, and Windows Updates are all green for downloading ASAP. It keeps me up to date without getting in my way, but I don't go around being an idiot and downloading THE_WORLDS_BIGGEST_PROGRAM_IT_DOES_EVERYTHING.EXE from every place :P

If I had to go either XP or Ubuntu, I would go Ubuntu. I can't take XP's simplicity and lack of visual data on-demand. Vista has it all there, all the time. It just works. (ZOMG! APPLE TRADEMARK! :o ;D)

I love Vista, but I never did much like XP (up until 04-05). Professional look (9x) -> "Cartoony" (XP) -> "Homey" (Vista) - XP was the oddball.

:two:

-Brandon

Darwin:
XP Pro in classic mode with the Theme service disabled is a fine operating system, IMNHO! I'm finally immersing myself in Vista as well (after owning the notebook for two months!). I'm still loving it! Wonder how f0dder is making out...

Curt:
You guys are making me regretting that I purchased a Vista, even before I have taken it into use!!

Where is that page, "Install this fix, and it will make your Vista behave like a XP SP4...."?? :tellme:


Edited:
- oh, yes, thank you, MrCrispy:

Ed Bott
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=466
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=479-MrCrispy (October 07, 2008, 01:23 PM)
--- End quote ---

Curt:
Did anyone try if ClickOff can handle the UAC notifications?  :tellme:

Darwin:
Curt - did you see Josh's post about NortonUAC?

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