Back to the future (of Windows that is)

November 28, 2007

Windows Vista - Start Button So I got just a little curious early this week about Windows XP performance over Windows Vista performance after reading how "bad" Vista performance has been described.  Especially when reading (here, here, and here) about how Windows XP Service Pack 3 (still in beta) is supposed to have a pretty good performance boost over SP2.

Since I picked up my "new" (it’s now 7 months old) laptop last May, I’ve only run Vista on it.  So, yep you guessed it, I wiped it and installed Windows XP on Tuesday.

That little experiment lasted all of 30 hours.  I couldn’t stand it.  I’ve gotten so comfortable with Vista, with all the improvements, all the changes, all the "hassle" that I can’t go back.

Now I see all my fellow Windows cohorts shaking their heads and wondering why I would be so foolish.  Some will point at performance issues, others will bring up the application compatibility, others will go on and on about how the Aero interface "sucks" or whatever.

Depending on what your trying to do, any one of these can be valid arguments – but they’re meaningless to me, and I’ll tell you why.  Vista is better.

I’m not a gamer or high-end video editing snob, so I don’t see performance issues.  All the applications I use are written correctly (hint – follow the fully documented Microsoft programming guidelines folks) and have no compatibility issues.  I like the Aero interface.

Maybe the thing is that I’m partial to Windows in the first place.  I’ve worked with Windows since v3.0 as a professional IT guy.  I’m the guy who has to deploy these operating systems to thousands of computers in enterprise environments.  I’m the guy who has to manage systems with this OS on it and keep it up to date on security patches, updates, fixes and such.  I’ve seen the arguments everyone has about Vista too many times from Win95 through WinXP.  They’re always the same.  Yes, compatibility is always the biggest compelling argument that a person can come up with – and there are a huge number of ways to go about correcting these things.  Mostly by Microsoft themselves – providing tools to compensate for inadequate coders and program structure decisions.

In all honesty, Windows’ (not just Vista) biggest problem is licensing, rather than anything else.  It’s obvious Microsoft needs to keep making money and the traditional way for them is to push an upgraded operating system and office solution.  But that is fodder for another post anther day.

I guarantee for the general business and personal user, Vista is better.  Yes, it is a change and requires YOU to adapt (a failing of ALL computers STILL at this time in history), but it is much better at day to day tasks than XP.

I know you’ve got an opinion on this.  What are you points on why Vista isn’t ready for prime time?

Conversation Tags: , , ,
Categories: windows

Related Posts


If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.

  • Unfortunately, I fall into the gamer/designer set of problems with Vista. As you mentioned, many programs are not written up to Microsoft's code. Unfortunately, this ended up being a huge problem for me. My copies of Macromedia Studio, Photoshop, and 3ds max all required troubleshooting and workarounds to run under Vista and then suffered performance drops. The game engine I was using at the time for development (Torque 3D) wouldn't work at all, requiring me to set up a VM for testing.

    In the end, I went back to XP and found that I didn't really miss any of the new features in the Vista UI. They just weren't that big a jump to make a difference in how I used the computer.

    It's not Microsoft's fault, but the new Mac commercials hit it dead on. They show PC Guy preaching that if your printer doesn't work with Vista, buy a new printer. Unfortunately, this is the stance that the other companies have all taken. When I phoned Autodesk for support with my newly purchased copy of 3ds max 9 under Vista, I was told that they don't support it under Vista and that 3ds max 10 would include Vista support. 3ds max is a $2000+ piece of software. This just doesn't seem acceptable. While, as I said, it's not Microsoft's fault, it does reflect badly on their product.
  • the file copy move is blantly bovious when trying to move or cooy files from an Vista machine to anXP machine on thr same netowrk. However when copying or moving filrd fom s Vista machine to s XP mschine where you re using the XP machine to execute the commands there are no really problems. the one I do encounter I canattribu to the pulling ftom an Vista machine.

    For me this is intolerable and should never have passed Q&A regardless of the table table of release especially consider the push begind Vista to get it to market.

    (btw forgive any spelling or grammer pronle .. meds are starting to kick and the keybord is proving to be a a focal point.
  • Steve,
    I've read a bit on the file-copy performance deal - but have never seen it myself. I've copied data between Vista and XP boxes on many occasions - fairly large amounts too (~15,000 files/~11GB) at a time and not seen any difference from XP. I haven't had multiple separate HDD's on my Vista boxes so I can't comment on same-system separate drive copies though. With that said, I'll agree that there is enough documented evidence out there that there is a problem that MS needs to address ASAP.

    The value proposition of Vista Ultimate is a less a problem with the OS and more a problem of the marketing decisions made for the "Vista Wave" in general.

    I guess the bottom line is that there are more positives in my experience with the OS than negatives. I too was frustrated and confused the first few weeks, since MS "moved" links and such AGAIN. But if I look at it from a "newbie" (are there any left?) perspective, the interface is much more intuitive than previous versions - though not for us veterans.

    Technically, I can't find many faults with the OS, but MS marketing really dropped the ball. I've got more ideas on this too as I'm sure you do - fewer SKUs, better feature spread over "versions", less emphasis on dazzle, lower pricing, better consumer licensing options, better options to offer "Extras", etc...

    Cheers!
    Rick
  • I work in an agency that had the chance to chat with the Microsoft developers behind Windows Server 2008.

    Check out the vids http://www.youtube.com/microsoftdevelopers and meet some colourful characters…
  • Oh a topic near and dear to my heart and one I have written on more than a few times:

    Vista's 5 Mistakes: five tof the things that bug me about Vista

    Vista Ultimate - a Microsoft Blackeye - how this marketing scheme is proving to be nothing more than a rup off for the consumer.

    How bad is Vista's copy/move - try this bad - trying to move files over the network to XP machines; or even to other drives (not partitions) on the same machine is a horror wtory.

    I am basically hanging tough until SP1 but if they don't fix the move/copy problem I'll be going back to XP that day.

    Yes Vista is a step forward in many ways but when some of the fundemental / core parts of the OS are screwed then this is not an acceptable situation.
blog comments powered by Disqus
Follow Me
f