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Anybody in a big hurry to get Vista? Not getting good reviews. I'm just getting used to XP.
http://news.com.com/Week+in+review+Visions+of+Vista+Buyer+be ware/2100-1083_3-6155643.html

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Greg
http://garibaldiinstruments.com/

I have been running Vista for over 15 months as my daily desktop on two laptops, One that is new (2 Ghz proc) and up to date with 2gb of Ram, an accelerated graphics card and the other laptop is 3 years old with 512 mb of ram with no accelerated graphics card and is a 1.00 Ghz processor. Both run VIsta fine with the exception that I dont have the transparent graphics and all of the other eye candy that a newer machine has but it is still very functional.

Disclaimer: I work for Microsoft as a systems engineer so everything I run is beta in some form.

First step when considering Vista is find out if it is for you...there is a good tool on Microsoft.com/vista that run in a browser on your current machine and it will tell you what your experience will be.

I dont pay too much attention to what the trade rags say...Just 5 years ago they were saying that there was no good reason to moe to XP as it was a complete power hof requiring 192 mb of RAM ... yet somehow in the past 5 years 660 million people legally moved to XP with over 100 million more doing so illegally.

Over 5 million people ran Vista while it was in beta so it has had alot of people working to get things right.

Is Vista for you? You decide but the number one reason to move to Vista is security. All users run in reduced priviledge and Internet Explorer runs in even less priviledge than an reduced rights user. The Vista security guide was signed off on by NIST and NSA before Vista even shipped so the security implementation is why I run Vista.

Some of the things we are trying to change in Vista is that today the majority of people who buy a PC think it came with an anti-spam, anti-virus solution when in almost every case it was a 90 trial version. Vista comes with an integrated anti-spam solution and security that prevents much of what infected XP and other versions of windows. There are still plenty of vendors that will offer anti-virus solutions for Vista so you will need that but in general you will be much safer than with any other version of Windows.

One 'improvement' with Vista is that Microsoft will be 'monitoring' your system even more intrusively than with XP, and will shut it down if it decides you are 'illegal'.
If XP is anything to go by, swapping a video card or replacing a fried motherboard (with the same model replacement) will mean that Big Brother will shut you down and you will be in for lotsa frustration on the telephone (once you get through) begging to be allowed to use the OS you paid for.
Been there, done that.
No, thanks.

John

I cant WAIT to get it! I had a copy in my hand the other day and decided id hold off until I get a new box for home.
I do believe my current computer is just a wee bit to slow, at 1.6 ghz

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1.6 will be fine...whether you have an accelerated graphics card will decide if you get the full 3d graphics look.

I am running it on a 1.2ghz AMD with 1g of Ram and an older 128mb ATI card with no problem. It will adjust to what your hardware abilities are but it is still better to try the tool on the vista site as it will let you know where your system ranks.

Even after installing Vista the same tool monitors your performance score so that as time goes by and your disk gets full, it will periodically monitor your system and you can see how your performance changes. In a corporate environment this report can be run remotely against all machines so that the IT staff knows who's machine is hurting or in need of refreshing.

Great thread. Sounds objective and lots of real useful info. Thanks gang.

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

One of the other cool things that you can do with Vista is there is a feature known as ReadyBoost in which you can use a USB thumbdrive, digital camera compactflash or SD card to boost system performance.

This is how it works. Obviously loading things into RAM is the fastest and caching to disk is the slowest so by sticking in an inexpensive flash memory device you would read and write to RAM first, then to flash and only then to disk so it speeds up the responsiveness of the system.

The flash memory device doesnt have to be empty or dedicated to be used. Readyboost uses the available amount of memory on the device and uses it as a swap file without disturbing the other files that might be there.

flash memory devices are very inexpensive so for best results if you have a device that is about the same size as the amount of RAM, you will see the benefit. vendors like Fryes, Newegg, Tigerdirect, CompUSA, BestBuy, Microcenter and others have sales on flash drives every weekend so it is a good way to boost system performance. In my laptop I have a 2gig SD card (150x) that I got for less than $40 that I keep in my laptop for Readyboost and then use in my digital camera.

here,s a good one

oops for got the link http://www.xs4all.nl/~jvdkuyp/flash/see.swf    ;

John,

Microsoft does not monitor systems, only requires activation of a license to verify that it has not been compromised by malware as most pirated copies these days contain bot software and other things that can compromise a users privacy and lead to things like identity theft.

In the case of XP, I am sorry you had a bad experience reactivating but that system is completely automated now with no humans on the other end requiring you to wait on hold. The activation 800 number is now running against Microsoft Speech server that takes voice input, keypad entry or TTY for those with impairments that would make calling a phone number problematic. There are a number of local, state and government agencies that are using that same solution now.

The confusion in the press regarding activation is regarding the process. When you first install Windows Vista you are prompted to activate (either on the internet if connected or by calling the toll free number). If you do not, you will be prompted for the next 30 days.

At that point your copy is flagged as suspect but you can still delay activating for another 30 days, after which your copy will be flagged as suspect and non-compliant and you and still put off activating for another 30 days.

At that point if you do not activate your machine will then and only then go into RFS (Reduced Functionality State) at which point it will only be able to run one hour per day before it turns off and will not function until the next day.

Once you are activated none of these occurs. Activation is done anonymously and can be done over the internet or over the phone via a toll free numer in the 83 countries that Microsoft has offices in. This set of processes were negotiated and veted by government and security professionals from over 60 countries, all in an attempt to stop the spread of computer crime, viruses and other attacks that cost individuals and industry hundreds of billions of dollars a year.

For information about Windows Activation, check out What is Activation?

Very cute and cool animation!

Shawn,

Is it true that file names will be different than in former versions so that people with older operating systems will not be able to read word, excel, etc. files unless they upgrade?

[QUOTE=Shawn] John,

Microsoft does not monitor systems, only requires activation of a license to verify that it has not been compromised by malware

[/QUOTE]
etc
Shawn-
I really don't want to get into a public bunfight here, and I realize that you are speaking as a Microsoft 'rep' so it is all rather pointless anyway.
Hardware fails.
If you fry a motherboard or other essential component, your legal copy of XP will not run from the old hard drive. You have to go through this irritating 're-activation' process. And now you don't even get a human to talk to- progress?
And Vista is a step further down that road.
Microsoft is so concerned that a buyer of a legal copy might install it on a second machine that they developed this whole 'activation' scheme. It has absolutely nothing to do with 'protecting' the user from bad things on the internet, but about corporate revenue. We've all noticed how poorly Microsoft is doing; obviously more intrusion into our lives is required to boost the bottom line further.
A reading of Orwell's 1984 is highly recommended. Big Brother is protecting you.

John

Office 2007 supports a new file format known as Open XML so people do not have to own a Microsoft product or viewer to open the file. As with all open standards there is another competing standard known as ODF (open document format) promoted by Microsoft competitors. Both camps have created document convertors so that either "open" format will be able to be read and used by each other.

As to Office 2007 format being incompatible with previous versions documents saved in the new open XML format will have an extension that is .docx instead of .doc for Word, .xlsx instead of .xls for Excel and so forth. To make sure that you can exchange documents with earlier versions of Office you can set your default version for saving files to the format that was the same for all versions of Office 97, Office 2000, Office 2003. You also have the ability to save as txt, rtf, html or pdf.

As far as any files in the file system, they are the same as the disk format choice is still Fat32, NTFS although the Enterprise and Ultimate versions of Vista also have an additional feature which is a full Unix (USL licensed)POSIX SPG4, Spec 1170 compatible subsystem. This enables you to FTP Unix or Linix applications, run the makefile and end up with a native Windows executable, either 32bit or 64bit, depending on what hardware and OS version you are running.

It is not turned on by default but if you do turn on that subsystem then you also have the ability to format disks as native NFS without the need to run an NFS client or gateway to be able to exchange files between Unix and Linux systems running NFS.

Hesh-
I have a great concept for you (and Shawn).
It is well-known that criminals and terrorists often use automobiles. For instance, criminals steal cars and take them to chop shops; terrorists and criminals have wired cars with bombs. The auto industry wants to protect you from these terrible things- even though you are lawful, that's not enough to keep the company from thinking that you might be up to something bad.
From now on, when you make any changes to your automobile - new spark plugs, wiper blades, replace blown alternator, etc, your car will be disabled and you won't be able to use it until you speak to a computer - built by the same folks that built your malfunctioning car.
I'm sure you understand that you had no right to repair or modify your car, and that these changes are put in place to protect you from evil.
Another new feature- once a new model is introduced, parts and service will no longer be available for your old and outdated car- it's your duty to buy a new car, since the manufacturer cannot afford to waste time supporting outdated technology.
Of course, all the operator controls on the new vehicle will be in different locations and have different labels, so you will probably need extra training to drive the replacement.
Don't feel bad about the expense- a fraction of a percent of your purchase price will be donated to the charity of choice of our company founder; he's a very smart guy.
John

Regarding Bill and Melinda Gates, I have known both of them since before either were married. When I started at Microsoft over 12 years ago Bill owned close to 49 percent of the stock. What he did throughout the internet boom was sell off his personal shares to setup the Gates foundation. Today Bill's shares in Microsoft amount to supposedly less than 12 percent.

In 1983 when Bill Gates was asked what he was going to do with all of his money, he stated that he planned on giving away 95 percent of all of his money in his lifetime. Not many took him seriously. He has done that and continues to do that.

I also know the people at the Gates foundation.

In 2006 the Gates foundation gave close to 1.6 billion to reduce inequities and improve lives around the world. In developing countries, it focuses on improving health, reducing extreme poverty, and increasing access to technology in public libraries. In the United States, the foundation seeks to ensure that all people have access to a great education and to technology in public libraries. In its local region, it focuses on improving the lives of low-income families.

Because of the 30 billion+ endowment by Warren Buffet to the existing 33 billion of Bill Gates money in the foundation, this years distribution will be even larger. In order for a charitible organization to maintain its not for profit status, it must give away at least 5 percent of its assets so that no matter what the stock market does, the interest earned on the remainder replaes it which means that this philanthropy continue to be able to fund worthwhile endeavors in perpetuity.

Many of the things funded by the Gates foundation are projects that even governments are unwilling or unable to fund because of politics. One example is that there is very little economic incentive for drug companies to produce a cure for common tropical diseases as it is far more profitable to produce Viagra or other popular drugs.

What the Gates foundation did to challenge the healthcare industry was to setup a fund of 500 million dollars as a bounty for anyone that comes up with a cure for any one of a dozen common diseases. The challenge was basically saying, "Now what is your excuse for not coming up with a vaccine!"

None of this sounds like Big Brother to me ...

Bill Gates charitable works have nothing to do with MS products or 'features', so I'm not sure how that crept in here. But since y'all started it....
I'm all for charitable works.
Whether Gate's vision of 'what's needed' will turn out to be true, only time will tell. Drug companies are an easy target. I have noticed that neither Gates nor the Gates foundation have spoken up on population control issues, probably because of the huge reliance on government contracts by Microsoft, and the US govt's opposition to family planning and population control (listening to their 'base'). Talk about improving the fate of the planet or the living (and dying) conditions of the billions of the world's poor without addressing our exploding population is just blather.
BTW, 'increasing access to technology' (ie computers) could more reasonably be described as 'marketing' than charity.

Charitable donations have tax implications which particularly benefit the wealthy.
US citizens should be grateful to the millions of ordinary Americans who are making up the difference in lost tax revenue from Gates and other wealthy people who shelter their money from taxes in charitable foundations.

John, to your auto analogy...

Microsoft products are supported for 10 years, the first 5 years in mainstream support in which all patches and fixes are free. The next 5 years of support are either through a extended support contract or online (for security patches only). This is far in excess of the average lifespan of a PC which is typically 3-5 years.

Note that 10 years in the PC industry is much different than the auto industry which has had much less technological changes over the years than the computer industry. I dont begrudge the fact that I can not find a 40meg Seagate MFM hard drive but had one 10 years ago so why is it not supported...why can I not buy Apple IIe's anymore...who cares, technology makes things obsolete, not for lack of function but because of a lack of capability. Should you keep a cell phone for 10 years or expect your phone provider to still support it...of course not.

You have the rights to modify, repair or change any version of Microsoft OS or product that you want. Just as I can modify my car and not be surprised when a dealer will not be able to support my modifications. Anyone can download for free all of the device driver kits and software development kits for all Microsoft products. That is why were are 1.4 million applications that run on Windows in 130 languages in over 83 countries.

As far as being able to use the same parts...I am still running programs and reading files that I have used on every PC I have owned since 1980. Users can download for free Microsoft's Virtual PC 2004 at no cost! With Virtual PC you can load and run an entire version of the same or previous operating system on your new PC. In this way you can take advantage of the security advancements in the newest operating system while still running all of your old operating system and applications.

I have virtual PC environments for DOS 3.0, Windows 2.0, Microsoft BOB, and all sorts of very old environments and they all run great on my new Vista PC. I use the Unix (USL licensed) POSIX XPG4, Spec 1170 compatible subsystem for Windows that gives me all the libraries, shells, compilers (both commercial and open source), utilities and APIs that I have always used on Linux and Unix systems, all within my Windows Vista system... That is the equivalent of being able to seamlessly use MOPAR parts on my Chevy...

I am at a loss to understand why you begrudge Microsoft or its products, even alluding to the fact that a fraction of its revenue is given to the charity of Bill Gates choice as if that is a bad thing.

Every one of the 82,000 Microsoft employees who give to their own favorite charity is matched dollar for dollar by Microsoft...it is my choice of charity, not Bill's. Every employee is encouraged to give of their time and/or money so that I take off work to work in a homeless shelter or a food kitchen for the homeless, Microsoft pays that charity $14.00 an hour for my time as they want to match my gift of my time. I dont know of too many companies (if any) that make that part of its corporate culture.

As a technologist (I am an engineer and not a sales person) I can solve technical issues but can not change politics or religion.

Hesh, Shawn:I didn't make any comments about either of you or what you do for a living.
Please respond to the arguments with logic, not personal attacks on me and my supposed world view..
Having the temerity to question Microsoft company culture or dispute 'talking points' of the the Microsoft/Gates PR campaigns- in an off-topic post- should not open the poster to personal attack.

Read the posts.
Question accepted truth.

John

John, I apologize if anything I have said seemed like it might be a personal attack, it was not and is not my intent.

No person or company is perfect and that includes me, Bill Gates, Microsoft, whoever.

I am sorry if my responses didnt seem logical.

To clarify a few things, you didnt just question Microsoft corporate culture or the "Microsoft/Gates PR campaigns", you made a few assertions that I thought I responded to:

1.Microsoft will be monitoring more intrusively with Vista than XP and shut you down if it (microsoft) thinks you are illegal. Said if a hardware component dies, Big Brother will shut you down and reactivation is frustrating.

I apologized for any inconvenience you had with reactivating and explained improvements that have been made by now having a voice response system so there is no waiting on hold. (I forgot to say that if you want to still talk to a person that is still an option). I explained activation and left a link to the documentation about it.

2. even after that you repeated the frustrations of reactivation and restated the 1984 Orwell (Big Brother) reference.

3. You then used the auto analogy in which you ended by say that a small portion of the revenue will go to the founders charity. It sounds like you feel that with Vista or other Microsoft software that you feel that you are some how having control taken away from you. You finished by saying that a fraction of a percent will be given to the founders charity.

I responded by talking about the ways in which Vista and Office are intended to give you more choice, not less and responded directly using your same auto analogy.

I also stated that Bill Gates is selling out his personal shares in Microsoft to fund the Gates foundation and the issues that it was focused on. I also told of Microsoft's corporate culture of giving which is individuals giving being matched by the company.

4. You then questioned the intent of Gates and the Gates foundations giving and stated that you had noticed that neither Gates or the Gates foundation has spoken up on population control and thought that it was because of a reliance on Government contracts. You stated that improving peoples lives without addressing population control is blather...

You then stated that tax implications of charitable contributions benefit the rich and that millions of Americans are making up for the tax shelters of large foundations.

In a few statements you disagreed with the government and claim to know their agenda, dismissed giving without knowing the real position of Bill Gates and the Gates foundation, and questioned our tax system and things such as the tax implications of charitable contributions and not for profit foundations.

As a tax paying American I am grateful for the ability to offset my taxes when I make charitable contributions because I tithe on my income as well as do additional giving of my time and money. To have an employer that matches that is a bonus because I would have given anyway, regardless of the tax implications.

While wealthy individuals may create not for profit foundations that have tax advantages, the corporations that created their wealth have created industries and employed millions. I dont begrudge anyone their wealth and am glad that the foundations are doing good things.

Knowing Bill Gates for a number of years I know directly what he has supported on supporting population control and you can read on the Gates foundation website their position. Without knowing this it is impossible to state that they are doing all they are doing ignorant of the issue of population control.

It is not just saving the lives of millions of children that the Gates foundation are concerned about but rather that the core belief that it is only by improving the lives and economic conditions of third world contries that some of these more difficult issues will be solved. The Gates foundation is not focused on every issue, just ones in which it feels that a non-governmental foundation can be a catalyst for change.

None of this is focused on making any personal attacks on you, just providing a counterpoint for the discussion, which is fair and appropriate within an off-topic forum. You are completely entitled to your opinions as am I.

I am not speaking on behalf of Microsoft, Bill Gates or the Gates foundation, just as someone that has a different perspective on it. That being said, because I work for Microsoft and recieve the benefits of my charitable contributions being matched by Microsoft, I am a spokesman for the company in that I may or may not be the only person you meet from Microsoft which is why I have attempted to be fair and balanced in my responses. Whether I have done so is up to you to judge.

Again I apologize for any preception I may have given that any of this discussion was in any way a personal attack.