Microsoft has listed a 100 “wows”? for its latest OS, Windows Vista.
Sadly, majority of the votes on the net are against Vista. XP works
just fine for everyone at the moment, for several reasons and most people would like to first try Vista on their secondary computers or elsewhere, before upgrading to it.
Understandable. Upgrading to Vista doesn’t just mean spending up to $400 on software, but also cash on RAM and video card upgrades, or buying a new PC. In order to get the peripherals compatible with the new Vista install, or even to get the software compatible with Vista, a service pack has already been recommended. So what really appeals about Vista?
Does it have a touch screen? Or is photo tagging and 3-D window flipping winning some consumers or the “coupons”? that came along for the upgrade? No matter how much you criticize Big Bill for this latest Microsoft Operating System, the interface is attractive, some do like the glass effects and of course it comes with an improved security. Although a learning curve is involved, it would be worth a try as the bugs are removed and as the prices go down, maybe in a while, it could turn on the “Wow”?!!!
.
All the “Wow” factor of Vista and the only tempting factor of Vista has been poached from Mac OSX anyway.
Mac OSX doesn’t have the bugs Vista has, is far more secure and since its the original is far better and has already been around for six years.
I have a six year old iMac running the latest OSX and it works just fine, no expensive upgrades needed.
BTW in case I get accused of being a Macolite I work on PC’s and Macs, and its through years of experience with both that I have concluded Macs work better.
I had the chance to handle a nice Dell Inspiron E1705 last weekend, a friend of mine had just purchased it. And yeah, it has bells and whistles and, in her words, “purdy stuff.” But you are right, I can’t see one thing that it does better than Win XP. As long as it took to develop it (wasn’t it originally to be released in 2004 or so as Longhorn?), I expected much, much more. I heard (a rumour?) that MicroSnot will discontinue support for Windows XP in 2010, forcing us all to upgrade whether we want to or not. Ugh.
Verity - a rose by any other name, is well….
I am amused at all the manufactured griping about “improving” hardware to run Vista. First off, most machines with 500 MB of ram and a decent video card, even on-board video can run Vista just fine. Most PC’s are running a gig of ram anyway now.
But it wasn’t that long ago when Apple started yet another “revolution” on the backs of its loyal followers. Steve Jobs idea of equipment upgrade was, uh, buy new equipment! Not just some more memory here and there – but buy a frickn’ new box from…Apple.
And if you were in the design business you completely understood the royal pain in the ass it was to try to run OSX on a G3. And let us not forget the Classic v. OSX schemes Apple was trying to sell as their olive branch. I think any reasonable person would agree the Mac commercials ripping Microsoft for the “expensive” upgrade path is at best a little hypocritical.
Macs and PC’s. We run a large format pre-press operation here in Chicago. We have over 200 users with about a 60/40 ratio of PC’s to Macs. I administer both physical and software upgrades and repair for both platforms and the dirty little secret is that we have more issues, large and small with the G5 Mac (all with at least a gig of memory) than we do on our Dell desktops and laptops.
The Macs burp, spit and hang up on a regular basis. And those of you who have worked in all the iterations of Illustrator and Photoshop know exactly what I mean.
Security. XP solved most major issues and those that pose a problem are usually user induced by opening email attachments from people they don’t know. It is all too common for the Mac community to talk about “security” as if OSX is “superior” in some way. It isn’t. It’s just that you have millions of hackers gunning at XP because that’s where most of the world is. If Apple received the attention of malicious hackers, OSX’s code line by line would be exposed and patched much the same way XP’s is. Blaming OS’s for security is the same as blaming Ford or GM for fender benders or crashes. The best door locks in the world are worthless when you let the criminal in the house!
Joni - looks like you should go buy a Mac and experience the world of Steve Jobs. If you think Microsoft is bad, try the closed world of Apple and learn all about forced obsolescence! You’ll have to go back a few years but Apple pissed off many a loyal follower.
As far as not supporting XP after 2010 I say so what? It would make it a 10 year old OS anyway. Go try to get support for OS9. The point is - why would you?
We are beginning to roll out Vista here at work. Granted, it’s a bit different but there are real improvements for businesses that network a bunch of machines together. For the home user there are many more improvements I feel that make the possibility switching to Mac a non-issue. As far as vista “poaching” things from the Mac. Well maybe. Just the same way auto manufactures “poach” one good idea from the other almost every year. But I guess you also feel passionate about the way Apple poached the entire GUI interface from Xerox back when it was just the lowly little Apple II!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ya might have forgotten about that one…
But when the day is done, Apples are on just a few desktops and XP/Vista pretty much runs the world. I used to be a huge Mac fanatic in the 80’s and early 90’s. But Apple thought it’s interface was the best in the world. Well, the votes are on the “net” and looks like Microsoft has nothing to worry about the flakey, sometimes unstable Mac OSX.
(I know, Mac’s are great - just ask Steve Jobs)