After reading about the lack of love for Vista, the wifey is getting ready to order a new laptop.  $50 more for XP Home.  Should we go with XP or Vista?

She's ordering a Dell Vostro 1400 for her home based law firm.  Mainly interweb surfing and heavy MS Word use.

I know there are lots of Vista haters out there, but I haven't had much of a problem with it.

As for MS word 2007, it rules!  They surely got it right when they redid this one!

Quoted: After reading about the lack of love for Vista, the wifey is getting ready to order a new laptop.  $50 more for XP Home.  Should we go with XP or Vista? She's ordering a Dell Vostro 1400 for her home based law firm.  Mainly interweb surfing and heavy MS Word use.

Get Vista. Just make sure you have at least 1GB of RAM in the system.

The vast majority of the problems people have with Vista aren't because of Vista itself, it's because they bought a system configured with less than the minimum amount of RAM Vista requires.

Quoted: i'd go with vista. drivers and applications get better everyday. a year ago i would have reccomended xp but no more. i run vista and i like ti better than xp. xp WILL run on less than 1gb of ram but it will limit the speed and applications you can run. 1GB should be the min.

We're getting 2GB of ram, should that be enough to run Vista Home or Premium?

my brother uses vista on a 2gig ram system and he hasnt had any problems.  When the rest of technology catches up with it everything will be aok

My sister just went thru the same delimna in deciding to 'downgrade' to XP or take Vista.. She was told one of the problems is when ppl try to use older programs on Vista.. She was going to get new versions of Quickbooks and Office (her main programs), so she stayed with Vista

good luck

brian

Vista is by far, the worst piece of shit ever produced by a company world renowned for shit production.

Tell them to give you XP for free, or you will buy from someone else.

Better yet, tell them you don't want ANY OS, then install Linux.

Latest word is XP SP3 actually outperforms Vista by far. SP3 for XP is coming out.

Windows XP SP3 Twice as Fast as Windows Vista – Leaves Vista SP1 in the Dust

Benchmark testing delivered by the researchers at Devil Mountain Software, a software-development company based in Florida, revealed that Windows XP SP3 is twice as fast as Windows Vista, with or without SP1 installed. The company threw the two operating systems one against the other on the following configuration: Dell XPS M1710, 2GHz Core 2 Duo CPU, 1GB of RAM and nVidia GeForce Go 7900GS video. While Vista SP1 delivered minor and disappointing growth in performance, XP SP3 faired quite well.

XP for my money. I bought Vista, and it ended up in the shredder with XP back on my machines. To me it worked just "ok" and was mostly hype and bling, and extremely cumbersome.

I guess you could call me a Vista hater.


ETA I work in IT for a living.

Quoted: After reading about the lack of love for Vista, the wifey is getting ready to order a new laptop.  $50 more for XP Home.  Should we go with XP or Vista? She's ordering a Dell Vostro 1400 for her home based law firm.  Mainly interweb surfing and heavy MS Word use.

I just got the Vostro 1400 with Vista

pretty sweet thus far

Microsoft is discontinuing support for XP in, what?, one more year? I'm waiting to upgrade until I get "we no longer support your OS" messages from my software vendors. By then Vista should be ironed out or discontinued! and I'll need a new computer to run it on anyway. Buy enough hardware to run it and get the Vista.

Quoted: Do some research on what real computer people think of Vista and your decision will be simple. IT people, Computer magazines and the like HATE Vista. All the magazines are in agreement that Vista will not survive much longer. It was a dead OS before it even hit the streets. You can still get XP for a reason.

Do some research on what real computer people think of Vista and your decision will be simple.

IT people, Computer magazines and the like HATE Vista. All the magazines are in agreement that Vista will not survive much longer. It was a dead OS before it even hit the streets.

You can still get XP for a reason.

Quoted: Vista is by far, the worst piece of shit ever produced by a company world renowned for shit production.

Two words:  Windows ME.  At least Vista is better than that.

Personally, I perfer XP, but that's mainly because I'm familiar with it, I can run it fast and easily, and Vista has too much stuff changed just for the sake of change.

Vista is the furture.

lots of nagging in vista, but it works ok.

it is slower than xp, and I have 3gb

You must have memory to run that bitch.

Also, turn off all the visual bullshit, it does help.

TXL

Quoted: By then Vista should be ironed out

Maybe. Or maybe they will have a new OS for you to buy.
MS has publicly stated they are planning to go to a shorter development cycle like Apple has done. That means you get to pay a lot more often. Screw that.

Quoted: Compatibility mode actually works in vista now unlike xp and win98/95 applications.

That was one thing that worked well with Vista.

What is the difference between Vista Home Basic and Vista Home Premium?  Is it worth another $50 for the premium?

Like I said, the wife will be solely using this laptop for Word and leisurely internet surfing.

Thanks for all the help, and opinions guys!!


Shoot.

Quoted: Latest word is XP SP3 actually outperforms Vista by far. SP3 for XP is coming out. Windows XP SP3 Twice as Fast as Windows Vista – Leaves Vista SP1 in the Dust XP for my money. I bought Vista, and it ended up in the shredder. To me it worked just "ok" and was mostly hype and bling, and extremely cumbersome. I guess you could call me a Vista hater.

And you could b e called gullible for buying that twice as fast baloney.

XP SP3 is showing at most a 10% (imperceptible) speed increase over XP SP2… considering frame rates in the vast majority of games now show a 1-5% (imperceptible) difference between Vista and XP how is it believable XP is twice as fast.

I can cherry pick benchmark tests to show Vista is twice as fast as XP but that don’t make that true either.

Quoted: Quoted: Vista is by far, the worst piece of shit ever produced by a company world renowned for shit production. Two words:  Windows ME.  At least Vista is better than that. Personally, I perfer XP, but that's mainly because I'm familiar with it, I can run it fast and easily, and Vista has too much stuff changed just for the sake of change.

Actually, I would have to say Vista is worse than WinME.  And I get cold chills just THINKING about WinME.

Quoted: Do some research on what real computer people think of Vista and your decision will be simple. IT people, Computer magazines and the like HATE Vista. All the magazines are in agreement that Vista will not survive much longer. It was a dead OS before it even hit the streets. You can still get XP for a reason.

IT people like what makes them comfortable old stuff makes them comfortable.  Only an idiot believes Vista will not survive much longer it is already the most successfully software release in history, 100 million copies sold by the end of this year and is the future.

If you deside to order the laptop with XP, then get XP Pro not home.

Quoted: Latest word is XP SP3 actually outperforms Vista by far. SP3 for XP is coming out. Windows XP SP3 Twice as Fast as Windows Vista – Leaves Vista SP1 in the Dust Benchmark testing delivered by the researchers at Devil Mountain Software, a software-development company based in Florida, revealed that Windows XP SP3 is twice as fast as Windows Vista, with or without SP1 installed. The company threw the two operating systems one against the other on the following configuration: Dell XPS M1710, 2GHz Core 2 Duo CPU, 1GB of RAM and nVidia GeForce Go 7900GS video. While Vista SP1 delivered minor and disappointing growth in performance, XP SP3 faired quite well. XP for my money. I bought Vista, and it ended up in the shredder with XP back on my machines. To me it worked just "ok" and was mostly hype and bling, and extremely cumbersome. I guess you could call me a Vista hater. ETA I work in IT for a living.

Sorry, that's a load of crap and that config is not optimal at all, even for XP. That's Dell's highest-end laptop and they neuter it by putting only 1GB of RAM in it? Bullshit. You can't even buy it with that video solution in it either.

If you work in IT for a living, then you should remember all the bitching about XP when it came out.

Quoted: Quoted: Vista is by far, the worst piece of shit ever produced by a company world renowned for shit production. Two words:  Windows ME.  At least Vista is better than that. Personally, I perfer XP, but that's mainly because I'm familiar with it, I can run it fast and easily, and Vista has too much stuff changed just for the sake of change.

You youngsters have such short memories: BOB

Quoted: Quoted: Latest word is XP SP3 actually outperforms Vista by far. SP3 for XP is coming out. Windows XP SP3 Twice as Fast as Windows Vista – Leaves Vista SP1 in the Dust XP for my money. I bought Vista, and it ended up in the shredder. To me it worked just "ok" and was mostly hype and bling, and extremely cumbersome. I guess you could call me a Vista hater. And you could b e called gullible for buying that twice as fast baloney. XP SP3 is showing at most a 10% (imperceptible) speed increase over XP SP2… considering frame rates in the vast majority of games now show a 1-5% (imperceptible) difference between Vista and XP how is it believable XP is twice as fast. I can cherry pick benchmark tests to show Vista is twice as fast as XP but that don’t make that true either.

I have found it be true on my hardware as well. Your results may vary.

Vista is a solution in search of a problem, that introduces problems of its own.  The entire design concept is an insult to consumers.  I've switched almost entirely to Linux and haven't missed Windows, but for those who aren't ready for the learning curve I recommend XP.

Quoted: Quoted: Latest word is XP SP3 actually outperforms Vista by far. SP3 for XP is coming out. Windows XP SP3 Twice as Fast as Windows Vista – Leaves Vista SP1 in the Dust Benchmark testing delivered by the researchers at Devil Mountain Software, a software-development company based in Florida, revealed that Windows XP SP3 is twice as fast as Windows Vista, with or without SP1 installed. The company threw the two operating systems one against the other on the following configuration: Dell XPS M1710, 2GHz Core 2 Duo CPU, 1GB of RAM and nVidia GeForce Go 7900GS video. While Vista SP1 delivered minor and disappointing growth in performance, XP SP3 faired quite well. XP for my money. I bought Vista, and it ended up in the shredder with XP back on my machines. To me it worked just "ok" and was mostly hype and bling, and extremely cumbersome. I guess you could call me a Vista hater. ETA I work in IT for a living. Sorry, that's a load of crap and that config is not optimal at all, even for XP. That's Dell's highest-end laptop and they neuter it by putting only 1GB of RAM in it? Bullshit. You can't even buy it with that video solution in it either. If you work in IT for a living, then you should remember all the bitching about XP when it came out.

True, but it was a vastly improved OS after SP1. Vista is not.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Vista is by far, the worst piece of shit ever produced by a company world renowned for shit production. Two words:  Windows ME.  At least Vista is better than that. Personally, I perfer XP, but that's mainly because I'm familiar with it, I can run it fast and easily, and Vista has too much stuff changed just for the sake of change. You youngsters have such short memories: BOB

totally forgot about that....

YES!

In a laptop, Vista basically sucks hind tit.  Get XP.  

Here's an article from Vista News.com.  


Is Vista Destined to be a Desktop-only OS?

I love Windows Vista on my desktop computer. It's fast, it's smart, it's pretty. It has the "wow" factor of transparent title bars and the functionality of sidebar gadgets and the added security I want in my business. It was only logical that, after running Vista as my primary OS for well over a year (counting betas), I would want to use the same great OS when I go on the road. So, soon after the consumer release of Vista last January, I went out and bought a Vista laptop.

I hate Windows Vista on my laptop. It's slow, it's kludgy, and it's not all that pretty. In order to be able to get anything done at all, I have to turn off Aero, losing all the eye candy. To get acceptable performance, it helps to turn off the sidebar, too. Even then, doing any kind of multi-tasking jams it up. Working with it is a matter of "sit and wait."

Oh, I still have the added security. In fact, my Vista laptop is even more secure because a computer you rarely turn on is unlikely to be attacked. I find myself avoiding it, reaching for my old XP laptop instead, when I need a portable, instead of the Vista machine. I've even seriously considered downgrading it to XP - but I bought this system specifically to run Vista. So I keep tweaking, and performance edges up a little, and I convince myself that I can learn to live with it.

It would be different if my troubles were the result of installing Vista on some old laptop that was never meant to support it. But I plunked down $2200 for a new Sony TX with Vista Business preinstalled. I loved my little TX that was running XP, but the Upgrade Advisor told me its hardware wasn't compatible with Vista, so I waited for one that was (I thought).

My desktop computer that runs Vista so well is admittedly a behemoth. It's a Dell XPS, their top of the line gaming machine (although I don't do games), loaded with 4 GB of RAM and a fast Dual Core processor. It scores a 5.1 on the Windows Experience Index. The Vista laptop scores a 2.0. WEI is a utility that rates a system's performance; you'll find it in the System applet in the Vista Control Panel. A higher score indicates better performance. 5.1 is a very good score. 2.0 is a very lousy score.

So why does my laptop that was supposedly made for Vista get such a low rating? Well, the WEI rates individual components but your final score is equal to the lowest rating. With one and a half gigs of RAM, it gets a pretty good 4.2 rating for memory. And the processor gets an acceptable if unimpressive 3.0, while the hard disk performance snags an okay 3.7. The weak link is the graphics performance. That's where the 2.0 comes from. Why did Sony put a graphics card that won't run Aero acceptably into a computer preloaded with a version of Vista that includes Aero? You'll have to ask them.

Something I've noticed about people's opinions of Vista is that they seem to be greatly influenced by the power of the computer on which they're running it. And I'm not the only one who's had the disappointing experience of happily running Vista on my desktop system and then being very unhappy with its performance on a laptop. And Sony is by no means the only vendor guilty of selling "Vista" machines that aren't up to the task. Some vendors' low end desktops advertised as Vista capable fall short, too.

Portables will probably always lag behind desktops in terms of hardware resources, but vendors shouldn't be selling computers as Vista machines if those computers aren't capable of running the OS properly. I would not have paid over two grand for a Vista laptop if I'd known I was going to hate using it.

What can you do? Not much, except to be very careful about buying a Vista laptop right now. Eventually the specs for portables will get better and they'll be able to run Vista with no problem - but unlike with a desktop computer, you can't easily just switch out the video card on a laptop (and doing so would void your warranty). So don't think that just because it seems to be running okay in the store that it'll still perform well once you enable Aero and load it up with programs and try to multi-task. Before you buy, go to the WEI and run it, and if the score is under 3.5, think very seriously about passing on that one. That way, you won't end up pretty much wasting a couple thousand dollars as I did.

It could be worse. I still have my almost identical Sony running XP, which works beautifully. And even my little $400 Eee PC, on which I installed XP after getting fed up with the elementary Linux interface it came with, runs faster than the $2200 Vista Sony. So I'm not without a good, usable computer when I go on the road (or just want to read my email while sitting out by the pool). But taking Vista on the road, for now, is a non-starter. And that's a shame.

Let us know your experiences with Vista on a laptop. Have you found a portable that runs it well? Or do you run Vista on your desktop and stick with XP on the road? Should hardware vendors be required to ensure that their computers get an acceptable performance score with Vista before selling them with that OS installed? Or should they at least be required to prominently disclose the WEI to customers (such as in online advertisements)? Tell us your opinions at [email protected].

Quoted: If you deside to order the laptop with XP, then get XP Pro not home.

Not if he isnt going to use it for biz.

I just got a new laptop with Vista basic on it.  Overall, I could take it or leave it.  Using Classic mode unfucks it somewhat, but XP is still easier to use and faster.

Quoted: no one else has mentioned this, but your bigger concern should be dumping DELL instead of the OS.

So what would you recommend.....

We will be needing a new desk top someday, and I need a new laptop pretty quick.    Mostly we use it for word processing, and internet serfing, but my main use of our desk top right now is home video production, I'm using Adobe Premium Pro, which seems to use a lot of memory.

I'd like to know what brand I should be looking at, and why.

Quoted: Quoted: If you deside to order the laptop with XP, then get XP Pro not home. Not if he isnt going to use it for biz.

I would recommend Pro regardless.

About XP SP3. I heard that all SP3 was going to be was SP2 + every updated MS released for XP since the release of SP2. They are not adding anything new. They are just consolidating 3 years of updates into one package.

Unless MS changed this, but I doubt it. They don't want people to use XP any more.

Quoted: Quoted: i'd go with vista. drivers and applications get better everyday. a year ago i would have reccomended xp but no more. i run vista and i like ti better than xp. xp WILL run on less than 1gb of ram but it will limit the speed and applications you can run. 1GB should be the min. We're getting 2GB of ram, should that be enough to run Vista Home or Premium?

2GB should be the minimal accepted amout for Vista. I have 2GB in this T61 with 1.09GB being used for just Opera running.

BTW, get a Thinkpad instead.

I run aero (eye-candy) and sidebar, but turned off indexing. Performance is fine. And as another poster stated, the Office 2007 products are great.

I've had a Dell laptop with XP installed that hasn't been reformatted in almost 4 years.

I bought a new Dell Desktop with Vista and after 3 months of Microsoft updates, one of them hosed it and I have to reformat it and reinstall Vista. This is the advice after weeks of troubleshooting with Windows Update support.

The system itself is nice but Vista is a reincarnation of Windows ME.

Quoted: I've had a Dell laptop with XP installed that hasn't been reformatted in almost 4 years. I bought a new Dell Desktop with Vista and after 3 months of Microsoft updates, one of them hosed it and I have to reformat it and reinstall Vista. This is the advice after weeks of troubleshooting with Windows Update support. The system itself is nice but Vista is a reincarnation of Windows ME.

Had a similar experience with my laptop:  bought it, burned system restore disks, then updated Vista (high priority updates).  Rebooted, worked fine.  Installed optional updates, system hosed completely.  Had it less than 1 DAY and I was reinstalling Vista after Micosoft's own update hosed it.  That didnt do a lot for my opinion of Vista.

Quoted: You youngsters have such short memories: BOB

I actually thought about Bob, but I figured it was so far gone, it wasn't really relevant anymore.  But yes, it does mark a low point for Microsoft, and that's really saying something.

I am afflicted with Vista on a work laptop. (Dell D620 w/ 1.5g) The most obvious failure is its inability to deal with being in and out of a dock that has a second monitor attached. (I use the onboard and external displays to get a bigger desktop) Vista has no clue how to react when it's display setups change without being shutdown completely beforehand. I half blame this on all the DRM controls the OS has tied into the output chain.

Personally, I LOVE my D610 1g XP laptop compared to this dog.

Quoted: About XP SP3. I heard that all SP3 was going to be was SP2 + every updated MS released for XP since the release of SP2. They are not adding anything new. They are just consolidating 3 years of updates into one package. Unless MS changed this, but I doubt it. They don't want people to use XP any more.

It would appear there are actually new features in SP3

New Features Discovered in Windows XP SP3: Is It Better Than Vista?

Quoted: Quoted: About XP SP3. I heard that all SP3 was going to be was SP2 + every updated MS released for XP since the release of SP2. They are not adding anything new. They are just consolidating 3 years of updates into one package. Unless MS changed this, but I doubt it. They don't want people to use XP any more. It would appear there are actually new features in SP3 New Features Discovered in Windows XP SP3: Is It Better Than Vista?

Those are Vista security features being added to XP so you may not like them

I would go with XP, but only XP Pro. I have Vista on one of my newer build, and it just seems to annoy me every now and then, to the point I want to pop it and put XP on instead.

Besides, you won't have to worry about software compatibility with your current software titles.

Quoted: no one else has mentioned this, but your bigger concern should be dumping DELL instead of the OS.

no shi*

if you buy a vostra,  dells LOWEST END LAPTOP.    how well do you think its gonna perform


they put the slowest harddrive, memory in the computers thats y they are cheaper.


YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR    


edit.

good grief those things start at 449  

yes spend the extra to get XP.. I work for an IT consulting company. Every single one of our engineers have gone back to XP. Vista is garbage.

Quoted: Quoted: i'd go with vista. drivers and applications get better everyday. a year ago i would have reccomended xp but no more. i run vista and i like ti better than xp. xp WILL run on less than 1gb of ram but it will limit the speed and applications you can run. 1GB should be the min. We're getting 2GB of ram, should that be enough to run Vista Home or Premium?

I had 2 gigs and it still ran like crap.

Quoted: yes spend the extra to get XP.. I work for an IT consulting company. Every single one of our engineers have gone back to XP. Vista is garbage.

Yep, I work for an 18,000 employee global software and IT services corporation.
A LOT of PCs. How many with Vista, in production? None. GIS evaluated them, and decided Vista was not ready for prime time. Well be staying with Windows Server 2003, and XP pro until something else comes along that is better. No plans to move to Vista for us or our clients.
Try again, Microsoft.

XP Professional is the best Microsoft product. All you need is a 1GB of RAM to go with XP Professional.

Quoted: Do some research on what real computer people think of Vista and your decision will be simple.

Really? I'm an IT person, have been for many years and I like Vista.  I guess I better change my mind if "real" computer people hate it.  BTW, playing COD1 and Baldur's Gate on it now, but I forgot that Vista won't run any older software, so I guess I better not mention that to "real" computer people.