Windows Vista SUCKS

[TerranRich]

I have a brand new laptop that I got for free, and it has everything that a store-bought laptop would, and it came with (yippee) Windows Vista. Thinking it woudl be a new and exciting experience, I was looking forward to using Vista.

If you consider consistent freezing (yes, the mouse cursor freezes when ONLY Firefox is open, with ONE TAB, something that hasn't happened to me since the days of Windows 95) exciting, then Vista is for you. Seriously, the damn thing freezes when I'm barely doing a fraction of what I used to do with my 4-year-old Dell Inspiron with Windows XP. I'm not about to play lemming and wait for dozens of updates to come my way. I used to run Firefox with 10+ tabs open, Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, and a bunch of other programs all at the same time, and my XP laptop would barely blink at me. But my Vista laptop hacks and wheezes every time I ask it to do the most basic of functions.

So what I'm thinking is...I can't relaly afford to buy another copy of Win XP, and I've had back luck with cracked/patched (illegal) versions of XP in the past... So should I consider putting Linux on it? I know it's free, and it's God's gift to nerds, etc., but should I do it? Is it a big learning curve? Is it worth it? Are there any real drawbacks?

I've gotten so used to Windows, and I've never seen a problem with it until now. I dunno, I might try getting a cracked version and seeing if that works, but I have a bunch of projects being worked on, and I can't afford much downtime.

I don't know, I just wish Vista would work right. Would it improve performance at all to set Vista so that it looks like the old Win 9x interface? Would the Aero feature realistically be slowing down my computer?

[Nikolas]

The minute I saw the title I thought to myself: "well d'uh!!!" but reading on I thought to myself "Terran, you won a free laptop, quit your complaining..."

What does Microsoft say about this? Winning the laptop, couldn't you tell them to put on xp 64-bit, or xp pro/home, or something to that end, as well?

For linux I'm not the man to ask... Depends on what you do really, from what I've heard/seen. I deal with pro audio, so Linux is not for me. If you want an "office" computer, Linux could be fine I guess... you can also try it, by copying the files onto a CD and boot from the CD...

[space boy]

My dad once tried to break linux by launching at least a million programs. Any windows OS would have passed out already but linux fought like a champ. The system started going incredibly slow(a couple of minutes response time) and it took half an hour to terminate all the tasks that had been running(it was far more than anyone would ever need) but after that everything worked fine for the next few hours until he normally shut it down. He didn't even have to reboot it. The only (very few) times linux crashed was when my dad consciously made it.

[DoorKnobHandle]

Really, disable Aero and make it look classic.

This will safe a lot of performance, especially if your graphics-card is not very efficient.

Vista is not really slower than XP, it just comes with a lot more stuff to run by default.

[RickJ]

Hehe, I had the same initial reaction as Nikolas and then you said "Linux".      Nikolas correctly points out that if you have an absolute need to use a specific windows program Linux may not be for you.   For example AGS2.8beta does not run in Linux while AGS2.72 does with the help of a program/library called "wine".   

Although the decision ultimately depends on what purpose you intend for this laptop, I strongly encourage you to try Linux.   Since it seems that you intend to scrap Vista anyway, you may as well take the opportunity install Linux.  I have recently switched from openSUSE to Kubuntu.   I think Kubuntu, in many ways, is easier to work with so that's what I would recommend.  Everyone has their preferences  so I don't think there any right or wrong choices. 

• http://www.kubuntu.org/
  
  
• http://en.opensuse.org/Welcome_to_openSUSE.org
  

[R4L]

Go with Linux. Over and out. 

[TerranRich]

Heh. Perhaps I should've elaborated as to what this computer is being used for.Mainly, it's:

* web design (I use Dreamweaver and prefer to keep it that way)
* graphic design (Photoshop, Illustrator)
* web browsing (Firefox)
* IM (Trillian)

I rarely use it for gaming, as my graphics card, as new as it is, doesn't have updated graphic drivers. I'm forced to get them from Sony Vaio instead of Intel, and this causes some problems, because the updated drivers are out from Intel, and I'm sure I could finally run KOTOR I and II on it, as well as Star Trek Legacy and a few other games I have and would like to play on it. Would this Sony Vaio laptop even let me get rid of Vista and put anything else on it? Sony seems to have a tight grip on this computer. It sucks that I have to wait until their site has the updated drivers. Bastards.

[Gregjazz]

I think Linux would suit you very nicely, then. It has some great software for exactly the purposes you listed.

[deadsuperhero]

If you're going with Linux, I'd highly recommend Ubuntu. Fantastic piece of work, and their upcoming release will have some incredible eyecandy integrated (known as Compiz Fusion) integrated into it, all for free.
You can also get AGS games to work on it, though it's a bit of a lengthy process of setting up.
On a high note, though, DosBox and ScummVM work really well. Meaning all the classic games work. And some Windows games can be emulated with a project called WINE.
Though, my dad gave me his Windows computer today, and now I feel complete. I now have TWO computers, one for my beloved Linux, and the other for all the Windows games that don't yet work in Linux! 

[Khris]

I was setting up a friends internet access. He has this computer, so even Vista should run fast as hell, right? It was my first experience with the OS.

I started by setting up the WLAN, this went relatively smooth. As soon as we were online, I downloaded several files using internet explorer. You all know how IE downloads everything to its fucking temporary internet files dir first, then moves (probably copies) it over to the specified destination. (Which is especially annoying if it's a huge file.)

Amazingly, it took Vista about 15 seconds to move a ~500kb file. While we were waiting, we were shown the little copy window with the progress bar at roughly 75% at all times, the text beneath reading "estimating time remaining". The screen looked like frozen, when suddenly the window disappeared without reaching 100% first.

That's when I decided to stick to XP as long as humanly possible.
When I continued to set up the system (AntiVir, Firefox, etc.) I got lags and non-responsive windows all the way to the end.
M$ actually sacrificed usability for eye candy.

So: don't switch to Vista unless there's absolutely no other way.

There's no Linux version of Dreamweaver, for starters. Adobe products are developed for Windows and Mac only, so this applies to Photoshop and Illustrator, too.

There's a Linux version available of Firefox (duh), Trillian is Windows-only.

Use XP. Since you've already mentioned it, I know somebody who uses a cracked version, and it works like a charm, with updates and everything.

Only switch to Linux if you're prepared to switch every program you're using for doing your work.

[Balin]

My dad bought a Vista computer, as it was the only thing being offered in stores, and he doesn't like buying online. Normally, it would have been a kick-ass PC, with a dual-core AMD processor, 1 Gig of RAM and an Nvidia graphics card (much as I hate them, it wouldn't have been bad for gaming). The trouble is that Vista doesn't work with anything. The slowness would seem to be from your graphics card, but Vista doesn't really work well with any program not specifically designed for it. My dad can't even access some websites because they're not configured to work with Vista yet.

I don't know anything about Linux, but if you can get a copy of Windows XP, I'd say go for it, though I don't know if MS will allow you to install it instead of Vista. And if I'm not mistaken, you can only activate a copy of XP once before you either have to shell out about 150 bucks for a new product key or buy Vista. So, if you do manage to get XP, be careful you don't end up having to restore your computer. 

[Gilbert]

I think one problem is with the 1 GB of RAM, while 1 GB is more than enough for most uses, under default settings Vista will just crawl like a tortoise (I'd heard that at least 2 GB RAM is required to run Vista "smoothly", not really sure).
Try disabling all those stupid "shinny extra awesome" features of Vista, maybe your computer can work fine since then.

[deadsuperhero]

Let me just say this...
Linux has come a long way. It's become one hell of an OS, and I use it a lot, just for tinkering, and the eyecandy in Compiz Fusion, Screenlets, Avant Window Navigator, and just Linux in general has become very beautiful, and surprisingly lightweight.
Just look into Ubuntu, or Debian. Linspire's also an option, as is SuSe, Red Hat, Mandriva, and so on and so forth.
Though, once you get your desktop onto a smooth, reflective 3D cube that spins at your every whim, it gets very addictive. Windows stretch and float, you can cycle through them on a ring if you wish. It's very impressive.
Like I said, it's come a long way. Is the general public quite ready to use it? I dunno. Most people just play flash games, check their email, share photos, listen to music, and chat online. Heck, Linux has quite a few games (over 57 are available on one site, all of which are free. Yes, some of the games do suck.)
It also has quite a few apps. I won't go through naming them all, but it still needs three things:
1) More ports of commercial games.
2) Less crashability. Messing with beta software can have unexpected results in Linux, both good and bad.
3) AGS Editor port, and an easier way to play AGS games.

[Hudders]

Sony Vaio

That's your problem.

[Ishmael]

As suddenly resource-hogness matters again, you could, unless you're a total IE-hater already, try Maxthon for web browsing, which while using the IE renderer and other IE things (like the file download system) uses less memory than IE.

[TerranRich]

Well, I disabled Aero and even set it to the "Classic" (Win 9x) style. And it still freezes every now and then.

And I get that "Calculating Time Remaining" deal too! I've heard there was a fix for it. As for web sites, all web sites work with Vista...there shouldn't be a problem there.

So yeah I'm going to find a cracked version of XP (which is illegal and I wouldn't recommend, kiddies!), since I run a lot of Windows-specific programs. Linux - especially Ubuntu - seems very nice, but for my uses, I can't foresee using it.

There should be no problem on Microsoft's end in replacing Vista with XP...I'm just worried that the laptop itself (being a Vaio and all) will throw a fit.

I just hope that the XP installation successfully gets rid of Vista, seeing as how the Documents, etc. have been completely reorganized ("/Users/Name/Documents" instead of "/Documents and Settings/Name/My Documents", etc.). I'll have to check around the web to see if there is a proper way to replace Vista with XP.

[Ghost]

@Terran
From personal experience: You should be safe with a quick'n'dirty format c:\...

@everyone else
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ImW0-MgR8I
And people think Vista's Aero is sort of cool? Ha, I scoff at them! But I must add that I can't see much actual functionality, as good as the eye candy is...

[ALPHATT]

Ghost you're totally right. format C:\ is an easy and great way for deleting that shit I mean ithe whole Vista is just a memory vampire and it wants you to see its beautyfull look and forget the horrible performance(Goddamn Microsoft). But what is Microsofts biggest crime with Vista that DX10 is only compatible with Vista. And some developers already working on games requireing DX10(even tho they have DX9 versionsas well) Now it's only a matter of time that Microsoft will force gamers to buy Vista by bribeing the developers so they will make only DX10 versions of their games.(Why Billieee why,why, why !?? ?? ?? ??)

[TerranRich]

Yeah well what if I have stuff on the hard drive? I can't spend hours backing everything up. Isn't there another way? I'd gladly format if it were that easy.

[Ghost]

Hm, that could be messy then. I have two partitions on my harddrive, namely c and d, and each time I need a fresh XP I just move the files I want to keep to d and format the c partition. Works fine. I don't know if that's possible with Vista- when I removed it from a friends laptop, she had no data to backup, so we could "play it brute".

I can't think of a more elegant way, yet must admit that my Vista knowledge is limited. POssibly someone else can give you better advice; if not, just do that backup. Lacks style, yes, but gets you rid of Vista.

Plus, Partition managers are available. Shouldn't be TOO hard to lay your fingers on one, and create a new partition with a FAT XP can understand...