Quote - This isn't about which OS is superior.  It's about whether Vista is a truly usable OS.  For some, yes.  For too many others (and I spent last night reading hundreds of horror stories), a big definite no.

For instance, you mention the superior disk read/write.  I've read just the exact opposite - that something in Vista is making it slower for disk reads/writes compared to XP.  It could be drivers, but either way that doesn't help.  Tons of gamers are dropping it because games don't work (se above for validation).  There are problems with Outlook.  Vista is just as vulnerable as XP - but you do get that nice DRM and lock-down feature if you change your hardware too much.

Unfortunately, the entire planet isn't going to go out and upgrade their computer hardware just to use Vista.  If Vista requires 2005 or later hardware, M$ isn't going to sell many (and the real sales figures agree here - they aren't selling!).  Since Vista was released, I've actually seen Windows XP restocked on the shelves.  That must mean that Vista is that great - big sarcasm.

C64, Amiga, Sun, Apple, Windows PC, various Linux OSs.  I've done them all.  I program in about 10 languages and run my own web and ftp server.  I build my own PCs.  I'm not an IT person - nor would I want to be one. ;)

YMMV, but I can't risk hoping that upgrading my OS won't introduce problems.  Yeeks - when I tried to upgrade to Windows ME from Win95, I immediately decided that I could live with whatever limitations were present in WindowsNT and went that direction.  The OS was unbootable - and when it could (in Safe Mode), it was disaster after disaster.  Some people still swear by Windows ME.  But I think that you'll agree that history falls completely on the side of - it was crap!  And Vista is pretty much the same - not as bad, but close enough.  Maybe SP2 will rectify all of this - but I doubt it.

And, to be fair, this isn't just about Vista.  MacOS X Leopard isn't fairing extremely well either (and why I haven't upgraded to that either).  Both of these OSs need a truckload of TLC (i.e.: updates) before they work as advertised.  And it is better to be late to the party after Uncle Schtook has left than to be early and suffer the lampshade over the head.  Good Ole' Uncle Schtook hasn't left yet.

 

I agree with you that ME was not a good OS.. for a variety of reasons, however I think it is far to early in the game to make any such pronoucnements about Vista, the data just isn't all in yet.  Anecdotal evidence doesn't sway me much.. I heard a lot of the same complaints about XP when it first came out, and as it turns out a lot of it was user issues rather than OS issues.  People generally do not like upgrades on the whole because they prefer the "old" way of doing things, naturally, that's what there used to.

XP is a pretty good OS overall, but in my initial testing Vista has it beat in several categories, most notably in disk read and write.  Under XP when I'm moving or working with a large batch process that involes a lot of files I notice a very, very distinct slow down in my foreground tasks.  Not so with Vista.  I can setup a large batch process in background and still even render in foreground, something that would crash my older XP system in a heartbeat.

This of course are just personal observations, and I've only had Vista installed for a very short period of time so I'm not certain what else I might run into as far as "setteling in" issues, but so far so good.  It has recognized all of my hardware and used it admirably, and it has run all of my applications with no issues whatsoever, and none of my apps were coded specifically for "Vista", there the same apps I was running under XP.

As to problems that "gamers" have experienced that really doesn't surprise me much, game programs often take advantages of "holes" in the operating system to exploit certain areas or capabilities of the hardware to improve game performance and speed.  When you change OS's often those "holes" are plugged or rerouted for security reasons and what not, so it doesn't really surprise me much that there would be some issues there.  But I'm not a big gamer so I haven't had any such problems personally.

I guess my point here is that to proclaim Vista to be worthless is quite frankly premature at best.  While my own intiial reaction to Vista was that I had no intention of upgrading anytime soon, circumstances put me in a position where looking it over was actually an option, and when I did I was impressed enough to leave it installed on my machine.  That is all I was attempting to relay.

As to the rest, obviously many of the folks in this thread support there particular favorite OS with an almost religious like devotioin that I simply cannot fathom, I run 3 seperate OS's on various machines here in my network and take advantage of all of there strengths while using the other machines to compensate for there weaknesses.  I don't have a religious attachment to Vista or any other OS, I was simply pointing out that people might want to be a little less knee jerk about there reactions to Vista and a little more open to experimentation, that's all.

But for me that's enough, I've spoken my peace and have no wish to debate further with folks who've already made up there minds regardless of anything that I might post.  If you hafe Vista then by all means don't use it, your perogative.  Me I installed it and it works well for my application. I'd encourage others to give it a look and not to take all the badmouthing it gets at face value, but in the end that's there decision, not mine.

So you folks enjoy the rest of the "debate", or "holy war" which is really what this appears to be shaping up to be, me personally I'll just head off to enjoy doing a bit more rendring and getting the rest of my system setup while I'm doing so - oh, and FYI, the only reason I mentioned my background was because you stated that "experience" was important to you, so I relayed my own so that you could better judge where I'm coming from, that is all.  

Hope that clarifies my position.  Now I'll just get out of the way and let the crusades begin.. lol..

Stepdad