Attached Link: Article of Interest

If you are thinking of upgrading to Vista, you might be interested in some of the pro's and con's.

Thank you Keenart, really interesting reading, it confirms me in my will to stick with XP64 :)

Ab

I have had a reasonable amount of time to run Vista x86 and x64 through its paces the past few months. I have settled on the x64 due to minor improvements.

I did not have any issues with the Vista WDDM NVidia drivers, they performed well. However, they did not support many of the features that video cards have the ability to utilize, SSE, Shared Memory, a current OGL, and many more. MS is fond of cutting out all that may have the potential to destabilize the OS, and NVidia has instituted a Beta driver program to resolve broken app issues.

Beyond the necessity of having to have a least one computer using Vista, and the rich graphic look of Vista, ReadyBoost turned out to be a plus. For those who use the x86 system and cannot upgrade beyond 2 gigs of ram, they now can give an additional boost to the system with flash ram. I tried the option and installed a 200x USB Flash module that reads at 32 m and writes at 16 to 17 m. ReadyBoost used the flash ram to cache out 640 megs of Operating System to the USB drive. This allows the 2 gigs of ram to function at full capacity, and together does give a slight boost to the system in speed. This also works well on the x64 OS, but is not a substitute for 4 gigs versus 2 gigs. Microsoft says it is considering altering this deficiency in a later upgrade to include the ability for x64 systems with less than 4 gigs to use the Flash as an add-on, giving the x64 an additional boost without upgrading the mobo.

Here are some of the problems I have encountered this past month:

SATA drives that are not VISTA certified are a problem. An SATA drive must now be initialized before operation, special ID’s and security features. Some drives do not have the software written that can accomplish this.  You can do this by adding the drive while running a PATA, and then setting up the SATA with the Microsoft OS, then install to the SATA. You can see the potential for later problems.

Of course all of the Video Card drivers at the present are struggling to keep up with Vista and will take some time before they have the bugs worked out. All and all, most programs affected are users of high-end 3D features, like Vue, but new drivers are being written.

Beyond the installation of software and UAC, other security, and compatibility problems with third party software is Windows Defender. It constantly crashes the system. However, blue screens are few, and usually Windows kills the app and restarts the OS under the hood. Restarting the app is usually possible without a reboot. 

Side by Side is a problem, but can be remedied by installing the correct redistributable MFC package. Vista has the Winsxs Folder that installs older application required MFC packages. Normally this would cause a lot of trouble, but not now, you can install MFC’s with the same version and different dates and vice versa side by sidfe. This keeps all of the apps working normally without taking the system down.

Vista is still not very good at cleaning up after itself and a lot of useless files can remain on the hard drive. Several programs write very large files when they encounter an OS crash or other problem. Mini dumps and now Maxi dumps are common. On my system, in two crashes 1.3 gigs of crash files were created. You can get rid of these files with the Clean Drive app.

Many third party progs like to download and install a patch, and leave a copy that remains on the drive. I am not fond of this procedure, knowing that there is always a virus that can evade detection.  I would rather download the patch separate and scan the patch later before install.

Corel recently downloaded more than 300 megs of install files to the Download folder. You get rid of the patches and you cannot repair the app later. In one of these 120 meg patches that I downloaded from Corel , was a serious Worm Virus that was installed to my system that Norton could not remove, but did quarantine. I had to dump the partition, and reinstall a backup to get rid of the Virus. I have since shut down all automatic downloads and use the manual feature instead.

There are a lot of smaller issues, log files that keep getting dumped to the temp folders, and other hidden files and folders that tend to get large without your knowledge.

Vista has about a dozen programs working in the background logging and tracking everything going on in the OS and this is a valuable resource if you know how to get at the info.  This could also be a serious security risk.

Other than Vista being a bit faster than Win Xp, Win Xp is more stable. 

I would still recommend that if you buy Vista that you buy the Ultimate, although expensive, it has all of the features you would want when using a 3D package.  Just make sure your system can handle the overload.

Very interesting analyze.
I really hope it won't be tomorrow that I will have to install Vista (it will vastly depends on the next version of the programs I use, if they're still 100% compatible with my XP64, then all is fine, if not .... ) Vista seems to be the total opposite of what I'm looking for from an OS in fact - especially from a professional OS. I wish an OS would be much more modular, let's say a base layer, providing all the IO functionalities and all the things really needed, then modules adding functionalities if you want them - plug-ins in fact, you choose which one you really want or need, and then, and only then all the eye candy for those who really want it - I personally don't feel like loosing processor cycles and memory for an allegedly pretty OS, my xp 64 runs with the classic look - win2K - and it's fine with me.
That way, everyone would be happy, the hardcore people could run a computer tailored for their need and those less used to computing or who just want to have an OS doing as much as possible for them and looking exactly like they want would install all plug-ins - this could include wizard ant things like that for the beginners too.
I guess it's possible to strip down Vista as it is possible with xp64 (In the end I "only" have 24 services running in the background, including drivers, firewall and various licensing services) but it would be so much better if we could do that during the install instead of having to tweak for hours afterwards - usually, installing my computer takes about 3 to four hours with all programs, then tweaking can take more than a day
It has nothing to do with bashing microsoft or Vista, it's more a longing for a change in philosophy.

J-L

I would agree with you, however, that is precisely what Microsoft does not want to do. They want to have one app, and no add-ins with the exception of their own. They really do not like the third party modular approach. And since Novel sold out there will soon be no Linux without royalty payment due, that will destroy open-source, so that says it all.

Microsoft’s approach has always been about complete control, which is how a perfectionist does business.
 

Something interesting; when IBM was the business model they took things slow. Introduced innovation when the old had run its course and new financial assets were needed. They understood the value of slow and steady economic progress, with the ability to take full advantage of the economic rewards. They also understood that not all businesses could afford to constantly throw money at innovation.  Now they do what all other do to survive.

Microsoft has never understood this economic model; they approach business with the idea they should constantly improve, make it bigger and better, whether the innovation is needed or financially viable. This is the economic model of today all around us and it will lead to ruination, as grandma used to say.

I like the look and the idea of Vista, but for now, there is just too much going on under the hood. All of the security and innovative features are getting in the way of the efficiency of the OS. With continual updates and patches, it will get slower, but MS has always depended on the newest CPU and Ram to get them out of trouble.

You can strip down Vista, but if you do you will defeat all of the innovation and technology implemented that keep it running smoothly. For instance, you can shut down system restore, and use partition backup software, but then you loose the shadow clone for preinstallations, and this is true of many of the other features. I tried this and stripped everything down. I had many troubles and constant alerts telling me of the consequences, not too mention that many times when I patched, those features were turned back on, or even damaged in some cases. Going to the Classic view is only a temporary fix. 

There are too many improvements that are going to take a good year for the third party industry to catch up to.  In the mean time retailers are hurting at lost sales, which will filter down to all of us in higher costs down the road.

With the new business from China, MS can sit. So it will be interesting to see if Vista will become the app of the future, or another MS Dog. It is the only game in town.