Originally posted by: Quinton McLeod
Are you people kidding me?
I can't be the only person reading this.
You guys are getting all excited and horny over OLD prefetch technology? This stuff has been around for YEARS! OS 10, Linux and Unix all had it. Vista is just now getting it and you guys are like, "WOW! OMG!"
The things you guys are drooling over isn't new. None of this is an innovation. This doesn't warrant a complete upgrade to Vista.
Vista still has problems that aren't being addressed:
I could care less about what other OSes have. Realistically, I need to run windows. If OSX had it for years, great for them, but its new to me.
DRM: It's still an issue, and yes it is! Many of you are running the 32 bit versions of Vista. Little do you all know, you cannot run HD content on the 32 bit versions of Vista. Whoops! Forgot about that, huh?
Not only that, but you cannot run programs that run media without the latter being "trusted" by the kernel. If the program isn't trusted, it's not ran. This BREAKS many many programs for Vista. It also prevents you from using /burning/listening/watching your digital content!
100% Complete and utter nonsense. I'm running 32bit vista, and I can run HD content just fine. I can run programs that run media without being "trusted" just fine (Media player classic, for example). I can play the most illicit xvid videos, even at HD resolution, without a hitch. Would I have problems running HD-DVD movies over a non-HDCP monitor? Perhaps - but thats no different than the proposed lockdown of requiring HDMI on HDTVs. This show is being run by the studios. If you think OSX will be spared, you're wrong. And linux being open source, will never, ever play HD-DVDs until the encryption is cracked. Got a problem with that? Don't buy HD-DVDs.
I can burn, listen and watch anything I want. You have no idea what you're talking about.
Viruses: Vista still runs that same old NT kernel! That means it's prone to the same vulnerabilities found in all the previous Windows systems based off the NT kernel. You'll be seeing vulnerabilities that effect Windows XP AND Vista, and not just Windows XP. That is bad! Basically, this means that Vista has the same problems as XP.
Again, no idea what you're talking about. Vista has quite a few new security features, both at the user level and the system level. The number one security feature will always be the user. I personally turn off most of that crap anyway, because I know what I'm doing. OSX and Linux are more secure by default - 90% of computers run windows, with most of them clueless, so why bother writing viruses for anything else?
Honestly, if you get a virus in this day and age, it's your fault - don't blame the OS.
Resources: Aero requires a graphics card capable of Pixel Shader 2.0. How many new computers actually run Pixel Shader 2.0 decently? Wanna know how many? NONE! Most new PCs come with an ATI X600 or Nvidia 6600. That is CRAP. Not to mention, that Vista is EXPENSIVE!
You still have no idea what you're talking about. The nvidia 6600 is well capable of PS2.0, as is the x600. The geforce 5 had it, many, many years ago. And vista does not *require* this - it's completely optional. You can run it Windows 2000 style if you so desire. Stupid to penalize them for something very cool and entirely optional.
Price: If you want a decent version of Vista, you're going to spend over 200 dollars. Ultimate being over 400!! Not only that, but with newer PCs, you cannot upgrade from Windows XP to Vista. You have to do a clean install. Some people cannot do that!
Again, more nonsense. You can upgrade from XP to Vista, the only thing you can't do is upgrade from xp pro to vista home. Win2k upgrades also require a clean install. And if your PC can handle vista, it certainly didnt come preloaded with Win 98, so just about everyone can get the discounted upgrade.
It isn't any more expensive than XP was when it came out, aside from the ultimate version, which I think is fairly useless.
Games: Most games require 1 gig of RAM nowadays. No matter what anyone says -- while running that Aero GUI, your game WILL slow down. The OS itself needs 1 gig of ram. ALL BY ITSELF! 1 GIG! If you want to play a game that requires 1 gig, you will need 2 gigs to run it decently. That's not even a guarantee.
BS. Of course, when you run *anything* other than the game itself, even a tiny utility, it will slow down the game. I haven't noticed a large hit with the 3d aero while running a game, but I didn't bother for very long - why would I waste VRAM on windows when I need it for a game. It is *ridiculously* easy to automatically turn it off when running a game. Want that VRAM back for your game? Click a checkbox in the shortcut properties. It'll also snap right back into 3d aero as soon as you quit the game.
BTW, on my system, running a 7600gt, with dual 19inch LCDs, wanna know how much main memory the 3d gui takes up? 16mb. What a crisis. The 3d aero gui offloads much onto your VRAM.
And no matter how hard you want to believe it, vista does not take up 1gb of ram more than xp. I can absolutely guarantee you this.
Then you have Direct X 10. Completely incompatible to Direct X 9. Microsoft wants gamers to spend extra money just to spend more money to play games on a system that's going to need even MORE money to upgrade! Does that make sense?! Of course not!
More BS. DX9 is also included in Vista. Games won't *require* DX10 for 5 years or so - I doubt you can find a game today that *requires* DX9.
The OS still has everything integrated with the kernel. What makes it even more dangerous is that Microsoft programmed DRM DIRECTLY into the kernel. If a program decided to use the kernel's lock-down features and suddenly makes a boo-boo... BOOM! Your computer crashes! When will Microsoft learn that you cannot have everything integrated with the kernel. IT'S A SECURITY RISK!!
Is there any valid documentation for this, or do you believe everything you read on the internet?
Servers: You cannot run a server with Vista. Not with the heavy requirements it has! You'll need 4 gigs of ram just to run a simple task! A good chunk of that would be just for the GUI ALONE! Why?? Server admins don't need the fancy graphics! Vista != Server. Microsoft shot themselves in the foot as far as Servers go.
So, turn off the new GUI then, run it Win2k style. Problem solved.
Look who we are dealing with. Microsoft's products have always had a long history of buginess, exploits and just outright bad programming. Do you honestly think they will change? I doubt they will considering that they've already found critical exploits before the OS was released!! One of them being the old WMF exploit! What?! An old XP exploit found in Vista!
You all can have your Vista.
I doubt even god himself could write an OS with 50 million lines of code, meant to support nearly all the hardware on the planet, and not have a few bugs here or there. XP was a solid product, and Vista was long overdue. And it's good.
And for all those supposed security risks on XP, I never once had a successful attack.
New feature: There aren't any! Everything that Vista has is on another OS, and has been for YEARS.
Was there ANYTHING of worth in your post? Spoken like someone who sounds like they've never used it, and have just compiled and regurgitated all the negative things they've heard to sound cool to their l33t hacker linux friends. You have absolutely NO IDEA what you're talking about, and I've got no idea why I'm even responding. Honestly, in nearly 10 years of being at AT, I don't think I've ever seen a post so long that didnt have at least one single shred of validity in it. I could point out plenty of flaws in vista, but your list is entirely garbage. You need to upgrade your brain before you upgrade your computer, seriously.