Vista

Discussion in 'hardware' started by TechOutsider, Sep 6, 2009.

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  1. TechOutsider

    TechOutsider Registered Member

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    Did a significant amount of people complain during Windows Vista's development period?

    Or did the complaints pour in after its release? If so, why? I know that some of the elements in its release were flawed, such as the "Compatible" and the "Capable" labeling. That caused a lot of complaints.
     
  2. ThunderZ

    ThunderZ Registered Member

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    Seem`s to me the biggest complaints I remember were the increased hardware requirements, followed by the overall size of the install. The issues you mention sort of got a "pass" as the product was still beta and of course fix`s were promised prior to final release.

    Did not really follow Vista. Even now only have it loaded on a spare hard drive that gets changed in and out of a spare machine as need`d.
     
  3. Bill_Bright

    Bill_Bright Registered Member

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    Does it really matter now? Vista was released to the public almost 3 years ago, and Win7 is just around the corner. Sure there were some major issues with Vista, but I note the vast majority were with users upgrading hardware designed for XP, which was designed to support legacy hardware and software. That is, XP was designed to support hardware and software from the 1990s!!!!

    Sure, Vista required more horsepower - I see no problem with that as every OS since the beginning of time has had to deal with GREAT advances in hardware capabilities AND the demands of users wanting more power, faster performance and MUCH higher resolutions (especially important for graphics intensive Vista, and todays newest applications - and games).

    Complain? Yes. But complaining does little good if the developers cannot duplicate the problem at will - which is often the case. Let's not forget that there are nearly 1 Billion Windows computers out there, and EVERY SINGLE ONE becomes unique within minutes of first power up as owners add user accounts, printers, networks, and other hardware, then they customize their desktops, and add all their favorite programs and add-ons, including very intrusive security programs. That's a HUGE challenge to Microsoft and another fact not to be forgotten is that the VAST MAJORITY of Vista users are, and have been happy with it. And of course, happy people don't complain, so the roar of complaint seems very loud indeed.

    The biggest problem with Vista was not Microsoft, but 3rd party hardware and software vendors who were negligent and naive about creating Vista versions of HW drivers (a big problem) and their programs. ZoneAlarm, for example, took nearly a year to come out with a Vista version of their very popular firewall program. This was inexcusable since the code was released to vendors many months prior. Of course the MS bashers and biased IT media jumped on that and blamed MS for all the woes for which they were only partially responsible.

    With Win7 the lessons learned by all have been heeded and (thanks in part for Win7 using Vista drivers) MS and 3rd party suppliers have worked very close together to ensure Win7 works - and so far, that seems to be hugely successful.

    But there's still a catch - if users continue to run with hardware designed to support a decade+ old hardware and software, Win7 will give them problems too. If you want to run the latest technology operating systems and applications, do it on the latest technology hardware - they were made for each other.
     
  4. tipstir

    tipstir Registered Member

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    I have to agree Vista is history. Experiment that didn't go the right direction that Microsoft had hope. To many users didn't have the hardware nor the drivers to get Vista to work right. Thus everyone had stuck with Windows XP versions.

    For Windows 7 is should be a better choice for most of us, but how many will leave XP and go for 7. Just have to wait and see.
     
  5. Bill_Bright

    Bill_Bright Registered Member

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    Huh? It was hardly an experiment. :(

    MS got slammed hard for XP's security failings when XP was designed, not for security, but to support antiquated Windows 95/98 hardware and expensive custom software. This due to USER demand as users did not want the expense to retool once again for another new OS. So MS weighed legacy support over security - which was hardly a threat as the Internet was still in its infancy and about the only way to get a virus was to boot to an infected floppy brought in from home - that is, via sneakernet. NO one, not even the staunchest MS bashers predicted the explosion in malware, or the aggressiveness of the badguys.

    Vista, on the other hand, weighed security over legacy support - so of course, the MS bashers, looking for any reason to bash MS, bashed MS for that too. But security trumps all so better to get bashed for not supporting a 5 year old graphics card than for having inadequate security.
     
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