Vista, Vista, Vista: Should You Upgrade?
Lifehacker has a Q&A with Microsoft that's pretty interesting, as the questions were taken from Lifehacker readers. Of critical importance: Should you upgrade?
In short, MS simply wasn't able to give me the Single Killer Reason you should move to Vista. That doesn't mean you shouldn't, however - in my opinion, the move is worth the whole package of improvements and new features. Vista builds in things I've come to expect to work at the operating system level - like search, photo management and calendaring. Sure, these are all things I can get with Google Desktop, Picasa and Google Calendar, but I'm happy to have that stuff without those extra, third-party apps taking up CPU and memory. Plus, I'm a sucker for a good-looking operating system, and Vista does look and feel a lot nicer than XP.
When we went to a Microsoft Vista press thingy, we came away with the same impression. For those of you who like XP, don't despair, you'll still have until 2011 before Microsoft stops supporting it. Also of interest to this blog was this question:
Which edition of Vista should the power user who doesn't run a home business purchase?
"Vista Home Premium will include Media Center and Aero and seems to be the logical choice for home power users and media enthusiasts. Check out the Vista edition feature chart before you buy to see which edition is best for you."
Mmmm. Technology.—MEGHANN MARCO
Q&A with Microsoft [Lifehacker]
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Comments:
"The Single Killer Reason you should move to Vista?"
It's going to be software unfortunately. Microsoft's been playing nice so far, trying to woo us all into their obscene excuse for an OS by not mentioning the simple fact that several important driver resources are being made Vista exclusive. I'm talking about DX10 here, but I'm sure they'll find ways to similarly limit new software to Vista only.
There's never been a better time to switch to Mac or Linux.
I am so down on Microsoft that I doubt that I would upgrade if its was light years ahead of anything else. I upgraded MS Office 2000 to Ms Office 2003 and lost tons of features that had been on MS Office 2000. Hopefully by 2011 my XP can be replaced by a non-MS product. Die Microsoft!
I've been using Linux more and more for everyday stuff. Vista is _so_ laden with DRM, that you're basically going to end up with a nice, expensive Cell Phone. There is NO WAY I will "upgrade" to this bloated product until I absolutely have to. And by that time, I'll have a computer that only runs Vista -- and it'll be a gaming only rig. For the important stuff, I'll be moving more and more toward Linux (which is free -- if you don't count the cost to your sanity).
I loath DRM, and Vista is just loaded with all kinds of crippling goodies (like the HDMI output that won't work without MS approved software and hardware).
Vista is a losing proposition for most users.
I'll smugly stick with my Ubuntu Linux systems, thanks. Heh... It's good to be a geek.
For everyone beating their linux drums just to spite MS, realize that VMWare GSX is a free download and then you can run both. Have windows for applications where you need it, and use linux, solaris, netware, etc where they all run better all on the same machine at the same time.
"Vista, Vista, Vista: Should You Upgrade?"
No.
This has been another episode of Simple Answers to Consumerist Computer Questions.
Tune in next week, when we'll talk about preserving your investment in Windows software while discovering a truly useful, speedy OS, when we answer the question: "Now that Mac use Intel chips, is it worth the few extra bucks to try one of their fast, pretty machines?"
I'm not staying with Linux to spite MS. I'm doing it to protect my privacy and to be able to hack my computer as I see fit. And I already use the VM freeware with XP, but for my purposes, it's just a stop-gap measure. For real gaming well... neither Linux or Macs are your friend. More's the pity.
I see that my comment has brought others out that hate MS. I used to be a huge MS supporter. I've lately felt that MS "allows' all of the popups and spams to generate revenue. I especially hate the recent trend of MS to become a partner in my computer. the French government has made the decision to use Linux and OpenOffice exclusively starting in June.
As if all those extra features built into Vista don't use up any extra CPU or memory resources?
I used to be excited for Vista for the fundamental changes it was set to make. When they canned all the imported new features to focus on flashy bullshit, I lost interest.