Vista's Pros and Cons

I wouldnt say its a downgrade, but the only reason I would be getting it if I were to get it is for directx 10. I just wish they would release a completly stripped down operating system without all the frivalous stuff for gaming. If I could play games on linux Id probably switch in a second.

I just got it today and installed it on my M1710 and all I have to say is this thing is now actually FAST!

I love it and will never go back to xp already.

Hows gaming performance compared to XP? Last thing I heard was that it was actually lower

I have yet to try gaming, I do more video editing and that kind of thing and its great. Ill let you know if I try a game.

The OS responds faster than XP.

For gaming performance I cannot tell you because there's no final driver yet.

I can say that all you hear about slower than XP is because of drivers.

I find gaming performance the same, if not better...

Why would you call it a "Downgraded XP"?


Really? What's keeping you?

You put "OpenAL" in Pros, but you need to put that in the "Cons" section.

While Vista includes support for OpenAL by default, so did XP if you had a Creative soundcard. On the contrary, Windows Vista DOES NOT SUPPORT hardware accelerated Direct3D or EAX. So all mixing is now done in software (your hardware accelerated soundcard goes to waste), and all those games that use EAX for environmental audio effects now don't work anymore (or at least no more effects).

This is BAD! They're breaking support for a decade's worth of games that take advantage of environmental audio effects and hardware accelerated audio! Game CPU load will increase.

This doesn't affect newer games as much, because many such as Half-Life 2 and Doom 3 already did mixing and/or reverb and other effects in software. However, Half-Life 1, for example, used EAX to set the reverb to match the current environment.

EDIT: You've also got "Disk Defragmenter" under Pros. Why? Under Vista, they've removed the UI, taken away our control, and made it a background task. Now there's no way to get detailed defragmentation info short of running third party tools or using a command-line version of the defrag tool bundled with Vista. Perhaps this is good for typical users, but for power users likely to be using this board, this is BAD.

Network attack....dont listen to a word from Symantec regarding Vista...its just sour grapes because MS made life difficult for them when it came to allowing them to access the proper information they needed when developing for Vista...

I also agree regarding the defragmenter...its DEFINATELY not a pro...its not worth the time of day...

As for the cracking...you said they hacked it already, so what next?
They cracked XP in LESS time than Vista...and XP is still going strong...

I can only get the Business Edition for Free from my work. I kinda wanted the Home Edition Pemium or Ultimate.

Same here!

I do remember someone saying that it might be possible to download a Business -> Ultimate upgrade for $130. I might do it if it's really true. The new Media Center seems too good to miss out on.

BTW, why would you want Home over Business? Is it just because of Media Center?

Creative is working on a wrapper for DirectSound3D and EAX, which will allow old games to use hardware-accelerated sound through OpenAL. As far as I know, the company is currently beta-testing the software on XiFi cards, and will later release a version for Audigy2. This translation will hopefully have a minimal CPU usage. Here's the link:

http://preview.creativelabs.com/alchemy/default.aspx

Because I don't need Ultimate i mean I don't need the best, and I'm not entirely sure if I want a fresh install of Vista. I just want the simple upgrade so I keep my current files and such, even though many people say this is bad. Well instead of buying windows, I'm going to use Business Edition and use that money towards a second Hard Drive, for Vista. So I'll use both my windows XP and Vista, and see how I like things.

Buying a second Hard drive sounds better IMO.

Vista CONS:
Can't turn off Cleartype even at the system level.
Protected Video Path - Output Protection Management (PVP-OPM)
As secure as your virginity on prom night.

Vista PROS:
New columned Windows Explorer (Borrowed from Mac OS perhaps?)
DX10 Imagine how many of us would stick to XP if there was a DX10 for the rest of us?

Something to ponder:
XP and Vista are the BASE operating systems.
Between a clean install of XP and Vista, is there anything you can do better with Vista that you can't do with XP?
Isn't it the software you add on top of the OS which makes your computer truly useful?

I am going to wait on Vista for quite a while. I fully remember the troubles of upgrading right off when XP came out.

I have been running vista for months... it has gotten alot better since the Beta days and I tried to go back to XP, but I jsut couldn't do it!!!!

Vista to me is much better for everyday usage. Then again, I do not play alot of games on it. I do play some, but I dual boot XP jsut in case there are issues that I cannot resolve with VISTA and the game.