Vista - Any good?

[Deane Johnson]

I'm wondering what the early reports and opinions are on Windows Vista. I've heard that it's loaded with problems, but that could be nothing more than chatter. Any thoughts or opinions?

[Josuah]

Peter Gutmann is a security specialist. Here's his A Cost Analysis of Windows Vista Content Protection.

Anyway, is there a Vista feature you actually want that isn't already availble on Windows XP?

[Deane Johnson]

Josuah wrote:

Peter Gutmann is a security specialist. Here's his A Cost Analysis of Windows Vista Content Protection.

Anyway, is there a Vista feature you actually want that isn't already availble on Windows XP?

Actually, it has to do with purchasing a new computer. Rather than upgrade Windows, when there is a change I usually just get a new computer with the new version on it. Now, I've heard Vista has issues and I'm wondering if the old computer (running Windows 98) should be replaced now, or wait for Vista. This is not my computer, it's for my sister who uses it for email, simple surfing, simple spread sheet, word processing, etc. at home. Low demand.

That's how the non-computer oriented, non-technical do it.

[Josuah]

Well, unless she needs a new computer I'd say let run keep running Windows 98. Both XP and Vista will probably be significant improvements in stability, if she is having issues with stuff crashing or being slow. And of course Windows 98 is end-of-life now, so no more support patches.

But if you are going to get a new computer, and can wait, might as well wait for the final releases of Vista and then give it a few months to see how things get ironed out. A lot of what Peter Gutmann applies, even if you're not dealing with DRM. Vista was rewritten from scratch which is not the best thing when it comes to stability. It's all new, relatively speaking. XP was on top of the Windows NT/2000 code base, so not as "dangerous". And it's already got two service packs out.

[Darren]

Vista was rewritten from scratch which is not the best thing when it comes to stability.

I'm not sure why you think that. Having a code base re-written from scratch is a very good way to get stability and security back. Eliminating all the legacy code is a great way to head a new direction and implement things as they should be. I've been running Vista since before it was released and none of my machines has crashed once. Some drivers still aren't supported but that is always the case with 3rd parties until they get on board.

[Josuah]

At some companies yes. However, having talked to Microsoft developers, how much I dislike the Microsoft APIs for development, the sheer size of the new code base, and other things I really dislike about how the OS and kernel are put together, and the Microsoft way of approaching things by compromising in bad ways (IMO), I just don't trust Microsoft to get anything right.

Anyway, my comment was mostly about choosing well tested software rather than picking latest-and-greatest.