College Computer --- Vista -vs- XP Pro

Our second daughter is going to college in the fall.
I am starting to shop for her laptop.

I am inclined to go with XP Pro, as I know it well, and
have heard of numerous Vista problems. But SP1 is out,
so perhaps those problems are history.

How long would it be likely for me to learn how to maintain
Vista (so I can teach her to do it)?

What are the pros and cons of XP and Vista?

Which version of Vista should I get?

Does it have a built in System Restore backup like XP Pro?
(I have used this several times, with no problems).

Thanks in advance,


--
Andrew Hall
(Now reading Usenet in alt.sys.pc-clone.dell...)

my kid is going into her third year, running xp pro without any need for
vista.
wrote in message
...

Our second daughter is going to college in the fall.
I am starting to shop for her laptop.

I am inclined to go with XP Pro, as I know it well, and
have heard of numerous Vista problems. But SP1 is out,
so perhaps those problems are history.

How long would it be likely for me to learn how to maintain
Vista (so I can teach her to do it)?

What are the pros and cons of XP and Vista?

Which version of Vista should I get?

Does it have a built in System Restore backup like XP Pro?
(I have used this several times, with no problems).

Thanks in advance,


--
Andrew Hall
(Now reading Usenet in alt.sys.pc-clone.dell...)

I have a dog in this hunt and it is XP Pro.

If you decide to go with Vista for some reason, check with the college to find
out the minimum version they require. Many colleges register students'
computers in the college domain, for which XP Pro works, as do some versions of
Vista.

If you go with Vista, spend and overspend on the hardware to make sure it will
run well. It is pretty bloated. Every version of Windows gets more bloated
than its predecessor. This is the Microsoft way. Always has been, Always will
be. Vista can be considered the "Hardware Sales Act of 2007", although the US
Congress did not legislate it. Had they done so and if I were president, I
would have vetoed it. The "Hardware Sales Act of 2007" was the work of a
special subcommitee consisting of representatives of Microsoft, Intel, AMD, the
major memory manufacturers (read: glut of memory on the market), and all the
major name brand computer assemblers (Dell, HPaq, eGateMachines, Lenovo, etc). I
hesitate to call the latter manufacturers. if they are manufacturers, my
garage and kitchen table together are a factory.

Perhaps the big issue with Vista is dealing with its security, which is better
than XP's (so they say), but also more tedious. You can also set up the Vista
environment so that it looks a lot (almost identical) and works a lot like XP
Pro... Ben Myers

On 21 May 2008 09:50:46 -0400, wrote:


Our second daughter is going to college in the fall.
I am starting to shop for her laptop.

I am inclined to go with XP Pro, as I know it well, and
have heard of numerous Vista problems. But SP1 is out,
so perhaps those problems are history.

How long would it be likely for me to learn how to maintain
Vista (so I can teach her to do it)?

What are the pros and cons of XP and Vista?

Which version of Vista should I get?

Does it have a built in System Restore backup like XP Pro?
(I have used this several times, with no problems).

Thanks in advance,

wrote in message
...

Our second daughter is going to college in the fall.
I am starting to shop for her laptop.

I am inclined to go with XP Pro, as I know it well, and
have heard of numerous Vista problems. But SP1 is out,
so perhaps those problems are history.

How long would it be likely for me to learn how to maintain
Vista (so I can teach her to do it)?

What are the pros and cons of XP and Vista?

Which version of Vista should I get?

Does it have a built in System Restore backup like XP Pro?
(I have used this several times, with no problems).

Thanks in advance,


--
Andrew Hall
(Now reading Usenet in alt.sys.pc-clone.dell...)



Andrew,

You might inquire about buying a business notebook for her (Vostro or
Latitude) with the "WinXP Pro downgrade" option. I think this is supposed
to be offered beginning in June.

The short of that is the system will have XP Pro installed at the factory,
but with a Windows Vista COA/license and installation DVD.

In doing that, she can legally run XP Pro and then (if necessary in the
future) legally install Vista should it be required.


Stew

Hi!

I am inclined to go with XP Pro, as I know it well, and
have heard of numerous Vista problems. But SP1 is out,
so perhaps those problems are history.

I see no reason not to listen to your inclination. :-)

Vista SP1 did fix a lot of problems, and did improve the speed of the
OS. But it's not perfect, and unless you download the full installer,
it may not be presented to you for a while via Windows Automatic
Updating. (That is assuming that if you buy a computer now it will not
have SP1. That may be erroneous. I'm not sure how many OEMs have
updated their installation images with SP1.)

How long would it be likely for me to learn how to maintain
Vista (so I can teach her to do it)?

I would plan on spending at least a week with it.

What are the pros and cons of XP and Vista?

Well, XP is much less bloated. Which means you wouldn't have to make
such a huge investment in hardware...you could get away with a less
expensive but still nice system and it would run well. XP is also
mature, well established and stable.

If you're going to chance Vista, I would agree with Ben Myers'
suggestion--get dedicated video and at least 2GB RAM. A good and fast
hard disk won't hurt either.

Vista's bloat is the second biggest thing (in my view) that works
against it. The first is the complete destruction of the Windows user
interface and long established concepts that go with it. For me, that
is a deal breaker.

UAC (user account control) is annoying and I'm not sure it provides
any security benefit whatsoever. (This is the "windows needs your
permission to continue" feature, and Windows will probably get that
permission from most users even if the screen says in big red flashing
letters "This is a nasty virus that will destroy your computer!"

Whoops. Sorry. That's my sysadmin side kicking in! :-)

I'm trying to find something good to say about Vista--oh,
yeah...Microsoft has significantly redesigned the system to be much
more secure against common threats. Some of this is good stuff
(Internet Explorer 7's restricted rights mode, where it runs at a low
privilege level when you are using it) and some of it isn't (Windows
Duh-fender, UAC).

Which version of Vista should I get?

Either of the Home versions (Premium or Basic) or Vista Business. Home
Basic is fine if the end user of the system needs to do no more than
browse the web, use e-mail and perform tasks like word processing,
spreadsheeting, etc. Home Premium adds the "glitz" of Aero graphics
and (I think) some Media Center features. A lot of people question the
point of Vista Home Basic. I think it fills in a good spot in the
marketplace for users that don't ever do a whole lot with their
computer beyond basic tasks.

Vista Business has Aero graphics and can be joined to a domain (if
that's a requirement). It also has some features that are primarily
useful in a business or commercial environment.

About the only thing I wouldn't do is get Vista Ultimate. It's
expensive and the extra cost really only gets you a few additional
toys that don't show up in Vista Home Premium or Business editions.

Does it have a built in System Restore backup like XP Pro?

Yes, and it works pretty much the same way.

William

wrote:
Our second daughter is going to college in the fall.
I am starting to shop for her laptop.

I am inclined to go with XP Pro, as I know it well, and
have heard of numerous Vista problems. But SP1 is out,
so perhaps those problems are history.

How long would it be likely for me to learn how to maintain
Vista (so I can teach her to do it)?

What are the pros and cons of XP and Vista?

Which version of Vista should I get?

Does it have a built in System Restore backup like XP Pro?
(I have used this several times, with no problems).

Thanks in advance,


system restore is rubbish imo (but i know what i'm doing), and ya vista
has it in

vista will work ok, just make sure you overspec the machine (you want
plenty of ram mainly, at least 2gig, that'll run ok then, i'm also
assuming you are buying a new laptop)

any version of vista will do the job, vista basic or home premium you
want to pick most likely

vista sp1 just cleaned vista up a bit,fixed problems with it? not a
chance lol, it's not all doom and gloom, all you can do is try it, i
left it on my new laptop, it works and stuff i suppose

you should contact the school to see what they recommend. often college
campus partner with a particular vendor who maintains a repair shop on
campus for speedy repairs. laptops are used these days in place of
notebooks, are carried around most of the time and can get quite a workout.
this all translates into greater potential need for repair. plus, it would
be a real handicap to be without a computer for an extended period of time.
i would go with xp pro, there is nothing compelling about vista other than
the 'look' (and that is a debatable) and it does not perform as well. also,
keep in mind that macs are the number one selling laptops on campus' these
days. she may be happier with a macbook. both dell and apple have college
'stores' on their web sites where you can get a discount. but at dell these
educational discounts are not always the best pricing available.

wrote in message
...

Our second daughter is going to college in the fall.
I am starting to shop for her laptop.

I am inclined to go with XP Pro, as I know it well, and
have heard of numerous Vista problems. But SP1 is out,
so perhaps those problems are history.

How long would it be likely for me to learn how to maintain
Vista (so I can teach her to do it)?

What are the pros and cons of XP and Vista?

Which version of Vista should I get?

Does it have a built in System Restore backup like XP Pro?
(I have used this several times, with no problems).

Thanks in advance,


--
Andrew Hall
(Now reading Usenet in alt.sys.pc-clone.dell...)

ps. by 'notebooks' i mean paper notebooks.

"Christoper Muto" wrote in message
m...
you should contact the school to see what they recommend. often college
campus partner with a particular vendor who maintains a repair shop on
campus for speedy repairs. laptops are used these days in place of
notebooks, are carried around most of the time and can get quite a
workout. this all translates into greater potential need for repair.
plus, it would be a real handicap to be without a computer for an extended
period of time. i would go with xp pro, there is nothing compelling about
vista other than the 'look' (and that is a debatable) and it does not
perform as well. also, keep in mind that macs are the number one selling
laptops on campus' these days. she may be happier with a macbook. both
dell and apple have college 'stores' on their web sites where you can get
a discount. but at dell these educational discounts are not always the
best pricing available.

wrote in message
...

Our second daughter is going to college in the fall.
I am starting to shop for her laptop.

I am inclined to go with XP Pro, as I know it well, and
have heard of numerous Vista problems. But SP1 is out,
so perhaps those problems are history.

How long would it be likely for me to learn how to maintain
Vista (so I can teach her to do it)?

What are the pros and cons of XP and Vista?

Which version of Vista should I get?

Does it have a built in System Restore backup like XP Pro?
(I have used this several times, with no problems).

Thanks in advance,


--
Andrew Hall
(Now reading Usenet in alt.sys.pc-clone.dell...)

On Wed, 21 May 2008 13:44:34 -0400, "Christoper Muto"
wrote:

also,
keep in mind that macs are the number one selling laptops on campus' these
days. she may be happier with a macbook.

If she does get a Mac, Windows XP can still be run virtually using
VMWare or Parallels. I use VMWare and all of my programs and
utilities run flawlessly. You'd need a legal XP install disk.

If you do go with a Mac be aware that there will likely be a
significant design change near the end of summer. The MacBooks will
likely be all aluminum. Several Mac rumor sites concur and they are
usually fairly accurate.

I would recommend the Lenovo ThinkPad T61 laptop first, then a laptop
in the Dell Latitude series if durability is important, or an ultra
portable Lenovo ThinkPad X61 for portability, and a docking station.

My take on this is that Vista may initially be problematic for the college
IT admins to get it to connect to their infrastructure. This is based on my
daughter's experience last fall at Texas Womens University. That said, with
another year under their belt I think that this next fall will find the
university IT department more capable in handling Vista.

Comments about having the capability to coexist in a university environment
that uses domains are true, if you go to a university that requires this.
Then XP Pro or Vista Business/Ultimate would be required. My observation is
that there are often workarounds for students off-campus who cannot easily
jack into the university's infrastructure. YMMV.

What has really bugged my daughter isn't Vista (although she thinks it is)
it is Office 2007. All the menu structures are hosed when compared to, say,
Office 2000. The default doc is .xml, or some variant instead of .doc. This
has caused my daughter no end of frustration (she blames it on 'Vista'). If
you have a choice, don't let her use Office 2007. My guess is that the .doc
format will be around for the remainder of her college career and if she is
already used to it, why ask for troulbe.

Mike


wrote in message
...

Our second daughter is going to college in the fall.
I am starting to shop for her laptop.

I am inclined to go with XP Pro, as I know it well, and
have heard of numerous Vista problems. But SP1 is out,
so perhaps those problems are history.

How long would it be likely for me to learn how to maintain
Vista (so I can teach her to do it)?

What are the pros and cons of XP and Vista?

Which version of Vista should I get?

Does it have a built in System Restore backup like XP Pro?
(I have used this several times, with no problems).

Thanks in advance,


--
Andrew Hall
(Now reading Usenet in alt.sys.pc-clone.dell...)