What after XP?

I'm a home user on XP Pro. I need to work out what OS to specify on
a prebuilt machine (one for me and one for a friend). It's either
Windows 7 or Vista.

Although I'm fairly technical I haven't kept up to date with details
of the newer Windows. I haven't even seen either Win 7 or Vista
running!

I did hear Vista get announced and heard how it had problems with
things like incompatible drivers. Then I heard Windows 7 was
announced but ISTR it's not really fully complete or something like
that.

What might be the best choice to go for?

"XP-dinosaur" wrote in message
...
I'm a home user on XP Pro. I need to work out what OS to specify on
a prebuilt machine (one for me and one for a friend). It's either
Windows 7 or Vista.

Although I'm fairly technical I haven't kept up to date with details
of the newer Windows. I haven't even seen either Win 7 or Vista
running!

I did hear Vista get announced and heard how it had problems with
things like incompatible drivers. Then I heard Windows 7 was
announced but ISTR it's not really fully complete or something like
that.

What might be the best choice to go for?


Windows 7! Vista will be soon confined to the digital dustbin along with
Windows ME.


Ad

On 18/10/2009 in message
XP-dinosaur wrote:

I'm a home user on XP Pro. I need to work out what OS to specify on
a prebuilt machine (one for me and one for a friend). It's either
Windows 7 or Vista.

Vista is obsolete, Win7 launches in 4 days - and it makes up a lot of the
deficiencies in Vista.

--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
There is absolutely no substitute for a genuine lack of preparation

Bitstring , from the
wonderful person XP-dinosaur said
I'm a home user on XP Pro. I need to work out what OS to specify on
a prebuilt machine (one for me and one for a friend). It's either
Windows 7 or Vista.

Although I'm fairly technical I haven't kept up to date with details
of the newer Windows. I haven't even seen either Win 7 or Vista
running!

I did hear Vista get announced and heard how it had problems with
things like incompatible drivers. Then I heard Windows 7 was
announced but ISTR it's not really fully complete or something like
that.

What might be the best choice to go for?

Well Windows Vista is demonstrably horrid .. Windows7 has yet to be
convicted, but might turn out to be even worse. Who can tell. XP is
still much the best option, except it isn't an option unless you are a
corporate customer, or install the OS yourself....

If you're going to climb a learning curve I guess you might as well do
it with Win7 though. I mean it =could= be worse than Vista, but it is
hard to imagine. The sad thing is Vista has even managed to back-pollute
some of the working bits of XP (I'm thinking of stuff like downloaded
files from the web, which XP now marks as dodgy/blocked, and my Vista
machine refuses to even pull across my local network from the XP
machines).

Yeah yeah, I'm sure it's just a group policy .. part of the 'Microsoft
OwnZ your computer' and 'All users are dumb schmucks who can't be
trusted' policies.

--
GSV Three Minds in a Can
15,621 Km walked. 2,882 Km PROWs surveyed. 52.1% complete.

XP-dinosaur wrote:
I'm a home user on XP Pro. I need to work out what OS to specify on
a prebuilt machine (one for me and one for a friend). It's either
Windows 7 or Vista.

Although I'm fairly technical I haven't kept up to date with details
of the newer Windows. I haven't even seen either Win 7 or Vista
running!

I did hear Vista get announced and heard how it had problems with
things like incompatible drivers. Then I heard Windows 7 was
announced but ISTR it's not really fully complete or something like
that.

What might be the best choice to go for?

Windows 7 is what Vista should have been if Microsoft had bothered with a
bit of Quality Control.

Gaz

Jeff Gaines wrote:
On 18/10/2009 in message
XP-dinosaur
wrote:
I'm a home user on XP Pro. I need to work out what OS to specify on
a prebuilt machine (one for me and one for a friend). It's either
Windows 7 or Vista.

Vista is obsolete, Win7 launches in 4 days - and it makes up a lot of
the deficiencies in Vista.

Vista should never have been released. Is there anyone anywhere that can
honestly say that the world would not have been a better place if MS had
skipped vista and went straight for Windows 7?

In article , gaz says...

Vista should never have been released. Is there anyone anywhere that can
honestly say that the world would not have been a better place if MS had
skipped vista and went straight for Windows 7?

I've had no issues with it since SP1. Then again, I'm not a clueless
****wit and know how to find drivers, compatible hardware and software.

--
Conor
www.notebooks-r-us.co.uk

I'm not prejudiced. I hate everybody equally.

GSV Three Minds in a Can wrote:
Bitstring , from the
wonderful person XP-dinosaur said
I'm a home user on XP Pro. I need to work out what OS to specify on
a prebuilt machine (one for me and one for a friend). It's either
Windows 7 or Vista.

Although I'm fairly technical I haven't kept up to date with details
of the newer Windows. I haven't even seen either Win 7 or Vista
running!

I did hear Vista get announced and heard how it had problems with
things like incompatible drivers. Then I heard Windows 7 was
announced but ISTR it's not really fully complete or something like
that.

What might be the best choice to go for?

Well Windows Vista is demonstrably horrid .. Windows7 has yet to be
convicted, but might turn out to be even worse. Who can tell. XP is
still much the best option, except it isn't an option unless you are a
corporate customer, or install the OS yourself....

If you're going to climb a learning curve I guess you might as well do
it with Win7 though. I mean it =could= be worse than Vista, but it is
hard to imagine. The sad thing is Vista has even managed to back-pollute
some of the working bits of XP (I'm thinking of stuff like downloaded
files from the web, which XP now marks as dodgy/blocked, and my Vista
machine refuses to even pull across my local network from the XP machines).

Yeah yeah, I'm sure it's just a group policy .. part of the 'Microsoft
OwnZ your computer' and 'All users are dumb schmucks who can't be
trusted' policies.




I've tried both Vista and Win7.

I agree with all here that Vista is indeed pretty terrible.

From the little bit I've fooled around with Win7 , it looks pretty
good...and there's no question that it's certainly better than Vista

XP-dinosaur wrote:

I'm a home user on XP Pro. I need to work out what OS to specify on
a prebuilt machine (one for me and one for a friend). It's either
Windows 7 or Vista.

Although I'm fairly technical I haven't kept up to date with details
of the newer Windows. I haven't even seen either Win 7 or Vista
running!

I did hear Vista get announced and heard how it had problems with
things like incompatible drivers. Then I heard Windows 7 was
announced but ISTR it's not really fully complete or something like
that.

What might be the best choice to go for?

Microsoft is hoping to quash an uproar amongst their customers having to
pay for a service pack to Vista by slapping on a different name (via
version number). They need an excuse to generate revenue from a service
pack (because they haven't been charging for them in the past). So, if
deciding which to pay for, yes, buy the latest service pack for Vista,
er, Windows 7.

"XP-dinosaur" wrote in message
...
I'm a home user on XP Pro. I need to work out what OS to specify on
a prebuilt machine (one for me and one for a friend). It's either
Windows 7 or Vista.

Although I'm fairly technical I haven't kept up to date with details
of the newer Windows. I haven't even seen either Win 7 or Vista
running!


I don't dislike Vista and windows 7 is very similar in look and feel. It's
also faster than Vista and takes up less space on the disk.
I can't see any advantages to buying a machine with Vista now.
--
Alex

"I laugh in the face of danger , then I hide until it goes away"