Reasons Emerge Why NOT To Upgrade To Vista

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With all the hype over Vista it's worth noting that there is another side to the story.

Maximum PC just ran an article called "10 Reasons Not To Upgrade To Windows Vista At This Time." 

They list the following abbreviated reasons why it�s not a good move just yet.

1. Vista requires a fairly powerful machine.
2. Application incompatibilities
3. Vista is very expensive.
4. No hardware audio.
5. Vista doesn't work with a lot of bleeding �edge hardware. (Due to lack of drivers.)
6. Vista doesn't work well with some games.
7. Vista includes consumer-unfriendly Digital Rights Management.
8. Overall poor driver support.
9. Vista is kind of annoying (referring to User Account Control and Security Alerts).
10.There is nothing wrong with waiting

Andy Wendt
Network and Security Consultant
Helping Businesses Manage Technology
Toll Free: 877-422-1907 x226.

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arwendt Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: Oct/26/2006 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 1270	Quote Reply Topic: Reasons Emerge Why NOT To Upgrade To Vista Posted: Jan/10/2007 at 11:14am
	With all the hype over Vista it's worth noting that there is another side to the story. Maximum PC just ran an article called "10 Reasons Not To Upgrade To Windows Vista At This Time." They list the following abbreviated reasons why it�s not a good move just yet. 1. Vista requires a fairly powerful machine. 2. Application incompatibilities 3. Vista is very expensive. 4. No hardware audio. 5. Vista doesn't work with a lot of bleeding �edge hardware. (Due to lack of drivers.) 6. Vista doesn't work well with some games. 7. Vista includes consumer-unfriendly Digital Rights Management. 8. Overall poor driver support. 9. Vista is kind of annoying (referring to User Account Control and Security Alerts). 10.There is nothing wrong with waiting Andy Wendt Network and Security Consultant Helping Businesses Manage Technology Toll Free: 877-422-1907 x226.
	The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress. Frederick Douglass - More at my Words of Freedom website.

dilbertmouse Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List New Member Joined: Jan/23/2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 14	Quote Reply Posted: Jan/26/2007 at 2:22pm
	As a Vista beta tester, I'd have to say that I've had quite a pleasant experience with Vista. While I agree that there's nothing wrong with waiting, I have to disagree on a number of points. I realize these are not your points directly, but if anyone wants to chime in, I would appreciate a counterargument (as I'm sure we will all be discussing this with our various customers). Vista truly does not require a cutting edge machine. Even with a several year old machine, I would expect to see Vista running fairly smoothly. The only area which I have found non-negotiable is that 1GB is a good minimum, with 2GB being preferred. (However, that's a cheap upgrade). For more info, I would suggest checking out yesterday's TechGauge (techgage.com/article/windows_vista_system_performance_reports), which reported a several year old configuration (1.8Ghz Intel, 2GB of RAM) performing on par with XP. I am certain there are application incompatibilities, but I have seen very few. The only one to speak of is Ahead Nero, which undertook the policy that no Vista-ready versions would be released until the RTM. (I'm not sure what you mean by "No hardware audio". I have used a variety of sound cards and applications under Vista without issue. Perhaps you could elaborate.) On the flip side of the coin, I like to think I have a decently powerful machine (AMD64 Dual-Core 3800, 2GB, 5x320GB, ATI Radeon 1800). I have had no driver issues to speak of with Vista. Perhaps some other manfacturers are, but I wouldn't issue this as a blanket (or even commonplace) statement. I am also unsure of what you mean by including DRM. Although I have heard many rumors, I did not experience any DRM issues, despite a large and varied music collection, as well as a nasty habit of various DVD and TV viewing through sources such as iTunes, BitTorrent and local sources. Could you provide some details as to what you mean? I will say that the one thing which truly annoyed me was UAC (User Access Control). While it is a great idea, it should be disabled for those of us logging in with administrative priviledges. Fortunately, there is a way to do exactly that (or disable it entirely) using the free utility TweakUAC (www.tweak-uac.com) All in all, I am rather indifferent to Vista. However, I would not discourage any clients from buying a PC preloaded with Vista immediately, nor would I be discouraged from doing so myself.

arwendt Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: Oct/26/2006 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 1270	Quote Reply Posted: Jan/26/2007 at 2:51pm
	Dilbertmouse, Thanks for the nice post and the good news of your hands on with Vista. Let me dig up my hard copy of the Maximum PC article and I will see if I can answer a few of your questions. Thanks, andy
	The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress. Frederick Douglass - More at my Words of Freedom website.

dmurphy10 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List New Member Joined: Jan/26/2007 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 12	Quote Reply Posted: Jan/26/2007 at 3:05pm
	I have also beta tested Vista and it was nice. I am concerned about the new TCP/IP Stack http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/reference/ATR-VistaAttackSurface.pdf though. Security is always an issue and given Microsoft's history, the first year should be interesting. I am also a bit unhappy about the reported DRM features. Microsoft is cowering too much to Hollywood in my opinion.

John Beagle Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: Oct/24/2006 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 906	Quote Reply Posted: Jan/26/2007 at 3:18pm
	From Dilbertmouse post above, I would like to reiterate the RAM minimums and recommendations: "I have found non-negotiable is that 1GB is a good minimum, with 2GB being preferred." dilbertmouse
	23 years in the Computer Industry. Segments: Computer Service and Computer Rentals.

arwendt Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: Oct/26/2006 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 1270	Quote Reply Posted: Jan/29/2007 at 10:09am
	Dilbetrmosue, I was lucky enough to find that MaximumPC magazine this weekend so let me try to calrify a few of their points: They were not saying the hardware requirements were �cutting edge� but they do classify Vista as needing a �fairly powerful� system to take advantage of Vista�s �bells and whistles�. By which I would imagine they mean the Aero interface. In regards to application incompatibilities the article only listed iTunes disc-burning apps by name but it did go on to say that almost anything that has to do with DVD ripping or viewing could be a problem. They also mentioned problems with Java based apps that bundle Java runtime. The hardware audio issue is a gaming �audio related feature called DirectSound 3D. Which they say is not a problem for new games going forward but will affect hundreds of existing titles. It looks as though that Microsoft has switched to an alternative OpenAl Technology and simply will no longer support the older standard. It does appear that Creative will release a software workaround to the problem but I guess that�s not enough to keep this issue from being added to the list. The DRM complaint listed in the article is a little vaguer and seams to hinge on the potential restrictions that could be enabled by content providers that would give them veto power over your machines ability to perform �certain key low-level operations, such as video rendering�. I would say they object to having the OS designed with the ability to �completely lock down the video-rendering pipeline to prevent ripping of the next-gen content�. Hope that helps, andy
	The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress. Frederick Douglass - More at my Words of Freedom website.

John Beagle Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: Oct/24/2006 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 906	Quote Reply Posted: Jan/29/2007 at 2:45pm
	If you only use email and a little web surfing, you don't need vista.
	23 years in the Computer Industry. Segments: Computer Service and Computer Rentals.

Delgar11 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List New Member Joined: Jan/25/2007 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 6	Quote Reply Posted: Jan/31/2007 at 2:50pm
	If you have thoughts about buying this . Check the End user agreement you have to ok before you finish the install .. Look for the section about preimuim content and then check out this article \\http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.html I see no reason to upgrade from XP at this time. I will say that is the first time since dos 5.1 I have not looked forward to the next O/S

Delgar11 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List New Member Joined: Jan/25/2007 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 6	Quote Reply Posted: Jan/31/2007 at 2:53pm
	If you change any hardware you will need to reactivate your license code with Microsoft due to the software using a hardware Algorithm to check if you have a good copy of the software. Edited by Delgar11 - Jan/31/2007 at 2:54pm