Well, I have Microsoft's new OS, Vista, on my new computer. According to Bill Gates, with Vista, "The Wow is now!" He's right: Wow... my computer just crashed again! I've been creaking along on my old computer for some time with an essentially full hard disk. I made the mistake of getting a p.c. with only 40 GB of hard disk space last time; at the time it seemed to be plenty (after all, my previous computer, a Mac, had only 8 GB). However, 50 jillion digital pictures later, my last computer was full; I kept having to remove stuff to keep it working... sort of like throwing stuff overboard to keep a lifeboat from sinking. I wanted to keep it going until the new operating systems came out this year. I originally thought to switch back to a Mac, but decided I didn't want to wait until April or May for the new mac OS, Leopard, and since my last computer was a p.c. and I wanted it to be easy to move everything over from it, I decided to go with another p.c. and the new Vista OS. What a mistake! Vista is the most frustrating, incompatible, non-intuitive, inexplicable, intrusive, unstable piece of crap that MS has ever foisted on an unsuspecting public (and that's saying a lot)! My two year old printer turns out to be incompatible, and essentially all of my software. Even the "compatible" software was a major pain to get installed, and doesn't work completely right. I've already crashed the computer about ten times. I've heard the computer repair shops are expecting a boom in business from people destroying their hard drives by crashing their computers all the time. Running Vista is so frustrating and time consuming; a constant barrage of popups asking me if I really want to do what I'm doing... phony security, like frisking little old ladies at the airport. How Microsoft could release this p.o.c. at this level of functionality, and before software and peripheral manufacturers have caught up with compatibility issues, is beyond me. WOW... Why Own Windows... my next computer will be a Mac!
You have my sympathies, Don. I hate it when people have to learn the truth the hard way: Macs truly do rule. :-)
ReplyDeleteGood luck as you sort this out -- I know this has to be highly frustrating.
The hard drive in my laptop died in December, and I replaced it rather than end up with Vista. I've read a lot of bad reviews, particularly about how a lot of software is not yet compatible and they don't have drivers for a lot of the older printers. Sorry you are living it.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
I feel your pain :). Since 50% of my job is keeping our network up and running which I purchased immediately after XP came out, I know what you are going through. I have always felt Bill Gates has used the public to do his software testing, these are bugs that should have been worked out before the operating system was sold to the general public. By the time all the bugs get worked out of Vista, Microsoft will be dropping press relases about their next new operating system! People do not want to spend hours tweaking their computers they just want them to work! Bill Gates should learn that. But since I have never even touched a Mac I guess I will always be a PC person. You have probably figured out by now how to turn off the security permissions, if not, do a google search for Vista + turn off pop ups and you will find instructions how to turn the warnings off.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all your sympathy; here's the latest, and most bizarre of all: last night out of the blue, a window pops up, saying I'm not running a genuine Vista program... I'm sitting there with a brand new, factory installed OS, and a sealed, genuine Vista license. They lock my administrator function, so I cannot really use my software. You log onto the Vista site and they say there is no support 800 number for pre-installed Vista... call the computer manufacturer. So I'm sitting here with a disabled OS that I paid over $400 for, and MS offers no help at all. Do NOT buy Vista; don't even think about it!
ReplyDeleteDon
Don,
ReplyDeleteJay waited and waited for Vista to come out (like you) but at the last minute decided to upgrade his computer and use the old XP software.
We just read about your problems with Vista and we are so sorry. It sounds like a nightmare. Hang in there.
Janice
Take that computer back to where it came from and leave it there.
ReplyDeleteI hate computer trouble and I am sorry for you, Don...
Janice & Sissy... I spent two hours on the phone today with the computer company's support people; they gave up, and gave me a # at MS to call. If that doesn't help, I have to remove Vista (and all the tons of stuff I transferred onto it) and start over.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I have learned from my husband, who reads up on these things, and my son, who is a computer repair technician, is that Microsoft always under-reports how much memory is needed to have their operating systems run satisfactorily. I forget what their rule of thumb is, whether they double what MS says is the min. amount of memory, or double what MS is better. Their second rule of thumb is not to be an early adopter.
ReplyDeletePlenty of hardware manufacturers foist off lousy parts on the public, too, especially for the home market.
Iboy,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the warning. I was toying with the idea of upgrading to Vista but now I definitely won't. Someone once wrote that if Microsoft products were cars they would all be labeled lemons. After all who would buy a car that broke down constantly essentially using the buyers to do the testing and quality control...oops bad analogy, some cars do breakdown regularly.
There is another alternative besides Apple. I've been tempted to give Linux a try but inertia keeps me from doing it. I've used GIMP which is a Linux photo editor like Photoshop and Elements and I like it. The good part is it's free and robust. I have an unused older computer so I might just give Linux a try. I'm concerned about getting all the peripherals to work with Linux but I guess that's not a problem as there are lots of users who seem happy with it.
Not to rub it in, but I love my iMac.
ReplyDeleteHope you get your problems worked out. My brother is having similar troubles with a new pc.
We are having the coldest mar 6 on record here in Maine. I have been checking out garden blogs from warmer climates to keep my spirits up.
Kathy & Ki...I was talking to my wife's cousin in Little Rock, who is an IT specialist, and he just laughed when he heard I'd installed Vista. He says MS is terrible at writing software, and that part of the reason their OS takes so much memory, is that there's lots of crap on there that never worked and was just left in there. He said I should erase Vista and go to Linux or back to XP. Apparently a Microsoft engineer came to a wireless conference my cousin was at, and tried to demonstrate the wireless features on Vista, but the computer kept crashing... very impressive!
ReplyDeleteSandy... if you're looking for a warm garden to tour, this may not be the place.
Don