I will never atop using xp. It does everything I want it to do. If
ms thinks they can force me into vista they are wrong. I will quit computing first!

This is just like the whole New Coke, Original Coke marketing blunder. Vista=New Coke and XP=Original Coke.... Can you get New Coke anymore? What ever happened to New Coke? Maybe Microsoft should look at marketing history.....

Although my operating system of choice is Linux, there are times when I need to run Windows. In those cases I have not had any issues with XP, however Vista has caused more problems than it resolved....

LINUX Time !! Recently evaluated this and it will meet my needs. The only business Microsoft will get from me is for the XBox - which I will be able to buy thanks to the savings on Vista and MS Office being replaced with Linux/Open Office.

I would propose that Vista be renamed Windows ME version 2. They both we an interim product while we waited for the next one.

Vista is too painful to use.

I just got a new laptop with Vista and after suffering with:
* Mother-may-I dialogs
* A mysterious ailment that would not allow Firefox to install
* 2 hrs on the phone with Dell trying to install Firefox
* A complete nuke and re-install of Vista
* The sluggishness­ on the fastest laptop I could buy
* The lost feeling that nothing is where it should be
* Broken apps
* Funky transparent stuff that was really hard on my middle age eyes.

Maybe I am not technical enough for it --­ I own a small windows software development house with 15 programmers.

I finally installed XP and I am much happier about the new laptop.

If I will be forced into Vista I would go to Ubuntu (Linux). And Linux users will be very happy with new hardware driver translator (from XP - and in future Vista - to Linux) that is being developped.

Oh stop it… This is like steam engines, vinyl records, and now the internal combustion engine, time to move on, anyone who thinks that trying to cling to an aging, obsolete technology is progressive or beneficial is dreaming. No responsible IT personnel should support any company that creates such a morass, especially with its abysmal record of wasteful fraud. They are being crushed in every developing technology sector that they compete in, their brain trust is rapidly retiring or simply selling out, Ballmer is ignorant and utterly incapable of keeping the burgeoning behemoth up to even its former dimness. Turn out the lights. Don't be afraid of the alternatives, they do everything as well or better, you WILL be happier…

Vista works fine on a new computer. You babies need to grow up and switch from diapers to underwear.

PLEASE! Vista is NOT progress. It's clunky, cumbersome, gobbles memory like my kids eat skittles, and is nothing but a lame "me-too" product... (Hello, Mac).

I ordered my last laptop with XP for the very reasons listed by all the critics (Meaning those who don't hug new OS's just because they're there- Also known as the apologist first adopters).

Microsoft needs to get over itself, and it's sway in the marketplace. These "take it or leave it solutions" are akin to the attitude that made IBM slip from being a giant, to an ant.

Vista Schmista. I don't want to buy all new hardware, and software just because Microsoft wants to build a new wing. Instead, they should build a new really good OS. Then, people will come to it and demand it, rather than having a nice looking piece of trash pushed down their CPU's throat.

I predict this "Vista attitude" may very well be the beginning of the end for Microsoft. I know it sounds silly, but remember, K-Mart used to be the number one retailer, and before that Sears, and before that... Montgomery Ward.

I am not anti-MS. I am PRO great products at great prices that are designed for the common good. Microsoft. ARE YOU LISTENING??? There, I said it.

Bring this noise. As XP dies, Apple rises and Linux catches the crumbs.

Vista isn't bad, but really MS is just looking for some $, as a companies must. But they won't call everyone's bluff, it's simply too dangerous.

Don't be afraid. Just switch to Linux and become a member of a really free society. Truly from a happy Ubuntu user

After 15 years supporting Windows operating systems and DOS, Vista may be the OS that drives me to LINUX. God help us all and save us from Vista.

Vista was To be a refresh of winxp in the beginning and not a new os but 5 yrs later we get something that is slower than xp and oem's put out machines that dont have enought ram to run I have 3 machines 2 with xp mec 2005 and one with vista the one mce2005 is a laptop and that vista basic on it and it was slow but now it flys

I do Audio engineering work on my computer...
Has taken me years to learn how to get under the hood of XP to disable all the extras that arent necessary for my purposes...
The hardware available now in my opinion has really just caught up with this OS enough to make a non-customized install feel responsive...

BUT. I dont have to buy it now do I?
We will all start to lose out when hardware manufacturers stop writing drivers for our devices, and "compatibility mode" starts to break down.

Hopefully they will make a more adaptable and "ready for prime time" version of the OS at some point, but it is absolutely NOT their style.

We should all start getting ready to cozy up to linux... It was going to happen sooner or later.

I'm a software architect that has over 17 years experience with Windows OSs and DOS, however, the current Vista drives me crazy. I believe they have to re-design the entire OS from scratch, or else, they lose the market to other OSs around.

I'm XP user in Japan.
At work place and home or anywhere, I cannot find any reason to move to Vista.
I installed Vista Ultimate (as I'm JAP PC Geek = OTAKU) in my PC last year but unfortunately I found no good reason to say goodbye to XP.
I am sorry Microsoft, but I've got nothing to appreciate Vista Ultimate, Ultra Expensive OS.
My Geek friends just gave up on Vista...

If there will be no moore update I go to LINUX not to Vista

I will never sign such a petition.

I prefer to get rid of big brother with using my energy to spread GNU/Linux, which is definitely the OS of the future. Try Ubuntu and you'll know why.

"It's like having a comfortable apartment that you've enjoyed coming home to for years, only to get an eviction notice. "

If you like your apartment so much, don't move. Nobody is forcing you to buy a new PC. And you are welcome to buy a retail copy of XP before the end date so you can use it for the rest of eternity if you so wish.

Evolve or die.

vista is shit. win xp professional 4ever

Amen! Microsoft screwed up when they made the hardware requirements so unrealistic and financially difficult for businesses and home users.

I have a perfectly good Dell system at home that is fast and has all applications humming along nicely. My network at my office is the same...things are running perfectly and we have a solid XP/2003 environment which works--imagine that ;-)

Selling this Vista upgrade (hell, selling the Windows and Exchange 2007 upgrades) is nearly impossible. The amount of money it would take to upgrade our hardware is staggering AND we would be left with dozens of servers that are not only still under warranty but are hardly junk machines.

What were they thinking? As I've said in other posts...does this remind anyone of Windows Millennium?

Never ceases to amaze me...

In my PROFESSIONAL opinion, Vista has caused far more headaches for my users than it has solved.

MS is clearly and obviously moving in the wrong direction with Vista. They made their attempt but they failed. This will herald the beginning of the end for MS unless they change directions.

Don't forget, they even tried to tell us NT4 MCSEs that our certification wasn't worth ANYTHING a few years ago, but had to withdrawal that stupid move. My MCSE is still worth every drop of sweat I spent studying for that damn test.

So, my statement is: Microsoft, YOU change or die. Don't force us to have to do it FOR YOU.

just thought i should point out that waqy back when XP was released everyone said the same things about it as they are about Vista and as a HAPPY Vista SP1 user i can say it is nowhere near as bad as you all say it is, not sayin its as good as XP but hell ubuntus better than that why dont we all go there

before changing to vista i think about changing to apple.
its a shame, i liked xp so far. stable meanwhile and brings everything i need and want.

Before I allow being forced to switch to Vista I will start the sometimes tedious migration to Linux.

no.reason.for.vista

Call me when the make system that is more memory and CPU optimized then XP while maintaing the new functionality.

Alright! Friends don't let friends do Vista! Asta la Vista, Vistanistas!

But even XP is full of bloat. Windows 2000 was the last time I felt any confidence with Microsoft products as a developer. I'd rather Microsoft went all the way back to Windows 2000 and roll forward again, without all the insane DRM garbage.

I'm one of those old timers who think an actual OS improvement is one that runs faster, more securely, more efficiently, interfaces with hardware better, and makes applications perform much better as a result. Even though Linux is growing in size, many times it manages to do things faster and more efficiently. Vista is a huge drooling mastiff sucking up the hardware resources of what should be a banging good machine. Microsoft Office has become a huge bloated wad of software as well, and I don't like playing hide and seek with the features I'd want to use. Sun's Open Office is consistent and better every year. VB6 had over 4 million developers...and it's a shame VB.Net had to be made incompatible to the degree it is. Because Microsoft had to 'me too' with Sun over Java, we have to have the huge .net frameworks and Java runtimes. Microsoft couldn't just try making their languages output Java classes and jars since that might have cut a billion or two in possible profits. Microsoft laughed at CUPS printer driver issues that occasionally befall Linux and continues to encourage proprietary approaches to device drivers. And then Apple bought CUPS, the premier open software unix printing system technology. Like so many others, Linux has become my refuge from that insanity of the behemouth Vista. Vista has got more lines of code in it than mainframe's have, lacks adequate real world testing, ...and it's not making anyone's existing PC any better, if it can run at all on it. I don't like having to toss a PC into the landfill just because it doesn't read the latest Office formats or support Bluetooth toothbrush to cell phone interfaces.

Vista is nothing but a downgrade to XP. Really MS needs to can that sh*t.

I have no reason to downgrade to a worst OS than XP.

I think the attached url says it all: http://blip.tv/file/340692/

I sure think it's strange that Microsoft is going to roll out XP Service Pack 3 and then shortly thereafter shelve XP. What are those clever MS executives thinking?

I'll never sign such a petition.
Either grew up and stop your childish rant, use OSX or Linux.

If Vista does not run smoothly on your PC, your PC is obviously too old to handle new software and should be thrown in the garbage an instant.

If your software is not Vista compatible, then your software is obviously too old and you should buy an upgrade.

If money is a problem for you, use a PS3 and stop whining.

I have some understanding for large companies who can't roll out because of this and that, but heck, the XP licenses are still running after MS will stop selling it.

Either they listen, or June 2008 will be the date from which I purchase any new PC with Linux pre-installed.

I have been using XP since it came out. I thought it looked like a toy, but after using it, I like it's built in features. I started using vista on my new laptop I just purchased. Its annoying sometimes, but I want to give it a chance before I reformat and put XP back on it. I still use XP on my desktops. I think that Microsoft should still sell it to those who still want to use it.

Vista is a pointless waste of processing power and space - I downloaded and tested from beta, through release candidate one, and have spent time working with the production version. All of them were chronic. I've been running dual-booted pcs for years with windows 98,2000,xp, and various flavours of linux with each - so far, from what I can see, I have to say that a system running vista isn't worth even dual-booting, due to the bloating of the os - you certainly wouldn't want them on the same partition, just in case a new SP comes out and desperately needs 200 gigs of your hard drive just to update 20 files in vista (exaggeration, I know).

In the meantime, I'll stick with dual-booting all my machines with xp and linux, most likely fedora or openSuSE.

I'm not signing this purely on the grounds that I don't believe it would do any good - what are m$ gonna do? recall all vista machines and grade them to xp? not likely.

Back to openSuSE for me, and customizing to run all my windows software, so I will never again need to worry about windows...
all I need now is decent linux support for ati...

@BigEd: Obsolete technology you say?XP & Vista work on the same file system (ntfs), same processor architecture (x86,x64), same ol' DOS underneath etc etc. How about that? The only thing's changed is the API, the GUI and the OS architecture - well, kind of for the latter , actually. Cheers.

I have thoroughly experimented with Vista on some of the fastest hardware available - both desktop and laptop - and found that Vista is absolutely riddled with problems, far too many for it to be even considered as a viable OS for daily use.

Win XP has matured into a very good OS, looking at it from all angles. It is unfathomable that Microsoft would take it off the market now, when it is really in its prime.

I would like to see progress from Microsoft. I would like to see a good Vista, but that's not the Vista we have today.

Used to be that I would upgrade an operating system to get better, faster performance. All Microsoft does is continue to add bloat. They not only force you to upgrade all their software packages... they force you to upgrade your hardware too!

All of this just to try and get the same performance you used to get before.

Not only is Vista crap but so is the company. Just because they've got billions to play around with bloated software does not mean everyone else has that kind of money to throw away.

I wouldn't even bother to try and save XP. It's time to switch to another company (Apple) or OS (Linux/BSD) that cares about the end users.

Rest in pieces, Microsoft.

Wow, that is a pretty crappy attitude, Adrian. Everyone should have the right to choose, whether it be Windows vs Linux of XP vs Vista. I try to evolve constantly with new technology, but if I bought everything new the second it came out I would never be able to keep up. And why would people NOT sign the petition because they choose Linux? Don't force your ideas on others. I run an old P3 with Linux Mint at home and it works great. But as a business IT manager some things require--yes, require--Windows. Do I like that? No, but until Windows dies completely its a fact of life. And regardless, EVERYONE should be able to choose. Period.

I have three Vista PCs (Dell M90, Asus Asteio D20 and an OQO E2), running three versions of the OS (Business through to Ultimate)

All without any problems at all? Of course not they are PCs!

As good as XP? Yes
Better than XP? Yes is some ways
Worse than XP? Yes in some ways

Am I happy with Vista? Yep

Would I upgrade to Vista for the sake of it? No, if I was running XP fine then I wouldn't upgrade, but if I was to buy a new PC I'd get Vista by default.

Oh and BTW, my main PC is the Dell M90 laptop and I have it configured to dual boot into XP. I did this as a safety net against the scaremongering going on. I've booted into it once in 12 months and only because I thought I had an app installed on it that I didn't have on Vista (I didn't so booted back and installed on Vista)

Don't be put off getting Vista unless you're scared of progress.

I agree with MOST of the comments here, My mother has a New Dell Inspiron 1520 Laptop with Vista Home Prem. It works, never had a problem with it. When I first set up the computer new, loading into windows vista, it logged in and went straight to a BSOD. But it was just that one time. It has some nice features,....like 2. Windows update really through me, I dont like the new update interface at all. UAC and DRM are a couple of P.O.S.'s. To install a new program it asks for permission what? five six times??? I have used windows since Windows 3.11, 95/98/me, NT 4.0/2000 and XP, and I really miss the old days. Windows 98 was my favorite so far for windows os's. I was in High school, and had the 60's theme on my computer for years!! I just changed the background, XP/Vista doesnt even have that theme as far as I can find. But it is all about progress right?? RIGHT????!!! Why cant MS just make XP pro 64-bit more tight?? And main stream? I have a tower I built running an
AMD Athlon64X2 4600+, with 2.0GB of DDR800 ram, PCI Express X16 video card with 256MB of GDDR3 ram, and am running a legit copy of Windows XP Pro. 250GB SATA hard disk, and 16x Dule Layer DVD+- SATA drive with a 16 in one media card reader. Everything works 100%. I have played with Ubuntu linux in the past. I like it but for some reason could not boot the 64-bit version. The DVD would not read and it would just post to windows xp. But the 32-bit version ran from the live CD and I could install it no prob. My next computer though will be a Macintosh. I am a CompTIA A+, and Network+ certified tech, who is studying for the Microsoft Certified Professional/
Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Techniction.
(MCP/MCDST). Then Cisco and Linux+, and I dont want to spend the time trying to learn Vista's in and outs, and I am a System Builder!!! I checked out the link about Vista a few posts back,
http://blip.tv/file/340692 this is so true and funny! I have the Microsoft Xbox 360 Elite game system, and my G/F has a Zune MP3 media player, and these will be the last MS products I will use for a long time. Lets hope Windows 7 will be infinitely better than Vista. It will NEED for one to be fully 100% 64-bit. None of this 64/32. But for now it makes since. Microsoft can "save" Vista though.

1. Driver support/Application support needs to improve.
2. Ditch DRM/UAC
3. More Windows Vista Exclusive hardware/software!(Big one)
4. Re-start Windows Vista marketing campaigns. TV commercials, radio AND print advertising. On a day to day basis, people just forget about Vista I think because there is no reminder of it being there because of zero advertising. But Mac VS PC is on all the time, and there funny!
5. MS needs more respect and trust for their customer, especially there home users. More security is always good, but not if put in the wrong place! It should be mostly background security, not in your face pop ups!

So in summery, Vista Sux, XP Good, Linux Better, OS X Best!

What have we seen so far? Vista surged at first, then fell off. OSX took off, and is still climbing. Ubuntu is the easiest, most complete version of Linux for the masses, and it does everything 99.9% of people need. Better than Vista. Free.

I hope MS removes their thinking apparatus from their nethermost regions, and provides a good (non-ME-like) OS. Like XP. If they do not, or don't do it fast enough, well, remember Visicalc/WordStar/WordPerfect/DOS/OS2/BeOS/Xenix/ad nauseum? History will be repeated.

As a retiree, no longer actively teaching public school courses, but still using a great number of applications, the versions I'm currently using do everything I need. Unlike the commenter who said he'd quit computing before he switched to Vista, I won't be that radical, but it sure helps to be able to use the system I've become accustomed to. And as a keyboard user (rather than the mouse) I sure don't want to learn a whole new set of keyboard shortcuts!

Perhaps this is the death-toll for PC gaming.

As XP dies, more and more ex-windows users move to alternative OS's in order to avoid the horrors of Vista (reduced performance return for hardware, restrictive & nannying user environment, reduced reliability compared to previous platforms)

Since Apple and Linux are both pretty awful for gaming, these users start buying consoles (which are now getting fairly close to offering a similar gaming experience to the current PC platform).

Microsoft fail to offer enough kickbacks / incentive to keep the whole gaming industry with Vista (Halo2). Developers find it safer to develop games only for console rather than trying to second-guess the volatile desktop OS market, so drop Vista support altogether. (Rockstar looks to be going this way, with GTA IV available only on PS3/Xbox).

Microsoft won't care because:

a) the corporates are still tied to XP/Vista, obviously (or perhaps the companies that aren't sold too deep into .Net etc and want to avoid the horrific support issues associated with Vista will go with virtualisation of some kind for legacy Windows apps).

b) if MS can bully the OS market into buying their product for the last x years, they can sure as hell bully the console market into buying Xbox, especially with new alliances forged between the Xbox brand and PC gaming hardware manufacturers without a platform to produce for.

All in all this could even be for the best. Microsoft are forced to release their stranglehold on innocent home computer owners, and ex-home-PC-gamer user expectations drive the console market to a new plateau of quality (even if it is on MS hardware..).

Vista is an embarrassment to American engineering

I am the sole IT Technician/Systems Administrator for a non-profit organization with twelve separate sites in San Francisco.

In order to move the organization to Vista, I would have to replace at least 60% of the 150+ computer systems within the organization that are currently running Windows XP (and running it well!), and possibly as much as 80%...and I simply don't have that kind of money available to spend; the entire IT budget for this fiscal year was less than $35K for all 12 sites.

Not to mention having to deal with the headaches as I find and fix (or find I cannot fix) the invariable "problems" that Vista seems to cause with older hardware.

I'm fortunate in that I have VL agreements that I can lean on, and can order licenses of XP until (as far as I am aware) XP's actual end-of-life...but at this point, given the hardware requirements of Vista (and presumably any new desktop OS that Microsoft may wish to foist off onto their users), I won't be looking to Microsoft for too much longer; Linux is calling, and I know all our current systems can run that ably, as well.

And I'd rather retrain all the users on an open-source platform than on a platform that is going to cost the organization more than it can afford to spend.

For a student of Sofeware Engineering,I prefer Win Xp to Vista,I would rather use Linux than use Win Vista.They are both stabler than Vista and more easier to use!

OMG- People, prople, people.
Do you expect business to support products forever? Get over it already-if ya like XP stick with it. Geez while we're at it why not a SAVE Windows 98 campaign? Or better yet, SAVE Windows ME, there are still people using those o.s's too.

Really people, what are we worried about? I've been running Vista for 8 months. I have not had a problem. At work, where I use Office, web apps and test various programs, or at home, where I game. All my drivers work too! And my clients are happy.
Maybe we should accept the impending change, and buy some decent hardware!!

well with all this hype and hysteria on this i'm actually suprised but anyway i digress

1. i use leopard, ubuntu, windows xp so any upgrade to vista will be likely as i like playing with different OS systems
2. complaints against vista are valid in most cases
a. vista was supposed to be made to have better security well regardless no security is ever good not one real program can 100% stop virus, malware, adware, spyware so lets get real here
b. vista will become the new standard in the future but i dont think most people will upgrade due to requirements for vista at least not yet
c. i'd wait till enough software is fully compatible with vista before i go upgrade
d. honestly I think microsoft is going about this all wrong common 4 kinds of vista and 4 different prices get real, i bought leopard $125 all fully functions available for one price
3. people stick to what their familiar with, but as prices in computer components keep getting lower the transition from windows xp to vista will happen

I have been in the support industry and doing consulting since 1987.

Each time Microsoft rolls out a new OS, it seems to require 5 times the resources currently available.

The new machines work fine with XP, Vista makes it run like a 386sx! XP runs like a charm!

And I just love working for free reinstalling driver after driver as Vista inadvertently deletes them or screws them up. Instead of charging my hourly, I get poorer.

The direction MS needs to take: keep improving on XP. Forcing millions of established users to waste money on a theta test of a bloated OS is called robbery.

MS: Stop using your monopoly power to force money into your own pockets. Learn the ideals of customer service for the millions of folks using your products or someone else will.

MICROSOFT, first rid yourself of the all those leftover 'weedheads' that Bill G. may have missed.
Secondly,with whatever leftover talent you have, begin to carefully field what could still be a successful OpSys post-Vista. Thirdly, we'll be using the XP until you are really ready to field that successor OS. Waiting, YOUR move, we ARE counting on you!!!!.....rhh

XP work so wonderful on my computer, I bought my new notebook and decide to format whole vista (that come with notebook) and decide to install XP.

IF MS force me to using VISTA, trust me, I will move to LINUX rather than bloody VISTA.

SAVE THE WORLD, SAVE WINDOWS XP!

i have nothing against vista. but i paid good money for my xp 6 month ago. on the ms-help site many articles about xp are missing. i feel dumped. just when i thought the finaly made xp working the drop it...

-austria

I just got an HP Pavilion tx1308nr tablet pc and the specs were nice. I thought it was gonna be okay even with Vista installed. I was wrong. From welcome screen to load took like 2 minutes. OMG. I hate Vista but i'll have to use it sooner or later. Haven't tried Linux but from reading about it in IT class it's starting to sound like a very viable alternative to Vista.

One thing I'll give Vista--its pretty. :D

As Paul Thurrott, the self styled computer expert comments at his Windows Supersite on Vista SP1: "Windows Vista is already a stellar operating system..." Seems to be going Nova at the moment.

I dont understand the moto of this website. We can continue using XP as long as we want. Those who are threatening to switch to linux after June, 2008 ...... relax guys ...... most of you already have xp and so u definitely have the installation disk ....... keep on using it for the next 100 years ...... u just need to preserve the disk from being damaged ..... thats all ! why you guys need to freak out over a stupid countdown clock ........ no1's forcing u to upgrade .....

As for people buying new systems after June 30, 2008 ....... relax guys ...... u will definitely not buy a system that wont run Vista smoothly ..... even if u want, u wont buy old hardware right ???? even the budget pcs of today can handle vista ..... i mean with pentium dual core and at least 1 gb ram ....... right ?? how much that will cost ??? ok many might say 1 Gb is not enough ..... but if u are not a gaming enthusiastic, u dont need more than that !!

I think the main problem with Vista isn't necessarily the kernel, it's just the vast number of bloatware processes running that most people don't need. My mother in law bought a new PC with Vista that was supposedly 'Vista ready', and it was basically unusable until a RAM upgrade, disabling a bunch of processes, and removal of basically everything that was running on startup. Prior to that it was hitting the hard drive non-stop the whole time you used the computer. Even now it's still slower than her old PC which ran XP. There's still a ton of processes running which I suspect serve no real useful purpose except to waste system resources.

As many have said already, wake up guys, forget about both Vista and XP... They are all now obsolete, as Linux is improving much faster and has already surpassed both, imho.

And stop whining about missing applications and so on, most have alternatives, and anyway the more we will be running Linux, the more serious it will be taken by drivers and applications makers.

It's about time for a revolution! Join in!

Discontinuing xp this year is premature. I have lots of windows software whether it be games or business programs that still have huge issues on vista. XP should realistically be supported until sometime in late 2009 or 2010. Vista just doesn't work with so many things from the windows platform. If everything worked well, I wouldn't mind the switch.

Vista still does not have hardware support for many state of the art hardware platforms (unless you choose the "Compatibility Mode" legacy drivers). I am too busy to correct Vista problems. I wipe my new computers and clean install XP Pro sp2.
If MS ever gets their problems resolved with their "Not ready for prime time" OS they won't pick up many experienced power users.
Linux is still the best thing around.

From Spain I write that for many people is very important following use Windows XP.
Thankyou very mutch to keep this OS.

To those who say they are surprised that people are upset about the forced-march towards Vista... If you say Vista works well for you, and all your drivers works, well, far be it from me to call you a liar or a shill for M$. Good for you. But, ask yourself this -- even if it works for you, is it actually better? At what? What is the driving reason, in your mind, that makes the conversion (NOT an upgrade!) to Vista worthwhile? Name one thing Vista does that XP does not. Name one thing Vista does better than XP. Now tell me which of the 6 Vista versions you are running. Now tell me why it was worth the added $200 to $300 for the OS, plus the cost of the additional/upgraded hardware.

My point is, there is no reason for Vista. It only exists to drive up the M$ bottom line, in the sure and certain hope the mindless masses will give up their cash. And sadly, it's working.

If you are cool with that, then more power to ya.

I did desktop support for a company who's CIO forced a rollout of Vista and Office 2007 to all employees. I never heard so much crying in my life! When Cisco didn't have a version of their VPN client that would work with Vista months after it was supposed to, (to my knowledge they still may not) and when we got tired of telling people where things were hidden in Vista and Office the CEO put her foot down and made him reinstall XP and Office 2003 for everyone. Fortunately I was gone by then!
Now I order Thinkpads and pay the extra $50 for the XP rollback discs because so much of our installed software won't work with Vista. The extra cost incurred by adapting Vista AND upgrading everything else is ridiculous.

I'm sure Vista has some redeeming qualities - I just haven't seen one yet.

A few weeks ago, I had 2 identical pc's on my bench, hi-end laptops with Vista preinstalled. 2GB ram, Core duo pro cpu's etc. "Downgraded" one of them to XP (which was a tedious and time-consuming affair, as I had to track down and install dozens of several drivers)

Then did some simple performance tests. The one with Vista consistently used 30-40% more time to complete tasks like startup, antivirus install, Office 2003 install etc.

For anyone who has a household with 2 PC's, one with Vista and one with XP, you will know the dilemmas it causes. Ever tried opening a document emailed from a Vista user? Well we couldn't, as the file attachment was a .docx. Vista is not an easy program for the average person to navigate and seem to be incompatible with a lot of other software. All I can say is " LONG LIVE XP"

I don't like the comparison of Vista == New Coke for the simple fact that I liked New Coke better... It tasted like Pepsi!

If I cannot get a PC with XP on it, I will most probably switch to an Apple.

There are no legitimate reasons for Windows Vista to exist as a separate OS. The functional changes in Vista amount to necessary security fixes which should have been applied to Windows XP. Beyond that, Vista is a bunch of worthless and arbitrary renaming and aesthetic changes, things that would have previously ended up in a "Plus Pack". In reality, Vista should have been "Windows XP SP3". Microsoft's ending development and support of Windows XP, and duping their customers into buying into the "upgrade that isn't" called Vista, is a huge disservice to Microsoft's customers and end-user base.

I have been using Vista on my laptop for a few months now... I hate it.

While this petition is in good spirit, I doubt it'll work. The only thing that will work, is a mass refusal to purchase any new computers, hardware, or software that requires Vista to run.

I bought a Mac and dual boot to XP for games rather than switch to Vista. What was promised in Longhorn was NOT delivered in Vista. They stripped all of the enhancements and shipped the bug-ridden leftovers.

Some people suggested this is pointless as the technology always evolve and we need to follow. My point is, the evolution of technology is for people, not for technology.

Saving XP is not saving an old tech, but to save Coke Cola like Usability.

In short, it is all about usability.

Basic Economics. We are a System Int. Company. When we rotate a computer out of service we save the key. When we need a new system, and we ONLY use XP we either buy a system with XP or we get barebones and recycle keys. If we have to we buy a vista system and wipe it which we have done dozens of times.

Point being. . .Microsoft can SELL us XP. Or we will just reuse licenses from old computers.

If you make it easy for me to buy a system with it. . I will do that. . otherwise you will get nothing.

We have over 100PCs and 7 Servers, some special Companysoftware and also some special Hardware.
Vista wont run with all Things we use, this is the first Problem.The second Problem is, why(please explain me) should I buy some faster PC only for a System,which will give me no Features btw. I dont need any Aero or a new Click on any Function in the System like are you sure, are you really sure?

We use XP, Windows Server 2003 and some very old PC are running with 2k, you can be sure, this will be for a long Time.
Maybe Windows 7 will have some Things that we really need,
Regards
An Admin

You can buy a new box... But can you get Windows XP drivers for all the hardware bits in the box? Will Intel and Nvidia and AMD and Highpoint and all continue to write XP drivers for their latest and greatest? Will MS bribe (or blackmail) them not to? Whadda YOU think? At some point, the very last MB with all the XP drivers still available 'Somewhere on the Net' is gonna roll off the assembly line, and that'll be it. The only way to stop that is to pass consumer protection legislation to force MS to continue support for every operating system for ever. Think THAT'S gonna happen? MS is worth mega billions. It takes SO much less than that to completely own our legislature... $40,000.00 here, $115,000.00 there...

Lizardo

Magi said:
> Name one thing Vista does that XP does not.

Native IPv6 support.

>Name one thing Vista does better than XP.

Graphics card drivers are no longer in the kernel, so upgrading graphics cards drivers or a bug in third party drivers will cause the DWM to restart, rather than a BSOD (which is what you get with XP).

> which of the 6 Vista versions you are running

Vista Ultimate

> Now tell me why it was worth the added $200 to $300 for the OS

My machine can be part of a domain and supports remote desktop (RD is the main reason why I went for Ultimate), but it also supports Media Center (which you could only previously get with XP MCE, and XP MCE isn't supposed to join a domain - although there is a hack, but that apparently stops the extenders from working). For a normal home user, I'd probably recommend Home Premium.

> plus the cost of the additional/upgraded hardware.

I'm still using the same Core 2 Duo setup (1.86GHz) with DX9 graphics card (fairly old factory overclocked 7900GT), which I'd been using with my XP Pro system for several months before I moved to Vista. I did upgrade the main hard disk from a 120GB IDE drive to a 250GB SATA drive, but I don't think that really counts. I bought the TV card to go with Vista, as I knew it had Media Center.

Rhonda said:
>Ever tried opening a document emailed from a Vista user? Well we couldn't, as the file attachment was a .docx

You're confusing Microsoft Office with Windows. The easiest way to avoid problems is to use Office 2007 to save files using the older 97-2003 format.

Alternatively, to open Microsoft Office Word 2007 .docx or .docm files with Microsoft Office Word 2003, Word 2002, or Word 2000, you need to install the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for 2007 Office Word, Excel and PowerPoint File Formats and any necessary Office updates. By using the Compatibility Pack for the 2007 Office system, you can open, edit some items, and save Office Word 2007 documents in previous versions of Word.

Or you could install Office 2007 on the XP machine.

Whatever you do, it's an application problem, and nothing to do with the underlying Operating System.

Vista XP ? Sorry, too late, switched to Mac OS X and Linux over a year ago, and I'm NEVER going back.

I can still hear Bill G. say the Wow is Now. I thought what a terrible slogan for a new product. It appeared to be a terrible slogan for a terrible product. So Bill was right after all.

If Microsoft shuffs vista through my throat i will switch to Linux and will say goodbye to Microsoft forever.

They made 3 mistakes sofar.
1. Windows ME.
2. Vista.
3. Office 2007.

In business it means your out !!!!. Let's give them one more change todo the right thing. Keep XP Alive and make it quicker !!!

Step aside your arrogance Microsoft.

I've bought Vista but I don't use it. Just a short test for 2 weeks. Gaming Performance sucks, File operation performance sucks, and I think it will also suck at my new E6850. No need to change!

This is the reason I have made backup copy of my OEM XP (Home) and One Pro ver. and will never upgrade to Vista until it becomes USABLE!

XP is great but Microsoft really need to get people to move onto Vista in order for more software/drivers to become Vista friendly. I'm sure the whole community would benefit from software developers focusing on the one operating system.

You can't recycle XP OEM keys. That's illegal.

Give us DirectX 10 for XP - you can keep the candy UI for Vista.

The problem is that Vista doesnt change that much for average users instead its reported that it creates new porblems instead. Vista could for what I can see be named XP 2 instead. The problem in this is that MS needs cashflow like all other companies in the world but it seems like nobody wants to pay for the minor upgrade or even downgrade in some cases.

We provide loan automation software and have versions available that range from a very old DOS based version to a 32bit windows based version. With Vista, some components of the 32 bit version do not work. The enhanced DOS version that uses a Memory Expander component (Phar-Lap) to take advantage of the Extended memory space available in DOS simply dies and goes away without notice. However, the 20 year old original DOS version that only runs in the 640k memory space runs perfectly in Vista. Go figure... All three work fine in XP - Please MS don't kill XP. It's not dead yet....

"Without admitting Millennium's failure, Microsoft quietly put Windows 98 back on the market until the fixed version of Windows 2000 (SP1) was available. Microsoft needs to do something like that again today." You don't need to do this, because Vista SP1 is almost final :).

Pah! Save XP? I still use Windows 2000 Pro on my self-built computers- W2K Pro does everything I want or need. The only machine I have with XP installed is a laptop, and it CAME w/ WinXP (otherwise, I'd have "downgraded" it to W2K, too). Microsoft can go pound salt if they think they can FORCE me to buy Vista. Bloatware in a pretty box is still Bloatware.

I will never buy Windows Vista or Office 2007. I snagged a few copies of Office 2003 before that was killed off, and I have every intention of using them where I can't recycle my old licence on new hardware.

How long Microsoft decides to sell XP also determines how long I will continue to buy their products.

Can't really say it any clearer than that.

Windows Vista is Millennium v2. I spoke directly with Microsoft's sales force who said "Vista is the same as XP, we had these growing pains when we moved from 98 to NT5 (2000/XP)." Shutup! Vista is built around DRM and spying. Why can't I decide I want to install an app? Why does EVERYTHING need to access the internet to phone home? Windows XP Pro 32-bit FOREVER! Microsoft will learn their lesson this time. Linux is no longer lurking in the shadows. With so many flavours of FREE OSs I think MS is in for a rude awakening.

BRAVO !!! oui il faut sauver XP car c'est le seul système d'exploitation de Windows qui reste fiable et surtout qui accepte tout les programmes, Vista Home Peremium est pas du tout au point, avec beaucoup de lacune et il faut déboursser beaucoup d'argent pour pouvoir s'offrir la version complète et je trouve ça pas normal, si Microsoft continu dans cette lancé, j'irais voir Apple ou sûrement LINUX.

BRAVO! Yes we must save XP because it is the only Windows operating system, which remains mostly reliable and which accepts all programs, Vista Home Peremium is not at all to the point, with many gaps and it takes a lot of money déboursser to be able to afford the full version and I find it not normal, if Microsoft continued in the run, I would certainly see Apple or LINUX.

I signed the petition as Windows XP is the only stable choice for people with disabilities, espacially those who are visually impaired.

When windows XP arrived the screen-readers editors where ready with updates of their products.
With Vista only english versions of these screen-reader softwares are available today.

In France as in many other countries, (old) people encounteer more and more visual disablities, so more and more people will hate Windows Vista for not having third-pary assistives products as thoses wich are available on Windows XP.

By letting Windows XP out of the market so quickly after the Vista arrival, Microsoft is going to create a "dead zone" where noone could buy a Windows XP computer in order to install a compatible screen-reader software.

It is not completely the Microsoft's fault if many companies didn't make their software "Vista ready" in time, but Microsoft has to reconsider Windows XP sell and support end dates in order to ensures that compatible assistives technologies providers have ready and localized products.

I realize the baggage that any software (most especially an operating system) can carry with it. People get accustomed to using it, buy hardware to use with it, and find ways to work around any idiosyncrasies that it exhibits. When the publisher of the software tries to implement a successor, they either have to carry along much of the baggage or be vilified for causing problems for their customers. As the software versions accumulate the effort to carry the baggage becomes close to insurmountable.

The determining factor for many customers whether to upgrade or not is whether the enhancements in a new version out way the effort and cost of upgrading. Sunsetting an older version is one way the software publishers try to force customers to upgrade.

Understanding all this, I must say that some of the features removed in Vista, the abandonment of many models of peripherals, and the lack of enhancements that would make the new system more desirable, lead me to hope that XP will be available for a long time.

I can understand the bells&whistles concept which has been the Microsoft approach for too long. I can see why they want to 'make pretty' for the home consumer and the CFO's and CEO's who want "their company" to always be on the top technologically, and how much more top could you ask than something that looks that darn pretty?
What I cannot understand is why, when XP Pro is finally a semi-stable known OS with more than enough applications which will gladly run on it, any business would want to dump the workable known factor in favor of the unknown and still-in-development Vista. When we XP users had to wait past the point of SP2 to get a semi-safe and reliable OS, how could we even think of trusting a new OS which already needs SP1 but isn't going to get SP1 released until Microsoft stops delaying the release -- for *what*ever reason.
Vista may have its purpose; after all, there are computer users and windoze users ... and the dozers outnumber the computerites. But to force professionals to choose between a new flawed OS or a "questionable" installation of the known-to-work OS, is a bad business decision no matter who is deciding.

Vista is very bad for small business who have invested allot of money into custom software. Most custom software my customers use does not have a version that will run on Vista. It was hard enough to make some of it run on XP to begin with. What is a computer service vendor to do? Stop selling/installing new PCs and just keep repairing the old ones forever? If that is the case I'd better find another line of work..

I love Vista on my home machine. Well, apart from there being no touchpad drivers for Vista x64, but that's Dell's fault and is a 64-bit problem, not a Vista problem.

It would be completely impossible to use at work. I still need to support applications running on Pocket PC 2002 and Windows CE 4.2 platforms, and for that I need the development environment I wrote them with - Microsoft eMbedded Visual C++. This is not supported, and doesn't work, on Windows Vista. Even where the customer has upgraded some devices, a move to Visual Studio 2005 native device development entails a change of libraries which can have complicated breaking changes. Oh, and they broke serial ActiveSync as well.

Similarly I have customers using SQL Server 2000 databases (not supported) and using solutions built with .NET Framework 1.1 - Visual Studio .NET 2003 is not supported (mostly works, but despite still being in mainstream support on XP, is not supported by Microsoft PSS on Windows Vista).

Microsoft suggest running these in XP on a virtual machine. Their own free solution Virtual PC is useless because it can't virtualize USB devices; VMware Workstation is $189.

I might have to ask my boss for a new work computer soon just so I can be sure I get XP on it.

Like most I too prefer XP. (Admitted I actually liked ME.) I also believed the hype that Vista was good and bought two brand new Vista machines. What a waste. Hardware good - OS really bad.

For example a simple program like Photoimpact worked properly on one Vista PC yet failed to work on the other - out of the box.

However I did some research and found I could continue using XP indefinitely without being tied to a PC and having to buy new software.

Yes I converted to Mac with VMware Fusion and enjoying the benefits of OSX and XP. I LOVE choice.

Reasons to keep XP

- Stable, functional platform.
- Good User experience.
- Measurable support costs.
- Low learning curve.
- Will run well on older machines, performs very well on new technology.
- Seamless upgrade for existing XP users

Vista issues (reasons to maintain XP)

- Very limited benefits to business users, therefore very limied business case for upgrade.
- Requires fast technology to run properly
- HORRIBLE feedback from end users as to functionality in a business setting
- Undermines business productivity
- requires more support per machines deployede versus XP
- Questionable stability

I have redirected the money originaly earmarked for 2008 Vista upgrades and redirected this to laptop/XP upgrades for end users.

I have no plan to now transition to Vista. This was originally planned and budgeted.

I plan on upgrading all hardware and maintaining XP until the next MS product.

Based on the Vista release experience, an upgrade decision to the next MS OS will be made based on the relative business merits of the new OS at that time.

MS must listen to users and release a product with a compelling business case (not the MS idea of a compelling business case, but actually what companies in the real world need).

MS has failed in delivering a fully functional OS and in doing so has lost revenue for this year and future years.

But more importantly, MS has lost the confidence of long time MS business users and has forced us to look at OSX, ubuntu and other means.

Adoption of the next gen MS OS is no longer a slam dunk for MS. You will have a long road ahead of yout o convince business that you can deliver a product worthy of adoption.

We work with a heavy CAD program (Solidworks).
We need the fastest PC's to run our program smoothly. Until now, Vista makes us work slower, we have problems with video drivers etc.
So as profesional: stick to XP, Vista is for the power users made with to much extra's, which slowdown the real work.

Je reste avec Windows XP ou je passe en MAC ! C'est à Microsoft de choisir...
I stay with Windows XP or I pass in MAC! It is in Microsoft to choose...
Paujac

Say goodbye to Microsoft and the 20th century...say hello to Linux and the 21st century!

Are you kidding me.....XP is the best operating system in the world......!

I'm a Mac guy. I run Windows XP Pro as well, and I get along OK with it. Too many pop-ups -- like the obligatory "virus scan in progress" messages (the baggage that comes with using the Typhoid Mary of OS's) and the self-congratulatory messages when it connects to the Internet or it finds a peripheral (Microsoft's acknowledgement that users don't expect their OS to work.) Still, even if XP remains a feeble imitation of the Mac OS I used 5-6 years ago, it seems a shame to abandon it now that it is at least usable. I gave Vista a fair chance, which is more than it gave me.

"...say hello to Linux and the 21st century!" Sorry, not even by the 31st century.

Unix/Linux? I run a couple of Unix apps on my Mac. Get along with it OK, too. Forget it as a desktop OS. People who have trouble with drag-and-drop installations aren't going to take to MKPKG. Then there's CS3, Aperture, Final Cut Studio, MS Office (Hey! A great product from MS with a bunch of third-rate imitations. Now, that's irony!), and a whole bunch of other missing mainstream software. Yeah, I know, you've got The GIMP. Believe me, I know how this frosts your cake, but iPod/iTunes/iPhone do seem to enjoy a certain amount of success.

David

I was using Vista, but still so many problem with the software i used, until now, XP still the best choice. if Kill XP, we will move to linux......

XP is like an old shoe, worn-in, cozy, comfortable, which no one wants to discard ... yet ! Over a period of time, (what 6 years?), its been patched, patched and patched to make it what it is today ! Dependable !!

Vista today is just like XP was 6 years ago. See http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-3672_7-5021075-1.html?tag=bhed . People are saying that Vista is the worst thing that has happened ! XP, they say, is the ideal and does almost everything perfectly.

And Vista, like a new shoe is biting some. Biting hard enough to even, to start a SaveXP campaign ... :)

Carried on http://www.winvistaclub.com/

I installed Windows Vista ultimate and my sound card and Sata drives were not recognized.

Plus my 32 bit scanner didn’t work. (No Vista Drivers)

My XP system was working just fine before I installed Vista

And I did use the compatibility checker Microsoft had and it reported everything was fine before I tried to upgrade to vista

So why should I buy a new computer so vista will recognize my Sata drives and a new sound card and scanner.

New Computer and scanner = $2500.00

Stay with XP = $0.00

I've been using XP for many many years and I have never had any problems ( not any big one's ) Then when i heard of this "Vista" OS they were gonna lunch, I said the same as i did with XP. "This OS isn't gonna be as stable as the last OS until 2 years ATLEAST" I've been running around in my neighborhoud this last 3-5 months "working" as a technician for people using Vista OS. Because the software isn't that stable yet. I've ran in to a problem last week when the computer ask for a OS during the startup. All I say is "KEEP XP RUNNING AND TROW VISTA AWAY"

I rally this post, if i can't maintain XP i prefer move to linux too.
It is a problem off new vs old systems, it's because in too much cases Vista doesn't work.

What is wrong with XP? Nothing.
It's not broken. It runs fine. It can be quick as lightning (sometimes)so why force people to change.
I'll be sticking with XP for years to come.
Shame on you MicroSoft.

There's just too much about Vista that I really really like. The major headaches have mostly come from software venders taking their sweet ass time updating to run better on Vista. Hopefully after SP1, Vista will be much better in the problem areas it has like sluggish performance. I still like XP and keep an install ready on another hard drive but I look forward to what Vista evolves to over the next couple years. One thing is for sure, it blows OSX away. (XP and Vista)

I have to agree with some of the previous posts, especially about video drivers. I have computers here at home running, XP, Vista, Ubuntu Linux, and Mac OS X. All were purchased new with the operating system already installed with the exception of the Ubuntu. The first thing I do is take any preinstalled crapware off of them. Of the 5 machines, the only one that has a problem is the Vista machine. At least four or five times a week, the monitor goes black, then will come back on with a message that the video driver has stopped working, and then restarted. The video driver is a microsoft driver for the onboard video. It is not a separate card with it's own driver. I don't think my XP machine ever had a problem with its driver.

VISTA is really bad!

I use explorer to look at the files on my computer and when I go to "C:\Jim\startup" and double click to look at my files I get a message:
"Acess denied. You need admistrative permission."
This is MY computer and I'm the ONLY one who uses it! I need permission to look at MY files?

SAVE XP!!!

I hope the time goes fast so all the sales of Windows XP are blocked and I would soon forget about Windows XP. My new Windows Vista Ultimate x64 is awesome, it is fast and very stable, I can do whatever I want, faster and easier than on Windows XP. If something goes wrong, which is very rare, I report the error through the special interface, it takes only a few kilobytes of Internet, and a few days later I get an update fixing the problem. And I can run Vista for many weeks without rebooting. I love it.

Windows Vista is much better than XP. But if you prefer a less demanding OS, why not use Windows 3.1?, or better a Linux distro?.

I hate meetings for the sake of meetings, Vista is the same, changes for the sake of change and not solely for improvements. Let's take XP and screw it up, turn it into a labyrinth or jigsaw and call it Vista. Oh, and while we are at it, let's also bug the user with loads of conformation boxes and incompatibility issues....

Oh please. Seriously. Vista is great - I think they could have done even more, but it still is a great improvement from XP. It isn't slow or clunky at all, just upgrade your computer/get a new one! And for all of you saying how they copied off Mac OS - perhaps you should look at the similarities of Mac OS 10.5 and Vista! And also, Vista is more stable than Mac OS!!! Google it! There has been less bugs! Get Vista, it's great.

They made 3 mistakes sofar.
1. Windows ME.
2. Vista.
3. Office 2007.

to which you can add

4. Windows 3.0 - hilarious though better games than 3.1
and
5. MS-DOS 4.0 lasted all of 5 minutes testing on a new PC before MS-DOS 3.22 was reinstalled.

This is disastrous news for business users, Some companies have still not adopted XP now and still use Win2k yet their upgrade path will now skip XP.

Effective support relies on a consistent platform a known platform and above all a mature platform, neither Vista nor Office 2007 meet this criteria, I am already suffering because my clients cannot buy Office 2003 and are considering the switch to Openoffice (which I have used for years) now they will be forced to buy Vista on new PCs yet several apps do not run well on it (if at all).

Microsoft care little for their customers but a lot about their profits.

I've been using XP since, yeah I can't remember.It's the best Microsoft has made, solid as a rock, and easy to use and guide people around. I've tried Vista, very bad experience and not easy to use. When freinds or family ask about Vista, I say: change back to XP. In my work we need to "downgrade" to XP due to lack of support from software makers. It doesn't seem correct that you buy a new laptop or desktop computer, and you need to change to the OS that was before the new OS. Think about that. I strongly advise everybody to tell freinds about this mission. Thanks for this idea.

I am satisfied with XP for my computer needs and do not like Vista! Too much to learn for the little that I do on the computer. A simple print function requires several different steps (or at least it did on my computer at work) and I don't like changing 'just because they say so'. I am sick & tired of FASTER, FASTER, DIFFERENT all the time.

One of the main problems with Vista is that the developers seemed to have no understanding of human engineering. After years of learning/using XP, Vista arrives with a new set of access points to operating functions. The user must learn entirely new ways to perform common tasks. It is like randomly jumbling all the alphanumerics on a QWERTY keyboard, then concealing them under abstract characters and still expecting the typist to hit 100 wpm. MS blithely assumes everyone will intuit their intentions. The Vista learning curve requires too much effort for such negligible results.

I have xp on my home pc and vista on my laptop. vista doesnt like most of my programs that work well with xp. I dont have the extra $$ to go out and buy new programs to go with the vista and would love to have had the ability to purchase a new laptop with xp NOT vista

Amazing. All this. Just got a new dual core laptop with Vista. It runs at 2GHz with 2 Gigs of ram. It runs slower than XP on my trusty old 1.3GHz Celeron with 512Mb. A freshly booted XP uses some 180Mb. A freshly booted Vista uses 800+ Mb. Ubuntu clocks in at 170Mb, - inclusive a graphic gui way beyond Vista. They all allow me to do the same things. Web, mail, office, movies, music and even windows applications. Except Vista... it has problems with certain business applications.

Hello.
It's time to claim our rights as customers. Vista isn't something new (only the aero style is and you have to buy the expensive version and change many hardware parts in order to work without problems) Its more like a new-big- XP service pack.
Also I don't like the company's logic. Its like if you have a 5 years car and when the new model arrives they say to you "My friend, you have to throw away your car and buy the new one.
P.S Me and my friends have start to learn about Linux. And if Microsoft insist we will stop using the companies products.

I agree with some of the posters that computer users need to take a hard look at Apple and Linux. I never used Linux before Vista came out and now really see some advantages to Linux builds like Ubuntu for many computer users: Less hardware requirements, free, complete software package, free, far fewer security concerns, free, great community for help.

Vista works, sure enough, but very slowly without expert help to tweak it and super modern hardware to run it. Microsoft screwed up, again...look to Apple and/or Linux or just stay with XP.

I still have clients using Windows 98 for basic word processing, email, and Internet and they get along fine...no need to keep upgrading if you don't need to.

I agree, Microsoft is trying to force something down our throats when it does not even work properly. XP has become a fairly stable environment, and yes sometimes enjoyable.
I am more a linux user at the moment and only use XP for gaming and a bit of dotnet dev. So I will not change to VISTA.

I'm a XP user, from Brazil. I produce software with Visual FoxPro 9 and don't see enough benefits in spend money and time moving to Vista, too.

I'll try Ubuntu or another GNU/Linux OS.

With Vista SP1 - performance has certainly improved - yes you can now copy files without wondering if it will finish before your retirement party. Switch off the ACU and its nowhwere as annoying - reckon this 'feature' was just a little joke by the Vista programers :)

Unfortunaly the GUI and the crazy way they have altered the locations of things - indicates the Vista designers must have been smoking something pretty powerfull.... plus their manager to allow them to get aways with it.

Besides that its fine ;)

I have both Vista and XP on a Dual-Boot. I have 4 gig of Ram. XP is still faster and smother than Vista. I also like how they made it so Vista can talk to an older Windows OS, but those Os's cant see or talk to the Vista.

Another problem I have found is that in some of these newer systems made for Vista, There are not always XP drivers available for a clean install of XP. This has happened on a newer Toshiba with a Nvdia video card.

So not only do we need to keep XP alive, but also for the makers to have XP drivers available for the new tech. Got to hand it to Microsoft, they created a good trap.

Next I will play with Linux, Even as a PC tech for years I have avoided this. I play WOW and i keep reading of issues and slowness in Linux. If anybody wants to tag me and really help me with this I would appreciate it. sirjadith@yahoo.com

I'm a software developer. So I have a large number of sophisticated products that have to be able to co-reside and work together on my Windows platform.

My company has had several developers forced to Vista while servicing our clients. The result has been an absolute nightmare. Applications don't work, drivers collide, the screen loses integrity at random times, we encounter file data loss or corruption, our network-based automated backups don't work, etc.

I am absolutely, positively not going to Vista. I've decided that if the day comes that a client or a new laptop is attempting to force me to Vista, or if Microsoft won't continue to make XP available and provide me with sufficient and timely support, I'm making the jump to Linux.

All time that I spend building, maintaining, debugging, and yelling at Windows is time that I am not spending developing capability for my clients. (It's also not billable.) I can't afford that. So before I'll be forced to go through a "required" migration to Vista, I'll make the plung to Linux and take over control of my own destiny once and for all.

I friend of mine has bought a DELL laptop with pre-installed vista. Pre-installed is not exactly the correct word, as you should complete the vista installation on first use. By the end of the day the vista started with the blue screens and stuff or taking days to load an application. All blue-screen errors ended up with "A device driver error, please keep up sending error reports to Microsoft. Was this information helpful? Yes / No" Insane!...

I have tested both Ultimate editinos - 32bit and 64bit. Both are hopeless in respect to drivers, the only good thing for 32bit Vista is that you may be lucky to run a XP installation in compatibility mode. Sometimes it works.

Vista seems to be somewhere where Windows ME ended up - in the middle of nowhere, where only a few enthusiast have had it working and waited for the XP.

Vista to me is nothing but more restrictive facelift of windows XP, powdered up with thousands of DirectX "goodies" that make you suffer even if you have more than 2 gigs of memory. And, the 32bit version of Vista still cannot comfortably handle 4 gb of ram :).

I would buy this OS, if I do not need to work on the computer, but only go for picture viewing, movies, internet and chat, and EVENTUALLY games, as there are so few supporting dx10.

Microsoft is pushing the users to Vista, and is going to kill all previous versions, as Vista is a losing card and the only way not to suffer enormous loss is to leave no choice to the unexperienced users, which are majority. I will squeeze the XP to the utmost before changing the OS. Hopefully by that time Apple makes a PC-compatible version of their OS, otherwise I will switch to linux :)

I don't really care about WXP or Microsoft since I'm using GNU/Linux, but I do know a couple of things about the differences between Vista and XP, and if I'd have to choose I'd definitely want to have XP rather than Vista.

I signed.

Vista is bloated, expensive and buggy as hell.
I love my XP.
Save XP Please :(

Windows Vista was the reason I bought a Mac mini. I didn't want my only choices to be an operating system that would soon be obsolete (XP) or one that was buggy and would "break" much existing hardware (Vista), and I'm not enough of a geek to use Linux (do things from the command line? Puhleeze...). The Mac, with the OS X Tiger operating system, was very stable, then along came Leopard and broke a few things, but Apple is about to push out an upgrade that supposedly will fix most of Leopard's issues. Personally, I wish someone would come out with a Linux distribution that would not require (or even hint) that someone should use the command line, ever, for any reason (and where anyone suggesting that a user do something from the command line be shot on sight!) ;-) I would be happy as a clam with an OS like that, and would probably not have bought a Mac if certain Linux factions weren't so anti-GUI. Linux users are their own worst enemy sometimes, they are letting a golden opportunity to convert Windows users slip through their fingers. Meanwhile, I am not unhappy with my Mac, but I'm not one of those "Apple can do no wrong" fanboys, either.

I am XP user from Czech Republic. I have tried Vista and since that Vista is my PC nightmare! Everything in Vista is so different and complicated! It slowed my laptop, so I've had to return to "old" reliable and well-arranged XP.
If MS stop to support XP, I'll probably use Linux instead of the horrible Vista...
How many people have to stop using MS products until they start to listen....

I don't need a beautiful OS. I need an OS which is stable to learn, play, and work. Vista compared with XP, it is not so stable. Many software compatible with XP are not compatible with Vista, especially for the s/w not having Vista version.

The purpose of Microsoft releasing Vista is to earn more and more money.

Au lieu de perdre du temps et de l'argent pour développé sans cesse de nouveau programmes, que l'on améliore ceux qui existent, qu'on les rendent moins gourmands, plus stables et plus fiables.
C'est toujours la course au profit, il n'y a plus rien de durable.
Quel gaspillage d'énergie!!!
Laissez-nous windows XP, et au contraire il faut l'alléger, le rendre modulable suivant les besoins de chacun et les configurations des PC.
Il y a tellement de personnes qui n'ont pas besoin de toutes les possibilités offertes par les versions de base,surtout lors d'une utilisation familiale et bureaucratique.

Translation:

Instead of wasting time and money to continually developed new programs, what if it improved existing ones, which would make them less greedy, more stable and reliable. It's always