XP is better than Vista.

There's configuration problems with vista compared to XP for (..example..) windows XP operating system works with (games and programs) from windows 98'.

(another exp.)

Windows Vista has internet configuration problems like, i sign on and off every 5 minutes compared to XP.

Soooooo windows XP is better from my experience.

Dont get me wrong, Vista has its benifits, But there is too many problems at this time, release it 2 to 3 yrs from now when the problems are fixed, but for now i love windows XP!.......
so when i can use all the programs from 98 and up, ill never use Vista intill then.

like more feed back ?.......

e_mail me ill get back to u as fast as i can!
Richusa3182@aol.com

Vista also works with games made for Windows 98. Works on my machine. Even things as old as Quake 1 actually work. In the rare event they don't, learn what the compatibility options do.

I have had ZERO problems with my Internet connection. Do you have bad drivers? Wireless Problems? Using 4 different software firewalls (which you should NEVER use)? Again, the problem here is not Vista itself. If it was, I'd be having the same problems.

RD Client in Vista sucks too. We use a Terminal Services environment extensively in our WAN. RD Client 5.x works great, but the RD client with Vista is quite...horrible. No options for logging into a domain, saving connection information, nothing. They ruined it.

Also takes an act of congress for printer sharing between vista computers.

I certainly hope Microsoft realizes that Vista isn't going to work for business. I've had nothing but problems with Vista for my 160+ business clients that I support. I can't even stand to use it myself. I'll be holding onto XP until the next OS AFTER Vista.

We just did a hardware technology refresh of our workstations and laptops. To upgrade to Vista we would have to do another technology refresh to upgrade the systems that we just replaced in order to support Vista.
I have looked at the Vista operating system and what is there does not justify either the dollars to upgrade the systems and the dollars to provide training to the staff that must use the newly upgraded systems.
Realistically it will be a minimum of 2 tto 3 years before we would even consider transitioning to Vista from XP. But then again we are considering desktop virtualization which throws another interesting wrench into the gears of technology updates.

The simple fact that going to vista forces a user to buy office 2007 becaus eolder versions will not function is more than enough reason to avoid it. that in itself borders on theft by deception. My son purchased vista on day one and then had to buy office 2007 and to make matters wors3e vista has never performed well on his sony machine. More garbage from microsoft. ME? I use xp and open office (until I complete my new Linux machine).

Vista slows down and sucks resources. It seems also to be affected with some critical lan configurations and, generally, without intuitive settings for the technicians who must tune the system.
I think that software incompatibilities and the absence of tangible advantages compared to XP are widely justifyng mistrust and disappointment regarding Vista.

I will not be changing any of my IT clients to Vista - ever. If I'm left with no other choice, I will shut down my consulting business before I will support this horrible excuse for an OS.

That said, you can install Office 2003 on Vista (don't get me started on Office 2007 either!).

Lately, it seems Microsoft is as out of touch with its base as the average politician in the USA is!

The Netmeeting software does not work under Vista (Desktop Sharing). We use it virtually everywhere for business meetings. That makes Vista unusable for my purposes, especially because people expect me to be able to use Desktop sharing in Netmeeting.

I think Window ME was better than Vista!

OUR EXPERIENCE....
Have a Network of XP Pro machines setup and functioning very well. Love Microsoft Windows Live products we have incorporated from Beta till today.

Having tested one Vista machine setup here and reading all the horror stories on the net as well as in numerous IT publications I question that we will ever update to Vista.

To assist Microsoft it is my humble opinion that it would be wise to repackage Vista as follows:

Vista Home..."Hit Delete Key"
Vista Home Premium...rename "Almost Good Edition"
Vista Business......rename "Our Collector Edition"
Vista Ultimate......rename "Geeks Gamers Edition"

As someone concerned about the environment, I shudder at the thought of millions of perfectly good computers (with XP on them) going in the dump or worse, into some 3rd world country for "recycling" just because the "latest and greatest" software had to be used.

Having to throw out a good, but non-digital TV, is bad enough for the environment and people's wallets (and that was legislated by the government).

If Vista is to be forced upon me by a corporation that I once trusted to produce a decent product then I will go with Linux. I have loved Microsoft's OS since 95, except for Windows ME, and I have enjoyed programming with Visual Studio as a student since 2003. However, I refuse to use an OS that hogs as many resources as Vista. I hate user account controls asking me to verify installs more than once, I hate the gaming and application compatibility errors, and I hate the networking woes with other Microsoft systems.

I purchased a new laptop with Vista Business on it. I'm glad that QVC said it accepts returns for any reason, because in the span of 3 days, the thing was back in the box and returned! My husband and I are technicians, and there is NO CHALLENGE we cannot overcome! Well, at least until Vista crossed my threshold....it crashed so many times I can't count, just from a T-Mobile Air Card! No sooner I got it straightened out, I installed Kodak Camera Software (and yes, it was the Vista version!) and it hosed the whole thing up with an rsapi.dll error that meant IE was corrupt. It wouldn't let me fix my own machine!

That was it, after all the horror stories and seeing the return of the "blue screen" I called QVC to tell them the reason for return was Vista - it is not compatible with anything, even with the stuff it is supposed to be compatible with!

What a load of crap.....type in Vista at YouTube and laugh at and cry with those who suffered through this...and downgraded back to the best OS MS has put out yet, XP. Vista was the best kind of favor to Steve Jobs...people are going MAC more now than ever. I might too, I'm seriously considering it.

I know I won't fix a Vista Machine.....if someone brings me one, my only fix will be "save your stuff and reformat"....and save it often, it won't be the first or the last time until you are fed up and go back to XP."

There's my two cents, obviously Microsoft had no "sense" when it released this buggy, expensive, resource hogging load of crap.

What reason is there to assume that the follow up of Vista will be any better, so in fact people are stuck with a system out of 1991. All the more reason to free your business and switch to Linux now. A system like Ubuntu has a release cycle of 6 months and the LTS version is supported for three years on the desktop and five years on the server. Who can beat that?

I went Linux at home & then Mac years ago, & not regretting it, but my Dad uses XP on his PC & he can barely get to grips with that. His PC is so old that it runs glacially slow & he forgets what he's doing while waiting for it to do anything, so I've advised him to get an entry level supermarket type PC & whack XP Pro on it (I daresay I'll end up doing that for him), but I dread to think what'll happen when M$ stop supporting XP. He can't handle learning a whole new OS.

The reason I have always liked XP is because I can use everything I use daily for business and entertainment on that operating system.

I am not in love with XP; it's simply a matter that everything I use works well with it. Vista and Macs don't run all my programs. That's why I don't want to use them. I don't see the need to pay money to give up something AND have a less efficient computer.

At the point where XP is unusable, I will be a crossroads where I will have to pick a new operating system. What microsoft doesn't know is that users like me aren't necessarily going to pick a microsoft product. We are going to pick the one that suits are needs the best.

I actually use Windows XP as operating system on my machine (computer). I didn't have any problem with Windows XP since 5 years now, installed from this first time. I do not understand the fact that Microsoft Corp. need to produce a brand new operating system like Vista.

However, I understand the need to Microsoft Corp. to re-invent something that work properly in the past like Windows XP. Business IT don't need to deal with errors & problems of non-compatibility which occurs with Vista.

I am currently trying to (once again) fix a printing problem for a client with a Vista machine. I spent 3 hours of my (and the clients) time yesterday and will be picking it up again today at 9AM. And that user is also complaining about Office 2007. Every document has to be saved as an earlier version from a pull down menu (so that non Office 2007 users can even open the document) because there is no way to set that as a default. Way too Communist of an idea for me.

Sunday I was at a friends house whose daughter just bought a new laptop with Vista. Every time it sleeps, the screen saver comes on, etc., it disconnects her wireless access and she has to go through the entire connection process again.

I have yet to work on ANY Vista machine that was even close in performance to a P3 with XP on it. Even one of the other guys that I work with went back to XP on his quad core system for compatibility reasons.

HEY MICROSOFT!!! Seriously, ever heard of the saying "If it ain't broke don't fix it"? XP is so popular because it WORKS! It works every time, every day and is as dependable as an old Jeep. If you need to release new features, then figure out a way to make them downloadable ad-ons to XP that people can buy if they want (like the aero shell that supposedly EVERYBODY wants, but for the life of me I couldn't care less about!). There is absolutely nothing positive about Vista from an IT perspective, except that it potentially creates a need for a LOT more support techs since every user on the network will need one right next to them every day.

I've also experienced the "Vista drivers don't work with Vista" thing - what a joke. Even HP's universal PCL drivers don't work with it - including the one that ships with the P1505 printer that I am currently working on. Neither does the one on their website. WAY too much time, effort and cost just to print a form.

Vista computers remind me of inkjet printers (cheap to buy but you go broke buying ink all the time) - cheap to buy but they cost you an incredible amount lost productivity.

And whose brain bump was the "4 different (current) versions of an OS"? XP home was bad enough! In my last support job, EASILY 70% of our callers were almost proud to tell us that "I know NOTHING about computers". They log in, do their work and log out. Most users (the average people out there who have to use computers to do their jobs, not the geeks) really don't care what OS it is - as long as it works.

Silly me - I remember when they used to tell us how much easier computers would make our lives.

So much heat, so little light!
For my group, this is not an emotional issue at all. It's a very pragmatic one: Vista is overkill for our user community. (The machines sit and wait for input now, and use only a fraction of the functionality of the XP OS as it is. And we don't have a single machine in the place that can run Vista full boogie.) We don't need more functionality, we don't need new features, we don't need new hardware, we don't need new eye candy and we don't need new upgrade expenses. There is no benefit to our business from an upgrade to Vista unless it adds some value in the transaction. So far, I don't see any reports of enhanced security of sufficient magnitude to make that a compelling case. (If it weren't for enhanced security and stability, I'd still be on Win 2000; those dollars got spent already. We're not ridden with viruses or malware and we seem to keep our thing together as well as we can expect. I don't see that Vista could improve on that.)
Our conclusion: keep XP going 'til it's run out, and then switch to Linux. (We're doing our Linux homework now, so we'll be ready fairly soon.)
Been running MS OS since 1983. I'll miss old Bill Gates. But I won't miss Vista.

Well,
I've upgraded to Vista one month ago and never had any major problem with it yet.
It works great and it's much simplier than Windows XP.
There's nothing wrong with XP, But I like Vista more.
The main reason why I've upgraded was to make some of my programs compatible with Windows Vista, And it wasn't hard at all.
I've just had to modify a few lines of code here and there...
Nothing hard at all.
I strongly disagree with those who compare Windows Vista with ME.
Windows Vista is a very stable and reliable OS.
It works great on both my new PC and my not-so-new PC.
I'm able to run even certain very old programs on it without a single problem.

One more thing:
The end date doesn't mean that Microsoft won't update Windows XP after June 30 2008.
The end date of Windows 2000 was March 31, 2004 and Microsoft still release updates for it and a lot of datacenters are still offering it as a server OS.
I'm quite sure that Windows XP will still be supported even after it's "end of life" date.

This software simply hides hardware evolution, you can buy a brand new PC and see it works exactly like your old one... oh yes, sorry, you have some 3D useless epileptic effects...

I remember an old article about the fact that microsoft isn't capable of releasing two good working OS in a row. It proved to be right again with vista following the last relatively good version of XP.

As a former system and network admin, now running my own software developement compagny, my preferences go for linux and opensource flavours. Still Microsoft is my clients' main platform (not the only one) so I need to deal with it, and yet with XP, I had some tricky things to do to fit MS code in crossplatform norms, I don't want to have to change evrything I've done just because EVERYBODY need to use their brand new and not retro compatible stuff...

All I can say is that my first moments with Vista seemed very crappy and I couldn't see any benefit for the end user, the only proficient thing in Vista might be the integrated windows desktop search engine which seems to be working quite fast (IT friend's quote), though it can be added to XP for free...

Global performance is just awfull, ergonomy and too many things have been changed for nothing I can think of, even simple operations like copy/paste become complex and require multiple confirmations for "safety" purpose...

Every time Microsoft comes with a new revolutionnary thing, you just have to learn the whole thing, it's like if Maths where changing, it gives me psychotic moments like: it worked this way, now it doesn't anymore, but there is no logic explanation for it, you just have to deal with it!!!

IT SEEMS AUTHORITARIAN AND REGRESSIVE TO ME.

an advice: If you know a bit about computers, keep your old windowsXP licence and install it on new hardware, many users already created drivers packs for PCs bundled with Vista and made them available for download, that would be a new and better user experience, it's amazing to see how the new hardware actually run faster than the old one with good software.

@ MSFAN, the end date is not that they are going to stop supporting XP, it is that they are going to stop making and selling xp, which would mean whenever anyone would try to make a new machine, the only OS available that is made by Microsoft would be Vista, which is the long run a lot of people would just switch to a Linux system than support Vista.

Hmmm. Time to by my next hardware upgrade - while I can still get XP on it.

Vista seems to be a resource hog, and I refuse to buy something that seems to require me to replace a lot of my peripherals simply because M$ was to lazy to get the driver compatibility issues sorted. I also like to use my hardware for processing, not for crappy visual effects.

Oh, when buying any M$ OS, always get the full version - Professional or Ultimate. Costs a bit more, but at least you get a complete OS without any of the unexpectedly necessary controls missing.

Windows Vista isn't perfect, but it certainly is an improvement over XP. The new security features are very nice, and much, much easier to prevent installation of unwanted programs along with deletion of them as well. It is also very easy to disable any of the new Vista Services you don't like, such as indexing.

In short, if you don't like Vista than don't switch. Many Businesses will probably not want to upgrade just yet, but mostly because upgrading to any new OS requires lots of work. Infact, the vast majority of PCs in the company I work for, 2000 of them at least, are sill using Windows 2000. XP will be there for anyone who really wants it that bad.

I provide tech support and tuition for a lot of pensioners in the uk. Most cannot afford to continually upgrade to say nothing of re-learning a new OS.

A lot of families keep in touch via email and webcams.

Can't MS relise what a serious cost and inconvenience overhead their policies cause to silver surfers?

Some people have no option but to run their PCs to the last gasp and certainly do not need the latest drivers etc.

Please have a heart and give us wrinklies a break.

Are you listening uncle Bill?

Microsoft: Vista Follow-up Likely in 2009 is wrong. I work for Microsoft. The estimated release date is Q4 2010. And everyone knows it will be delayed.

Since we are forced to use Vista at the office I've had my fair shair of problems.
Eg. Wireless/Bluetooth driver problems.

Funny thing is it says it can't install the "SIMPLE communications device".

The problem with Vista is that MS build it against common sense and against user but with RIAA and MPAA requests on its mind.
Not allowing drivers to access the hardware level and "calling home" far to often is one of the source of the problem. Trying to encrypt and decrypt everything to avoid playing unauthorized copies of so called "premium content" is another reason for such huge requests imposed on hardware.
I'd better pay for Linux than install Vista even if MS would give it for free.

I would rather keep XP until somwthing better than Vista is created.

I am not against spending money I just want a OS that works without using so many resources and so
much memory.

I want a OS that has a new file structure besides Fat and NTFS like promised in Vista and not just a pretty face.

All of Vista isn't bad but it is enough so to where XP is my #1 chice.

Freddy

You aren't allowed to access the hardware level because of DRM in Vista, it is being said that only affects "premium content" but that is not true, it doesn't allow you to work at the hardware level. In the case of sound cards you might as well take it off your computer since the audio is processed by software alone, what are the consequences of this? how is the sound in Vista vs Xp in normal applications as games?

Well.. check it out: http://www.soundblaster.com/alchemy/

Not even in DOS's times things were so bad. Welcome to the past.

OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!! Just SWITCH to a Mac already... OS unlimited, Leopard totally rocks and is moving forward fast, NO FREAKIN VIRUSES!!! Don't give me the market share BS either... it's been 8 years of OSX with millions of users and STILL not one virus! XP, Vista and M$... crumbling empire and people are seeing the light about a monopolistic, uninspiring Goliath

You know, when Microsoft said their Vista sales were a record-breaking 100 million, how many of those exercised the downgrade rights and are actually using XP right now?
I know every single new laptop we have at our old company are doing just that right now.

I have been a Microsoft follower for a long time, and I think for all the whiners here, it's all your fault for upgrading early. I bet you are the one to buy the dvd-hd player before blu-ray vs hd-dvd settle for a winner.

If you want XP compatibility and performance you have to WAIT. Let's recap things, XP wasn't running so hot on old P3 back then. Wait until we get the new CPU in 2-3 years and I am sure Vista will be up to performance. Bugs need time to be corrected too, don't hop on the bandwagon so fast. Wait and see.

Remember to turn-off flashy add-ons and features too. As for hardware access, if the need arises, hacks will appear. Tired of FAT and NTFS, I can't blame you on that, Vista promised a lot, but shipped before much of it could be delivered. Why? Because people like you were ready to buy it and whine. If less people would buy a bright new OS, they would need to wait and put in bigger features in it before they ship it.

And oh wait? you have Vista because it came with that new machine and you could'nt buy XP? Maybe you're big problem is you never realised you were dumb enough to think you needed to buy your OS. You're an IT guy and you just need to buy that license? well dont' despair, you got a job for the 2-3 years to come until Microsoft patch their bugs and the management decides to updgrade to better machines suited for Vista, future is tomorrow not now.

I use XP at work, and for my hobby electronics. A number of the members of a robotics club I attend all agree that Vista is very unfriendly to anyone trying to utilize it for motion control and other technology related applications. Timing is critical, and Vista adds so many layers of software between the hardware ports of the machine and the applications running on top of Vista that it's proving to be extremely difficult, if not impossible to get precise timings out the ports for industrial controls or even things as simple as hobby robotics control. One engineer in our group had to resort a rather extreme solution to a client's problem, since the client had made the switch to Vista. This engineer has resorted to using a second computer, an embedded PC running Linux that had to be installed directly onto the client's hardware, to do all the precision timing and control. The Linux box runs a web app as well, and simply generates an interface that the Vista machine controls over ethernet.

How does vista help either the engineer or his client. the solution to the problem ended up being to ADD A SECOND COMPUTER to do the job that Vista made impossible to complete in the client's required time. Don't even mention the added cost of the extra computer that had to be installed on the hardware.

If an engineer ha that much trouble, then how bad a situation is it for all the poor hobbyists out there who might not be as skilled, but want to use a PC to control a robot or make some other kind of project.

Thanks Microsoft!

Microsoft: Telling us what we want,
instead listening to what we need.

I have been reading all these comments and two comments come to mind.

1) These people who sing praises for Windows XP never used Windows 2000 Pro. Windows XP was, and still is, a step backward from 2000, just as Vista is a yet larger step backward from XP. Xp needs some major "fixing", but Vista, by any standard, or by any benchmark, is so clearly not the fix. Windows Me was a joy compared to Vista.

2) Why do people refer the transition from Vista to XP as a downgrade? Isn't this an improvement?? Call it a retrofit, or a return installation, or a back-up installation, or make up some nifty name to indicate the improvement obtained by the move. DON'T CALL IT "DOWNGRADE"!

I had used XP for 2 years and I switched to another PC with preinstalled Vista on it, because it was impossible to purchase PC with XP in my city. Comparing to XP Vista is totally disgusting. On my opinion there should not be preinstalled operating system on any computers and the manufacturers MUST TO GIVE AN OPTION to choice operating system which is good for their needs.

I'm a computer tech for a Broadband company and alot of us cringe when we get a call regarding Vista. We are so used to XP that learning VISTA is like learning a whole new program. Well, it is. There are so many things different about Vista for instance the Network and Sharing Center. It is hard to understand, hard to find what we need and hard to explain it to customers. Not to mention that it uses mega hard disk space and has alot more running programs in the background than XP. With Vista came IE7. That is another nightmare. So many problems that I recommend customers to download another browser as a back up browser. I Vista should have come with a free instruction book. Which it didn't. Several of my customers have gone back to the store where they purchased their new computer and have asked that they replaced Vista with XP. I do not know if they were sucessful or not. Vista just causes too many headaches. I also have recommended that they upgrade to WINXP SP3 if they can.

I loathe Vista. I hate it with every last fiber of my being, because just the other day, it caused a massive hard drive failure on my laptop. Prior to that, it had been responsible for numerous crashes (apparently, it didn't like handling more than two running programs at once) and system errors.

And I know it was Vista, because my laptop had virtually identical stats to the main box - the only difference being hard drive size - except for the OS. The main box, which runs on XP, has NONE of the problems that the Vista-equipped laptop had, and has superior functionality.

It's clear, to me, what my choice is going to be when I get my laptop back from repairs. Hasta la VISTA, Vista! XP all the way!

ALSO: Whatever drooling IDIOT at Microsoft decided to shove Vista through to the consumer market, when it was OBVIOUSLY buggy as all Hell... moreover, to FORCE consumers to BUY it by making it standard on all PCs, deserves to be fired with EXTREME prejudice and beaten with a sack full of burnt-out hard drives.

I work in a Reseller Shop, Custom Programming, Technical Support etc.

Most companies we deal with don't want anything to do with Vista.

The one customer who was touting it praise is the same customer who thought his broken laptop that crashed wasn't his fault and we should reinstall and reconfigure the software he bought from us for free??? "You guys need to get with the times" he said.

Microsoft not allowing DLL's to get registered on mapped drives because "MICROSOFT" thinks its a security risk (even though its my mapped drive???) LAME! Applications can't write to thier own "program files" directory? Dumb. Asking a million questions? Dumb. Refusing to access shared drives from other vista machines with out a lot of config? dumb.

Bah.... You know what's really dumb? People who are still waiting for a new OS to come out. Use XP, a MAC or ... duh... FREE.... LINUX!

BTW - My wife is NOT a computer geek, and she loves linux. She does email in it no issues, has a free Word Processor app - Spreadsheet app, Web Browsers, games, calendar programs, all FREE.

It's not rocket science - forget a petition - just go install Linux! Debian is good, Ubuntu is popular, I like Redhat... Slackware is cool for the Geeks only last I checked. Oh... Don't forget PUPPY! Tiny, sleek, fast... boot off a cdrom, save to a usb... don't even need a harddrive if you don't have a ton of data - how cool is that?

LINUX people! It's TIME!

Our company has 30 years of software systems in the wild, job cost estimating, point of sale terminals, remote alarm monitoring systems, access control systems and on and on. Most still run in the DOS mode and run just fine on 98 and WP including the CE editions. We have had numerous cases in the last year where we could only get a Vista box. Vista just laughs at the application. We have installed SUSE Linux on these boxes and problem was solved. Hello Microsoft, remember the Apple III.

Yet another example of Microsoft skipping a major phase of development Alpha testing, if they had tested this internally we all would not be sat here now.

i own game development team and despite the benifits of DirectX10 we will not switch to vista.

"back to linux i will go would not touch vista with a ten foot pole"

Anyone familiar with TinyXP?

It's free, it's small, and it works.

The sad thing? I would pay M$ hundreds of dollars if only they would create a system as reliable and easy to use as some hacker did many miles away (thank you eXPerience). Oh, and it even looks better than vista.

Something is wrong here.

I for one love Vista. We all need to remember the stink that was thrown when XP came. Not all of the problems are Microsofts' fault. Vendors have a responsability to work on making their products work with the OS. You do not see the Mac people throw a fit when the G3,G4 processors were left behind with OS X, and they have to spend a lot more to make stuff work then PC people. Half the comments I was reading above blame Microsoft for making another OS, but that is their business. At some point you are going to have to upgrade. just be calm and live with it!

We've been using XP Pro for years (SP3 now) and appreciated its stability and reliability. I've tested Vista on a friend's computer and the only noticeable difference is that Vista uses a *lot* of machine power just to display silly graphics frills. What we need is a powerful workstation, definitely not a gaming console. A good GUI is OK, but a dual-core should not devote 1½ core just to it ! If MS kills XP we'll be forced to switch to Linux...

-- françois

All the reasons above are good enough for me to keep XP, and I recall all the birth pangs Microsoft forced us to endure when THAT OS emerged from the wreckage of Windows Me! Ugh. I will NOT go through that again...XP suits me fine, for the most part. Also, I refuse to succumb to the fascist insistence that Vista users need WGA! No way. I've already got a teen computer whiz (one of my kid's friends) who's using Linux and will hook me up when the time comes. NOT giving into Vista will also be a great incentive not to keep caving into Microsoft as if it's the only OS!

Vista is a disaster, I am still surprised no businesses sued microsoft for stopping many of XP feature support (like customizable WinLogon). My small business died because I made a mistake of creating a useful product that was using a well-documented, and recommeded logon customization method on XP. On Vista, they stopped feature support.
As a whole, Vista is just so less apealing to a developer than XP was, or Linux/FreeBSD is. This is a price we all pay for supporting this monopolist. Go Google! (the next dragon, probably)

All I know is that my dad has it on his laptop, and cusses it every day. It won't let the rest of the computers see it. A lot of Vista's networking seems to be built around the premise that Microsoft programmers know what's best for you. Anybody who's used Microsoft products knows that's a laugh. Let me choose my security settings, without the O/S trying to go behind me and change things back for my safety. Also, why should I be hot to switch to a O/S for my home computer that won't let me use 90% of the software I already own. I don't need new software, if I did, I would buy it, I don't want to have to buy new just to run on the newest O/S, if I have to do that, I may as well go buy a Mac.

I can only feel pity for those who for some reason couldn't handle Vista. I've been running it since it appeared on MSDN mid-Nov 2007. While I had a wait for 3rd parties to get their drivers and apps updated; it's been pretty good for some time now. I think XP looks archaic now. This is like a bunch of old farts so scared of change that they are trying everything they can think of to try and stop it. Very sad. I'm sorry if you don't keep your PC hardware current. I can understand someone hating Vista because they're ancient PC can't handle it. Welcome to the world of I.T. Welcome to life. Everything changes. You should embrace it. It's what makes us Earthlings. If you don't evolve, you don't survive.

I have friends who have Vista and seen all the problems they are having. I DON'T want Vista. I'm so tired of all the problems with Microsoft Operating Systems,(I've been using them for 16 years) I'm SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING buying a Mac for my next computer. Who needs all the Microsoft aggravation?

I still have some old enterprise computer where I'm obliged to run win 98 or windows 2000 ! In a short time, I will have to do the same for XP !
What do you think about a law to make software
either available to buy or either in the public domain ? Because if Microsoft can't make any more money on it, end user shouldn't be obliged to buy new computer !

Do you think M$ is getting the message? Consumers must have the right to choose what OS to run on their systems.. Why is it that such a small thing is so difficult for a big M$ brain to understand?

I've been working with and re-building computers since before there was a Windows O.S.
I rebuild Pentium three's and the occasional P-2.
I have systems here at my place with everything from Windows 3.11 thru hyper threading right on into a sweet Dual Core desktop.
I know how a machine "feels" when it's running right and have to say that Vista is a "Lumbering" sluggish fat cow.
I ran it for over a week on the new Dual Core and pulled the hard drive and "formatted" it and installed XP-Pro and it runs like sweet greased lightening. Thanks, but no thanks-Vista has too much junk in it to be a usable O.S. as far as I'm concerned. If Microsoft "Forces" the issue--I'm gone--don't push Bill--Or an awful lot uf us will never buy your stuff again--

I've used Vista for almost a year. I've had very few problems, none of them major. I installed it on a home built core 2 duo machine, works great. Than last fall I upgraded a 4 year old Dell laptop with very modest specs. I worked fine but clearly wasn't an optimum situation, so back to xp for that one. I recently upgraded the old Dell with a new Inspiron 1420, core 2 duo machine with a dedicated graphics card, works fantastic. The search is great, I like following the news and stocks with the sidebar, and the UAC has saved me from careless email opening. I think its a fine upgrade, it just took to long to roll out.
Save XP for corporate users for a while but folks its time to move on. Oh, and the guy who delevops games thats going to switch to Linux, yea right!

I use Vista within a month and could't see any advantages, profits and useful improvements in it.
But it has many grave disadvantages, weak points, defects and bugs. It slows down computer, sucks resources. So, i think, XP is the best choice for most people in a several few years. There is no real reasons to switch to Vista, not at this time. Wait until we get new compatible hardware (more fast CPUs, RAM), software, new games, and drivers for old devices. SP1 for Vista doesn't solve most problems and compatibility issues, so we must wait for SP2.

Microsoft's business model of creating new versions every couple of years or so made sense when each new incarnation brought marked, sustainable improvements, but, XP seems to have come as close to perfect as today's users need, perhaps ever will for business apps (and home users especially). This is a time for Microsoft to be creating incredible new applications to work with the XP OS, rather than a poor replacement which few really want or need. All anyone I've spoken to, me included, ever really wanted was the nifty new Aero desktop, and MS could have issued that as a pricey add-on to XP and made everyone just as happy (and made almost as much money, as it turns out), in my opinion. My first version of Windows was 3.0, and through all the upgrades, I never resisted change until now. Why take on new headaches with Vista just as the XP OS perfects itself?

A lot of the articles quoted and comments are off the mark... the question isn't whether XP or Vista is better. The question is: WHY CAN'T USERS DECIDE? Surely with the ridiculous amounts of money MS collects for Windows, it can support both indefinitely. (Yes, MS, spend a little more of your OS revenues on OSes instead of diverting it all the the web and xbox...)

And for the few brave enough to say they like Vista here... great. But MS isn't planning on dropping Vista at the end of June.

And there are gut wrenching tales of organizations that are going to be in REAL TROUBLE without XP... who have mission critical apps that are not being updated. That means they have to rework their entire technological infrastructure!

If MS wants to encourage the world to move to Vista... then do it the kind and gentle way and make Vista cheaper.

And what no one has mentioned here, but someone should, is that when a company like MS drops a critical piece of technology that people depend on, it is certainly the role of government (and I HATE the government) to hold hearings and ask why. Let's not forget that the only reason Windows makes them rich is because of law that protects their intellectual property. That is supposed to serve a public interest, not give MS the right to destroy businesses dependent on its technology. Honestly, MS should either have to sell XP, or it should revert to the public domain.

The fact is, there is nothing compelling in Vista to warrant an 'upgrade'. In fact, it will cost organizations a large amount of effort and cost to switch. Most of the XP machines currently in use will not run Vista efficiently. You need a high end PC with lots of RAM just to get off the ground.
Vista is great for the nerd, home user or gamer who is easily influenced by advertising, and doesn't mind shelling out big bucks for a system that will satisfy their ego, but for those of us that use their machines as a productivity tool, Vista is a nightmare we would rather avoid (I would rather have a root canal).

Dear MS Corp.

I run XP on 4 of my computers with legal versions. This has been the first time I have had an MS platform run without fatal errors, and I have become quite familiar with it. I have found no need to upgrade as all of my software that keeps me and my business running runs seamlessly. I as a customer will become very disenfranchised with MS if you mandate my upgrade from your non support of XP. I am sure in time that there will be a need to upgrade but please lets this happen as users demand or lack of user interest warrants this change. I am sure that if hardware manufactures demanded that MS purchase all new computers and monitors on a monthly basis MS would be unhappy, I see this as a similar analogy. Let XP run its useful life.

Thank You for your time

I am a CPA that requires us to use tax programs for the past 10 years. We have to be able to use these progarms at any time to prepare returns for people who never filed returns or need to amend those returns. Those prior year tax programs will NOT run in VISTA. Based on what's supposed to happen we are tentatively planning on prematurely replacing all of our computers so that we have a current XP computer. We need XP for a long time. These progarms transitioned perfectly form Win 98 to XP.