So, I agree about UAC being an annoyance. (I always turn it off.) But, exactly how to come off saying the Start Menu is an embarrassment? It is a wonderful improvement over XP and one of the few things Microsoft actually did right in this OS.

Very nice article Zoomba


As for Vista I admit I was one of those that Raced right out and got Home Premium a year ago.


For the first couple of months I was almost regretting not waiting some. I was having Video and other issues. That said though, With the GREAT support of Stardock and other company updating drivers, that issue didn't last long.

Right now I am Loving vista a WHOLE lot and and fully integrated into it. I was kinda sad to see XP go but I had my reasons. As was back then its STILL true today "Vista is Sexy *

I believe its up to each person when it comes to OS's and I did LOVE XP and have no complaints with XP. I am just fully enjoying my Vista upgraded to Ultimate thanks to ALL the great Stardock App support. I am excited to see what Object Desktop 08 will have instore for it


Keep up the great work

Anne

In regards to teh start menu . . thanks goodness for ObjectBars menu!

Vista fits me on one of my PCs.  Stardock has made it more bearable though.

The thing that bugged (bugs) me the most . . the integrated zip/unzip.  How much slower can you get?!?!  Thanks goodness for 7zip!

Well, I'm one of the folks whose computer is still working fine, was before Vista was announced, and still is after a year of Vista being released.  

I'm also one of the ones who never joined one of the sides of the argument. How could I, never tried Vista. Now early on I did post articles that I found on the web in the forums, but I stopped that. People just couldn't stop being one sided or the other. Opinions are fine, facts are good, but folks attitudes sucked. If you upgraded or didn't you were labeled. It was amazing and still is to find, in others opinions, how many stupid people there are using computers. (Not my words)

Plus, in my years of using computers, and in fact being a consumer for a much longer time, I just never jump on the "fan wagon" as it were. Don't get me wrong, I do not consider myself an expert. I usually stay with things until they don't work anymore. Once that happens I look for what will satisfy my needs. Yes I know, not very exciting. Well, not ture. It is fun watching everyone else scurry around trying to be the first with the most and best.   

In one of the last posts in the forums dealing with this subject I asked the question "What differences does it make what OS a person uses?". I'd show you the answer I got but, never got one.

I do realize why the question is important to Stardock, you need to know what OS you support with your programs. Makes sense to me.

Will I ever have a computer with a different OS, sure will, when I get a new computer. Well, that's not a bet I would take. I'm 59, this may very well be my last computer. It's just my luck though mine is still working. I suppose I could break it, now that doesn't really make any sense what so ever.   

Well those are my thoughts, sorry no ranting and raving from me. Everyone have a great day.  

I agree, the design is a lot cleaner.

That start menu was the first thing that began my disappointment with Vista...I REALLY wanted to like Vista and it may be a more capable OS in the long run...but as aGUI they went backwards in useability.  

XP til I have no choice.  

Had Vista from almost the begining and all my programs work OK, ( 32-bit ). Personally I like it much better than XP.

As for the Start menu, I don't find much use for one anyway. With DX, I can access any program or file etc., with just a click of the mouse.

I agree with I.R. Brainiac, I really hate the Vista GUI, start menu and all. I hate the transparency and basically everything about it. I bought Vista Ultimate and run dual boot, but only run XP for the most part. I only boot into Vista every so often to let it do its thing on updates, and the first thing I did was turn off UAC, what a waste of programming that was by Microsoft. I will occasionally attempt to make a Vista style, but not very often as it totally blows me away what Microsoft did with destroying the GUI. It would take me months to learn how to skin it correctly, and I am still waiting for all the bugs, major and minor, to be gone in SKS 6, it needs a lot of improvement.

For me it's mostly XP for life right now also.

I have had it on my new machine since September, and LOVE Vista!!! I just like the wow factor of the GUI, and I have encountered NO issues with compatibility. Although, I hated that they TOOK OUT pieces of the OS that some programs need.

I got a new PC awhile back and got Vista U. on it. I didn't see a reason in sticking with XP seeing my older machines already had it on there. Now I cringe every time I have to get on one of the XP 'puters. I've had no issues with Vista and actually prefer skinning for Vista over XP now. As to the Vista bashers, I just don't get it personally. I don't want to knock anyone who wishes to stick with XP but Vista isn't all that bad and will do nothing but get better as time goes. XP has had many many years to get refined and I believe has exceeded even MS's initial expectations for the OS, there is no doubt in my mind that Vista will be the same.

I Love the Windows Vista.

I don't think Vista is necessarily bad. However it does have much higher hardware requirements than XP. I use both XP and Vista among others at work, Vista definately take some getting used to and UAC is a pain. However I don't really feel Vista brings much to the table. Especially for a utility junkie like myself who has their PC running like a smoothly oiled machine.

At home, my PC is for work and play, and since I do play games on my PC my spec is more than high enough to handle any work I do. While my home PC could likely handle Vista without too many problems, there is no good reason to upgrade. If the next time I buy a PC it comes with Vista I may keep it as long as gaming meets my performance expectations. That said a video card upgrade can drastically improve game performance these days without buying a new PC, so it is going to be a while before I do a full replacement. The fact of the matter is most of the changes made in Vista, while are good changes and will likely have a significant impact on Microsoft's OSs going forward, they just aren't very sexy from an end-user perspective(well the new look is sexy, but WB users already have that in XP). It will be interesting to see how things come together for Microsoft once they get more of their new server software out the door. If Microsoft fails to get the numbers it wants for Vista we may also see the schedule for Windows 7 accelerated. But then again predicting Microsoft's release schedule, even for scheduled products, is akin to picking the lottery numbers.

What's wrong with the start menu? I find it much better than XP's. I rarely have dig into the list of apps, I just hit a couple of keys for the name of the app or item I'm looking for. Much quicker than scanning the ol' XP menu.

I've used Vista since the betas and I'm very happy with it. Most of my problems has been third parties not supporting it properly.

Agree... im use vista more than one year, trying betas too.
I like that, (.. my fist step was uac turn off..)
all my progs work vell, im use full time (im back to xp just need test wb's or any dx stuff's..still dual boot with old xp..)

so, I'm happy with vista..

I bought Vista Ultimate on release day, because for many reasons, I knew time would be limited at one point or another on XP. I also wanted 64bit ability and wasn't wanting to purchase XP64 for it. I consider myself a very knowledgeable computer user, with high level of experience building systems for the past 10 years. So what I have to say next, will probably not go over well with some of the elite types here, but they'll either flame me, or get over themselves one way or the other.



For starters, anyone complaining about the look of Vista has forgotten the use of Desktop Themes in the Customization part of Vista. You can make it look like Windows 98 almost if you so desire, you can change the look of the start menu to a more classic look. If you're so hung up on that look that is, it's still there pretty much. So all of the whining about the looks was to me, moot. Looks does not make the OS, it's only visual eye-candy. Vista vs XP, Vista is a better OS. Now having said that, lets continue...



It's better, but it was far far far cry from perfect at release. Same thing with 95, 98, ME ( Joke on that one ) and XP. Ever single release of windows has the same people crying about the same things, every time. I don't like this change, I don't like that change, my old outdated software wont work in it, my 300baud modem doesn't work with it, I can't find the right drivers.... All kinds of issues that are the same at every release, so why should it have been different at all with Vista? You should expect it by now, it's typical and will always happen. Even the hardware requirements from 3.1 to 95, 98 and so on, all required a heftier system to run it.



What I'm getting at is that it's a year later and a lot of the bugs, drivers and so on have been fixed by and large, still a few remain, thus the Service Patch that is in the works. But the same was true for all the past OS's from Microsoft including NT. Stardock has been here doing all kinds of report topics on Vista, watching it's every move from Beta on. They've also been on the ball getting their softwares up to speed as quickly and efficiently as possible. I commend them for doing so, because now we can get our eye-candy we all so desire.



I for one bought Vista fully knowing I was in for a ride, I never once complained about the issues. Just went on my way to try and figure out ways of fixing them if I could or waiting for patches. A year down the road now, I've got one heck of a system, Intel Core 2 Duo with 4GB of RAM, nVidia 8800 w/ 640MB on an Asus MB P5N32-E SLI and a WD Raptor 150GB HD. My system runs fine, quick as a fox with even the Aero UI. As far as how it looks? That is all a matter of opinion, what I like in looks, someone else wont. But that does not mean the OS is bad. Just means I prefer a different look is all.



I've had no issues at all since I built my new system except I had to go 64bit to fully utilize all of my RAM. That was my plans anyway, so it was not a major issue at all. Vista boots quickly, runs rock solid stable and all of my software seems to run perfectly on it minus a few games that have not updated to work properly inside Vista. That however isn't a fault of Vista, that's the game companies playing catch-up.



Great work Stardock!! I love this site, love the community and the sharing of opinions and facts. I come here often reading these topics you all post, keep up the good work! You're awesome!