Newsvine first: Snap poll - how satisfied are you with Windows Vista?

I voted for I reckon it's OK but only modestly better than XP.

After using it for a long while now on my main computer and using XP on my laptop I've come to like Vista's features and miss them on XP.

#1 is the start menu search & layout .. once you have this in Vista it's hard to use XP's system.

But I also use Object Dock and Opus for my file explorer .. so the difference isn't all that big for me on the whole.

I'm curious to hear how many have had their computers at work switched to Vista. Has the switch been smooth? Maybe that's a topic for another poll, especially since I'd assume few companies have made the switch yet.

Me too I am curious.

Anyway, I am waiting for SP2 or when they start releasing games that are only on Vista/DX10 - whichever comes first.

I didn't vote... because I use a vastly superior operating system... OS X

My new laptop came with Vista. I voted It's ok but no better than xp.

I have the laptop set up as dual boot, and spend most of my time in Linux.

I've been running Vista 32-bit Business edition on my desktop (older Asus motherboard with Athlon 64 3200 running in 32-bit mode) for about three months now. This machine was previously a dual-boot XP Pro/Kubuntu Linux machine, but I wiped the OS partitions of the hard drive for the Vista install. Initially, I had problems with the update mechanism, which completely broke my networking setup whenever I ran it. So for about two months I used Vista without updating it (finally, I got up the nerve to try again, and it works now).

I have had minor problems locating and installing the proper drivers for my Nvidia GeForce 6200 and Sound Blaster Audigy 2 LS cards, but they both seem to be working fine now (except for some seemingly-random buzzing sounds in some games). The system felt VERY sluggish with only 512 MB of RAM, and Guild Wars was nearly unplayable, but after I upgraded to 2 GB of RAM, the system feels much faster and Guild Wars works fine.

I still have minor problems with the networking setup. It seems to have trouble seeing my internet connection when I first boot the machine. After I suspend or leave it for a while, it works fine. I'm not sure if this is a problem with the DHCP client or what, but it's not a huge deal. The reorganization of the Control Panel has taken some getting used to, but in general things haven't been too hard to find (it does seem to be very difficult to get to the "Network Connections" browser quickly, so I've created a shortcut on my desktop for it).

I must admit that the Aero interface is very pretty, and I like the new diagnostic tools, which seem much more useful than anything Windows has ever had before. My Microsoft media keyboard, Logitech G5 mouse, and Logitech Rumblepad 2 have all worked without a problem, including the special drivers. My LG 20.1" widescreen LCD display is fully supported and looks gorgeous under Vista.

So I guess that's my main impression of Vista so far: it's pretty and there are no major show-stopping problems, but lots of minor irritations that keep it from being appropriate for the mainstream yet, especially the upgrade audience and those with older peripherals. I feel the "upgrade" is inevitable, though...it's just a matter of time.

I voted that I am seriously aggravated by Vista.

I have it installed on my Macbook Pro via Boot Camp (and access it through Parallels as well), but either way, I really don't like it.

Interface: the interface is hell. It's clogged up with information EVERYWHERE, making me tired just looking at it (the cognitive load is through the roof!)

Speed: it doesn't feel particularly snappy or smooth, despite being a nearly clean install. If I boot into it, I get Aero which looks kinda neat but doesn't actually add any value nor does it streamline the interface. My Vista performance score is 4.9 (out of 5) so I know it's not a case of low specs (I have a MBP with 2GB of Ram, so I'd certainly hope so!)

Usability: well, Vista refuses to let me use my 23" display as a primary monitor, forcing games onto the smaller notebook screen and opening every new app window in it, too. I have yet to figure out why this is as the display settings dialogs offer no information or help, they just refuse to let me configure it. Checkbox is there, it's just not clickable. This is but one example of how lousy my experience with it has been so far.

All things considered, I've not used Vista much at all but the main reason for that is that I try to avoid it as much as possible. I can't imagine having to do a lot of work on it.

(btw, yes, sure, I'm terribly biased towards Macs. However, if you'd have given me this finished Vista experience two years ago before I got biased towards Macs, I'd have said the exact same thing)

I notice the price of new computers with XP on board is inching up. I will be buying a new one soon, I will make sure it has Vista Home Premium as a minimum but if I can get more advance hardware I may stay with XP.

I run Vista Home Premium as my main OS on my laptop, here are some of the experiences I have had (Note: My computer is fully patched):

1. File I/O - Unzipping a file with around 4,000 embedded files (168MB) takes 23 minutes via the OS. The same procedure using Winzip 8.1 takes 57 seconds.
2. Upgrading my laptop to 2GB ram produced random reboots when trying to update the 'Windows experience Index'. After gaining some form of stability, trying to click the update button resulted in the process being run silently and a second click would crash the PC.
3. File I/O - Copying or moving files is painfully slow. The PC hangs for ages trying to calculate the estimated time.
4. Stability - Internet Explorer can simply stop functioning and a message box appears asking you to debug or close.
5. Windows Defender hogs CPU time - to run some of the latest games, I must disable it or it will interfere with gameplay.
6. De-fragmentation - There is no longer any output or a clear indication of how the process is proceeding. It has also been automatically scheduled, which I disabled.
7. To support my dual core 64 bit CPU, I'm expected to pay several hundred dollars to upgrade to Vista Ultimate. Bite me!
8. Aero - An unnecessary resource hog, the UI is over-complicated and cluttered.
9. Responsiveness - Vista makes a dual core 64 bit machine with 2GB of RAM, feel like a 386.
10. Compatibility - I have a lot of older programs that will not function correctly and there are no updates available. This amounts to increased expenditure.
11. Disk cost - The install image was around 13GB (windows directory is 10GB alone) and all files are copied to the Windows dir, not just the ones you want to install.
12. Dialing home - A significant increase in communication with MS HQ via the internet without active consent.
13. Start menu - just annoying to use.
14. Search features - indexing hogs CPU time, disk I/O interrupt both gameplay and video playback.
15. Supplying Vista on machines that don't have DirectX 10 hardware means gamers will be forced to replace hardware or complete laptops to play latest games.
16. Permission system screws up applications unless you know what you're doing.
17. Trying to use Outlook Web Access fails as DHTML support does not exist in Vista. This means having to patch the Exchange server at your home or business.

That's what I just recall off the top of my head, there is a lot more. To top it all off, it does ABSOLUTELY NOTHING of value that XP cannot do.

It took 6 years to develop Vista, I really wonder what the hell they were doing. If they're trying to convince me that Vista is the result of 6 years hard work, I'm going to laugh my head off as MS has been taken for a ride.

Billions of dollars on what amounts to a paint job and slowing things down. Its beyond a joke.

upgraded with a new laptop.

crashes often

should have waited too many software conflicts - annoying