[olug] Vista is AMAZING!!!!

Mon Jul 16 02:37:02 UTC 2007

I seem to recall reading a story on Friday regarding M$ making it
easier for companies to downgrade their new OEMs to XP as a result of
so many calls to M$ demanding this.

Now, M$ is going to set up a special web site for select customers
(big boys) where they can downgrade entire batches of PCs to XP rather
than having to phone M$ for each and every PC.

Of course, M$ handled this like any politician and didn't acknowledge
that Vista isn't worth the media it is shipped on.  They said that
this was a good opportunity to let its customers have more time to get
used to Vista and then they could upgrade from XP when they're ready.

In response to the original author's observations regarding Vista's
poor performance, I'd recommend more RAM in your case.  1GB, while
more than enough for any of my Beryl/Wine enabled *nix boxes, just
isn't enough for the RAM hungry Vista.  I seem to recall that M$
really wants you to have at least 2GB of RAM, but would really like
you to have 4.  A buddy of mine noticed (and was rather disgruntled
with) rather slow performance on a new Dell Vista box with 2GB of RAM,
but seems to like it now with 4GB.

On 7/14/07, Jeff Hinrichs - DM&T <jeffh at dundeemt.com> wrote:
> Why Vista Bites:
>  1) Vendor Lock-in
> Everything that is bad about Vista/Office 2007 has to do or can be
> explained by OSS nipping at it's heels and M$ flailing like a bezerker
> trying to avoid it. But unlike Neo, M$ can smell the inevitability of
> what is going to happen.  Ribbon Bars, OOXML, .NOT, marching in lock
> step with the RIAA and Hollywood.  I'm sorry, but I don't want
> anything to do with a tool/OS vendor that is looking to serve more
> than the customers who buy it's software.
>
> There was a time when M$ could have competed and won Best of Breed in
> a lot of markets but Exchange and Office are all that is left now.
> Now M$ is bleeding talent, both development and managerial, and I
> doubt there is much they alone can do to stabilize the situation.
> Balmer should have been kicked to the curb 5+ years ago.  He is their
> Solich.  He can run the playbook but can't recruit.  Now M$ is falling
> back on their lawyers.
>
> Their play book has been and still remains soley based on vendor
> lock-in.  That is why Vista bites and M$ will fade to a shadow of it's
> former self -- much like IBM.  They aren't going to die they just
> won't be the 800lb gorilla any more.
>
> On 7/14/07, Rob Townley <rob.townley at gmail.com> wrote:
> > On 7/13/07, Sean Kelly <smkelly at zombie.org> wrote:
> > >
> > > I'm very confused here. You seem to be blaming all of this on Vista. I
> > > assume this based on the Subject of your message and the conclusion of
> > > your
> > > e-mail. However, most of the things you outline are in fact not Vista's
> > > fault, but HP/Compaq's.
> > >
> > > See inline for more.
> > >
> > > On Thu, Jul 12, 2007 at 09:12:08PM -0700, Aaron Grothe wrote:
> > > ...
> > > > Dual Core AMD 3800+ CPU
> > >
> > > Not that there is anything wrong with AMD, but why would you go AMD right
> > > now? The Core 2 Duo creams any offering by AMD right now.
> > >
> > > > 1 Gigabyte of Ram
> > >
> > > Not a lot, especially for Vista. I even recommend 2GB for OS X.
> > >
> > > > o - No install discs, not even the classic system image CDs
> > >
> > > Not Vista's fault that your OEM didn't provide them.
> >
> >
> >
> > Actually the last time i talked to TechData there was a substantial ($29.00)
> > charge for OEM media. The activation scheme changed by tying the media more
> > to the machine. Further, it can only be activated 3x even on the same
> > machine without telephoning microsoft.
> > .
> >
> > > o - Pretty straightfoward, except for no parallel printer port or
> > > > serial ports
> > >
> > > There is this crazy thing we have now called USB. The Apple world has
> > > embraced it. It is about time for these old x86 interfaces to die off. But
> > > again, not Vista's fault that your specific chunk of hardware doesn't have
> > > a specific interface port type on it. I'm sure Vista supports them.
> > >
> > > > o - After cutting my own system image restore discs, which I can only
> > > > do ONCE I let Norton activation and the system updates fight it out
> > > > for a while
> > >
> > > Norton activation and system image disks are not Vista. I don't really
> > > recommend Norton products to anyone, except maybe the Corporate/Enterprise
> > > versions of AV. All the home products have so much overhead that it is
> > > insane to run them. Try something like AVG.
> >
> >
> > Again, this has more to do with MS activation than we realize.
> >
> > > o - With no apps running I'm already up to 780Mb used!!!
> > >
> > > You're talking about memory? If so, understand that Vista uses memory
> > > differently than you may be used to in the Windows world. Just like in the
> > > Unix world, Vista now uses all of your memory for caching and
> > > optimization.
> > > What you see as used and what are actually active application pages may be
> > >
> > > very different.
> >
> >
> >  RAM set aside for Internet Explorer, ms office, & the .NET Framework to
> > startup faster.
> >
> >
> > > o - I fire up Internet explorer to discover that Compaq has sold my
> > > > toolbar space to Yahoo and anybody else who will pay for it
> > >
> > > And you seem to acknowledge that it is Compaq at work here, and not Vista.
> > >
> > > > o - With the raw amount of adware/spyware/bloatware on this machine.
> > > > I'm surprised they aren't able to give it away for free
> > >
> > > They can't give it away for free, but it is partly how the OEM has lower
> > > costs to the end user.
> > >
> > > > o - I decide to uninstall some of the software such as AOL and the
> > > > like.  Guess what they're not in the program listing.  Ha! Ha! Ha!
> > > > You can delete the Icon, but the love is always going to be there.
> > > > Unless you use msiinv to work get real access to the underlying
> > > > packages if they actually used a package
> > >
> > > Not Vista.
> >
> >
> > Since businesses make less of a profit margin on Vista even though it costs
> > more, microsoft could be indirectly responsible.
> >
> > > o - If you're like me and I know I am.
> > >
> > > I never had any question that you were, indeed, like you. If you weren't
> > > like you, then there would be a serious logic problem on our hands.
> > >
> > > > You probably have an html file you have on your desktop with links you
> > > > hit frequently.  Well know you're going to go to allow/deny every time
> > > > you hit one, because they are in different zones
> > >
> > > Yes, IE is not my favorite either. Install Firefox.
> > > Also, I use del.icio.us for bookmarks. http://del.icio.us/smkelly
> > >
> > > > o - When Vista is the only Microsoft Windows Option for OEMs you will
> > > > begin to see an adoption of Linux that is higher than ever
> > >
> > > Maybe, but I have some problem believing that. The world isn't going to
> > > drop Windows over night in favor of Linux. If anything, you'll see
> > > Microsoft extend the availability of XP to OEMs if they saw that as a
> > > threat.
> > >
> > > > o - Vista is the single largest step back I've ever seen Microsoft
> > > > take, largely because you have no choice.  ME was a choice, this
> > > > really isn't
> > >
> > > I don't follow. All Microsoft operating systems have a end of life. There
> > > was adoption of Windows 98, 2000, XP and now Vista by the OEMs as
> > > Microsoft
> > > pushed them. Further, Miccrosoft ends support for operating systems.
> > >
> > > > o - If this is Premium I shudder to think what the poor bastards who
> > > > got Vista basic are going through
> > >
> > > Well, since a good chunk of your complaints were about the way the OEM
> > > setup the hardware, I'd imagine very similar things.
> > >
> > > > o - If you have to dual boot, hang onto Windows XP for as long as you
> > > > can.
> > >
> > >
> > > http://apcmag.com/5046/how_to_dual_boot_vista_with_linux_vista_installed_first
> > >
> > > --
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