100 Days with Vista

100 days ago ( actually a few days more) on May 18, 2007 I received my new HP
dv9500t with a 2.2 GHz Duo Centrino, 2GB of RAM and basic Intel 965 graphics
chipset. The OS is Vista Home Premium and major software is Office
Professional 2007 Academic Version (from www.directdeal.com - $164), NIS 2007
(got it as a gift) and the audio driver is from RealTek.

At first Vista was being very annoying and quite irritable, with many errors
and significant problems working with other software from third parties. UAC
was a serious pain in the buttocks, especially with my Sony SonicStage
software that came with my Sony sport MP3 player (great player, lousy
software, but I have no choice but to use it).

As with most users, file transfer was very slow and UAC would make it even
slower.

That said, with some fine tuning, turning off UAC (I know I shouldn’t, but
it just became too much) and updating drivers on a regular basis Vista has
started to work out really well.

It’s not perfect and there are still lots of programs that I can’t use on
Vista that worked great on XP, but I have been able to find equivalent (or at
least acceptable) substitutes. For instance as download managers go only
Flashget and Orbit work flawlessly, DAM or FDM have issues with .exe
failures.

Since the Reliability and Compatibility updates have been installed the file
transfer rate and just the overall speed and stability have taken a definite
turn for the better. I have not had a single crash, freeze or issue with any
software, with one exception I’ll get to later, and everything stands-to on
command. I have even noticed that programs like Outlook and Word open up
much faster; even large Word documents are scanned for viruses and opened in
just a few seconds.

I can forgive mistakes if steps are made to make remedy and it seems MS has
made some progress towards fixing the flaws.

Still, you do have to be careful with what you use on a Vista PC, for
instance if I use my HP printer’s software color management Vista has a
hissy-fit, if I turn it off printing goes flawlessly with no noticeable
degradation in print quality or speed.

I also noticed that many aspects of Vista improve as you update third party
drivers and software; video was somewhat of an issue compared to my XP PC
despite that the HP Vista has far superior hardware. Once I installed an
updated version of Intel’s graphic driver video began to pop and sparkle,
even the WEI rating went up a .1 for graphics.

Overall, I’m starting to like Vista, even if it takes some more work than it
should to get it to work just right.

The two major issues I still have, and it may not even be a Vista issue, is
Internet Explorer and Adobe Flash player. Vista seems to dislike Adobe
Flash; I have had to reinstall it 4 times already. I even installed
Silverlight from MS, or whatever it’s called, in the hopes of making Vista
happy, no dice.

IE of course just loves to crash on me when I have half a dozen tabs or so
going, but it did that with XP too. Hello FireFox?

It still needs some work, it’s too big and takes up too many resources, but
I guess that can’t be solved until Vista’s replacement. Some changes may
have seemed like a good idea on paper, but bring back the old Defrag program
for instance!

It’s starting to look to me like Vista has issues, but many of them are
caused by other software and drivers, in the end they have to comply with the
OS and when they do it makes a big difference.

P.S. – I must say that I really like Office 2007, lots of good improvements
and ideas there.







----------------
This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow this
link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
click "I Agree" in the message pane.

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/com....vista.general

On Sun, 19 Aug 2007 13:28:01 -0700, romanom wrote:

> The two major issues I still have, and it may not even be a Vista issue,
> is Internet Explorer and Adobe Flash player. Vista seems to dislike
> Adobe Flash; I have had to reinstall it 4 times already. I even
> installed Silverlight from MS, or whatever it’s called, in the hopes of
> making Vista happy, no dice.

That's probably because Microsoft doesn't want you to use Flash. After
all, they've gone to the trouble of developing a competing standard...

Back in the early 90s, Microsofties had a favorite saying: "DOS isn't
done until Lotus won't run." The more things change, the more they stay
the same, eh?

Anyway, your review is interesting. It's encouraging that Vista hasn't
turned out to be a _total_ disaster, and you are coming up with the
workarounds you need to live with it.

Charlie

Yes, I think Vista is here to stay.

If you remember what happened with the introduction of XP, many new
computers were sold with Windows Mw for quite some time afterwards as
people found it easier to use and there were more drivers etc.

As program updates and drivers work themselves through the system, the
problems go away.

I had trouble with Nvidia drivers, but after getting more memory, updating
drivers and updating the bios, they have gone away. Not sure what fixed
it.

I like Vista, and when I go back to XP it feels a bit awkward.

Right-click on your IE icon located on the Quick Launch toolbar,
select "Run as administrator", then visit:

http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/downl...ShockwaveFlash

to install the Adobe Flash Player.

Troubleshoot Adobe Flash Player installation for Windows:
http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/view...Id=1#uninstall

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User

----------------------------------------------------------------------

"romanom" wrote:

100 days ago ( actually a few days more) on May 18, 2007 I received my new HP
dv9500t with a 2.2 GHz Duo Centrino, 2GB of RAM and basic Intel 965 graphics
chipset. The OS is Vista Home Premium and major software is Office
Professional 2007 Academic Version (from www.directdeal.com - $164), NIS 2007
(got it as a gift) and the audio driver is from RealTek.

At first Vista was being very annoying and quite irritable, with many errors
and significant problems working with other software from third parties. UAC
was a serious pain in the buttocks, especially with my Sony SonicStage
software that came with my Sony sport MP3 player (great player, lousy
software, but I have no choice but to use it).

As with most users, file transfer was very slow and UAC would make it even
slower.

That said, with some fine tuning, turning off UAC (I know I shouldn’t, but
it just became too much) and updating drivers on a regular basis Vista has
started to work out really well.

It’s not perfect and there are still lots of programs that I can’t use on
Vista that worked great on XP, but I have been able to find equivalent (or at
least acceptable) substitutes. For instance as download managers go only
Flashget and Orbit work flawlessly, DAM or FDM have issues with .exe
failures.

Since the Reliability and Compatibility updates have been installed the file
transfer rate and just the overall speed and stability have taken a definite
turn for the better. I have not had a single crash, freeze or issue with any
software, with one exception I’ll get to later, and everything stands-to on
command. I have even noticed that programs like Outlook and Word open up
much faster; even large Word documents are scanned for viruses and opened in
just a few seconds.

I can forgive mistakes if steps are made to make remedy and it seems MS has
made some progress towards fixing the flaws.

Still, you do have to be careful with what you use on a Vista PC, for
instance if I use my HP printer’s software color management Vista has a
hissy-fit, if I turn it off printing goes flawlessly with no noticeable
degradation in print quality or speed.

I also noticed that many aspects of Vista improve as you update third party
drivers and software; video was somewhat of an issue compared to my XP PC
despite that the HP Vista has far superior hardware. Once I installed an
updated version of Intel’s graphic driver video began to pop and sparkle,
even the WEI rating went up a .1 for graphics.

Overall, I’m starting to like Vista, even if it takes some more work than it
should to get it to work just right.

The two major issues I still have, and it may not even be a Vista issue, is
Internet Explorer and Adobe Flash player. Vista seems to dislike Adobe
Flash; I have had to reinstall it 4 times already. I even installed
Silverlight from MS, or whatever it’s called, in the hopes of making Vista
happy, no dice.

IE of course just loves to crash on me when I have half a dozen tabs or so
going, but it did that with XP too. Hello FireFox?

It still needs some work, it’s too big and takes up too many resources, but
I guess that can’t be solved until Vista’s replacement. Some changes may
have seemed like a good idea on paper, but bring back the old Defrag program
for instance!

It’s starting to look to me like Vista has issues, but many of them are
caused by other software and drivers, in the end they have to comply with the
OS and when they do it makes a big difference.

P.S. – I must say that I really like Office 2007, lots of good improvements
and ideas there.







----------------
This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow this
link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
click "I Agree" in the message pane.

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/com....vista.general

In article <>,
says...
> That's probably because Microsoft doesn't want you to use Flash. After
> all, they've gone to the trouble of developing a competing standard.

What exactly is the problem with Flash? Error messages, crashes, ...?
Never a problem with Flash here, on Windows Vista Ultimate 32 bit.
Maybe if you elaborate on your specific problems, someone might be able
to help.
--


Kind regards,
Mark Veldhuis.

I have the same thoughts as you. I have a Dell though and I haven't had any
issues with Vista crashing or not running things. Flash 9.x works great for
me with both IE 7 and Firefox and I design in Flash 8 so I use it a LOT for
testing. I have never had it crash with Vista.

I also turned off UAC. I am not sure "why I shouldn't". I have been a
network admin for 20 years and so far no virus/spyware at home or work so I
think my firewall structure is secure enough not to have to use UAC.

Still some things about the design of Vista that DRIVE me nuts.

1> Unlike XP, Camera Wizard won't let you select the pictures to import. It
does detect which ones it hasn't imported but often I just want to import one
to print and not the whole card.

2> Font Directory doesn't let you set file security on the tab. I might be
able to find a hack for this but I am not sure.

3> No File Types Tab - This is the WORST. I have to do registry editing
everytime I want to change something. The "default programs" Control Panel
is so limited and won't let you add a new file type or edit the Default
Command. I don't want some things to "Open" by Default. I want the "Edit" to
be the default. Especially with my vbscripting. I want the files to Edit when
I double click on them and not run.

4> No Logoff on the Start Bar. I am REALLY hoping I can find a hack for
this. That stupid little arrow is just ridiculous and I end up shutting down
or going into standbye instead of logging off.

5> Vista doesn't support XP Profiles which is going to be a REAL pain when I
try to deploy it in my network with Mandatory Roaming Profiles. Folder
Redirection just doesn't cut it as I don't want users modifying the user.dat.
It also doesn't support XP Group policies either.

There were a few more and I am sure I will find even more in trying to
deploy it to a Windows 2003/XP network.

Cheers,
Lara

"romanom" wrote:

> 100 days ago ( actually a few days more) on May 18, 2007 I received my new HP
> dv9500t with a 2.2 GHz Duo Centrino, 2GB of RAM and basic Intel 965 graphics
> chipset. The OS is Vista Home Premium and major software is Office
> Professional 2007 Academic Version (from www.directdeal.com - $164), NIS 2007
> (got it as a gift) and the audio driver is from RealTek.
>
> At first Vista was being very annoying and quite irritable, with many errors
> and significant problems working with other software from third parties. UAC
> was a serious pain in the buttocks, especially with my Sony SonicStage
> software that came with my Sony sport MP3 player (great player, lousy
> software, but I have no choice but to use it).
>
> As with most users, file transfer was very slow and UAC would make it even
> slower.
>
> That said, with some fine tuning, turning off UAC (I know I shouldn’t, but
> it just became too much) and updating drivers on a regular basis Vista has
> started to work out really well.
>
> It’s not perfect and there are still lots of programs that I can’t use on
> Vista that worked great on XP, but I have been able to find equivalent (or at
> least acceptable) substitutes. For instance as download managers go only
> Flashget and Orbit work flawlessly, DAM or FDM have issues with .exe
> failures.
>
> Since the Reliability and Compatibility updates have been installed the file
> transfer rate and just the overall speed and stability have taken a definite
> turn for the better. I have not had a single crash, freeze or issue with any
> software, with one exception I’ll get to later, and everything stands-to on
> command. I have even noticed that programs like Outlook and Word open up
> much faster; even large Word documents are scanned for viruses and opened in
> just a few seconds.
>
> I can forgive mistakes if steps are made to make remedy and it seems MS has
> made some progress towards fixing the flaws.
>
> Still, you do have to be careful with what you use on a Vista PC, for
> instance if I use my HP printer’s software color management Vista has a
> hissy-fit, if I turn it off printing goes flawlessly with no noticeable
> degradation in print quality or speed.
>
> I also noticed that many aspects of Vista improve as you update third party
> drivers and software; video was somewhat of an issue compared to my XP PC
> despite that the HP Vista has far superior hardware. Once I installed an
> updated version of Intel’s graphic driver video began to pop and sparkle,
> even the WEI rating went up a .1 for graphics.
>
> Overall, I’m starting to like Vista, even if it takes some more work than it
> should to get it to work just right.
>
> The two major issues I still have, and it may not even be a Vista issue, is
> Internet Explorer and Adobe Flash player. Vista seems to dislike Adobe
> Flash; I have had to reinstall it 4 times already. I even installed
> Silverlight from MS, or whatever it’s called, in the hopes of making Vista
> happy, no dice.
>
> IE of course just loves to crash on me when I have half a dozen tabs or so
> going, but it did that with XP too. Hello FireFox?
>
> It still needs some work, it’s too big and takes up too many resources, but
> I guess that can’t be solved until Vista’s replacement. Some changes may
> have seemed like a good idea on paper, but bring back the old Defrag program
> for instance!
>
> It’s starting to look to me like Vista has issues, but many of them are
> caused by other software and drivers, in the end they have to comply with the
> OS and when they do it makes a big difference.
>
> P.S. – I must say that I really like Office 2007, lots of good improvements
> and ideas there.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ----------------
> This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
> suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
> Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow this
> link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
> click "I Agree" in the message pane.
>
> http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/com....vista.general

Thanks!

"Carey Frisch [MVP]" wrote:

> Right-click on your IE icon located on the Quick Launch toolbar,
> select "Run as administrator", then visit:
>
> http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/downl...ShockwaveFlash
>
> to install the Adobe Flash Player.
>
> Troubleshoot Adobe Flash Player installation for Windows:
> http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/view...Id=1#uninstall
>
> --
> Carey Frisch
> Microsoft MVP
> Windows Shell/User
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> "romanom" wrote:
>
> 100 days ago ( actually a few days more) on May 18, 2007 I received my new HP
> dv9500t with a 2.2 GHz Duo Centrino, 2GB of RAM and basic Intel 965 graphics
> chipset. The OS is Vista Home Premium and major software is Office
> Professional 2007 Academic Version (from www.directdeal.com - $164), NIS 2007
> (got it as a gift) and the audio driver is from RealTek.
>
> At first Vista was being very annoying and quite irritable, with many errors
> and significant problems working with other software from third parties. UAC
> was a serious pain in the buttocks, especially with my Sony SonicStage
> software that came with my Sony sport MP3 player (great player, lousy
> software, but I have no choice but to use it).
>
> As with most users, file transfer was very slow and UAC would make it even
> slower.
>
> That said, with some fine tuning, turning off UAC (I know I shouldn’t, but
> it just became too much) and updating drivers on a regular basis Vista has
> started to work out really well.
>
> It’s not perfect and there are still lots of programs that I can’t use on
> Vista that worked great on XP, but I have been able to find equivalent (or at
> least acceptable) substitutes. For instance as download managers go only
> Flashget and Orbit work flawlessly, DAM or FDM have issues with .exe
> failures.
>
> Since the Reliability and Compatibility updates have been installed the file
> transfer rate and just the overall speed and stability have taken a definite
> turn for the better. I have not had a single crash, freeze or issue with any
> software, with one exception I’ll get to later, and everything stands-to on
> command. I have even noticed that programs like Outlook and Word open up
> much faster; even large Word documents are scanned for viruses and opened in
> just a few seconds.
>
> I can forgive mistakes if steps are made to make remedy and it seems MS has
> made some progress towards fixing the flaws.
>
> Still, you do have to be careful with what you use on a Vista PC, for
> instance if I use my HP printer’s software color management Vista has a
> hissy-fit, if I turn it off printing goes flawlessly with no noticeable
> degradation in print quality or speed.
>
> I also noticed that many aspects of Vista improve as you update third party
> drivers and software; video was somewhat of an issue compared to my XP PC
> despite that the HP Vista has far superior hardware. Once I installed an
> updated version of Intel’s graphic driver video began to pop and sparkle,
> even the WEI rating went up a .1 for graphics.
>
> Overall, I’m starting to like Vista, even if it takes some more work than it
> should to get it to work just right.
>
> The two major issues I still have, and it may not even be a Vista issue, is
> Internet Explorer and Adobe Flash player. Vista seems to dislike Adobe
> Flash; I have had to reinstall it 4 times already. I even installed
> Silverlight from MS, or whatever it’s called, in the hopes of making Vista
> happy, no dice.
>
> IE of course just loves to crash on me when I have half a dozen tabs or so
> going, but it did that with XP too. Hello FireFox?
>
> It still needs some work, it’s too big and takes up too many resources, but
> I guess that can’t be solved until Vista’s replacement. Some changes may
> have seemed like a good idea on paper, but bring back the old Defrag program
> for instance!
>
> It’s starting to look to me like Vista has issues, but many of them are
> caused by other software and drivers, in the end they have to comply with the
> OS and when they do it makes a big difference.
>
> P.S. – I must say that I really like Office 2007, lots of good improvements
> and ideas there.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ----------------
> This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
> suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
> Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow this
> link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
> click "I Agree" in the message pane.
>
> http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/com....vista.general
>
>

Anything with Flash simply stopped working, no Flash movies nothing. Also it
would not show up in the Program list or IE add-ons even after reinstalling.

However, I just tried Carey Frisch's suggestion and now it's back in both
lists. Hopefully my problem is solved.

"Mark Veldhuis" wrote:

> In article <>,
> says...
> > That's probably because Microsoft doesn't want you to use Flash. After
> > all, they've gone to the trouble of developing a competing standard.
>
> What exactly is the problem with Flash? Error messages, crashes, ...?
> Never a problem with Flash here, on Windows Vista Ultimate 32 bit.
> Maybe if you elaborate on your specific problems, someone might be able
> to help.
> --
>
>
> Kind regards,
> Mark Veldhuis.
>

Those are a few of the reasons it isn't deployed and there are no plans to
deploy it.
We have extended the lifecycle of the nearly 200 XP machines and migrated
all the 98/ME/W2K boxes to Linux.
Unless MS makes major changes, all our machines will use a different OS.
I have Vista Ultimate on 1 machine I use regularly, but I haven't started to
like it at all.
I built the machine just for Vista, I have had no trouble with it.
It's just a pain to try to tweak it & make it look & feel the way I want.
Making it necessary to hack the system (and the browser) and/or use third
party software to make them perform as desired is an unacceptable way to
design an OS, in my opinion.
For those who like it, congrats.
To those who don't, welcome to the world of Alternative OSs.

"lforbes" <> wrote in message
news:FC0862BE-3C54-47E9-B87E-...
>I have the same thoughts as you. I have a Dell though and I haven't had any
> issues with Vista crashing or not running things. Flash 9.x works great
> for
> me with both IE 7 and Firefox and I design in Flash 8 so I use it a LOT
> for
> testing. I have never had it crash with Vista.
>
> I also turned off UAC. I am not sure "why I shouldn't". I have been a
> network admin for 20 years and so far no virus/spyware at home or work so
> I
> think my firewall structure is secure enough not to have to use UAC.
>
> Still some things about the design of Vista that DRIVE me nuts.
>
> 1> Unlike XP, Camera Wizard won't let you select the pictures to import.
> It
> does detect which ones it hasn't imported but often I just want to import
> one
> to print and not the whole card.
>
> 2> Font Directory doesn't let you set file security on the tab. I might be
> able to find a hack for this but I am not sure.
>
> 3> No File Types Tab - This is the WORST. I have to do registry editing
> everytime I want to change something. The "default programs" Control
> Panel
> is so limited and won't let you add a new file type or edit the Default
> Command. I don't want some things to "Open" by Default. I want the "Edit"
> to
> be the default. Especially with my vbscripting. I want the files to Edit
> when
> I double click on them and not run.
>
> 4> No Logoff on the Start Bar. I am REALLY hoping I can find a hack for
> this. That stupid little arrow is just ridiculous and I end up shutting
> down
> or going into standbye instead of logging off.
>
> 5> Vista doesn't support XP Profiles which is going to be a REAL pain when
> I
> try to deploy it in my network with Mandatory Roaming Profiles. Folder
> Redirection just doesn't cut it as I don't want users modifying the
> user.dat.
> It also doesn't support XP Group policies either.
>
> There were a few more and I am sure I will find even more in trying to
> deploy it to a Windows 2003/XP network.
>
> Cheers,
> Lara
>
> "romanom" wrote:
>
>> 100 days ago ( actually a few days more) on May 18, 2007 I received my
>> new HP
>> dv9500t with a 2.2 GHz Duo Centrino, 2GB of RAM and basic Intel 965
>> graphics
>> chipset. The OS is Vista Home Premium and major software is Office
>> Professional 2007 Academic Version (from www.directdeal.com - $164), NIS
>> 2007
>> (got it as a gift) and the audio driver is from RealTek.
>>
>> At first Vista was being very annoying and quite irritable, with many
>> errors
>> and significant problems working with other software from third parties.
>> UAC
>> was a serious pain in the buttocks, especially with my Sony SonicStage
>> software that came with my Sony sport MP3 player (great player, lousy
>> software, but I have no choice but to use it).
>>
>> As with most users, file transfer was very slow and UAC would make it
>> even
>> slower.
>>
>> That said, with some fine tuning, turning off UAC (I know I shouldn't,
>> but
>> it just became too much) and updating drivers on a regular basis Vista
>> has
>> started to work out really well.
>>
>> It's not perfect and there are still lots of programs that I can't use on
>> Vista that worked great on XP, but I have been able to find equivalent
>> (or at
>> least acceptable) substitutes. For instance as download managers go only
>> Flashget and Orbit work flawlessly, DAM or FDM have issues with .exe
>> failures.
>>
>> Since the Reliability and Compatibility updates have been installed the
>> file
>> transfer rate and just the overall speed and stability have taken a
>> definite
>> turn for the better. I have not had a single crash, freeze or issue with
>> any
>> software, with one exception I'll get to later, and everything stands-to
>> on
>> command. I have even noticed that programs like Outlook and Word open up
>> much faster; even large Word documents are scanned for viruses and opened
>> in
>> just a few seconds.
>>
>> I can forgive mistakes if steps are made to make remedy and it seems MS
>> has
>> made some progress towards fixing the flaws.
>>
>> Still, you do have to be careful with what you use on a Vista PC, for
>> instance if I use my HP printer's software color management Vista has a
>> hissy-fit, if I turn it off printing goes flawlessly with no noticeable
>> degradation in print quality or speed.
>>
>> I also noticed that many aspects of Vista improve as you update third
>> party
>> drivers and software; video was somewhat of an issue compared to my XP PC
>> despite that the HP Vista has far superior hardware. Once I installed an
>> updated version of Intel's graphic driver video began to pop and sparkle,
>> even the WEI rating went up a .1 for graphics.
>>
>> Overall, I'm starting to like Vista, even if it takes some more work than
>> it
>> should to get it to work just right.
>>
>> The two major issues I still have, and it may not even be a Vista issue,
>> is
>> Internet Explorer and Adobe Flash player. Vista seems to dislike Adobe
>> Flash; I have had to reinstall it 4 times already. I even installed
>> Silverlight from MS, or whatever it's called, in the hopes of making
>> Vista
>> happy, no dice.
>>
>> IE of course just loves to crash on me when I have half a dozen tabs or
>> so
>> going, but it did that with XP too. Hello FireFox?
>>
>> It still needs some work, it's too big and takes up too many resources,
>> but
>> I guess that can't be solved until Vista's replacement. Some changes may
>> have seemed like a good idea on paper, but bring back the old Defrag
>> program
>> for instance!
>>
>> It's starting to look to me like Vista has issues, but many of them are
>> caused by other software and drivers, in the end they have to comply with
>> the
>> OS and when they do it makes a big difference.
>>
>> P.S. - I must say that I really like Office 2007, lots of good
>> improvements
>> and ideas there.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ----------------
>> This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
>> suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the
>> "I
>> Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow
>> this
>> link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and
>> then
>> click "I Agree" in the message pane.
>>
>> http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/com....vista.general

Not Me wrote:
> Those are a few of the reasons it isn't deployed and there are no plans to
> deploy it.
> We have extended the lifecycle of the nearly 200 XP machines and migrated
> all the 98/ME/W2K boxes to Linux.
> Unless MS makes major changes, all our machines will use a different OS.
> I have Vista Ultimate on 1 machine I use regularly, but I haven't started to
> like it at all.
> I built the machine just for Vista, I have had no trouble with it.
> It's just a pain to try to tweak it & make it look & feel the way I want.
> Making it necessary to hack the system (and the browser) and/or use third
> party software to make them perform as desired is an unacceptable way to
> design an OS, in my opinion.
> For those who like it, congrats.
> To those who don't, welcome to the world of Alternative OSs.
>

Quite honestly it's not Vista itself that worries me but the fact that
MS can simply shut you down at will with no questions asked and there's
no way you have any leverage to get back in business. I guess it's more
"The way things are headed" that's the problem and it looks like the
same for you. I know our IT people are concerned about it because we are
a fair sized company with serious dependencies on IT but we're way too
small to apply any leverage. I have one (Personal) machine at work and
one company machine there and despite trying to use Vista I end up every
time removing the Vista drive and putting XP Back, and I've ALWAYS used
Windows and most of the time do the IT stuff that's not related to our
actual application software (Obviously that's on a contract).

The only problem I'm having with using Debian on the company machine is
printer drivers which with ease of use and installation has been
Microsoft's forte IMHO. Seems they are intent on throwing it all away
though.