PC operating systems

A

a.k.a. Patrick

New member
Im about ready to take the plunge on a Dell Vostro, and I have the option of staying with Windows XP or going with the new Vista OS............

Any thoughts? I run Quickbooks off of XP, would I need to upgrade my QB if I went with Vista? Pros? Cons?
 
My philosophy on this is stick with what you have (less hassle), unless you have a whole bunch of time to spare to mess with a new OS. Nothing like having to invest in a new OS and then having to also buy a bunch more new software to replace the old.



My general rule of thumb is to wait until after the first SP release then it would be OK to do an upgrade. (but most don't even bother).



Unless you are the type that has to have the latest and greatest, now.
 
I have both XP Home and Vista Home Premium on different computers. I recommend XP all the way. I had no choice of operating systems on one which is why I have Vista.



Vista takes at least 2 gigs of Ram to perform just adequately whereas the same Ram turns XP into a smokin' speed machine. Then there are the compatibility issues with Vista, I just don't care for it. There is also a learning curve because it's different than other Windows systems. New names for operations that have been the same forever takes a while to get used to. The first time you want to remove a program good luck on figuring out how to do it......the language and icons have changed requiring research for something that took mere seconds to accomplish with XP or ANY previous system.



Were it not for the hassle and expense I would convert the one to XP but I'll live with it for now. Just one man's opinion.
 
I know there are some die hard M$ fanboys out there but I will say it anyway, Vista is going to wind up being the biggest flop Microsoft has ever had! One indicator is the continued ease of access to XP configured machines from just about every PC vendor out there.



I could probably link to an endless number of articles but here is one I saw this morning...



Microsoft struggling to convince about Vista - Computerworld UK - The Voice of IT Management



Personally I would stay with XP unless you have some compelling reason to go with Vista.
 
Patrick...I am in the same boat as you and will be pulling the trigger on a Vostro laptop this week. I am sticking with XP. I have no desire to deal with Vista.



What are you getting???
 
I would email Intuit and ask them if your version of Quickbooks will work with Vista. Are they giving you an uprade disk to Vista if you get XP pre-installed?



I would always rather have the newer OS as it's less of a hassle down the road when newer apps and programs are made for and optimized for the newer OS. I personally do not like to do OS upgrades as it doesn't seem to be as good as starting with a fresh, clean full install.



QB isn't the cheapest program so if there is a compatibility issue I can understand why someone would want to stay with XP. But at the same time, if somehow this can all be tax write-offs since it's used for your business, would the cost of having to buy a new version of QB be an issue?
 
IMO XP has been the most stable OS MS has released. XP SP2 is rock solid.



I wouldn't go the Vista route yet. I'd stick with what is known to work well and so far that's been XP.
 
Pats300zx said:
Patrick...I am in the same boat as you and will be pulling the trigger on a Vostro laptop this week. I am sticking with XP. I have no desire to deal with Vista.



What are you getting???
Click to expand...



Hmm, got curious and went over to Dell.com to check out the Vostro. I was going to buy an Inspiron 1520 this week but the Vostro looks to be a much better value. I may have to take a better look.



Thanks



Bob
 
I think MS really stumbled with Vista. It will be a very hard sell for businesses to upgrade and giving Apple a chance to turn more converts.
 
Bunky said:
I think MS really stumbled with Vista. It will be a very hard sell for businesses to upgrade and giving Apple a chance to turn more converts.
Click to expand...



Most businesses don't upgrade for awhile anyway. I wouldn't be surprised if many of them are still using Windows 2000. The problem with Vista though is the fact that they will probably need to upgrade their equipment just to run it so that will be quite an expensive upgrade, and one that's not a necessity as XP is more than capable of handling their needs. Plus, many businesses don't buy their equipment, they're often leased so if they deploy Vista, it will be in small numbers with the newer, more powerful machines they lease. I don't ever see Apple stealing any of the business market away from M$.
 
BlackElantraGT said:
Most businesses don't upgrade for awhile anyway. I wouldn't be surprised if many of them are still using Windows 2000. The problem with Vista though is the fact that they will probably need to upgrade their equipment just to run it so that will be quite an expensive upgrade, and one that's not a necessity as XP is more than capable of handling their needs. Plus, many businesses don't buy their equipment, they're often leased so if they deploy Vista, it will be in small numbers with the newer, more powerful machines they lease. I don't ever see Apple stealing any of the business market away from M$.
Click to expand...



I think you are minimizing the issue here. This isn't simply an issue of businesses hesitating to put forth the expense to upgrade, there are real concerns about the stability of Vista. Take a look at the link I posted, it is about a survey of IT professionals and it seems to contradict your statement...



The survey, echoing one from Forrester last week, shows most IT professionals are worried about Vista and that 44% have considered non-Windows operating systems, such as Linux and Macintosh, to avoid the Microsoft migration.



"Clearly many companies are serious about this alternative, with 9% of those saying they have considered non-Windows operating systems already in the process of switching and a further 25% expecting to switch within the next year," the report "Windows Vista Adoption and Alternatives" reads.



Macintosh leads the pack of Vista alternatives, with support from 28% of respondents. About a quarter said they would opt for Red Hat Linux, with SUSE Linux and Ubuntu each garnering 18% of the vote. Another 9% cited other Linux operating systems and 4% were unsure.
Click to expand...
 
BlackElantraGT said:
Most businesses don't upgrade for awhile anyway. I wouldn't be surprised if many of them are still using Windows 2000. The problem with Vista though is the fact that they will probably need to upgrade their equipment just to run it so that will be quite an expensive upgrade, and one that's not a necessity as XP is more than capable of handling their needs. Plus, many businesses don't buy their equipment, they're often leased so if they deploy Vista, it will be in small numbers with the newer, more powerful machines they lease. I don't ever see Apple stealing any of the business market away from M$.
Click to expand...



Apple is making some inroads and also so is Linux. The business issue is if you try to force businesses to Vista this gives them an opportunity to look at alternatives. I agree that Apple will not likely make significant inroads into corp America but Linux has a good chance as people demand open standards. Microsoft forces consumers to some extend by the preload licensing if they do a hardware upgrade.
 
I just bought a new HP Pavillion Vista home premium machine because an older XP-based machine of mine stopped booting. I was able to convert over to the new machine with only a little difficulty (thankfully it wasn't a failed HD). One trick is to temporarily turn off the new user-specific security features. This makes moving the files and programs from the old main HD to the new one much easier since I didn't have to deal with all the Vista permissions. All the programs I've needed so far have converted over easily - MS Office 2003, Adobe Lightroom, Monaco Optix XR, Paint Shop Pro X2, Firefox, Thunderbird etc. Only Zone Alarm didn't have a vista-compatible version of ZAPro so I'm using the Vista firewall for now.



So far the Vista machine has been great - much faster, few conversion issues, quick to install new hardware/drivers (I added a second HD, new video card, fancier keyboard). I haven't regretted the conversion but I've only used the computer for 8 hours. I suspect the faster performance is due mostly to hardware upgrades (better bus, faster processor, faster memory, faster disk). I have a couple more programs to load or fix and then should be essentially good to go from where I left off of the old machine.



Based on my experience so far, I would recommend making the move to Vista for home computers. Ask me again in 3-4 weeks and we'll see if that opinion holds.



RG
 
Based on that article:



"The concerns about Vista specified by participants were overwhelmingly related to stability. Stability in general was frequently cited, as well as compatibility with the business software that would need to run on Vista," said Diane Hagglund of King Research, which conducted the survey for systems management vendor Kace. "Cost was also cited as a concern by some respondents."



Stability has always been an issue with every new M$ OS release. Most people don't consider their OS to be somewhat stable until the first SP1 release. XP was no different so the fact that the majority of those surveyed mentioned stability does not surprise me. Secondly, a lot of big busineses still operate legacy systems so why upgrade if it possibly might not work?



Further into the article:



"Yet heterogeneous systems management could be a barrier to going with a provider other than Microsoft, the survey found. Respondents reported that challenges include the need to manage multiple operating systems (49%) and the need to learn a different set of management tools (50%). Sixty percent manage their Windows systems with tools that don't support non-Windows environments.



"Almost half of all participants (45%) cited challenges with system management in non-Windows operating systems as preventing them from adopting" alternatives, the report states. "



As much as we'd like to get away from M$ OS, they have that market cornered. It's just a matter of time before businesses make the switch to Vista. I just think that this time it will take a bit longer than the switch from Windows 2000 to XP.



So I don't agree with your statement that Vista is Microsoft's biggest flop. Vista will just take longer for people to adopt, but the biggest OS flop from MS still goes to Windows ME.
 
BlackElantraGT said:
snip...



As much as we'd like to get away from M$ OS, they have that market cornered. It's just a matter of time before businesses make the switch to Vista. I just think that this time it will take a bit longer than the switch from Windows 2000 to XP.



So I don't agree with your statement that Vista is Microsoft's biggest flop. Vista will just take longer for people to adopt, but the biggest OS flop from MS still goes to Windows ME.
Click to expand...



"A bit longer", what do you define as a bit? Come on confess, you own M$ stock don't you :lol



I can speak as one business owner who will NEVER be making the switch to Vista ;)
 
BlackElantraGT said:
snip...



As much as we'd like to get away from M$ OS, they have that market cornered. It's just a matter of time before businesses make the switch to Vista. I just think that this time it will take a bit longer than the switch from Windows 2000 to XP.



So I don't agree with your statement that Vista is Microsoft's biggest flop. Vista will just take longer for people to adopt, but the biggest OS flop from MS still goes to Windows ME.
Click to expand...



"A bit longer", what do you define as a bit? I think they are already well past "a bit longer".



Come on confess, you own M$ stock don't you :lol



I can speak as one business owner who will NEVER be making the switch to Vista ;)
 
My gripe is just the pain of upgrading and discovering programs that do not work and possible obsolete hw. Since MS does not let you migrate Office XP to Vista you have to deal with the learning curves plus the purchase of Office too and other surprises (missing functions, etc).



If you are just starting out, good a fast PC, and not much baggage (legacy stuff), then Vista is fine. For those that have lots of investment and training associated with XP, why rush...
 
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