New Laptop -- With Vista

[USMCsilver]

Have to admit that I wasn't wanting to switch OS's, but I had to...

My old laptop had a broken hindge, and was wobbling on the one it had. The fan was dead, so I broke off pieces of the bottom to allow for more air to circulate. I also took out the CD/DVD drive to allow for more air, and also removed the plastic cover that went over the RAM. Lastly, the battery was dead...

So, I redeemed some points on a website that I frequent for $150 in Circuit City gift cards.

I picked up an Acer with an AMD 64 Athalon x2 chip and 1 GIG of RAM.

I have to admit that I'm quite impressed! And the best part -- I've got $386 in it!

[wandyprawira]

Originally Posted by USMCsilver

Have to admit that I wasn't wanting to switch OS's, but I had to...

My old laptop had a broken hindge, and was wobbling on the one it had. The fan was dead, so I broke off pieces of the bottom to allow for more air to circulate. I also took out the CD/DVD drive to allow for more air, and also removed the plastic cover that went over the RAM. Lastly, the battery was dead...

So, I redeemed some points on a website that I frequent for $150 in Circuit City gift cards.

I picked up an Acer with an AMD 64 Athalon x2 chip and 1 GIG of RAM.

I have to admit that I'm quite impressed! And the best part -- I've got $386 in it!

Congrats! So how's the new vista? Is it compatible with most of the software you've got?

[USMCsilver]

Originally Posted by wandyprawira

Congrats! So how's the new vista? Is it compatible with most of the software you've got?

I like it...I think.

I remember when I went from 98 to XP -- I hated it for a little while, then found out it was kinda "better". I guess I feel the same way now.

Things don't seem much better, or worse, it's just "different".

Know that feeling you get when you purchase a new house and you try to find the bathroom that 1st night in the dark? That's kinda how the transition is. Granted, we have 3 PCs on XP this new one on Vista, so it makes it even worse switching from PC to PC.

As far as software goes, I don't know yet. I've had to download "Vista friendly" versions of things like AdvantGo and Palm...that's all I've really added. I am sad to say that I don't believe my Microsoft Office will work on this machine, but I might just give it a try...

[wandyprawira]

Thanks for the review. My girlfriend now needs a laptop and I'm thinking of giving her the one that I use now which uses XP. However, when I shop around there are only new laptops with Vista nowadays and it keeps me thinking of the compatibility of the softwares.

I think with the Microsoft Office, Vista will only be compatible with Office 2007. The sad thing is that I've just bought a Adobe Creative Suite CS3 and I'm not sure that it can be installed on Vista.

[GrandDaddy]

Sterling,

Like what I posted on the "other" board, my Office 2000 works with Vista without any conflicts. Then again, the usual YMMV.

[Rockrolex]

I'm going to try to hold off until MS comes out with SP2 for Vista. I have heard some horror stories about how buggy this version of Vista is.

[USMCsilver]

Yup, got it to work.

Was gonna update my post over here.

The only downfall -- updates have to be installed manually for Office 2000 on Vista. i.e. there is no cute little utility that fetches and installs all the updates. HOWEVER, it still runs fine and I haven't updated anything.

MS MONEY 2003 also runs fine... I don't now where compatability issues will really come into play with the new OS. I know Norton Anti-Virus has to be a Vista version due to unique security settings, but, that's about it.

Anyway, seems like a good product with some cool little features. If you're bored, Google "Vista gadgets" and it'll show you some desktop gadgets that you can install that do some pretty neat stuff. Kinda like using "active desktop" on XP, but a lot better!

[timebroker]

At the time I was Beta-testing Vista (year ago) for my former company there were no big problems concerning Vista and software compatibility but the needed hardware is somewhat steep (stripping Vista improves it though).
There are Vista systems that fail/crash after a couple of months. A service pack is always needed when dealing with Windows imo.
Always preferred to switch OS after the hardware has become faster but my all time favorite is Windows 2000.
XP was pre-installed on my latest system not even a year ago, never needed it before, same with Vista except when software needs a specific OS I could get tempted to upgrade (some actually consider it to be a downgrade). If you do not like Vista you can always try to install XP or even Win2000.

[timebroker]

Originally Posted by USMCsilver

Anyway, seems like a good product with some cool little features. If you're bored, Google "Vista gadgets" and it'll show you some desktop gadgets that you can install that do some pretty neat stuff. Kinda like using "active desktop" on XP, but a lot better!

The fact is, Windows always 'steals' things from other OS be it Unix, Linux, Apple or even OS/2 back in the days.
Actually saw several Vista computers that looked like Apples.

[Rockrolex]

Originally Posted by timebroker

The fact is, Windows always 'steals' things from other OS be it Unix, Linux, Apple or even OS/2 back in the days.
Actually saw several Vista computers that looked like Apples.

I remember when Windows first came out - about 1990. I was walking around SAIC in San Diego and glanced at some of the monitors. I said, "gee, that looks like a Mac desktop" when the machine was not an Apple. The guy said it was MS Windows. My first thought was the MS stole the GUI from Apple.

BTW, does anyone remember what Apple called their "portable" back in the 1987-88 time frame? The Mac 2 and Lisa were then coming in but they were more of a desktop. I've been wracking my brain trying to remember what it was called.

[mgmgmg]

Here's a tip

Become a microsoft partner - it costs £200 so I guess the same in dollars -you simply give them the money and fill in a form (My techies did this)

You get ten copies of Full Vista, MS Office, SWL-Server Devlt, Visio, Onenote and so forth on DVDs with serials etc...

I dont know what happens if you dont renew but if you are a small company then its a pretty good deal anyway.

M

[Daniel Swartz]

You're referring (in the U.S.) to the Microsoft Action Pack for partners/resellers, etc.

It costs $299 in the U.S. per year.

[Rubenonfire]

I've been running Vista on my laptop since I upgraded through HP in the spring. It runs like a dream, but you do need some pretty intense hardware to really make it sing.
It's a great OS, but to be completely honest I'm not a huge computer guy...it does what I need it to do and I'm not using a lot of advanced functions.