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Print E-mail del.icio.us 200 comment(s) - last by William Gaatje.. on May 11 at 9:05 AM
Gates says that Microsoft has sold over 140 million copies of Vista worldwide since its launch.

Windows Vista seems to be everyone's favorite whipping boy these days. PC World labeled it the #1 Biggest Tech Disappointment of 2007 and mini "E-Wars" are guaranteed to prop up anytime the names Windows Vista and Windows XP are uttered with the same breath.

Despite the explosive nature regarding any discussion of Vista, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates says that the operating system is doing just fine. According to Gates, Microsoft has sold over 140M copies of Vista globally since its consumer launch on January 30, 2007.

"That's a very rapid sales rate," said Gates who has been very supportive of the operating system despite the backlash.

Windows Vista is a competent piece of software and most consumers who purchase new computers running the operating system won't encounter many -- if any -- problems during day-to-day usage. Power users, however, have been quick to point out inadequacies in the operating system including its penchant for memory and resources, User Account Control (UAC), and sometimes shaky driver support.

OEMs have also expressed little faith in Windows Vista when it comes to performing on ultra-low-cost PCs (ULPCs). For this reason, many OEM have stuck with the slim and trim Windows XP operating system for better performance. Microsoft acknowledged the concerns of these OEMs by again extending the availability date of Windows XP Home for ULPCs until June 30, 2010 (or longer depending on when the next version of Windows is released).

But perhaps one of the biggest barriers to further adoption of Windows Vista -- at least until its successor arrives -- may be from Microsoft itself. The company recently released Service Pack 3 (SP3) for Windows XP which brings some Vista-esque security features, numerous patches/bugfixes, and improvements to overall performance.

With SP3 now making the rounds around the web, many XP users -- including large corporations -- see no reason to upgrade to Vista in the near-term.

Comments     Threshold


I Like how
By SavagePotato on 5/8/2008 9:55:11 AM , Rating: 5
I like how windows XP is now "slim and trim".

So all those enthusiasts that nlite the heck out of it and all those people that made the same complaints about XP and shouted win98 forever were doing so because it's slim and trim? Maybe the linux gurus with their single CD distro of Ubuntu would also agree that XP is slim and trim.

Hm no maybe it's just a 7 year old operating system and hardware has long since outpaced it's requirements. It is going to be interesting watching history repeat itself over the next several years with Vista as the loud angry detractors look more and more foolish while hardware capabilities leave Vistas requirements in the dust.




RE: I Like how
By FITCamaro on 5/8/2008 10:12:41 AM , Rating: 5
Well I think even those who do like Vista will probably switch to Windows 7 when its released in 2010 or 2011. Assuming its thinner and lighter as Microsoft says it will be.


RE: I Like how
By fake01 on 5/8/2008 11:06:37 AM , Rating: 5
I'm pretty sure Microsoft said that about Vista ;)


RE: I Like how
By Flunk on 5/8/2008 11:54:40 AM , Rating: 5
It won't be, Microsoft says that about every new Windows release. They said that about 95, XP and Vista (among others). When XP was released it was considered a huge hardware hog and many systems could not run it competently. Sub in the name of any version of Windows into that sentence and you have a winner every time.


RE: I Like how
By mondo1234 on 5/8/2008 10:27:44 PM , Rating: 1
Just because it sells rapidly doesn't mean its the dominant OS. The sales figures for all of 2007 was 250 million PCs. If vista was installed on 100 million of them, it is only being installed on 40% of all new PCs. There are more XP licenses being sold than Vista.


RE: I Like how
By BansheeX on 5/8/08, Rating: -1
RE: I Like how
By SavagePotato on 5/8/2008 10:40:30 AM , Rating: 5
There is a perfect example of why fud is a bad thing.

You have never used Vista but based on all the rants of people claiming it's a resource hog you are unwilling to try it for yourself because you have bought into the negative spin of the naysayers.

That's step one, step two is joining the naysayers in spreading the same misinformation so other people do the same thing you just did.

Thank you for helping to illustrate exactly how the circle of internet fud has perpetuated the negative myths about Vista.


RE: I Like how
By DingieM on 5/8/08, Rating: -1
RE: I Like how
By mikefarinha on 5/8/2008 10:53:34 AM , Rating: 4
quote:
I've tried out Vista and can definitely tell you Vista IS A RESOURCE HOG!!!


Playing around on a PC with Vista on it at Best Buy doesn't count as 'trying it out'


RE: I Like how
By SavagePotato on 5/8/2008 10:54:48 AM , Rating: 4
I guess you tried a different Vista than the one I and everyone else that has no issues with it use.

Let me guess, you are one of those trolls that never got past understanding why superfetch is using all the ram up aren't you.


RE: I Like how
By fake01 on 5/8/2008 11:11:00 AM , Rating: 3
He probably also enabled DreamScene and is now trying to call Microsoft support with confusion on why his desktop background is moving :P


RE: I Like how
By nolisi on 5/8/2008 11:59:14 AM , Rating: 1
I like how everyone who likes Vista automatically assumes that everyone who doesn't like Vista has not used it. It's interesting, they even say "based on your comments." but they don't usually specify which ones.

Ok- here's my comment- have you ever heard of disk thrashing under Vista? It's not a pleasant thing. You must not have ever used Vista because you've never experienced disk thrashing.

See how dumb that logic is? Some people have used it and have had bad experiences. Some have used it and had good experiences.

The truth is, Vista is a disappointment because of technical issues people have had to (and still are) facing. Between Superfetch slowing down any computer with less than 2 GB's of RAM, to it causing disk thrash, and then on top of that you can include the driver issues that a substantial number of nVidia users have faced.

But, let's address the superfetch issue since this is what you're talking about:

Does it really make that much sense to utilize more RAM to try to speed up the hard disk? It may make sense on the surface, but consider that most PC's are sold with less than 2GB's of RAM, then consider that there are yet no reliable statistics of Superfetch proportionally speeding up disk access to the amount of RAM resources utilized, then take into account that Superfetch (if it guesses wrong) can actually slow down your machine because it cached the wrong info in RAM.

Now, take into account the fact that it seems to be the cause of a ton of disk thrash, effectively reducing the life of your hard drive.

I'm sure the solution most people will give is "shut off superfetch" or "get an SSD."

So here are my choices: I should spend money on an OS that has features that are effectively useless to me and can even reduce the life of my PC -OR- spend a ton of money on a component that will effectively reduce the usefulness Superfetch anyway. Sounds like Microsoft troll's reasoning to me.

I've done over 250 installations of Vista, and I've seen the good and the bad. People who say Vista sucks aren't wrong- this usually reflects their experience. I run a QA test environment on which Vista is one of the 7 OS's we validate our hardware against. And even though the end users I deal with are all engineers (about 25+), Vista gets the vast majority of support requests and complaints regarding performance AND reliability.

So if Vista fails the test on both performance AND reliability- what's left? Usability? But aren't performance and reliability a substantial factor of usability? If a PC is not performant or reliable, it doesn't matter what fancy UI or search features you have.

But of course the Vista trolls will try to argue that there are no issues, and everyone is lying about their experiences. Yes, Intel is lying when they say nVidia has had tons of driver failures in Vista. The review media is lying when they write articles about disk thrash with superfetch and show people how to disable it.

Sounds like troll logic to me!


RE: I Like how
By SavagePotato on 5/8/2008 12:23:36 PM , Rating: 5
To address a few points.

Disk thrashing:

See Superfetch, in connection with lack of understanding why disk usage is taking place.

The reason the disk is spinning when nothing is taking place on the system is because superfetch is doing it's thing. Turn off superfetch and you won't have disk usage. Use the computer for a long period of time and the disk usage goes away, because Vista has learned your patterns and cached everything it is going to cache.

Excessive disk spinning is something that is only common in the early stages of a fresh load of Vista. My system does not excessively spin the hard drives as I have been using it for a long period of time and superfetch has done it's job.

Thank you for helping me illustrate how people such as yourself will use something for a few hours and rush to a judgment with little to no understanding of what is actually going on.

Nvidia Drivers:

Why do you mention this? what does the quality of Nvidia drivers have to do with the quality of Vista or Microsoft? Nothing that's what.

Ram usage:

Vista is an OS designed for the next several years, not the last several years. That means computers with 4-8 gigs of ram, dual or quad core processors, etc. Is it a sad thing that manufacturers sell under equipped Vista machines? sure, it was a sad thing when they did it with XP too. I have had plenty of old windows XP computers across the bench with 64 megs of ram.

Do you have any personal experience with how unbelievably bad an XP machine with 64 megs of ram runs? Yep they sold them that way to save a buck, welcome to the wonderful world of cheapskate system builders.

I'll put your name on the "I'm a tech" that really knows nothing list of shame with all the others.


RE: I Like how
By nolisi on 5/8/08, Rating: 0
RE: I Like how
By SavagePotato on 5/8/2008 1:13:37 PM , Rating: 2
Nvidia is a separate entity from Microsoft, Microsoft has no control over Nvidia. Blaming Vista for bad Nvidia drivers is like blaming a woman for getting raped.

I have seen no evidence whatsoever of superfetch causing an increased failure rate in hard drives. I have used Vista on a raid 0 array for over a year, guess what no failures, I haven't seen a single Vista computer brought in with a failed hard disk that can be attributed to superfetch.

I fully believe you that you work in the industry, the point is just like many others like yourself, your head is up your ass on Vista and you think you are a god.

PS: People that correct spelling mistakes do so because they have a weak argument in the first place and are scrambling for something to hit back with.


RE: I Like how
By nolisi on 5/8/2008 1:41:39 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
People that correct spelling mistakes do so because they have a weak argument in the first place and are scrambling for something to hit back with.


I think hit you back with more points than you initially presented against me, so I don't think I'm necessarily scrambling.

One might also say ignoring/dismissing points is a sign of a weak argument as well ;).


RE: I Like how
By Denigrate on 5/8/2008 2:04:15 PM , Rating: 2
What I like is you trot out a bunch of pointless arguments as to why you are the only one with a correct opinion, and when someone ignores the dribble, you ask why.

Typical troll.


RE: I Like how
By SavagePotato on 5/8/2008 3:04:06 PM , Rating: 1
Like the man said, your points are all nonsense, not much point in spending a whole lot of time addressing them.

Some other posters spent the time already and pointed out the fact that you are a wannabe anyway, so I'll just sit back and laugh thanks.