SEATTLE — Chris Pirillo leaned away from his webcam and pointed to his printer/scanner/fax machine, which stopped scanning and faxing after he installed Microsoft Corp.'s new Windows Vista operating system.
"I can't live in Vista if the software that I use in my life for productivity does not work..."

Saturday, July 14, 2007
By JESSICA MINTZ, AP Business Writer

Nearly six months after it launched, gripes over what doesn't work with Vista continue, eclipsing positive buzz over the program's improved desktop search, graphics and security.

With Vista now shipping on most new computers, it's all but guaranteed to become the world's dominant PC operating system - eventually. For now, some users are either learning to live with workarounds or sticking with Vista's predecessor, Windows XP.

I'd rather keep Windows XP. You use Vista for a few minutes on a new computer, the functionality is like learning to use the computer all over again. They have taken some of the basic things and made them "cooler" looking at the expense of the time it takes to open up a program.

Agreed, yano. My mom has Vista on her laptop, and I don't see anything that would make me want to run out and pay $200 for an upgrade. I'm sticking with XP.

After my Thinkpad running Windows 2000 got stuck in VGA mode, I decided to get another laptop. I found a good deal on a refurbished Systemax running Windows Vista Ultimate at Tiger Direct & ordered it. Worked great for a little over a day then screen went black on me, couldn't get it to boot up, unplugged it & prepared to send it back. Started hearing noises that sounded like they were coming from the laptop so plugged it back in & it started right back up when I tagged the power button! That laptop had come back to 'life' after I'd spent almost an hour trying to get it turned back on earlier that evening!
There's a chance that problems with printers can be fixed by downloading drivers from the printer manufacturer or Microsoft. Vista Ultimate is a beautiful addition to Microsoft's Windows group but I'm not sure if 'upgrading' a PC that's running XP without problems would be worth the aggravation or not. If you're needing to get another PC for whatever reason, Vista would be worth considering. A definate for Vista Ultimate!

I finally got to used vista on a friends laptop.

I'd be setting everything back to classic mode if it was me as its a pain to find anything fast and easy.

Black taskbar does nothing to me....

Boot time is slow. Hibernation I could not even figure out how to turn it on its got some sorta stasis/hibernate feature where you have to do all kinds of work to just make it hibernate only.

Overall I could use it IF my programs worked on it but I will NOT pay for it until I get a new pc.

I won't get Vista until several years in the future when everything is made for it, and hopefully they fixed most of the bugs and compatability issues.

I also don't like how some games coming out for the pc are Vista only like Halo 2, and Shadowrun.

I too found a cheap deal on a laptop that came with Vista as norm. The only problem I have found is the company who make my phone have not upgraded their software to ensure it is Vista compatible. That however is minor and does not effect my daily life. All other drivers seem to work so far, I especially like it when they install themselves ^-^

However, if we need to buy a new home PC any time soon, I will ensure that is runs on XP as I agree, using Vista can feel like training yourself to use a computer again, and my mother surely wouldn't cope with that She finds it hard enough just using Vista to read her emails

Ohhh and Vista compatible firewalls, that's a problem I ran into when I first bought my laptop (around 3-4 months ago)

Other than that, I agree that it's a thumbs-up. I like the security feature, as I have a habit of accidently opening up programs I do not actually want to run My fingers just seem to want to open them.... hehe and I love the new layout. I know it's my materialistic side coming through, but my laptop looks as good as it runs

But let's just wait and see eh? Maybe in my sixth month of running Vista...

We conducted a poll over at Calendar of Updates asking how users felt after the release of Vista...the results were...underwhelming.

Most of the Vista grumbling relates to this quote, to include Chris Pirillo's comments that were quoted. This isn't a Vista issue, it's an issue of the manufacturer's and software writers deciding it's too expensive to provide Vista compatibility. This way you'll have to buy their new stuff when it comes out - that's called "Marketing"

If you want to sit at the forefront of technology, then whining about Vista just doesn't make good sense. It's like 64 bit OS's, yes drivers are difficult to get - but do you condemn the OS because the hardware writers don't support it? Either you want the latest technology and accept the limitations that that imposes, or you stick with the older OS and it's compatibility with the older products that you like using.

I've been using Vista since the early beta days, and haven't found much that won't work on it. But it does take some technical knowledge, some experience, and the willingness to experiment. If new technology isn't for you, then there's plenty of people who will sell you a copy of XP (but then you've gotta worry about the PC manufacturer's not providing XP drivers for their Vista systems).

As the article states, Vista adopters are coming along on a pace that's compatible to that of XP. There'll still be people who stick to the older OS's - but they'll get fewer and fewer as time goes on (we still see Windows 98 and ME at my shop on rare occasions). And despite all of this, don't forget that you'll be going through this again in another couple of years with the successor to Vista - are you ready for that?

I've been to Pirillo's site many times. He didn't like the OS even a few months before release when Vista was in beta. I don't think he'll ever like it. I run Vista 64 and I can say that I enjoy it, but there have been issues relating to drivers that are maddening. For instance, Creative's support of X-Fi with 64-bit OS's that have 4GB or more of RAM. This is a small number of users but it's irritating nonetheless.

lol, why did you even install it in the first place? because microsoft told you to? Wait atleast a year so they can fix all the major errors. People always complain over new os's but yet dont use there brains.

I bought vista right when it came out and installed it on a new build I had just finished almost the same day as it was unavailable for purchase and about 2 days after I installed it I turned on my computer and AVG pops up and says Trogen.***** Found! I had not even gone onto the internet yet It was a brand new Hard drive fresh install never been on the internet just did updates and installed some programs from cds. But anyhow I still like it other then that random Trogen...

Actually, I got Vista by using the betas. I enjoyed them and decided to go to the full OS when it was launched. I installed Vista knowing what I would be getting into when I installed it, after all I had many of the same issues when I got XP when it first came out. My only real driver issue is with the sound card and that will be corrected soon. Now that I think about it, my transition to Vista has been smoother than I expected.

I'm sticking with XP a while

Stability wise I guess i have nothing to complain about. I'm not having too many problems, and the ones that I am having I'm getting fixed. What really dissapoints me is that I spent a lot of money on Windows Vista Ultimate and I don't feel I got my moneys worth. With the exception of the data bit encrypter which i never use, and Dreamscene which constantly crashes, there isn't a whole lot of difference between xp and vista. I've been a dedicated Windows Fan and I hope to continue to be so, however the Windows Aero was a real dissapointment. When it comes to visual eye candy, Windows you need to take a few lessons from Mac.

I have a family member (pc user since before windows 3.1) who has Vista on his new laptop, has mixed feelings about it, but is just too positive-minded to actually put forth criticism yet. But he has mentioned that, if I find anything significant, I should tell him. For him, this is a sign of discontent. I read the article, and it echos what I have heard before about peripherals & Vista. After reading, I noticed the article was dated July 14th. As it is 3 1/2 months later, is there a followup? Is Vista aligning itself better, have people given up and 1)reverted to Vin XP, 2) bought newer peripherals, 3) crossed over to Linux? In terms of frustration and the impact of things not playing nicely with one another, 3 1/2 months is a decent amount of time. What has changed?

nah vista is getting straightened out pretty well, still a fair bit of incompatible hardware, but sp1 is right on our doorsteps so....

could be smooth sailing after that , or extremely choppy sailing, lol i guess we will wait and see :D

For the moment the sailing is still a far bit from smooth I dare say.
I think the usual 'get the latest stuff' crowd are jumping the bandwagon, while more experienced users still stick with xp.
It's becomming a fanboi issue.
That's my impression at least.
Don't see much point besides the directx 10 stuff.
Reading all kinds of negative reviews.
I'll wait patiently for sp1 and then I'm on it like a fly.

My hopefully pretty well documented cents.

Well, Shadowrun was a shame that it was Vista exclusive, but don't worry about Halo 2 Its not worth it. Thier implimenting Xbox live where you have to pay on that too.