Windows Vista

**Big Frank** · 20 February 2012, 04:39 PM

I am currently working on a customer's Windows Vista HP laptop. Although I myself have a Vista 64 machine it is a fairly super-tweaked, hyper personalised multi-screen PC that simply works and virtually never gives me any headaches. As an apology, I really do not have the time or indeed the will to upgrade it to Win 7, and in fact I don't really think of it as a Vista PC (except for the dialog annoyances that they removed in Win 7). If and when it suddenly breaks down I'll just replace it with a good Windows 7 PC. But every other PC in the house is either Windows 7 or Linux (apart from the mothballed iMac).

With this Vista 32 laptop I am back to the feeling of loathing I felt for Vista all those years ago when all I saw entering the workshop was new Vista PCs and laptops that had nothing but problems and were supremely underpowered. This customer handed me the laptop to repair because it was crushingly slow and much of that was caused by malware infestation. Having done everything possible to this laptop including using every tool at my disposal to remove anything that could be interfering with the normal operation of Windows, I observe that it is still slow as a drunken sea slug. The laptop has just 1Gb of RAM which be rectified as soon as poss, but other than that the only thing I can recommend to the client is an upgrade to Win 7.

I shouldn't complain, Windows Vista has been and continues to be a source of income for me. But, my reason for posting: do you remember when your main computing power came from a Vista-powered PC? Does that period in your life still give you nightmares? Are you still (like me incidentally) using Vista?

**Rik** · 20 February 2012, 04:57 PM

Vista?!
Aaarrrrgggghhhhh!

I ran Windows 98 SE for years and years. I was totally happy with it.
Why I don't know, but, I decided to upgrade to Vista.

To cut a long story short, when Windows 7 came out, I wasn't interested in any hype or anything like that. I just wanted to get rid of Vista.
Upgraded to Windows 7 and I have been totally happy ever since.

I can't offer you any details, like benchmark test, but if you still have Vista, upgrade now.
That's my view!

**Big Frank** · 20 February 2012, 05:04 PM

Originally Posted by Rik

if you still have Vista, upgrade now.
That's my view!

LOL

**ckh** · 20 February 2012, 05:23 PM

I bought a new computer a while back with Vista. I had so much problems with it that the computer just sat there about a year until Win 7 came out. Upgraded it and it's now my main computer... I absolutely loathed Vista.

**AndFarr** · 20 February 2012, 07:03 PM

I am still using Vista and I agree that when Windows Vista first came out it was a dog. But with all the updates I feel that Vista is now nearly equivalent to Windows 7.
However, you need to have a minimum of 2 gigs of RAM or your system will be dreadfully slow.
Upgrade your RAM, update the operating system, defrag the hard drive , and your experience should improve dramatically.

- Andy

**ckh** · 20 February 2012, 07:17 PM

Computer is an intel i5 with 8 gigs of ram. A lot of the programs I use wouldn't work plus the computer just acted quirky. After Windows 7, no problems....

**Soquili** · 20 February 2012, 07:24 PM

I still use my Vista desktop more often than my Windows 7 laptop.

Vista was never a 'dog' in my opinion. Much better than XP once you turn off UAC. Same for Windows 7, turn off UAC and it is better.

**Cloud** · 20 February 2012, 10:44 PM

I actually stayed with win98 and by-passed vista and that millennium crap) altogether after seeing the problems people were having.

win 3.1
win 95
win 98 (by second edition a nice os)
windows xp (ok, nothing special)
windows 7 (favourite)

**handrawn** · 20 February 2012, 10:48 PM

except for missing out win95 that was my path too - I shall likely give win8 a miss, can't see anything in metro for me at present...

**Cloud** · 20 February 2012, 10:54 PM

same here, looking at the details of win 8 will also be giving it a miss, at least until a year or so down the line when the bugs have been sorted out.