attn: computer geeks windows vista??

**mimitabby** · 10-08-2007, 07:43 PM

hi. just got a new computer. it has windows vista. i am seriously thinking of flattening it and putting XP on it; my sons are trying to talk me into Linux with an XP emulator.

comments, suggestions?

i have had the thing plugged in for 15 minutes and windows is still checking my system.. grrr
thanks

**KnottedYet** · 10-08-2007, 08:04 PM

Linux.

(just cuz SKnot talks about it. I know nothing, actually.)

**kelownagirl** · 10-08-2007, 08:07 PM

Trade it in for a Mac?

**KnottedYet** · 10-08-2007, 08:14 PM

Originally Posted by kelownagirl

Trade it in for a Mac?

Yeah, there's the idea!

Knot-liiiiiikes-her-Mac

**Zen** · 10-08-2007, 08:21 PM

Linux/XP

**salsabike** · 10-08-2007, 08:22 PM

Chris has XP with a Linux emulator called Cygwin.

I agree with dumping Vista for XP, until ALLLLLL the Vista bugs are gone. Chris says that Linux is more secure/less likely to be hacked, but requires more geek-y type work than Windows, though.

**Eden** · 10-08-2007, 08:49 PM

Macs really run on a Linux platform these days

**kelownagirl** · 10-08-2007, 09:02 PM

Linux is good.

**CycleTherapy** · 10-08-2007, 09:53 PM

I'll chime in too...... M-A-C

'nuf said.

**Mr. Bloom** · 10-09-2007, 02:05 AM

Originally Posted by salsabike

Linux is more secure/less likely to be hacked, but requires more geek-y type work than Windows, though.

MAC isn't an option for me and I don't have the ability to do geek-y type work...

I do have an unstalled upgrade to Vista sitting on my dresser. I'm not afraid of bugs, but whether or not it will impact the operation of my existing programs (like Word, Excel, etc)

So, for me the question is XP or Vista upgrade...what do you think?

**pll** · 10-09-2007, 03:52 AM

I'm running Vista since my school is "upgrading" everything to Vista and Office 2007. It is OK, but I would not run with less than 2GB of RAM, preferably with 3 or 4GB. I have 4Gb on my laptop and the minimum configuration at school comes with 3GB. I would definitely stick to XP if I did not have to upgrade.

Vista makes connecting to networks more obscure to me, it has a few niceties, but in general it is not a substantial change. It is a bit of a pain with some software that has not been updated for Vista (for example, SAS), forcing one to install and run in WinXP compatibility mode as an administrator. It won't affect Office 2003, but if you upgrade to Office 2007, there is a learning curve: the programs look very different. And then there is the "65535" display bug in Excel... multiplying 850*77.1 results in 100,000, not 65535. It is only a display error (if you use the result in another calculation, the result will be correct), but it makes me wonder what else is broken.

**DeniseGoldberg** · 10-09-2007, 03:58 AM

I've been running Vista at home for months now, probably since about April. Yes, it does take a little adjusting at first, but I really like it.

So - I'd recommend giving it a chance.

--- Denise

**SouthernBelle** · 10-09-2007, 04:48 AM

I have Vista on my newest desktop. I've gotten used to it, but really don't care for it. But as time moves along, newer programs will require it so I'm hanging with it.

**Torrilin** · 10-09-2007, 05:24 AM

Originally Posted by mimitabby

hi. just got a new computer. it has windows vista. i am seriously thinking of flattening it and putting XP on it; my sons are trying to talk me into Linux with an XP emulator.

comments, suggestions?

i have had the thing plugged in for 15 minutes and windows is still checking my system.. grrr
thanks

The right answer depends on what you want to do with your computer. Linux does not play well with most computer games. Many Linux distributions will feel awkward to someone used to Windows or a Mac if you need anything beyond a word processor, spreadsheet, email, web browsing, computer programming and image editing. In other programs things won't be laid out the way you expect, and the documentation can be confusing. In (rare) cases, you might not be able to do what you need at all.

For me, Linux is not a good choice right now for my primary box. I do lots of computer gaming, and my games of choice do not have good Linux support. Wouldn't work well for my mom either... she'd be mad because *her* games wouldn't work. My dad mostly does computer aided drafting and spreadsheets on his computer, so he might be able to make the switch. He'd probably need to run his CAD programs in emulation, but it wouldn't be a major hassle the way games are.

Going to Vista makes sense (eventually) for most people. If you've got a machine that came with Vista installed, it's probably not worth switching back unless you've found a program that you need to have that Vista can't run.

**Triskeliongirl** · 10-09-2007, 05:49 AM

I tried Linux with a win2000 emulator some time ago, and found it very frustrating, as not all windows apps that I use at work would run. Linux is great for Linux apps, but not if you need to use a lot of windows apps, in my opinion (we have a lot of instruments with software written for windows).

I have no personal experience with vista, but recently bought both my kids vista boxes and they love them, very stable, but I did get them high end configs in terms of lots of memory, fast dual processors, etc (from IBM/lenovo). Also, they have the current office2007 vs the earlier versions which may be important (but data can be saved in office2003 to send to colleagues running earlier versions). They use theirs on the MIT and Wellesley networks, and have not experienced any problems. Maybe you just need to get used to it, or upgrade some memory and/or softward.

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