Peter T Posted August 14, 2008 Report Share Posted August 14, 2008 Has anyone got Vista? Is it compatible with Windows XP yet? What would you recommend? My thoughts at the moment, are to get a laptop and put XP on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Levy Posted August 14, 2008 Report Share Posted August 14, 2008 I have in the past few months got Vista. It is very good although there are an awful lot of updates that it insists on making upon although the speed of the actual computer is superb. Prior to getting it I'd heard a fair few negative reviews about it but I decided to take a chance on it and its so far payed off really well and so yes I would recommend it. With regards to a laptop, yeah XP may be better for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RENT-A-GOAT Posted August 14, 2008 Report Share Posted August 14, 2008 Wouldnt bother with Vista - it is that much of a flop Microsoft are rushing ahead with Windows 7 which will be due out in 2009 supposedly If you dont want to wait until then, just make sure you have a decent spec computer. 2gig processor (pref. dual core) and 2gig ram. A decent graphics card with it's own memory is beneficial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve the Original Posted August 14, 2008 Report Share Posted August 14, 2008 I run vista on two PC?s and a lappy and i have no problems whatsoever,all PCs run fast and have never crashed..so i would say Vista..as for the updates if your load SP2 then there are not too many updates after that so you shouldnt be bothered by updates very often.. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted August 14, 2008 Report Share Posted August 14, 2008 I've just bought a new laptop but made sure it was XP. Some of the software packages I use for my business cost more than the machine and I didn't want to find out that they won't work on Vista. Our accounts PC took a dive earlier this year and got replaced with a Vista PC. The entire Sage accounts package had to be replaced with a compatible version that's still full of minor issues. Oh and Vista wouldn't support the invoice printer and that also had to be replaced. Not too long ago, the standard PC's I buy were being shipped with a downgrade disc so they could revert back to XP if Vista turned out to be unworkable for the main applications. I note that now the same machines are shipped with XP as default with a Vista upgrade disc. Every time Microsoft change operating systems it's a bloody nightmare for us and causes no end of problems. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Posted August 14, 2008 Report Share Posted August 14, 2008 Peter I think if you buy a new machine with Vista on it thats fine - but if you upgrade you will have a nightmare. Many of the XP software is not compatible and as Bill says can be quite costly. I prefer XP - but thats me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter T Posted August 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2008 Thank you for the info. Will go see what's available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agamemnon1 Posted August 15, 2008 Report Share Posted August 15, 2008 So Peter ! After all that your still no wiser. Stick to your pencil and paper its simpler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter T Posted August 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2008 Ah the Aga Kahn is back. Enjoying your week of leisure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legion Posted August 15, 2008 Report Share Posted August 15, 2008 Every time Microsoft change operating systems it's a bloody nightmare for us and causes no end of problems. Bill Why do you update everytime a new windows comes out then ? Its funny, a few years back I was looking for a way of automating a process on one of our OS/2 warp systems (circa 1990) at work, and posted on a techie forum asking for some advice about package routing. and some smarmy blert comes back..."well throw out that old crappy OS and get windows 2000 (as was the leading business os then)" and yep sure enough he was one of the many that fall for the "Its bigger, better,faster" sales pitches. the thing is, if a system does what you need it to do (ie accounts) why change os, causing to change your sage, causing you to change your printer? did XP not do the job fine?? my reply to the blert was... "This is a secure environment, running on a twelve year old OS that has never crashed, never needs update patches and no-one ever writes viruses for and you want me to transfer to the the most up to date OS because you think its cool" its like inventing the electric hammer... anyway getting back to the topic.. XP gives your more control of your PC than Vista so if your a techie who likes to configure the way things work on your PC then its XP. But if you want Bill gates to have predecided everything your computer does, leaveing you only seeing the front end (which is nice and easy) Vista. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted August 15, 2008 Report Share Posted August 15, 2008 Just to clarify a bit. For the average home user, Vista will most likely work out fine and in any case, it?s virtually impossible to buy an XP machine now in a high street store unless they have some older stock. So don?t loose any sleep over it, the improved speed and efficiency of a new machine will probably out weigh any incompatibility issues you might have with older software packages and after you?ve got used to it, you?ll wonder what all the fuss was about. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legion Posted August 15, 2008 Report Share Posted August 15, 2008 Bill youve just reminded me of a trend I have noticed with windows softwares. they always run like lightning on first install, and then get bogged down as time goes by as the registry and refrence files get bigger, which the OS accesses constantly. resulting in disk fragmentation which slows it down even more. instead of streamlining this to core apps as priority, and having a seperate registry for none OS apps MS use it to sell you a new OS telling you its faster.. well yes compared to your current bogged down one running most likely on older hardware. but just try putting (for example) a fresh windows NT on a quad core 4 gig ram pc, then booting into MS excell from switch on and compare it to Vista. or even a fresh install of XP and look how the thing flies...for a few weeks. you'd have your document done by the time vista had booted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted August 15, 2008 Report Share Posted August 15, 2008 Legion Long story but essentially the machine literally went bang at Christmas at a time when we couldn?t source a replacement from our normal supplier so we ended up getting one from the local PC World. We thought at the time that given we keep our accounts as essentially as a dedicated machine it might give us the opportunity to investigate potential issues in networking and other issues within the software we write. It took the lads a couple of weeks to sort out but it was something we had to do anyway as XP machines were already becoming harder to get hold of. Our concern was not supplying a new system where all the machines are running Vista but when a customer needs to replace a single machine on a network of XP machines. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted August 15, 2008 Report Share Posted August 15, 2008 Legion As for the registry issues, well that?s always been the case and Microsoft and PC manufactures know this only too well. Fortunately, because we supply PCs for a dedicated application, they tend not to have any other software installed other than what we supply, hence they tend to stay much the same. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legion Posted August 15, 2008 Report Share Posted August 15, 2008 I have a freind in the trade for corporate accounts he works for a very big/known company, they specialise in sourcing things others struggle to get and would have no problem supplying XP PCs, if you like I can send you his number by PM and if I tell him you may contact him, I'm sure he can get you very special rates..if you do any purchasing that is, doesnt have to be big even just toners..He's a good guy. infact thats the same for any of the regulars here in business, just ask me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter T Posted August 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2008 Thanks for that Legion, I will bear it in mind. Does anyone on here use both? For example, if you did something on an XP machine and put it on a stick, would you be able to work on it on Vista? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legion Posted August 15, 2008 Report Share Posted August 15, 2008 provided you had the relevant associated player/viewer/editor yes 100% Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted August 15, 2008 Report Share Posted August 15, 2008 Peter I think you?re worrying too much. As I said, the average home user shouldn?t have any real issues and certainly not just copying files from one machine to another via a pen drive. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legion Posted August 15, 2008 Report Share Posted August 15, 2008 What a lot of people get confused about is the MS office package...which many assume is a part of the windows OS, and are supprised when they get home with some work and find they can't open it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter T Posted August 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2008 Yep. That's the problem. Vista does not have M Office/Publisher on it, which iswhat we use on the other PC. So for the laptop to be of any use to us, we would have to put XP on the laptop. Aaaaaaaaaagh The cost of the disc is around ?450. However, there might be a way round it. I am going to check out Microsoft website to see if I can buy Publisher on its own, and I know I can get the rest of Office that I need at half price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Sid Posted August 15, 2008 Report Share Posted August 15, 2008 which version of publisher do you need. i have a few disks with some versions on. publisher 2000.publisher 97 and publisher 2002. i have 97,2002 and 2007 installed,2007 came with the pc but would not open certain files so i had to install the others. don't think i use 97 at all. all seem to run ok under xp but not sure about vista. you are welcome to try them if needed. may also have a copy of xp that i bought a while back for my other pc before it when belly up. will have a look for that as well. it is a genuine version of xp. drop me a email if you need them and i will sort them out for you. if they don't work you can always uninstall them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reader Posted August 16, 2008 Report Share Posted August 16, 2008 You do not have to buy Microsoft Office. Sun offer "Open Office" for free which is downloadable, with no strings. You can set it up to save in MS formats ie .doc, xls, ppt & etc and it will quite happily open/alter existing MS files, the exception is Impress wont open Publisher files. To prove the point I recently demonstated a presentation in Open Office that was partly compiles in Power Point and part In Open Office and the viewers didnt realise I wasnt using PP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadako Posted August 22, 2008 Report Share Posted August 22, 2008 I got a new computer with vista. I has to then buy a new modem as my old one wouldn't work with the new machine...only windows 95/2000 and XP. I also had a few problems with some games as they are not supported by vista (doubt that should affect you Peter). Other than that you shouldn't have any problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father Jack Hackett Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 Is it compatible with Windows XP yet? It is XP with a new walking out coat....same old moth bitten suit underneath though. If you must run Windows I would seriously wait for Windows 7. If you have no choice in that you are buying a PC..stop..think and buy a Mac instead. I am not a Mac fanboy by any means, all computers have their problems but I have to say in the 6 years I have run Macs I have never had a crash and never had a virus (dont even have anti-virus software) and some of the features on Leopard are streets ahead of Vista. ....runs for cover.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter T Posted October 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2008 Thank you all for your comments. I did buy one and put office enterprise 2007 on it, thanks to a friend. (thanks for the offer Evil Sid). However, a different problem. Prior to this, I bought a laptop for myself. Quite happy with it, but because I have difficulty getting on here because of her indoors, I bought a router. I am struggling to set it up for the laptop(using wireless) so I bought some cable so that I could have the internet in the other room. Clever lad, I thought. Connects it all up, receives signal and "updates" but do NOT receive a homepage. aaargghh!!!!!!!!! I plugged the cable into the other laptop and hey presto, it worked. Home page, access, etc etc. Anyone have any idea as to why it works on one and not the other? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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