What are the pros and cons of Windows Vista?

Question

I hear so many different oppinion about the new Vista. Some say its good and some say its the worst windows to come out and to stick with XP. I went to the vista site and it looks promising but I'm afraid to install it. If I install vista will I lose all my data from my hard drive?

Answer 1

Pros:

Roughly 90% backwards compatability (from personal testing. All of my devices worked, but some had a couple features limited)

Very shiny and pretty interface that is fun to explore.

The search feature is indexed and built right into the start button.

DirectX 10 (vista only OS's can run it) will let games unleash graphic beauty unseen before.

The new TCP/IP will let you use the web more affectively (or at all once the web switches to ipV6 from ipV4 entirely.)

Built in antispyware software and lack of administrator priviliges helps protect the computer from malware and virii.

Runs very well with a compatable antivirus that doesn't try to take too much control from the operating system. (TrendMicro, AVG, CA Etrust, ect).

Built in DVD playing, creating and burning support with Windows Moviemaker and DVD maker.

Most hardware deviced do not even need thier drivers installed.

Cons:

Very LARGE windows. Needs probably 11-15 Gigs of space when your basic programs and drivers are installed.

Very memory intensive. Minimum 512MB required. 2 gigs recommended.

You need at LEAST a 128MB video card to use the pretty glass and aero features. 256MB is recommended.

Not 100% backwards compatable with older hardware or software (No operating system is.)

New TCP/IP Stack may possibly have vulnerabilities.

Lack of administrator priviliges means less freedom to muck about the computer as you wish.

McAfee and Norton both are not Vista compatable and cause instability. Get another antivirus.

The "Start button" is now gone and is replaced by an orb with the Windows logo that has been referred to as the "Windows Pearl".

Answer 2

Itunes works perfect for it. I have Vista and an Ipod that works perfect with it. If you do get Vista, make sure it's not the base program cause that one is twice as worse as the Premium ones. I really don't have much bad to say about it. I haven't had any problems with it except that it likes to block everything on its own and you got to manually unblock it. Nothing to good to say about it either except that a lot of programs seem to be Vista only but I'd recommend staying with XP.

Answer 3

At first I planned on spending the $100+ to upgrade my memory and the $150+ to upgrade my graphics card
so that I could spend another $200+ to upgrade to Vista premium
But (there's always a Butt) Then I read the following article
http://www.coofercat.com/node/1081
Then my mind was made up for sure I'll be sticking with XP until I have no other choice but to make the switch to Vista
That will be when my computer goes on a violent crime spree leaving me to be the "Breaking News" on every network across the country. (Highly unlikely)

Answer 4

If you install it on another partition your current operating system is safe, you wont lose anything.
To create a partition, you need Partition Magic.

Many are complaining based on a BETA version, that's quite unfair.

BETA version definition:
Formally, it is a product in that is in its final stages of testing. Often, especially with FOSS, a beta version of a product (or beta product), will be made available to the public for general use and may contain minor bugs. This is done so that the product can be tested on a large-scale in the field, and allow people to start using new tools as soon as possible.

Answer 5

Who knows, final version not out yet. One thing for sure, people will stick to it in the end whether its good or bad, just like window xp. In the end, all new PC will be base on vista, can't escape it.