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Resigning Myself to Vista

By crooky | June 23, 2008

I have been a dyed in the wool Vista critic since it came out in early 2007. In a nutshell, my main beef with the system has been that it’s a resource hog, it has a few annoying features to improve security and it’s not a huge improvement over Windows XP. However, with this weeks’ deadline for downgrading, I finally caved and left Vista on my new computer.

It’s hard to fight a losing battle and let’s face it - when Microsoft decides that they’re going to stop supporting Windows XP, the majority of the market is going to make the switch with them. You can still obtain copies of Windows XP illegally but do you really want to deal with that hassel when you’re in a professional environment?

Here’s why I finally surrendered to Vista:

1. Downgrading is a pain in the ass

There are two ways to downgrade - you have to buy one of the two top-end versions of Vista which include an extended license that allows you to downgrade to XP, or you have to take your chances with pirated software (note: I do not advocate the use of pirated software).

In either case, it’s not an easy process if Vista is already installed on the machine you’re using.

2. If your machine has lots of RAM, no worries

Vista is an unabashed RAM hog. It uses most of that memory to do the same things that XP did but in a fancier way. Yay <-sarcasm. On my old laptop, Vista would have run like a one-legged asthmatic but now that I'm running a quad-core machine with 3 gigs of RAM, Vista runs just as good as XP did. Not better, mind you, but just as good.

3. You can tweak Vista to run better

There are some tweaks that I have implemented to make Vista run better. One of the big ones is to turn off all the fancy animated menus and that crap to make it look like good-old Windows 2000. No, it’s not sexy but it runs noticeably faster when you turn off the Aero interface.

There are other things you can do as well. Just Google Vista Tweaks for more information.

4. They are finally starting to get drivers for your peripherals

One of the biggest things stopping me from upgrading was the fact that my (not so) old HP Laserjet 1012 had no Vista drivers available. I was essentially told that I’d probably have to get a new printer to get it to work with Vista. I thought “fuck that”.

However, they recently released a driver for my printer and it works just fine. It’s about bloody time, too. I know there are still some hardware that won’t work with Vista but I’m satisfied because all of my gear works.

My pet peeves that are unresolved:

1. Where the fuck is the disc?

What the hell is this new policy with OEMs that when you buy a machine with Vista on it (which you pay for), you don’t get a disc? Apparently you can get a disc but you have to pay for it. I ALREADY DID YOU FUCKS! GIVE ME MY GODDAMNED DISC!

2. The security alerts that freeze your computer every time you try to install a new program

I’ve spent most of this weekend loading onto this computer everything that I used to have on my XP machine. Every time I try to install a new piece of software, the security warning pops up and lets me know that I’m trying to install something. I KNOW! GOD!

3. Bloatware

Vista comes pre-loaded with all kinds of useless bloatware installed. Norton Antivirus (bleac!), PC Doctor (those guys are still around?), etc… You’ll need to spend a good hour going through and uninstalling all the bloatware.

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Aaron “Crooky” Cruikshank is the Principal and Founder of Friuch Consulting. He has written professionally about science and technology for ten years.

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One Response to “Resigning Myself to Vista”

  1. Jassalaska Gape Says:
    June 25th, 2008 at 8:42 pm

    Here’s a tip. When installing software in Vista, turn off the UAC (User Account Control) temporarily. Turn it back on after installing as it is a significant and powerful security feature of Vista.

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