Windows Vista, a good thing, or ???

Well, after my HP crash, I ordered a Dell with Vista and then I decided that I have to get another Dell with XP. There are quite a few software applications that I use have compatiblilty issues with Vista and I still have to wait for the updates from some applications in order to make Vista computer to work smoothly.

I also find that retarting automatically is quite annoying because I never turn the computer off and there always some unfinished work left overnight. When I get my new computer, this is the first thing that I have to turn off (this is not a Vista only problem, though.)

The second thing is Vista only and I find it quite annoying too. It starts defragment hard drives automatically when the computer is idle. So you will hear the disk is very busy when the computer is actually at "rest". This is bad. Who wants disk defragment for a new computer? It will significantly shortens the life of your hard drive. Disable it in the scheduled task list.

If you want Vista, buy a new computer with Vista. If your existing computer runs XP, better to staying with XP, otherwise, you may have quite a few software and hardware compatibility issues with upgrading to Vista. The worse, hardware makers may not provide any Vista solution for some old device models. For instance, if you have a GeForce 4800 video card, you'll have to replace it with a new one because nVidia does not provide Viista driver for that model. If you do not want to spend much for the old computer, say, you use a Geforce 7300, you'll be very disappointed because the performance of 7300 is much worse than your old 4800 card.

For a Vista computer, you need to get at least 2G memory. Vista uses memory aggressively - it's new memory allocation algorithm tries to use up all your memory in order to enhance the performance. It predicts what your are going to use and preload programs and data from disk. The average Vista laptop provides only 1G memeory and you'll find that your computer will quite often have zero free memory. Some Vista laptop has only 512MB memory - that is way way not enough.

Do not buy a Vista computer with integraded Intel's graphic accelerator. Most grapghic related problems (performance, quality, and reliability) are from this integrated video card. However, it is okay if you plan to use your computer just for some basic tasks (Vista Home Basic). But if you plan to use your computer for game, entertainment (media center), advanced graphic applications, buy a computer with a good graphich accelerator, for instance, Geforce 7900 or Radeon X1900.

With Vista computer, you'll probably have to upgrade some of your external device or its driver. For instance, you will have problem with wireless connection if your wireless router is old. You have to either buy a new one or download and install Vista dirver. Vista has a more strict measure for security. If you do not enable the encryption for wireless connection, you'll not be able to use the Internet even your wireless network get connected. I have spent quite a bit of time in figuring this out for my daughter's new Vista laptop.

You'll probably have to upgrade your software applications too. Adobe does not provide free Vista upgrade. You'll have to buy the new version. Though most of the old versions of applications can run on Vista fairly well, you'll not be comfortable if there is occasionally a crash.