Vista Service Pack 1: We've Got the Beta

Windoze Vista is a bloated mess. Buy a Mac.

Two Machines with Vista, an older Dell and a brand new HP Tablet 1100. Both have the same problems with Vista. If you dare to click too fast you will get the "Not Responding" delay if you are lucky and it will take some time to recover. If you are not lucky it will kill the operating program and you have to start over. This happens constantly with Adobe programs but it also happens with Office 2007 from the wonderful Microsoft. They cannot even get their own programs to run on fantastic Vista. BAH HUMBUG...Give me a system that works....
Walt , Fairfax, Virginia

sellitman wrote:
Windoze Vista is a bloated mess. Buy a Mac.

IM SICK OF YOU PEOPLE WHO SAY "BUY A MAC". IF YOU DONT LIKE THE ARTICLES ON WINDOWS, DONT POST. GET A GOD DAMN LIFE!

Buy a Mac. That's great advice. My next computer will be an iMac. I do appreciate your comment about getting a life, though. My new iMac will a great first step.

think sellitman and yonker are lost. You are looking for macworld.com, or Ilovestevejobs.com. This is PC World. Leave your comments about your macs on your site. If macs are so great, why do they sell Microsoft products to run on them? I am sick and tired of insecure mac users trying to tell me about how great their computers are-give me a break!

I have a MAC. MacBook actually. The problem with "Mac" users is; which is the same for the "Custom Harley Riders" we want to be different and unique, except we do what everyone else is doing. DAMN IT MAN!!! we are soo lost. must say though, there is a problem when an operating system "requires" 2GB RAM and 25-35GB of hard drive space just for the OS. (those numbers are INCLUDING SP1 for Vista. the higher number is Vista 64bit). The other thing that really HURTS MS is the extra BS apps that companies like HP add on. A custom PC with a clean install of Windows (any flavor--minus 9x) is actually really good.

still prefer my Mac though. And why does MS make software for the Mac? well if you havent noticed Windows is the defacto standard, so if you want to use your Mac in a Windows world, well you need MS software.

Of course nothing has been said about al the Vista/XP networking problems that seems to be a hot topic since Vista came out. That should have been a priority. So much for SP1....

I'm sick and tired about all the MAC lovers out there saying there machines are sooooo perfect and that they "just work".... if they "just work" then why do they have a support section with problems like "Popping sounds after updating to Mac OS X 10.4.10" and "MacBook, MacBook Pro: Battery not recognized" .... things all have their problems, don't pretend like what you do is perfect; MS is doing something right; they wouldn't be on the majority of the worlds computers if that wasn't the case.

Ahhh, the us against them mentalities. I have used Macs since 1984 (yeah that old) and Windows almost as long. I have a 800 Mz iMac next to a 2.9 Mz Intel box I custom built running XP Pro - I did buy Vista Home Premium - reinstalled XP after Vista wouldn't recognize my CD AND DVD burners - let alone to many other software bugs. Maybe guys, especially the ones irritated by supposed Mac zealots who want you to buy a Mac, actually DO want you to buy a Mac or at least try one. I would wager that many who tell Mac users to go elsewhere don't realize that Mac users are also PC users and that's why we are on sites like PC World (go figure). What seems to differentiate many Mac users from our Windows only brethren is the simple fact we use both platforms and have intimate knowledge of what is good and bad in both. If those who are irritated with "Mac lovers" only try the Mac you may think differently as well. We love computers. Those who know both OS's will most likely pick a Macintosh.

The two dell computers i have bought i did a clean install of Windows XP HE on them before i installed anything else.

Dell gives the consumer so much junk, it acualty does more harm to the consumer than good. The average person will never think about reinstalling the OS until its too late.

Well, I know both systems and I'd chose XP over OS X for most everything and I'd chose OS X over Vista for most everything. I'm thinking it's my biases and what I'm more comfortable with that ALSO enters the picture.

t'd be interesting to do some REAL WORLD testing here ... how long does it take for a comparably equipped iMac running OS X 10.4 to transfer those exact files? Come on PC World, you can do it!

"Those who know both os's will most likely pic a mac." Tigerpaw, your DEAD wrong man... i had a iMac g5 with nothing but problems.. totally sold it and got my money back.. LOVE MY VISTA. Viva Vista!!!!!!!!

"Those who know both os's will most likely pick a mac." Tigerpaw, your DEAD wrong man... i had a iMac g5 with nothing but problems.. totally sold it and got my money back.. LOVE MY VISTA. Viva Vista!!!!!!!!

pappy307, Networking works fine. Just learn how to do it right... It is really not that hard. Turn on file sharing, Since vista is more secure they don't allow anonymous logins so you have to set a password... Some of the file permissions are a little screwy but that is just part of vista... I've never had a problem and I have worked on about 50 vista comps getting them networked and working for my work...

All you Mac guys, I happy that you found something you like. I too own a Powerbook. The difference between Mac and PC is Mac is designed for idiots. If you are a casual user who likes things dumbed-down, please enjoy your mac, and get the f@#% off of these PC forums.

On Vista - I have beenn in PC Tech Services for 5+ years now, and am sick of people bashing Vista. XP had WAY more issues, and Vista has some small annoyances but addresses a vast amount of the issues us techs have had to deal with.
Don't like the Vista Bloat? Stop being cheap! I applaud the fact that Vista requires a halfway decent machine to run. Spend $1300 on a new PC for Vista, don't bitch that your two-year old PC can't run it. Who else isn't excited that Vista ditched the default archaic VGA specs to provide a nice looking experience from install to execution? It takes more resources to run, yes, but from a tech perspective Vista makes things SOOOO much easier it's almost too easy to troubleshoot.

I have Vista on my desktop and XP on my laptop. I have had Vista shortly after it came out, and I can say that the only real problem that I have had with it was when I tried to install a cheap modem. It didn't play well with Vista at all, other than that nothing. As for the problem that people are saying about the networking problems, I can say from experience that there was more problem with networking in XP. If people know how to do networking then it is simple, but the people that are bashing Vista don't really seem to be too computer savvy enough to come up with their own solutions without someone telling them how to do it. Do you need someone to hold your hand too. The whole thing with PCs is learning how to get them to work perfectly for you personally, try to set things up yourself, that is what owning a computer is really about.
I really don't see the point in someone that has a Mac bashing someone with a PC. I don't hear anyone with Linux bashing a Mac. Interesting.

honestly what is a computer suppose to do for you? Its suppose to simplify your life right? ever since it was invented it has, but things start to get more complicated all around. The point here is to realize what a computer does for you and how it affect your lives. If you have a mac your life is more simpler, easier, and safer. if you have a pc your life is more simpler, easier, and safer as well. only difference is that mac is more straight up with what the computer is built to do, SIMPLIFY YOU LIFE. Preferably i like mac because it has the programs that does it better than competitors. but if you prefer the vista thats your business.

honestly what is a computer suppose to do for you? Its suppose to simplify your life right? ever since it was invented it has, but things start to get more complicated all around. The point here is to realize what a computer does for you and how it affect your lives. If you have a mac your life is more simpler, easier, and safer. if you have a pc your life is more simpler, easier, and safer as well. only difference is that mac is more straight up with what the computer is built to do, SIMPLIFY YOU LIFE. Preferably i like mac because it has the programs that do so. but if you prefer the vista thats your business.

honestly what is a computer suppose to do for you? Its suppose to simplify your life right? ever since it was invented it has, but things start to get more complicated all around. The point here is to realize what a computer does for you and how it affect your lives. If you have a mac your life is more simpler, easier, and safer. if you have a pc your life is more simpler, easier, and safer as well. only difference is that mac is more straight up with what the computer is built to do, SIMPLIFY YOU LIFE. Preferably i like mac because it has the programs that do so. but if you prefer the vista thats your business.

honestly what is a computer suppose to do for you? Its suppose to simplify your life right? ever since it was invented it has, but things start to get more complicated all around. The point here is to realize what a computer does for you and how it affect your lives. If you have a mac your life is more simpler, easier, and safer. if you have a pc your life is more simpler, easier, and safer as well. only difference is that mac is more straight up with what the computer is built to do, SIMPLIFY YOU LIFE. Preferably i like mac because it has the programs that do so. but if you prefer the vista thats your business.

The other person who works in my office uses Macs exclusively, I have a Windows Vista computer used since April. He has problems with it, both hardware and software, like anyone with a PC would have. There is no "perfect" computer. He spent close to $1500 for a new Mac laptop, which comes without a modem or wifi. This is superior? And try to install an HP printer on this system...it won't recognize it. No control panel to access the printers, install/uninstall, etc. They're not better, just different. When will we admit this is more about personal preferences? And does anyone honestly not believe Steve Jobs doesn't like making tons of money off the folks buying his products?

kochijka wrote:
honestly what is a computer suppose to do for you? Its suppose to simplify your life right? ever since it was invented it has, but things start to get more complicated all around. The point here is to realize what a computer does for you and how it affect your lives. If you have a mac your life is more simpler, easier, and safer. if you have a pc your life is more simpler, easier, and safer as well. only difference is that mac is more straight up with what the computer is built to do, SIMPLIFY YOU LIFE. Preferably i like mac because it has the programs that do so. but if you prefer the vista thats your business.

...four times

Was that you or your MAC that sent four times? Either way...

I think the reason why most PC users hate MAC is because they don't know how to use it! It's a whole new different thing. Ofcourse, when you're used to using something, why would you prefer something else? Well, unless if it's cheaper. This is like choosing between MEGADETH and METALLICA! let's say, MEGADETH is a MAC and METALLICA is a PC... HELL I'D CHOOSE METALLICA!!!

I find it amusing to read most of these posts. I have been working as a computer technician for 17years and each operating system has had its uses. If you wish to do Graphic Design or Audio Programming efficiently, you need a Mac. I fyou wish to do desktop publishing and Game playing you need a Windows based PC. I have worked on both over the years, but I must say the worst operating system I have struck is Open Source,(Ubuntu to be exact).
I guess Ive been around too long and done too much.
By the way I have 7 PCS at home, 2 running Vista, 3 running XP, 1 running 98SE and a Mac. They are all networked perfectly sharing printers and files and Internet. To those people who have problems, learn you machines before you make Biased comments.

I have never had any problems with windows vista ultimate so i dont know why everyone else does. I am a student at West Virginia in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering program and I use my Dell Latitude D830 for almost every application. Vista seems to work fine for AutoCAD and MatLab, as well as every game I have installed. I have never had a "Not Responding" error and I have never had problems bringing my computer out of sleep or hibernate. Maybe all of you should just be a little less angry at vista and not try to find every bug. Maybe you should chill.

Just remember MAC people, you cannot fix your own machine, I see you all standing in line outside the MAC911 store in santa monica, I laugh at you, and point, and laugh some more. Stay with itunes, enjoy your lock-down-jobs-run systems, but dont you ever dare ask me for a moment of help.

Yes, HAHA, mac users are dopes. It's all about glitz and looks, like they're running a freakin fashion show. I work in a school system where I'm responsible for about an equal number of PCs and MACs. Guess what? I've not yet had a PC come in DOA....I have seen a few DOA macs however. Freezing? Macs do it at least as much as any PC. BSOD? Well, at least BSOD says something(though perhaps cryptic), whereas the Beachball of Death says nothing, it just spins around forever. Macs are all about look, which is total BS. It's "pretty" and makes people go "ooooooooooh", but it isn't practical...they cost more, bitch to fix, bitch to upgrade(or impossible). Oh yeah, I forgot, "Apple doesn't make junk"...Steve Jobs is God. LOL. I run Vista Ultimate at home and it's goddamn stable and works like a charm. Yeah, the hardware requirements could be a bit less, I'll give you that, but it would take a lot more to make me ditch MS for Apple...bunch of pretentious a******.

I have been running vista since beta testing it in mid 2006 and am very happy with the look, feel, and performance. Sure, as expected I've had a few issues, but I've also found fixing them quite simple with the right logic applied. The only problem I've experienced that hasn't been solved is with Adobe CS3, and that actually appears to be more Adobe's fault than Microsoft's. It would be nice to see the explorer shell speed up a bit but as far as application performance goes I've got no gripes. I've also used Mac's in the past and have enjoyed the experience but I don't think they are better or worse than anything else; they have their fair share of issues and can be quite costly by comparison. If the tables were turned and Apple was the big cheese, I would bet a large sum of money that the mac would be the one under attack from all the viruses, etc. The world loves to hate the people it makes famous or powerful and as it currently stands in computerland that's Microsoft.

Vista is a new OS, and like every other thing from car models, airplanes, cell phones, etc., etc., etc.,-the list goes on, there are a few bugs to work out. I use the OS on three of my 4 desktops and one of my two laptops all of which though upgraded annually hardware wise, are over 2 years old, and have very little to complain about Vista due to the fact I'm a REASONABLE person. I understand that Vista's bugs will be fixed via service packs & upgrades JUST AS XP WAS
My point being: STOP COMPLAINING!! and use this forum to address issues that will help and be beneficial toward the topic of discussion, in this case, Windows Vista....NOT MACINTOSH!!
So quit your bellyaching!!! and waisting our time!!

Man I love these posts. It's the old "my dad can beat up your dad". But , in this case it's "My Dad's OS is better than your Dad's OS". Grow up and face the fact that people have different tastes in their operating system. I have both a PC and a Mac working side by side and run into problems on each. It is just how comfortable in fixing these problems makes it a worthwhile OS or not for you. I also don't think I am better than "you" for owning a Mac or a Windows PC. I have not had many problems with either OS that I couldn't fix so I guess it just comes down to what I need to get out of each OS. Again, you all just need to chill out and realize that not everyone has to feel the same way as you.

for someone who has worked on computers for 11 years, it's plain and simple. MAC = AOL. AOL is the internet with training wheels, MAC is the computer with training wheels. What stopped me in the first place from getting a computer was the $$$. But then I was shown back in the day that I could build one for less than $500. Thats all it took for me. Just remember, when you buy a mac, 25% of the purchase price covers the cost of the computer 75% covers the cost of that Apple logo

Could you MAC and PC people just SHUT UP. The purpose of an operating system is to allow users to accomplish work. The type of PC/OS is irrelevant if work can be accomplished. You Mac/PC people sound like those "bright" NASCAR people arguing over whether Jr. or Kyle Petty is the better driver. To paraphrase Frank Zappa, "SHUT UP and use your computer."

@harrisonpocket
thank you. you have shown me that not everyone in the world is a total idiot. Most of these idiots arguing in here don't even know what they are talking about, especially the self proclaimed experts.

@greybeard you are completely misinformed. There is no need what so ever to get a different platform to do graphics or audio. I do both professionally on either platform with the same programs.

You people need to stop living in 1988 and realize that the only real difference today is preference and how it works, not what type of stuff runs on it.

I have found the silver bullet to put a Mac Down. For most people I think it's the same thing. I have a G5 and I have been using pro-tools for a very long time. I love Pro-Tools. It's very powerfull and it is an idustry standard for auido-recording. The problem is that I purchased a new hardware component, The M-Audio Octane, and low and behold there isn't a decent sound card upgrade for the Mac. Come to find out, there aren't any decent upgrades for the Mac, can't put a great video card in a mac, no great sound card, no super silent cooling system. Well neadless to say, the G5 had to go....... I went Quad Core PC and I now use Sonar 7 for recording, and low and behold, there are tons of PC sound cards that use the same Digi-Design chipsets that made the G5 so great. I am using Vista ultimate on this machine, and it looks just like OS X so thats cool. So I think I got the best of both worlds, a great PC with a Mac-like interface!!! Hurray Me!!!

Wow, I am amazed that the war between Mac OS and Vista still exist. Here is my opinion, I try to be fair as much as possible.
Firstly, as all Windows OS, using the first version is mostlikely goin to be trouble and for those who hates having to solve and suffer the problems should stay away from the first release and should wait for a couple of years ( maybe 1 or 2) till they are drivers and many softwares for Vista. I personally still running XP. I used my cuz Vista machine for a day and my sis Mac OS for a day and I must admit that each OS has their pro and cons, it just depends how you look at things. Vista first, Vista is definately a improvement over XP but they are a few things that MSoft could have done better and should have done, for example, the most annoying thing for me is the ctrl+ald+del. I dont know why Vista must open another window and I must click run task manager only to run task manager. I totally see no point in this. Also Vista has some very annoying and unessary

Regarding the Windows/Mac controversy...I upgraded to VISTA in February, and have had a lot of problems with the OS, and the problems keep on coming. I am switching to a Mac next computer. When people ask me "why" I say: "I've asked quite a number of people who have Macs how they like their systems. Many have said they "love" their Macs." The I ask: "How many people do you know that use the work "love" when speaking of the Windows based systems". I've never heard anyone said that.

File copy process has sucked a major one since the release of Vista. This is noticeable, not only from disk to disk, but across the network. Tried all the networking hacks to improve network speed, which has done little to speed up the file copy process. You might also try it on a system that has more than 4200 or 5400 RPM hard drives (notebooks). It's still ghastly on a system, even with 10,000 RPM drives. Security is always an issue, no surprises there for the monster that is M$, they will continue to be attacked. My question is not how long the SP takes to install, it's "How long does it extend a base installation whenst slipstreamed?"

Oh, and F*** MAC.

Long live DOS and S***.

Long live DOS 6.0 when they stole stacker and called it "double space".

MAC? for us it nothing but a nice little toy. Us means Architects & Engineers from all fields. How many houses, condominiums, schools, hospitals, nuclear power & manufacturing plants, roads,railway, airports, office buildings, shopping mall, the list goes on are designed built and maintained with MACs?. You could probably count with your fingers give or take a few toes. The world you live in were built with Microsoft WIndows and windows softwares. Yes windows crashes sometimes, but thats because we subject or PC's to unimaginable tasks & calculations. Mac's are fast and stable, because all you people do with MAcs are nice queer greeting cards, poster, edit ugly photos of yourself and you relatives (windows can do these also) and some occational youtube videos. Even with these, using a 64 bit entry level base model MACs is OVERKILL! buy a MAC? no thanks, I'll stick with my own self built PC running on Windows OS. How many of you MACerels out there built your own MACs.? WINDOWS Rules.

MAC? for us it nothing but a nice little toy. Us means Architects & Engineers from all fields. How many houses, condominiums, schools, hospitals, nuclear power & manufacturing plants, roads,railway, airports, office buildings, shopping mall, the list goes on are designed built and maintained with MACs?. You could probably count with your fingers give or take a few toes. The world you live in were built with Microsoft WIndows and windows softwares. Yes windows crashes sometimes, but thats because we subject or PC's to unimaginable tasks & calculations. Mac's are fast and stable, because all you people do with MAcs are nice queer greeting cards, poster, edit ugly photos of yourself and you relatives (windows can do these also) and some occational youtube videos. Even with these, using a 64 bit entry level base model MACs is OVERKILL! buy a MAC? no thanks, I'll stick with my own self built PC running on Windows OS. How many of you MACerels out there built your own MACs.? WINDOWS Rules.

Way back in the early seventies, 99.5% of cars on US roads were over-sized Chevrolets, Fords, and Chryslers. The Big Three were the standard and made great cars for the times. You'd be hard pressed to spot many foreign makes - especially one of those cheaply made, poorly engineered 'Jap' mini death traps like Honda or Toyota -cars that were dissed for years as unreliable junk. Some 35 years later, the tables have turned. Another generation of more sophisticated consumers know economy and dependability when they see it. Today, it's foreign cars that rule the road. It's usually the older folks who still drive around in Buicks, Mercurys, and Plymouths . Those who appreciate innovation, safety, economy, craftsmanship, and design go for the obvious, smarter choice of Honda, Nissan, or Toyota. So, it may take another generation for PC drivers to realize the obvious, smarter choice of cruising in a Mac.

BTW... I drive a Windows AND a Mac. Both OS's are fab.

way back there were only 5% gays of all people in the world, now by legalizing gay marriage in several countries over the world, there are more and more people proud to say "I'm gay", so there is a chance for all of you, buy a mac and become proud member of minority mac owners, surprise your girlfriend and introduce her your new boyfriend, come on folks we are all one big family, I do both mac and windows, and I'm proud that I can use any computer for many features I like. God bless Alan Mathison Turing