Are You Sure About Upgrading to Vista?
I hate upgrades. Sure, I used to look forward to the latest and greatest, but there are so many downsides: new equipment requirements, hassles getting all the old apps to work correctly, and getting up on all the new features. (Don't laugh, but I still have a copy of Wordstar and FoxPro on my PC for, well, I don't know what for. Maybe it's just in case someone needs a copy. Or I decide to switch back to DOS.)
In fact, I just roll backed from Internet Explorer 7 to IE6. I've had too many scripting errors on pages I normally go to that work just fine with IE6. I'm also hearing from readers having other IE7 problems. So until I can find out what's going on, I'm using IE6 (and don't hesitate to tell me of your IE7 woes). I'll keep you posted.
You may be curious to see what other tech writers have to say. James Fallows, one of my favorite technology writers, isn't too pleased with Vista. Read his take in The Atlantic Monthly.
Vista, Like it or Not
Nonetheless, Vista has launched and Microsoft made a big splash with it in New York. Read Vista Lands in the U.S here. (BTW, don't miss the reader comments at the bottom of the article.)
If you're bound and determined to make the upgrade, I have a few things for you to consider.
First, take a look at the cost: The new version will set you back anywhere between an unreasonable $100 to a mind-boggling $400. That's for an operating system, folks. Check our pricing chart that compares the assorted Vistas.
Like me, you may be struggling with some of the new terms Microsoft has pulled out of the Vista hat. (What, you don't know what a BitLocker is?) Don't worry, Microsoft has it all mapped out for you, as Senior Editor Denny Arar explains in Get Ready for VistaSpeak.
Second, the chances are good you'll also need new hardware, and likely more RAM. Start by downloading Windows Vista Readiness Hands-on Lab to see if your PC is ripe for Vista. It's at the Microsoft site.
Then get a second opinion from PC Pitstop using their Vista Readiness Test.
I know that you're still curious (as well you should be) and want more hands-on Vista details, so here are a couple more resources: The Windows Vista FAQ and Vista: The Upgrade
Tomorrow: Hardware issues
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I look forward to the hardware artical tomorrow, I have Vista installed and it's obvious the hardware people are not ready for it.
HP and ATI have yet to release drivers and I can't use my printers/ scanners and some features of my video card. I contacted HP support and got no indication of when drivers will be out for my printers. I can only hope that they have something ready when Vista is released to the public. I have had very few issues with software.
Hell, Steve, because of your aforementioned upgrade hassles, I'm still on XP Pro SP1! Why on Earth would I move to Vista? Talk about asking for trouble...
Loren
You asked about IE7 issues. I have a bunch of entries on my Links toolbar and I have a custom icon on most of them. With IE7, when I click on one of the icons, the custom icon goes away and is replaced by either the default IE icon or some other icon that comes from who-knows-where.
Has anyone else seen this?
LewisPA--Apparently you like Favicons. This is one area where IE7 may be better than IE6. IE7 automatically finds the latest icon for a website (when you access the site) and associates it with the Favorite (which is what a Link is). The only problem is when you do not like IE7's choice. If you have saved another icon which you prefer, you can associate it with your Link. Right click on the Link>Properties>Change Icon>Browse to the location where your icon is stored>highlight>OK>Apply>OK. I think the change will survive a cleaning of the cache. (I have no idea where IE7 stores the icons it uses. It no longer seems to be Content.IE5.)
What I do not like about IE7.
1) The ergonomics of the icons and command links are awful. They are spread all over the various toolbars. IE6 put them in only two bars and next to each other.
2) When using the Favorites panel by clicking the star, the right click Context menu no longer offers "Open in a New Window" or "Copy Shortcut". There are work arounds but they all take more clicks than IE6.
3) I still have not figured out how to properly use the tabs. (Maybe there is no proper way.) I am not sure I see much advantage to using them anyway. I do not mind opening New Windows (in fact I like to since I have plenty of memory) and they are (as in IE6) displayed at the bottom of the screen. If the tabs offered thumbnails like Opera or Firefox, then I could see some advantage to them. Or have I missed something?
4) IE7 does not work with all my old applications.
What do I like? Well, antiphishing sounds good and the RSS feed button is nice, but really not necessary.
Steve, I also rolled back from IE7 to IE6. Once again a case of an upgrade that just had no bang for the buck. I had no idea how to use the tabs and many of the features I was used to in IE6 just seemed to disappear. Hard to believe that Microsoft actually paid (I assume) some of their employees to come up with this new product. Thank goodness I was able to restore back to IE6. It would not surprise me at all if the Vista upgrade experience is similar. I will try to hold onto XP as long as I can.If it ain't broke, etc. etc.