CNET REVIEW: Windows Vista Is "Warmed Over XP"

[Specialist]

CNET reviewers say Windows Vista is just "warmed over XP."

Link to CNET review: http://tinyurl.com/2zfta6

The good: Windows Vista Ultimate does improve some features within Windows XP; fewer system crashes than Windows XP; Windows Vista offers better built-in support options.

The bad: Windows Vista Ultimate does not put search on the desktop (it's buried within applications, within the Start Menu); optimized only for the Microsoft Windows ecosystem (for example, RSS feeds from Internet Explorer 7 get preferential treatment); there's simply too much and not all of it is implemented properly; no new software yet written exclusively for Windows Vista; and there are too many editions of Windows Vista.

The bottom line: Windows Vista is essentially warmed-over Windows XP.

Jerry Jones
http://www.jonesgroup.net

[JohnnyMalaria]

Just goes to show that CNET reviewers haven't a clue about the very real differences between XP and Vista.

Instead of focussing on the "eye candy" and the GUI, they should discuss the stuff "under the hood".

As for "no new software yet written exclusively for Windows" - good grief, Charlie Brown. It hasn't even hit the shelves yet. Developers have only had two months to test any potential "Vista exclusive" software on the RTM version.

How much "written exclusively for Windows 95" software was available in August 1995?

Idiots.

[edDV]

Yep, says more about CNET than Vista. If they were any good wouldn't they have a real job?

[redwudz]

From what I've seen of Vista so far, it seems more like the change from Windows 95/98 to XP. There are some major differences there. As usual, CNet doesn't likely have a clue.

[MOVIEGEEK]

"But stick around; this is just Windows Vista 1.0. Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is due out sometime before the end of the year. Windows Vista SP1 promises to fix what's known to be wrong within Windows Vista and should offer a few concrete reasons to switch."

I would wait until the end of the year.

[Soopafresh]

"Gates, make a list-a... why should we switch to Vista ?" Dr Suess

"Why, for many reasons, you see. We must move on from XP"

"But why must we fester, and pay to be your beta tester?"

"My GUI is 3D, and that can't be done in XP. You'll need a lot more RAM-you'll need a bunch, said Bill I am"



http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/42878394/

http://guistyles.deviantart.com/

[Specialist]

"Microsoft admits Vista screwed - report"

Link to TheInquirer.Net story: http://tinyurl.com/39m833

Jerry Jones
http://www.jonesgroup.net

[Specialist]

APCMag.Com story: http://tinyurl.com/2dxf8a

Reckon you won't upgrade to Vista until the first service pack is released? That's looking likely to be the second half of this year, according to Microsoft's latest email blast.

The company has put out a call for "customers and partners (to) actively test and provide feedback on Windows Vista SP1 to help us prepare for its release in the second half of CY07 (calendar year 2007)."

Microsoft hasn't released details of exactly what changes will be wrought in Vista SP1, which has been assigned the codename 'Fiji' but some OS components which missed the RTM cut-off will almost certainly be rolled into the update.

One of the candidates for this better-late-than-never brigade would be the Windows PowerShell, previously Microsoft Shell -- a .NET-based command line shell with its own scripting language.

Jerry Jones
http://www.jonesgroup.net

[redwudz]

I hope the 'TheInquirer' doesn't have any relationship to the bogus 'Enquirer' magazine that promises aliens are among us.

All new OS's have problems. I wouldn't be the first one to jump in with a purchase, unless you are adventurous. Still, give the OS a while to get the bugs out. Windows XP is almost fixed now. JMO.

[Specialist]

PC World article: http://tinyurl.com/2nw7fy

Vista Update Already Set

Even before launch, Microsoft is compiling items for the first service pack.

Jeremy Kirk, IDG News Service

Wednesday, January 24, 2007 09:00 AM PST

On the verge of the release of Windows Vista, Microsoft is already accepting orders for features to go in the operating system's first service pack.

Compiling Wish List

Microsoft is taking feedback from testers who are part of its Technology Adoption Program (TAP), which lets certain partners evaluate prerelease software, a Microsoft spokesman in London said on Wednesday. Service packs typically consist of a mix of bug fixes and new features.

Microsoft is set to release Vista for consumers next Tuesday, although it has been available to volume-license customers since November 30.

The company doesn't mention future update plans for Vista on its service pack road map. The spokesperson said a release date for the first service pack was not yet available.

The company, however, will continue to push out "critical" fixes for Vista through Windows Update, Microsoft's automated patch rollout system, the spokesperson said.

Comparing XP's Schedule

With Windows XP, Microsoft released the first service pack in September 2002, 11 months after the initial release of the OS. XP's second service pack--which added a host of security features to combat increased hacking--was released in August 2004.

Jerry Jones
http://www.jonesgroup.net

[JohnnyMalaria]

Microsoft are damned if they do, damned if they don't.

"You released it too soon, full of issues" vs "Why wait so long, you could release it to early adopters"

"There isn't much new about it" vs "It's so different, you are forcing people to upgrade"

"A service pack already?" vs "Why don't you release a service pack?"

One of the reasons they will be able to offer a service pack sooner is because of Windows Error Reporting. This capability - part of XP, too - is available to other software developers, too. It provides a central repository for crash reports etc - developers can find out what the most common issues are and address them.

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/maintain/WERHelp.mspx

No software with the complexity of a modern OS that is not tied to a proprietary hardware platform could possible be without issues at the point of release. Early adopters will always be beta testers (or should that be delta testers?) - not just for Microsoft.

[dvdguy4]

Heres something else they want to do. Greedy bastardo's

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16805062/

[JohnnyMalaria]

Heres something else they want to do. Greedy bastardo's

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16805062/

Like most NBC "news", this isn't.

This has been Microsoft's position since at least May 2005:

http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?p1=3223

[Specialist]

PC WORLD offers new test results of Microsoft Vista-loaded computers.

PC WORLD lists the following Vista "GOTCHAS": http://tinyurl.com/2avgky

Drivers are critical to your PC; they are the files that let your OS communicate with devices such as graphics cards, printers, or storage devices. All drivers have to be rewritten for Vista, but not all may be ready at launch, and some older peripherals may never get an updated driver.

The lack of Vista drivers for some peripherals could be a major issue for many users. For example, with the beta drivers in our tests, games ran significantly slower under Vista than under Windows XP. In earlier testing of the Dell XPS 710 running XP, this system ran at 143 frames per second in the game Far Cry at 1024 by 768 resolution. An identical system using the same settings with Vista managed a frame rate of just 108 fps--some 24 percent slower.

Our other test game, Doom 3, didn't run at all on the Vista systems that used ATI graphics cards; at this writing, ATI's beta drivers for Vista don't support the OpenGL graphics system that this game requires. nVidia's beta driver, however, did support OpenGL graphics. ATI and nVidia both claim that they will have full versions of their drivers ready by the time Vista ships.

Jerry Jones
http://www.jonesgroup.net

[JohnnyMalaria]

All drivers have to be rewritten for Vista, but not all may be ready at launch

More bullshit from ignorant magazines.

Audio is the main problem. The WDM model in 2K and XP isn't supported. Other audio layers - like ASIO - are.

[dvdguy4]

Heres something else they want to do. Greedy bastardo's

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16805062/

Like most NBC "news", this isn't.

This has been Microsoft's position since at least May 2005:

http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?p1=3223

I didnt realize it was old news. My bad

[robertazimmerman]

Not really sure why people are so p***ed off with Gates and his baby. There are better operating systems out there. Get one, use it and stop complaining.


R

[edDV]

Not really sure why people are so p***ed off with Gates and his baby. There are better operating systems out there. Get one, use it and stop complaining.
R

Yep, Gates is too busy giving his money away to good causes. No time left to be a player anymore. When will Jobs start giving his billions away?

[JohnnyMalaria]

Yep, Gates is too busy giving his money away to good causes. No time left to be a player anymore. When will Jobs start giving his billions away?

When Apple registers iCare as a trademark and then starts suing everyone.

EDIT - There again:

http://www.sysco.com/services/icare/icare.html

http://www.icare.to/

http://www.icare.com.au/

[shelbyGT]

Your average joe only cares about eye candy, not what's under the hood.

[MOVIEGEEK]

When will Jobs start giving his billions away?

Never,he wants to turn us all into iZombies so we give him our money.

[bendixG15]

Hey - How many times you been thru this .... ????

New Windows version..... Same old comments and complaints.
Gives people something to talk about.. just like the weather
Can't change either ......ho hum

[RLT69]

Specialist wrote:
All drivers have to be rewritten for Vista, but not all may be ready at launch


More bullshit from ignorant magazines.

*Ahem*

Drivers have to be rewritten for Vista 64. That's not bullshit, that's fact.

The whole point about running Vista is because it's 64 bit. Running the 32 bit version provides little incentive. Most of the new features of Vista were pulled out. That's why it's XP warmed over. There's little reason to run Vista of you are not going to take advantage of the 64 bit version.

Here's a review of Vista by WALTER S. MOSSBERG
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB116908385298979668-0KM342sGUp9UKiEikdnpxRiVaZw_...l?mod=rss_free

Bottom line: get Vista when you get a new computer.

[JohnnyMalaria]

Who says that "the whole point of running Vista is because it's 64 bit"?

Personally, I doubt that most people will opt for the 64-bit version, especially those upgrading existing 32-bit XP.

For the 32-bit version, it is the audio side of things that will be problematic.

For the 64-bit version, WDM drivers for XP x64 will work (save the audio).

*Obviously* if an IHV has, to date, only supported 32-bit WDM, then OF COURSE new drivers will be needed for the 64-bit version.

That's a world apart "nasty Microsoft See-You-Next-Tuesdays forcing new drivers to be written".

Classic fudging of the issue....

[RLT69]

Who says that "the whole point of running Vista is because it's 64 bit"?

Personally, I doubt that most people will opt for the 64-bit version, especially those upgrading existing 32-bit XP.

Are you serious? Then what is the point of all those 64 bit processors that Intel and AMD are selling?? They're doing it for shits and grins. How lame of point is that.

Since all computers today are being sold with a 64 bit processor it would be pretty stupid to buy a brand new O.S. and not run the 64 bit version.

For the 32-bit version, it is the audio side of things that will be problematic.

For the 64-bit version, WDM drivers for XP x64 will work (save the audio).

*Obviously* if an IHV has, to date, only supported 32-bit WDM, then OF COURSE new drivers will be needed for the 64-bit version.

Do you have any idea the state of affairs of drive availability for XP 64? Good luck finding them. XP 64 was NEVER released as a retail version, only OEM. Alot of hardware manufacturers did not develop drivers for XP 64. Who could blame them when Vista was right around the corner. That's why driver support for XP 64 is worse than Linux!

That's a world apart "nasty Microsoft See-You-Next-Tuesdays forcing new drivers to be written".

Classic fudging of the issue....

When you have to develop a new driver because existing drivers do not work, you are being forced to write new drivers. That's the definition of being forced.

Take a look XP 64 and Vista 64 and see what drivers are available and see what it takes to get it installed. Because I've done the research and it's not easy. Vista 64 people are in the same boat as XP 64 people, lack of driver support. This leaves you with Vista 32 and that seems quite pointless since it provides no compelling reason to upgrade from XP.

At this point in time I would suggest getting Vista when you buy a new computer. There are just too many issues with it to upgrade. If you are hell bent on upgrading, wait until SP1 comes out, which is due latter this year.

[JohnnyMalaria]

You argument defeats itself.

If driver support is so poor for the 64-bit version, then people with legacy hardware will opt for the 32-bit version.

Re x64, on my platform, all the hardware that has XP 32-bit drivers also has native 64-bit drivers.

What version of Vista are OEMs putting on their boxes?

[Specialist]

From TomsHardware.Com: http://tinyurl.com/yvoxox

Overall, applications performed as expected, or executed slightly slower than under Windows XP. There are some programs that showed deeply disappointing performance. Unreal Tournament 2004 and the professional graphics benchmarking suite SPECviewperf 9.03 suffered heavily from the lack of support for the OpenGL graphics library under Windows Vista. This is something we expected, and we clearly advise against replacing Windows XP with Windows Vista if you need to run professional graphics applications. We are disappointed that CPU-intensive applications such as video transcoding with XviD (DVD to XviD MPEG4) or the MainConcept H.264 Encoder performed 18% to nearly 24% slower in our standard benchmark scenarios. Both benchmarks finished much quicker under Windows XP. There aren't newer versions available, and we don't see immediate solutions to this issue. Our hopes that Vista might be able to speed up applications are gone. First tests with 64-bit editions result in numbers similar to our 32-bit results, and we believe it's safe to say that users looking for more raw performance will be disappointed with Vista. Vista is the better Windows, because it behaves better, because it looks better and because it feels better. But it cannot perform better than Windows XP. Is this a K.O. for Windows Vista in the enthusiast space?

Jerry Jones
http://www.jonesgroup.net

[adam]

Any new OS is going to be a "warmed over version" of the previous os until the drivers catch up. As the posted articles themselves state, the slow/no performance was achieved using BETA versions of drivers, and most of these drivers will be finalized BEFORE Vista ships. So what's the problem?

As far as I'm concerned all of these reviews of Vista are just keeping us up to date on a work in progress. We have to judge Vista's launch success when it actually launches. And we have to judge its overall function once its actually had an opportunity to penetrate the market and work out the kinks. This is true for any os.

[Specialist]

Link to EETimes.Com article: http://tinyurl.com/3dys3w

The continued convergence of communications and information technologies and consumer demand for ever more sophisticated forms of digital entertainment will require operating systems with capabilities well beyond that offered by Windows Vista, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said Monday. Indeed, Microsoft already is at work on a successor to Vista that's code-named Vienna. To date, however, the company has said little about what features it will contain or when it will be released.

What About Vista?

The vast majority of consumers will experience the operating system by purchasing a new personal computer rather than upgrading old systems. Factory-installed versions of Vista will outpace upgrade sales "by an order of magnitude" in the first 12 months of the release, Ballmer said.

Jerry Jones
http://www.jonesgroup.net

[MOVIEGEEK]

^You(or anybody) should of bought a new PC in December,all factory built PC's will have Vista installed.
As for drivers:when XP was released there was some lag time before they were stable.It took ATI several years to get their drivers running correctly so I would wait a year before casting judgement on Vista.