Does Microsoft Vista have any serious problems?

DRM is a b**ch. If they even THINK there is a possibility that you didn't pay for something, you'll have issues with videos and music. Good-bye ripping... even legally :(

The system requirements are steep.

The price is ridiculous.

Any OS that Maximum PC lists Top 10 Reasons NOT to upgrade has to suck. They recommended XP, but seem to have mixed feelings about Vista. If you disregard my words, at least hear their's.

It was made by Microsoft. What more can I say?

It is a Microsoft product that hasn't yet even reached the first service pack. I'd say its current stage is "Virus", but viruses are small and efficient.

Yes...(Of Course)

FOR ONE REASON...There is way too much DRM. Microsoft is starting to die out. I'm sticking with Linux for the time being. ...i bet Microsoft is going to have their support lines jammed up because of all the people wanting a refund.

Damn it I Hate all that Anti-Piracy DRM Security BULLSHIT

Vista isn't a "Wow". It's a "Damn it! I Payed for this Shit?".
The Price tag is the biggest "Wow" In my Opinion.

Hmm... I'm not a techie - my husband is however and he says that its major problem is that it's been nicknamed 'Microsoft Fister'... you do the math on how that's interpreted...

  Of course it has serious problems.  It's Windows.  It wouldn't be Windows if it didn't have serious problems.

It sucks.

Some people think it wont suck. unless you connect it to a vacuum cleaner. Then it will just crash it because the drivers aren't 64-bit aware. Then it won't suck. But the good thing is that Bill Gates is retiring soon...Microsoft will never be the same again.

No, it’s not at all certain that 90% of the world will be running Vista. What IS sure is that Vista will help drive more intelligent people to Mac or Linux. Frankly, I think Bill Gates may even give the word Vista a new definition:

1. Proper Noun - The last operating system released by Microsoft before it became the world’s THIRD largest software manufacturer.

2. Verb - To screw yourself by doing something incredibly stupid.

Combine Vista with Zune, and you have an even bigger joke. No wonder poor Bill Gates is coming unhinged, making an ass out of himself on TV and blatantly lying about Vista. This is even making it easier for people to understand the truth about the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation - it’s a fraud, too.

It has no reason for being other than to generate revenue for Microsoft.

It doesn't make your computer easier to use, or faster, in fact it won't run most of your software, it doesn't have drivers for your hardware and it will phone up Microsoft frequently and tell on you.

It costs a lot of money, it ruins your computer and you pay for the privilege.

Its biggest competition is WindowsXP and it can't even beat that.

It is a doomed operating system that makes WindowsMe look like an act of genius.

It took over 5 years and several billion dollars to write and will probably cost the shareholders their lifesavings.

Other than that is okay I guess

The price tag?

OF COURSE, do you not remember the realease of EVERY OTHER os microsoft has released, it will have unchecked/sorted bugs for sure - just as long as they are generating money from it, who cares if the bloody thing doesn't work!

Oh! My aching head.

I know i already answered this question so many times but this is the last one. I Swear.

When I first saw ExtremeTech's Why Windows Vista Won't Suck, I thought: "Aha, sarcasm."

Nope. I was wrong.

They really were saying that Vista is pretty good.

Oh please.

First, let me say, I've been running Vista myself for quite some time. Next to me at this very moment is a Gateway 835GM. Under the hood, it has an Intel Pentium D 2.8GHz dual-core processor, an Intel 945G chipset, 1GB DDR2 (double data rate) DRAM, a 250GB SATA hard drive, and built-in Intel GMA (graphics media accelerator) 950 graphics. That's a fairly powerful machine. Which is a good thing, because it's the only PC in my house that's got enough **mph to run Windows Vista without driving me into fits of rage.

Mind you, it's not enough machine for Vista. I could run any Linux with all the bells and whistles on it without a problem. But, even though this system meets Intel's recommendations for a Vista-capable Intel Professional Business Platform, it still doesn't have the graphics horsepower needed to carry off Vista's much ballyhooed three-dimensional Aero Glass interface.

My point is, though, that while I write a lot about Linux, and I prefer it, my real specialty is that I know operating systems of all types and sorts, including Vista.

So when I say Vista sucks, well, I know what I'm talking about.

"Suck" is a relative term, though. Vista will be better than XP, which has easily been Microsoft's best desktop operating system to date.

However, Vista also requires far more hardware oomph than previous Windows systems. I'd say Intel's recommendations are pretty much a minimum for Vista. I would only add that if you expect to see the fancy desktop, you need to invest in, say, an ATI Radeon XPress 200, an Nvidia nForce4, or a high-end graphics card.

The truth is that very, very few people are going to be upgrading their existing systems to Vista. To make it work well, you're really going to need a new computer. If you didn't buy your PC in 2006, I wouldn't even try to run Vista on it.

OK, so the first reason that Vista sucks is that, no matter what version you get, it's likely to be expensive. No matter what Microsoft ends up charging for it, the only way most people are likely to be running it is when they get a new PC.

Now, let's see what the people at ExtremeTech have to say in Vista's defense ...

Vista is much safer and more secure. "The whole kernel has been reorganized and rewritten to help prevent software from affecting the system in unsavory ways."

Well, yes, this is certainly what Microsoft would have to do to make it truly secure. I've say that myself. Unfortunately, while Microsoft has worked hard on improving Vista's security, it's still pretty much the same old patched-to-hell kernel underneath it.

Need proof? In January, Microsoft shipped the first security patch for Vista. It was for the WMF (Windows Metafile) hole. You know, the one, that the security guru Larry Seltzer called, "one of those careless things Microsoft did years ago with little or no consideration for the security consequences."

Good job of cleaning up the core operating system, Microsoft!

Of course, Linux never had this kind of shit to clean up in the first place.

The ExtremeTech guys also say that Microsoft has done a good job of cleaning up Windows' use of memory management and heaps. They're right about that.

What they don't mention is that Linux and Mac OS X have both done that kind of thing well for years. They also don't mention that for an application to actually get the most from these improvements, it will need to be rewritten. So, if you want to get the most from Vista, be sure to set some money aside for new applications as well as a new PC. You'll need it.

They also praise SuperFetch, Microsoft's new combination application pre-fetching technique and hyper-active virtual memory manager. Intelligent pre-fetching is a fine idea for boosting performance. You've been able to use it in any application written with the open-source GCC for years. Microsoft's execution of it, however, has one of the biggest "What were they thinking of?" mistakes I've seen in a long time.

You see, with SuperFetch you can a USB 2.0-based flash drive as a fetch buffer between your RAM and your hard disk. Let me spell that out for you. Vista will put part of your running application on a device that can be kicked off, knocked out, or that your dog can carry away as a chew toy. Do you see the problem here? Me too!

I also understand that Vista will have improved TCP/IP networking. It's nice to know that they've finally done something with that open-source BSD code that's the basis of their TCP/IP network protocol.

What ExtremeTech doesn't mention, though, is that Microsoft is also planning on making it so that you can use IPSec (IP security protocol) for internal network security. This is another of their "What were they thinking of?" moments.

IPSec works fine for VPNs (virtual private networks). But, as John Pescatore, an analyst at Gartner Inc., said about this scheme, "Once you try to encrypt internal communications, your network architecture breaks." He's got that right.

Next up, they say wonderful things about Home Premium Vista having Media Center capability being built into it. Maybe I'm just a little confused here, but after looking at the feature sets, the only thing I see that's changed here is that they'll be calling the next media-enabled Windows "Home Premium Vista" instead of "Media Center Vista."

They also praise this version for having CableCard support, with the result that you'll be able to record HD (high definition broadcasts) from cable instead of being stuck with OTA (over the air) HDTV, without turning your entertainment room into an electronics lab.

Excuse me, but that's not because Microsoft is being innovative. It's because they are still not shipping CableCard cards for PCs. Come the day they finally ship -- and I'm betting the ATI OCCUR makes it out first -- I suspect MythTV and the other open-source PVR (personal video recorder) projects will be right there.

The ExtremeTech crew also has nice things to say about Vista's audio support. Mea culpa, it is better than anything else out there. So, Linux desktop designers, it's time to get cracking on audio support. Vista's is out, and that gives you guys little time to play catch up. Hurry!

DirectX10, which is mostly used for game graphics and in the aforementioned Aero, is also much improved. It's also, however, completely different from DirectX9. Current games, current graphic cards, won't be able to do anything with it, which is why Vista also supports DirectX 9.

Here again, I'll give the Microsoft guys come credit. DirecX10 is a big improvement for the gamers. It's still not going to make your PC the equal of a dedicated game console, however.

The folks from ExtremeTech also like the fact that Vista will have many more built-in applications. Isn't this why Microsoft got into trouble with the Department of Justice a while back? Isn't this the kind of thing that has both South Korea and the European Union raking them over the coals? Why, yes. Yes, it is.

Be that as it may, as I sit here looking at my Ubuntu 7.04 Linux desktop, I can't help but notice that I have, for free, every software application I could ever want. Advantage: Linux.

At the end of the story, the ExtremeTech crew 'fesses up that "We don't know that it's going to be great just yet." True. And, I don't know that it's going to suck yet, either.

Expensive? Yes.

What I do know, is that I really don't see a thing, not one single thing, that will make Vista significantly better than the Linux desktops I have in front of me today.

I see a lot of you taking shots but not supplying any real info. I too am interested in this question. Do you have anything else besides "It's Microsoft", "It sucks" or "It's not Mac"?

A link to an article... anything?

I'd really like to know if it's worth upgrading to as well.

yeah its not mac

Performance! Or lack thereof. I have a 2.1GHz Core 2 Duo laptop with 2GB of RAM and 256MB dedicated video memory yet Vista Ultimate runs slow.

Another minor yet major PITA is no Flash for 64bit IE7.

I have all the cutesy graphical stuff turned off (looks like Win95), non-critical services disabled and have removed all the HP backup/usability tools.

Vista and possibly Windows 7 due in 2012 may cause serious consumer backlash that could be a boon to Linux just as what happened with the Rise of Firefox over MS Internet Explorer, people were tired of poor compatibility, security, support, and usability.

To answer the question directly, Vista is pretty much incompatible with most legacy software, hardware, and even new hardware. A lot of software that ran very fast on Windows XP will run slower on VISTA and it may even be crash prone. It is the Windows 95 of the early 21st century and quite possibly the Microsoft BOB of our time.

Guys... chill. Whether we use Mac or PC remember, we give THEM money for the "priviledge" of using the software.
Unless Bill Gates or Steve Jobs is sending you a check every week to evangelize their product, is it really worth it to get so uptight about it?

Each OS has it's strengths & weaknesses depending on what you need.

Use what works for you and RELAX!!

1. It takes a while to learn, so why not get GNU and be free. Just upgrade to Ubuntu 8.10 it's easy and it's all free.
2. It is slow on the same hardware that Ubuntu blazes on.
3. It is expensive when Ubuntu is free.
4. It still is not secure, yet Ubuntu is.
5. It will make you a slave to microsoft and proprietary software, with Ubuntu you are free to customise, distribute(give to friends and family, or the world), choose from 7000 different programs all free.
6. It must be purchased from a store(online, or brick and mortar), Ubuntu can be downloaded and burned or ordered from shipit for free(ubuntu even pays shipping).
7. It(vista) has several hundred reasons to stay away, Ubuntu has thousands of reasons for switching.

Yea, it sucks, the should call it Windows please wait...

And when i tried it it caused problems with nearly every game I played

As far as I'm concerned, would you buy an OS written by:
1)A company that compartmentalizes their programming team, is proven to have deliberate security holes, and refuses to release even a little of their code (it took a motion by the SUPREME COURT to see even a bit of code from IE)?
- OR -
2) A company who wrote their OS based on (one of) the most stable OS ever created and who allows anyone to view and improve their code?

Closed VS open source?
Window$ VS UNIX?
Insanity VS stability?

OSX sells itself.

Do bears shit in the woods?

I DON'T KNOW THAT MUCH ABOUT COMPUTERS BUT THIS IS GETTING ON MY NERVES EVER TIME I TO GO TO ANY SITES THIS ALWAYS POP-UPS:CANNOT OPEN THIS SITE BECAUSE THERE IS SOME COMPATIBLE ISSUE THAT HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH MY ACTIVEX, LIKE I SAID BEFORE I KNOW VERY LITTLE ABOUT THE TECH JARIN ON THE COMPUTER.

ANY HELP WOULD BE GREATLY APPRIECATED
THANK YOU FOR ANY HELP

ABOUT OT PULL MY HAIR OUT!!!!!!!!

Yes. It exists.

I understand that Mr. Gates is scrambling to come up with the next Big Idea. Long live Apple OS!!

It's compatible with pretty much NOTHING! It's slow as hell, and all the good programs that used to come with windows no longer do! I can't stand vista! I would rather Windows XP.

Yes, the entire OS is a problem. I would suggest getting back to XP or Mac OSX Leopard.

Yes, too many to count

In the last few weeks we ran a poll on our site, asking our readers to point out what is Windows Vista's biggest problem. Due to the fact that our site does not have high traffic we managed the gather only 534 votes. However the results are pretty conclusive.
Our readers pointed out that, after approximately 6 months, Windows Vista has two main problems: the lack of proper drivers (36% of votes) and lots of application compatibility issues (36% of votes).

We have been using Windows Vista since it was launched and, based on our experience, we agree with our readers.

Driver problems

Since Windows Vista's launch, the drivers have been a big issue. Lots of hardware components (old and new) had no drivers for Windows Vista or, even if they had, their quality was very poor. One of the most prominent examples is Nvidia. When the GeForce 8800 graphic cards were launched, they were labeled as "Designed for Windows Vista". It is only natural that many people asumed the graphic cards would work well with this operating system. Unfortunately that was not the case, as the Nvidia drivers had lots of issues. There were numerous posts on Nvidia's official forums commeting the bad state of the drivers. Some users even built internet pages such as nvidiaclassaction.info to gather evidence for a class action suit.
Since then, Nvidia worked hard on the Windows Vista drivers and released many new and improved versions. However, their latest driver - Forceware version 158.24 - still has plenty of issues. For example, popular games such as World of Warcraft have low frame rates while others crash during play or have corrupted textures.

Nvidia is not the only company that has these issues. Other big hardware manufacturers such as Creative, renown for their sound cards and sound systems, have similar problems. When Windows Vista was launched, their drivers were mostly in beta stages. Even though they released so called "final versions", their drivers had plenty of issues. Lots of users complained on the official forums and, after a while, Creative announced the ALchemy Project - a project that aims to offer complete DirectSound3D support for Sound Blaster X-Fi products in Windows Vista. Unfortunately, old sound cards such as the Audigy 2 series are not yet supported. Due to lots of users' request, they started the development of ALchemy for Audigy sound cards. However, according to Creative, this products will be offered as a "low-cost" upgrade.

Having bad drivers is always better than having no drivers. Even today there are companies that do not offer Windows Vista compatible drivers for their hardware. For example, Mustek - a company famous for their scanning solutions, has still no drivers ready, not even in beta stages. Since the launch of Windows Vista and until today their driver download page has remained unchanged. The only thing they bothered to do was to state that "Currently we don’t provide drivers or updates for Windows Vista". They have no forums and when we sent an e-mail asking for some feedback regarding Windows Vista drivers we received no answer.

Unfortunately Mustek is not the only example. There are other companies doing the same thing and lots of customers suffer.


Application compatibility

Drivers are not the only problem. Lots of applications do not work either on the new Microsoft operating system. That's because many software developers created applications that function only if the user has full administrative privileges. With the introduction of UAC (User Access Control) and other system changes, lots of old applications have problems. The most prominent example of an application that was incompatible with Windows Vista is iTunes. Whenever the Windows Vista "Safely Remove Hardware" feature was used, it corrupted the user's iPods, requiring a full restore. Also, iTunes text and graphics had display issues with Windows Vista. However, upgrading to iTunes v7.2 or higher solves these issues.

Lots of other applications had or still have problems. Most of these problems are encountered with applications that install legacy drivers in order to function. These applications can be CD/DVD burning utilities, VPN applications, virtualization solutions or even security suites. Other applications just refuse to install even though they could work on Windows Vista. This problem is due to the poor design of their installer. For example, some applications ask for the installation of Microsoft.NET Framework version 1.1 or 2.0. They won't install even though Windows Vista has a newer version of .NET Framework.


Conclusion

Just like with any other new operating system, problems are inherent. What matters most is that both hardware manufacturers and software developers act in a proactive way and offer the required support to their customers in a timely manner. Unfortunately, Windows Vista's launch revealed many problems even though Microsoft released it to computer hardware and software manufacturers, business customers, and retail channels, months before it was released worldwide to the general public.

Hopefully, both computer hardware and software manufacturers will fix their issues as soon as possible. And, maybe, they will learn from their mistakes so history won't repeat itself with every new release of a major operating system.

- From http://www.vista4beginners.com/Windows-Vista-problems

no problems on my end, i just got it for my rebuild project and it works fine. i just turned off the ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO INSTALL WISE FTP??? ARE YOU SUE YOUR SURE YOU WANT TO..... it annoyed me (under user settings)

i got mine for 50$... always check your products before buying... i used an upgrade on a blank hard drive.... it was the cheapest yet hardest way to do it. i dont recommend the upgrade but installation disk.

-process for upgrade: u install as secondary switch the secondary (after installing windows vista on it) as primary run the repair function. (restarts) set it up and there you go =D-

Oh and about the video ripping... there is a tool u can use but a converter is required..... unless you use a flash tool for websites then its fine but for a wmv (converter =/ )

about the zune comment my zune works fine and i prefer it over an ipod. (running vista)

it may just be me but im great with learning new software and fixing bugs but i didn't have too many problems with vista.

Vista is still not tested properly. It is so heavy for systems, which need high speed pcs.

Luckily I am still using XP.

How about it's existence?

But seriously, Vista is definitely a fully operational Operating System, but it does many annoying things. For example, in order to install a program that is not easily recognized by Vista (which is practically every non-Microsoft product) you have to deal with Vista interrupting your work to bring up this dark screen that asks you if you REALLY want to run the setup program. There's an option to turn it off, but then every few seconds, a taskbar pop-up will tell you that you've turned off the feature, and your computer is at risk. I turned it off because it was annoying, I don't want something as equally annoying in its place.

I'd stick to XP for as long as you can.

Vista is a serious problem,

Consider just how many bug fixes are included in Windows Vista Service Pack 1.

By Microsoft's count, SP1 rolls up 551 separate hotfixes, in addition to 23 security updates rated Important and already delivered via Windows Update.

Yes that shows that there were a bunch of problems with this operating system.

LISTEN TO ME, okay I am using a vista pc right now and trust me it will not make your computer use fun. Its very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very SLOW it also has many issues with installing programs. It will ask you at least ten times if your sure you want to install a program. DO NOT GET WINDOWS VISTA IT WILL PISS YOU OFF

For some reason, mine keeps randomly restarting itself during 3d renders, something my 4 year old dell with a 64 mb video card - gig of ram and 2.16 pentium 4 never did. compared to a dual core 2.4 3 gig ram and 128 card.

So i hate vista -

All you Apple fanboys and Linux lovers can go to hell. Microsoft Windows is and will always be the top OS. Windows Vista is a fine OS, it has a great firewall that comes working and on out of the box, and Microsoft is very quick to patch security holes, while Apple is more worried about not bleaching their black turtle necks and not scratching their iPhones. 98% of all enterprise corporations run on Windows, so it must be work great.

its overpriced. Performs badly (even with high spec hardware), Limited hardware support, Full of bugs.

Do Yourself a favour install Linux (Ubuntu or Kubuntu) on your PC or buy a Mac

I just put the machine upstairs for my kids to play on since they play those barbie and disney type games. I have recently purchased an online game called Toontown by Disney.... it is an EXCELLENT GAME for kids that is actually even fun for an adult.... UNFORTUNATELY, guess what? .... well here is the email I received from Toontown:

-------------------------------------------------------
Dear Toontown Guest,

Thank you for your recent bug report.

Unfortunately Toontown is not yet compatible with Microsoft Windows
Vista. We are working to resolve this issue as soon as possible.

If you are a current Toontown subscriber, please contact Customer
Service at 888.332.1626 to discuss an extension on your current
subscription.

We apologize for any inconvenience.

Thank You,

Mark
Disney's Toontown Online Member Services
-------------------------------------------------------

This is not the first time I have had problems with even the simplest things.. Thanks to Vista. There goes $90.00 for a year subscription that the kids can't play until Toontown gets around to making it compatible for vista. I have even downloaded Firefox on the vista machine to see if the game will "sneak past" the vista bullcrap...which it failed but at least I got it to install, but it won't play on firefox and IE7 won't run it on Vista.

P.S. I would go the linux route, but my kids are still learning Windows and it really isn't feasible at the moment, but if things don't change I'll have to do something.

I've got a brand spanking new PC here on my network that I bought to take place of my current system. The new machine has Vista Basic, and I've had it for about 2 months, and I have used it only twice. It takes about 6 minutes to boot to the desktop, and opening a program is completely a chore. I use I.E. 7 on my XP machine and love the tabbed browsing, but on the vista machine you only browse around hoping that you don't come across a link you'd like to open while keeping the same page.... it is very regretable to have to open more than one task. Multitasking is obsolete, and for almost 2000 dollars, you'd think you bought one bad ass machine... Ruined by vista, and an XP installation didn't even come close to the "F8 to agree to these terms..". It is purely JUNK, and I can't return the machine, and tech support says to deal with the slowness of the machine.

I don't forsee a service pack being the answer. There has NEVER been a service pack that will actually SPEED UP the machine, and there aren't about to be any either. The operating system was designed ON the best machines that money can buy, and hurried into hands of computer manufacturers without being tested on mediocre machines.

People who are USED to running a slower machine may notice there is some increase in performance if they go out and buy a new one, but it is all crap.

Well I have had it installed from the release date, and as yet Ive not had a single problem.

It runs very well, the extra functions are great and it looks nice.

Microsoft is so messed up. Go linux! And its new like most new things it has a ways to go

It is not too bad although a lot of my programmes are needing to be reset. I had all my data transferred and it seems to be working ok there are things I do not like but others that are really good.
I have only had the machine since Sunday so I cannot really give an in depth report.
The store I bought this PC at did not have any other operating system and it is the largest chain in the UK. they have completely phased out the selling of XP.

Here is a blog about Vista installation and it has listed out few problems you could run into:
http://crazytoon.com/2007/02/04/windows-vista-installation/
My husband wrote that after he tried it out for 2 weeks and could not get his regular day-to-day tasks done (he is senior system administrator on full-time job and developer on his side job). He finally uninstalled it and put the xp back on.
He said overall the GUI is very nice and basic function work well (if you do internet, email and some word processing), but just so many advanced function still not working out that well...

first of all dos is the most stable operating system ever devised second Vista is memory hungery

yes there are actually bugs in vista...they need to do a recall because it sux...well its not like microsoft cares because there making milliones off of it

It is not Linux. :D and what is it's size?? :-O

Prolly. I would never install a brand new operating system on my computer- esp. when hard ware has to be replaced to make it work. Give it a year and see what happens to all the others who jumped too soon.

VISTA, which I've been using beta test for awhile, looks great. Couple problems as mentioned are DRM, hardware requirements and BS Trial of Office etc. Cost too high, benefit too little. Lastly, bugs are just starting to come out. Vista was another marketing ploy. Eye candy available for XP. Wait is my recommendation.

I have [3] all running on XP Pro....I use Network magic and it all is fine...If it's not broke ....why fix it...I will not up-grade since its too $$$$$ and I hope to wait until I buy a new PC...with all of the trimmings.

Not really, it just has a few small bugs (that most people won't even notice) and the performance requirements are steep.