A funny Vista Story

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Trepidati0n

[H]F Junkie
Joined
Oct 26, 2004
Messages
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My wife wanted a new lappy and our company was having a pretty good deal with Dell (bascially 3 year warranty for free) besides the normally low price. The catch...only Vista Home Premium was available. I figured new hardware shouldn't cause too many issues. Got the new laptop and Vista sure looked nice but nothing amazing. A few weeks later I installed a Sage Placeshifter client and was having issues. Found out it had something to deal with the Aero interface and 3D + Java. Skip forward two months because of 60 hour weeks at work and finally had a chance to sit down and work on the issue. So,

Step 1) Turn off Aero

So...I go to turn off Aero and :eek: It was never on. My wifes 1505 came with Aero defaulted off. So I turned Aero on and WoW...vista now feels "nice". It stopped that "XP feel" and it was much more fun to toy with.

I'm still having issues with Placeshifter but damn if Vista isn't something to look at now. Just thought I'd share.

In short...if you just got Vista that is more than just the home basic version on an OEM PC...make sure Aero is on.
 
Trepidati0n said:
In short...if you just got Vista that is more than just the home basic version on an OEM PC...make sure Aero is on.
Click to expand...

Well, I would change that last part to, "...make sure you try Aero at least once."

Not everyone gets warm fuzzies when their 3D hardware can do something besides play games, as you and I do. I will say (I am broken and) window-key/tab cycling of live, 3D'ed views of running tasks makes me happy, on a very deep level. :D
 
I bought Vista Home Premium for $50 when my local CompUSA closed. It's sitting on my shelf, still shrink wrapped, I'm in no hurry to make the switch. I personally don't care for a flashy animated interface, I turn off all the eye candy of XP. When I minimize a window, I want it gone now, I don't care to see it slip, slide and fade away. Same goes when I switch to a background or minimized window, I want it as soon as I click on it, not 2 seconds later after it does a little dance.

I've played with Vista in stores, I admit it's neat and fun, but I haven't even installed it on my own computer yet and I'm already bored with it. I've even played with Linux and Beryl on my notebook, which doesn't even come close to meeting the minimum specs of Vista, but it handles it just fine. I uninstalled that after playing with it for half a day when the "ooooh cool" factor wore off.
 
jimnms said:
I personally don't care for a flashy animated interface, I turn off all the eye candy of XP. When I minimize a window, I want it gone now, I don't care to see it slip, slide and fade away. Same goes when I switch to a background or minimized window, I want it as soon as I click on it, not 2 seconds later after it does a little dance.
Click to expand...

Vista's Aero isn't just about being 'pretty' or 'cute'. It brings practical advantages too, in different ways for different people. I frequently make use of the mouseover taskbar thumbnails, for example, to monitor what's going on in other program windows. That's especially true if I have a fullscreen media centre session going to watch a television broadcast, and have it minimised to do other stuff during an ad break.

Different strokes for different folks. There are plenty enough other ways to find practical usefulness. But suggesting that it's all and only about being "pretty" is just plain short-sighted.
 
jimnms said:
I bought Vista Home Premium for $50 when my local CompUSA closed. It's sitting on my shelf, still shrink wrapped, I'm in no hurry to make the switch. I personally don't care for a flashy animated interface, I turn off all the eye candy of XP. When I minimize a window, I want it gone now, I don't care to see it slip, slide and fade away. Same goes when I switch to a background or minimized window, I want it as soon as I click on it, not 2 seconds later after it does a little dance.

I've played with Vista in stores, I admit it's neat and fun, but I haven't even installed it on my own computer yet and I'm already bored with it. I've even played with Linux and Beryl on my notebook, which doesn't even come close to meeting the minimum specs of Vista, but it handles it just fine. I uninstalled that after playing with it for half a day when the "ooooh cool" factor wore off.
Click to expand...


You do realize that you can turn off all the extra junk in Vista and have a pared down interface that uses nil for extras right? It's pretty easy to do also.

And as for saying you're bored with it? Is XP all that exciting that the good times just can't be stopped? Vista is a great OS with plenty to offer and a shitload to tweak and play around with, and if you go the Vista 64bit route, which is just as good as the 32 bit, you have a nice memory subsystem that is stable, fast as 2 rabbits fuckin and IMO is much better than XP.

Now if the drivers would mature a bit more I'd be super happy, but as it stands today the drivers out are solid performers, the OS feels slick, and when you game it automatically turns all the extra shit off :D
 
Snooble said:
You do realize that you can turn off all the extra junk in Vista and have a pared down interface that uses nil for extras right? It's pretty easy to do also.
Click to expand...

Yes I know you can turn it off, but when you turn off all the fancy new visuals, then Vista has nothing to offer for me to want to upgrade to it. XP does everything I need. When DX10 games start coming out and I have DX10 hardware, then maybe I'll install it, but for now there is no reason.

Snooble said:
And as for saying you're bored with it? Is XP all that exciting that the good times just can't be stopped? Vista is a great OS with plenty to offer and a shitload to tweak and play around with, and if you go the Vista 64bit route, which is just as good as the 32 bit, you have a nice memory subsystem that is stable, fast as 2 rabbits fuckin and IMO is much better than XP.
Click to expand...

If I don't want to use Vista, that's my right, don't get your undies in a wad over it. :rolleyes: I don't understand why Vista fanboys get so upset whenever someone says they don't like it, and then preach to them as if they're trying to sell it. Is Microsoft paying you to sell Vista?
 
jimnms said:
If I don't want to use Vista, that's my right, don't get your undies in a wad over it. :rolleyes: I don't understand why Vista fanboys get so upset whenever someone says they don't like it, and then preach to them as if they're trying to sell it.
Click to expand...
Maybe it's because the "fanboys" get sick and tired of dealing with people who think Vista is just a visual upgrade, and therefore "has nothing to offer them"? The only people who are frustrated and rolling their eyes, are the ones who have to deal with comments like yours, where you've clearly made your mind up about a product, without doing any type of research or consideration.

I'll state it again, since you seem to think the problem lies on someone else's end. There are some legitimate reasons for not running Vista. Then there are some ridiculous ones, that clearly show that the person making the decision is uninformed. If you really only think Vista is a visual upgrade from XP, you shouldn't be posting in Vista threads, or debating its merits.
 
Aero on, Glass off; replace Flip3D with Switcher. By far the best OS interface I've used. Too bad MS doesn't include Switcher by default.
 
djnes said:
Maybe it's because the "fanboys" get sick and tired of dealing with people who think Vista is just a visual upgrade, and therefore "has nothing to offer them"? The only people who are frustrated and rolling their eyes, are the ones who have to deal with comments like yours, where you've clearly made your mind up about a product, without doing any type of research or consideration.

I'll state it again, since you seem to think the problem lies on someone else's end. There are some legitimate reasons for not running Vista. Then there are some ridiculous ones, that clearly show that the person making the decision is uninformed. If you really only think Vista is a visual upgrade from XP, you shouldn't be posting in Vista threads, or debating its merits.
Click to expand...


Thanks Djines, I couldn't have said it myself. Vista has a new driver platform that differs tremendously from XP, a new memory subsystem that blows XP out of the water, a lot better security, DirectX 10, and so forth.

But he just wants to reply as a flamer, which in reality makes him look like a uninformed dick who just rolls in to make his shitface statements then put down others.

Good job jimnms, I'm sure D-Link customer service can really use a guy like you.
 
I actually did a Google search, and some of my results for "Switcher" scared the bejesus out of me. Thanks for the link.
 
Vista bashing = 9.x bashing ver 6.0. Same old crap everytime a new version of Windows comes out. The same type of people, and probably some the same actual people, say the same exact things about it.

If they were right, we would still be surfing the net on Windows 95 and IE 3.2 because Windows 98 is too bloated and a resource hog. :rolleyes:

Anyways, Aero is pretty slick. I miss it.
 
djnes said:
Maybe it's because the "fanboys" get sick and tired of dealing with people who think Vista is just a visual upgrade, and therefore "has nothing to offer them"? The only people who are frustrated and rolling their eyes, are the ones who have to deal with comments like yours, where you've clearly made your mind up about a product, without doing any type of research or consideration.
Click to expand...

I never said it was just a visual upgrade, I never said I hated Vista, all I said was that it had nothing to offer me to want to upgrade to it right now. Why does that make you so upset?

I have made up my mind by doing research and consideration. After I bought it, I checked and Vista does not support all of my hardware. Therefore, there is no reason for me to upgrade.

djnes said:
I'll state it again, since you seem to think the problem lies on someone else's end. There are some legitimate reasons for not running Vista. Then there are some ridiculous ones, that clearly show that the person making the decision is uninformed. If you really only think Vista is a visual upgrade from XP, you shouldn't be posting in Vista threads, or debating its merits.
Click to expand...

Where did I ever say there was any kind of problem? I played with Vista on display computers when it came out. I said I was already bored with the aero interface, just as I got bored with Beryl on Linux. I bought Vista, I already own it, you can quit trying to sell it to me already.

I'll state it again, Vista has nothing to offer me to want to upgrade to it at this time.

Snooble said:
But he just wants to reply as a flamer, which in reality makes him look like a uninformed dick who just rolls in to make his shitface statements then put down others.
Click to expand...

Where did I flame anyone? Where did I put down others? Re-read my comments, then re-read yours. I'm not the one flaming and putting others down.

The OP is about aero, and I replied with my opinion on aero. Hell I even said that it was "neat and fun," I just said that I got bored with it. I did not say Vista sucks, everyone should stick with XP, but you must think I have by way I've been attacked.

I'm going to say this again (maybe if I say it enough it will finally get through), Vista has nothing to offer ME to want to upgrade to it RIGHT NOW.
 
Guys, take it easy. Not everyone who isn't in a hurry to move to Vista thinks it's crap.

I use it at home and I love it. The more stuff I find while using it, the more I find myself liking it. It's slick, it's had nearly no problems (and none that that aren't a result of old programming), and as far as I can tell using it there is no speed loss between it and my previous XP install.

At work, I'm taking things very slowly. A few computers have been brought in with Vista, but lately I've been choosing XP instead to avoid too much confusion. Instead, I'm focusing first on Office 2007, because honestly that's going to make the biggest difference in the workplace (because it is awesome). The move from Vista to XP will be, for at least a few years, mostly superficial for the end users until more of the GP and AD features (and new server system) are able to be taken advantage of. Security? Yeah, that's all well and good, but I'm already a paranoid administrator and a cautious IT manager/planner, so I already follow the "deny all, allow as needed" methodology to security.

Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks.
 
Why the hell does everyone care what operating system you use?????

If you want to use XP than FINE, if you want to use VIsta, THAN DO SO.
I dont get why people go crazy over what OS is better blah blah blah. Its an OS people :rolleyes:

Anyways im moving to Vista and checked my drivers and im building a new system so i might as well. I also am getting a dx 10 card shortly after than g80 series is done.

Simple: If you want to use Vista do so, if you dont, than DONT.

Thanks
 
jimnms said:
I never said it was just a visual upgrade, I never said I hated Vista, all I said was that it had nothing to offer me to want to upgrade to it right now. Why does that make you so upset?

Where did I ever say .....?

Where did I flame....?

I'm going to say this again (maybe if I say it enough it will finally get through), Vista has nothing to offer ME to want to upgrade to it RIGHT NOW.
Click to expand...

I'm not upset, jimnms. I'm also quite aware that you are of the belief that you're making a valid contribution. But I can also well understand why people do get annoyed, and I can see that your intent wasn't mirrored in your original comments. That original comment read:

.... Vista has nothing to offer for me to want to....
Click to expand...

Clumsy wording perhaps, but that wording effectively becomes a blunt statement that "Vista has nothing to offer" and that therefore you don't want to upgrade. When people post objection to that implication (as they should) you then throw out the "Vista fanboy" insult.

Intentional or otherwise, you've effectively made appearance in the thread to do nothing other than comment that you don't like Vista and don't want to use it. That makes your appearance an off-topic intrusion with no other apparent purpose than to disparage ( or 'flame') the OS version being referred to. No wonder people object!

Chill, eh? And same goes for the people responding to the intrusion!



Back on topic, Aero being disabled can happen on budget, entry-level desktop machines as well as on laptops. Generally it'll occur in a situation where available system memory is quite restricted, where the graphics are an onboard solution, and where only a very limited amount of memory has been allocated as "Shared" for graphics.

Sometimes, before enabling Aero, the user will need to access BIOS Setup and alter the setting for Shared Memory, in order that enough is allocated to graphics. The graphics subsystem really needs 128Mb or more in order to run Aero effectively. If that change places too much restriction on system memory (ie if the system only has 512Mb overall or somesuch) then the addition of another RAM module to bump up system memory is also a really wise move.


It happened to me on a HTPC I recently built for household use. That rig has onboard Nvidia 6150 graphics, and when I first installed Vista I only had a sungle 512Mb RAM module fitted, and the motherboard was configured for 64Mb shared memory. So no Vista Aero straight up. The 'Performance check' conducted during the Vista install determined that the system would struggle with it. By the time I'd finished installing the planned hardware and tweaking a few settings, though, Aero could be enabled and ran just fine.
 
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