Just tried out Vista for the 1st time.....thoughts

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SleeplessIncubus

Gawd
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Dec 28, 2006
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Yes, I know I am a little late on getting my hands on Vista but I didnt have an extra hard drive laying around and I didnt want to format my current drive.

The installation process was very quick and smooth. My first thought when the OS started for the first time was that it had a definate apple/mac look to it. (I installed Vista Ultimate x64) The icons were large, rounded and smooth - compared to XP where everything is kinda small and boxy.

One of the cool things that I didnt realize was that the 64 bit version could still run the 32 bit apps. I assume that it runs it in some sort of x86 emulation. I saw that it installed the 64 bit apps in the regular windows directory and the x86 got its own folder.

The widgets were a nice addition to the OS as well.

Now....a lot of things were moved from their places from XP to Vista. For example - I wanted to change the computer to have a static ip address. In Xp just go to network connections/properties and make the changes. Vista took me a while to figure out where I had to go to make the changes. It wasnt hard - just took a while to find out where they had placed it. Also, some of the control panel settings are put into groups making it a little harder to find the exact thing I wanted....not a big deal either.

The one thing that really bothered me was every time I wanted to make a change a box would pop up asking for my permission. I'm not sure if this was some setting I had to change but if I am the admin and want to make a change....it shouldnt be questioned. It was just kind of annoying and slowed me down a bit.

Other then that everything else looked really nice. The aero glass is nice as well. For me it would just seem I would have to sit down and spend some time with it just to adapt to the new features. I dont think it really did anything a ton better then xp (except the search feature which is really nice). So for that reason I think I'll wait until most of the bugs are out and more drivers are put out for vista before I go ahead and make the purchase.
 
What many people first do is disable UAC

that disables those annoying permission popups and it is under the user account settings in the control panel.
 
uac is good for the people who really shouldnt be using a computer, but do anyway
 
SleeplessIncubus said:
One of the cool things that I didnt realize was that the 64 bit version could still run the 32 bit apps. I assume that it runs it in some sort of x86 emulation. I saw that it installed the 64 bit apps in the regular windows directory and the x86 got its own folder.
Click to expand...

Hey look, another VIsta impressions thread!

As far as the 32 bit apps running, that was to be expected, because XP64 did the same. There's no way it could only run 64 bit apps, because you wouldn't have enough applications for it to be a fully functional PC.
 
djnes said:
Hey look, another VIsta impressions thread!

As far as the 32 bit apps running, that was to be expected, because XP64 did the same. There's no way it could only run 64 bit apps, because you wouldn't have enough applications for it to be a fully functional PC.
Click to expand...

i assumed that was the reason that x64 wasnt so popular because there werent that many apps for it....since it does run both is there any reason why people shouldnt do the x64 version assuming you have a 64 bit processor
 
For Vista, it remains to be seen. XP64 had issues with drivers that kept most people away from it. There also wasn't any benefit to the average person using XP64. Only a very very small few that used a specific app written for 64 bit OSes, like a 3D modelling app, etc. If driver availability is better for Vista64, along with more 64 bit processors, you'll see more apps being written for 64 bit apps.
 
I would wait for the switch to 64 bit honestly. I have run XP64 and Vista64 and neither are really much different right now other than headaches because you have more issues with drivers. I had Vista64 installed but couldn't get a working 64-bit sound driver for my system, so I switched it to 32 bit for now. When 64-bit applications are the norm instead of the exception, it'll be worth it. I don't run 64-bit Linux for the same reason. It just requires more work at this point, so I'm sticking with 32 bit until the performance and effort balance start to shift.
 
Using MSCONFIG
  1. Launch MSCONFIG by from the Run menu.
  2. Click on the Tools tab. Scroll down till you find "Disable UAP" (this should probably change to UAC in next Vista beta builds and in the RTM version). Click on that line.

​
  1. Press the Launch button.
  2. A CMD window will open. When the command is done, you can close the window.
  3. Close MSCONFIG. You need to reboot the computer for changes to apply.
Note that you can re-enable UAC by selecting the "Enable UAP" line and then clicking on the Launch button.


taken from here
 
While everyone and his little brother will happily say "Disable UAC" and even go so far as to show you step-by-step how to do it, as soon as you do disable it, you basically make Vista about as secure as... oh... XP. I won't recommend anyone turn off UAC since it's going to be a nightmare if and when things start going wrong because someone did disable it.

I know people get sick of it, but realistically the only time you see it affect your daily usage - and for anyone about to respond with "It comes up with everything I try to do" that's bullshit and you (whoever you are that might say it) know it - is when you're freshly installing the OS and all your applications, i.e. the setup phase.

After that, the UAC prompts really aren't an issue anymore since I doubt people are installing applications constantly on a day in day out basis. The argument that people use (as the OP did) about being the Admin and not requiring to be notified or asked permission is not a good one: if you're logged in as an Admin, anything that's infected the machine would thereby have the same rights and priviledges and permissions, and again it would just happen in the background without your knowledge at all. Now, even with you being an Admin, the system is the one in charge and it's out to protect itself - even from Admins because... tada... that's where the most possible damage can come from.

UAC is the very heart of why Vista is a more secure OS than any previous version of Windows, and while I denounce Microsoft for making it as easy as it is to disable it - uncheck a box and reboot - I understand why people choose to do it.

Personally, I think people should leave it alone and just get into the habit of a security popup now and again.

I predicted this in early 2005 when UAC issues were just coming to light, and I was right. The whole purpose of UAC is to warn the user that something is trying to execute in the background which is when most malware or virus activity happens: unnoticed and in the background out of the purview of the user. The idea was that if something like this could be workable, it might prevent problems which required technical support, like viruses, trojans, malware, etc.

But in the long run it's going to backfire on Microsoft and probably generate as many if not more phone calls and technical support tickets because people will complain about Vista being "Too secure to use without hassles."

I thought about disabling UAC once, then common sense kicked in and I realized that would simply be a very bad idea.

I hope more people come to their senses and realize this is the new way things are done. And if you do disable it, and you do get into some issues because it was disabled, don't come cryin' 'round here... ;)

ps
That method Stormlifter explained is not a good one, actually. Toying around with MSCONFIG can have some rather drastic side effects if a mistake is made - I'm not saying it won't work, just saying it's not that difficult - Microsoft makes it too easy, as I said before. You can find that procedure on this page:

Scroll to the very last step on this page
 
i do agree with the post above me. it is annoying when you are doing a bunch of changes, but once you are set up, you pretty much never see it again.
 
Hasn't OSX been bugging you for confirmation like UAC does for years? (I don't use it, so I don't know)

From a support standpoint, I love it. No end user should ever turn it off, but I do like that we're given the option and that it's made easy. My initial setup involves a lot of offline installation so there's no danger of infection, and I'd rather not be bothered with those messages at that time.

I use TeaTimer on my XP system, so I have to approve or deny every registry change; you get used to it, and the one time something tries to make a change you didn't expect you're glad you went to the trouble.
 
That's why I plan to leave UAC enabled on all my Vista systems...even mine. I'd rather know, than be ignorant to what goes on in my system.
 
djnes said:
That's why I plan to leave UAC enabled on all my Vista systems...even mine. I'd rather know, than be ignorant to what goes on in my system.
Click to expand...

Same here, soon as I get my copy.

The problem with getting a free copy from MS is they take forever to ship them...I'll see it like in March :(
 
I dont understand why you would recommend not disabling this feature. The boxes dont pop up just when you are first installing the OS but every time you install a simple application. I was prompted when I changed the wallpaper!

I mean this UAC is great for most of the computer illiterate people out there. My computer has never been compromised by a virus or trojan. if you know what you are doing and not surfing shady places i dont think it will be a problem....for others I cant be so sure.
 
If a virus gets into your machine - and it can happen, regardless of what AV software you use because the new viruses get into machines before someone realizes it and comes up with a fix - and it starts executing code in the background, you have no idea that this is taking place.

If you're logged in as an Administrator, or your account has Admin priviledges, that virus or whatever malware might have infected your machine has total complete and wide-open access to do anything it damned well wants.

UAC is there for a reason; that reason is to keep that sort of thing from not only not happening but to alert you at the same time that something is trying to do stuff on your machine.

As I said earlier, if you choose to disable UAC, and something happens that would not have happened if you'd left it alone, I sure hope you (and again, this isn't directed at any one person, I'm generalizing) don't come crying 'round here... the people that know and understand how this stuff works (people like me, for one) understand why it exists now and why things are this way now:

Because the average Joe Blow computer owner doesn't have a clue about what's going on - and now they will, if something tries to run on their machine.

It's a good thing, all around, even if it does get a bit annoying. I'd rather be annoyed at an OS that checks on itself than come to use my PC and find out it's screwed three ways from Sunday.

And that argument about "I know what I'm doing and I don't surf shady sites" means jack fuckin' shit in this day and age. It's a copout and precisely the kind of response most of us expect.

There is no such thing as "Never," there is only "Hasn't happened yet."
 
SleeplessIncubus said:
I dont understand why you would recommend not disabling this feature. The boxes dont pop up just when you are first installing the OS but every time you install a simple application. I was prompted when I changed the wallpaper!

I mean this UAC is great for most of the computer illiterate people out there. My computer has never been compromised by a virus or trojan. if you know what you are doing and not surfing shady places i dont think it will be a problem....for others I cant be so sure.
Click to expand...

Like I said, it's one of those things where the first time it asks you about a change that you DIDN'T make, you'll be so glad you had it.

I went four years with XP virus free. About four months ago, I picked up...something. I noticed some weird activity on netstat and got to digging and found an IRC bot buried in my Windows directory. I'm sure it came in one of the dozens of files I'd downloaded and forgotten to scan prior to installing.

This is where the fun began :) Someone had made a mistake...I promptly took control of the bot. It was absurdly easy; the source was included as well as help files. Aren't script kiddies great? He was using it as part of a little botnet to hijack and hold IRC channels. They had a few hundred channels, and the bots autopromoted each other. Any channel I logged into automatically got me promoted to op, at which point I kicked all the other bots and took the channel over myself.

When the kiddie showed up in a channel one day to find out what happened to his stupid little empire, I told him that I found his bot the day after it started running on my system and that I'd taken over his entire botnet (okay, so I stretched the truth...the fact that one of his bots was arguing with him pretty much had him believing anything I said). After much whining and empty threats, he and his little posse of wannabe hackers retreated back to the intarweb in search of new, better bots.

The moral of the story is, it only takes one mistake (and sometimes no mistake at all) to get something on your computer you don't want. Better safe than sorry, just endure the occasional "are you sure?" in order to prevent bad stuff from happening.
 
i guess as the old adage says....better safe then sorry, right?

ill guess ill just deal with it....i mean it could be a lot worse.
 
I'm currently chatting with a friend on IRC that's had XP installed on his computer for 5 years - seriously. The same XP installation for 5 solid years now, and he just had a power brownout earlier today. He's got an IBM "Deathstar" 75GXP hard drive - again, seriously - as his primary hard drive, had it since he installed XP 5 years ago and never had one problem with it. Very lucky guy...

But today he booted up after the brownout and his 160GB Maxtor hard drive seems to have "lost" a 70GB partition on it, along with roughly 70GB of data on it. Over the years, he's never purchased a burner - not a CD burner, not a DVD burner.

He's the trusting sort, believes that his hardware is high tech and works fine and will last for years and never ever bothered to take my advice to reinstall to get a nice clean and updated XP installation that would be nice and fast. He never took my advice to get a UPS, even a cheap $35 APC UPS from Wal-Mart. He never took my advice to get a DVD burner and back up his data.

"Never" turned into "Happened today" for him pretty fast. He just lost 70GB of music, videos, pictures, documents, etc. all because he never took my advice even one time as noted above, and many other times for a variety of other reasons.

"Better safe than sorry..." is a maxim that's been passed down through the years for a good reason: it really is better to be safe than sorry, as he now is.
 
burning DVDs has never been easier or cheaper. A DVD burner can be had for $30 new. A small price to pay as insurance against the loss of 1000s of hours of lost data. Some of the new software is a 123 click type of thing or drag and drop. I don't even feel bad when someone brings me a virus corrupted pc to fix. It's bye bye data, and a fresh install of the os. After the first time, they quickly get the idea that maybe a burner isn't such a bad idea along with some GOOD AV.
 
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