Really confused. I got my laptop last July,and it comes with Vista operation system. After several months useage, I found that there were lots of limitations going wiht Vista, and really could not find the advantages of this system??? Could any body tell me the exact differences? Should I replace it to XP system??
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What's the exact differences between Vista and XP?
- Thread starter marina330
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Vista has a much larger feature set than XP, so much so that it is basically futile to try and list changes here. Bottom line: keep Vista on the laptop. If you feel limited it is likely due to what ever 3rd party vendor software came on your laptop or you put on it.
bigdogchris
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In what ways are you being limited or why do you feel it is Vista limiting you. We might be able to help you out.
DeaconFrost
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The exact difference is that they are two entirely different operating systems. Once you answer bigdogchris's question, we'll be able to step forward.
ruraljuror
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If you bought your laptop last July, Vista should be perfectly fine. Any limitations is probably just caused by you lack of familiarity with it. Give it a month and if you still hate it then consider going back to XP.
An exact list of the differences would be much beyond the scope of a forum post, simply because there are so many.
However, I will list some of the bigger ones.
....And a boatload of other things. Though Windows Vista does have a lot of major changes, it also has little features, like Vector graphic icons instead of raster graphic icons. In Windows XP, the icons you see everywhere (on the desktop, on the start menu, in the title-bar of a window) were all represented and saved as pixels, which means they don't scale very well. On Vista and Windows 7, they're vector graphics, meaning they're represented and saved as mathematical vectors, and can be scaled indefinitely without getting jagged, blocky or pixelated.
However, I will list some of the bigger ones.
- A new and greatly improved kernel
- A new driver model to replace XPs severely outdated one (Windows XP's driver model was heavily based off of the Windows 95 driver model)
- Improved memory management, as well as features like superfetch to utilize free memory to improve system performance
- User Account Control (UAC), which splits security tokens and ensures only the processes users wish to have administrative rights will receive administrative rights
- Many new APIs, including DirectX10/11 APIs and the WASAPI
- A new window manager which utilizes the GPU to render the GUI, where on Windows XP the CPU was used to render the GUI
- Windows Aero, which composites the desktop
....And a boatload of other things. Though Windows Vista does have a lot of major changes, it also has little features, like Vector graphic icons instead of raster graphic icons. In Windows XP, the icons you see everywhere (on the desktop, on the start menu, in the title-bar of a window) were all represented and saved as pixels, which means they don't scale very well. On Vista and Windows 7, they're vector graphics, meaning they're represented and saved as mathematical vectors, and can be scaled indefinitely without getting jagged, blocky or pixelated.