The new computer came in. It has Windows Vista.

Should I be afraid?

Like the 'run' function. Or 'add/remove' programs. Or you keep getting nags to confirm that you really want to start this program (including those that were pre-installed) or you try to turn it off and get faced with finding you can't find the shut down option.

Oh yes, lots and lots of fun.

I know that last night was frustrating with the "automatically download hundreds of megs of new programming which makes your system run like a snail" routine.

Fire will just make it spread. You know how hard it is to get rid of Vista once it's gotten loose. I think you should carefully seal it into a tupperware container and bury it at sea.

http://www.petri.co.il/disable_uac_in_windows_vista.htm

method 4 is easiest

To be fair(ish), Windows Help, once I found it and once I convinced it that it didn't have to phone home just to answer a simple question, was reasonably straightforward. It was the finding it that was the problem, as I believe was alluded to above.

:scared:

Don't keep anything you can use to hurt your computer in reach, or you'll have to order another one.

:D

I may yank my RAM chips out of my old computer and put them in.

With only a 1.2GHz CPU and 1GB of RAM, I had to disable just about every bit of Vista eye-candy, and it was still unbelievably slow. After a few weeks of trying to tweak and cajole the system to run faster, I finally gave up and installed Ubuntu Linux.

It was like getting a new machine. Boot-up and shutdown times are about four times faster, programs launch in a flash, and everything is much more responsive. Even better, Ubuntu only takes 2.8GB of space on my hard drive, compared with 15GB for Vista. And Ubuntu comes with Open Office, which is M$ Office compatible, as well as just about every application you could ever want. All for free.

Last week, I finally removed Vista from the two Mac computers I'd installed it on "just in case." I'm finally M$ free, and it feels great!

that if you sacrifice a live chicken prior to using Vista, it will perform 50% better.

:hi:

Or maxed out your credit cards ordering "As Seen On TV" gadgets when you were away from your desk?

believe it is the "Sony Vaio" that makes it work great. Prior laptop was a Gateway, and had nothing but problems.
Now, if I could hook this laptop up to do housework, that would be phenomenal!

But it's got some bugs and issues, and if it's an example of how developing nations' engineers want to tackle problems US engineers don't want to, then bring the jobs back. Our people knew enough not to tinker... that or the WGA is deliberately made poorly, because the piracy rates of those countries ensures they get a free ride. Would they really compile a fix that would kill their own cow?

I'm your friend. I'm here to help you.

(that's 'User Account Control' for you non-dweebs). This is the security feature that's mocked in the Apple commercial ("Allow or deny?").

Goto the website below and use Method #4 to disable it.

http://www.petri.co.il/disable_uac_in_windows_vista.htm

I'm bookmarking that for future use.

It's probably worthless to do so, as someone's bound to find a way to circumvent it, but it did pop up at one point over something I did not initiate.

As for Apple, that's all they CAN do. Mock and make outrageous claims about being easy to use, quickly debunked by real Mac users' complaints on forum sites.

but from an IT department perspective, it's great.

The only issue I ran into is that with the 64-bit version, you can't (by default) install any device drivers not signed by Microsoft. This makes it impossible to install most beta or any customized drivers. There is a work around for it (I'd need to track it down again, I have it bookmarked on my machine at home, not here).

for things that have worked well under everything from 3.1 up through XP but refuse to work with Vista. I even had to get a new printer because my old one (which still works quite nicely...it's only 2 years old) is no longer supported by the manufacturer and Vista refuses to install it.

I've also had to update about a dozen programs that I use frequently because they weren't compatible with Vista. All but 2 charged for the updates.

Try dunking it in holy water.

:-)

...just get an old extension cord, strip the covering and split the wires so that you have two leads, plug it into a wall socket and apply a 120 volt jolt to the chassis.

Hey, it worked for Cheney's heart.

I've been using Vista on a new (yet modest) system for since early October, and I've had zero problems with it. It's recognized the appropriate drivers, and it's let me run Adobe Premier Pro without slowing down or placing a dramatic burden on the drives as I've heard it does.

(And let me say this-- to me, the Apple vs. Windows debate is about as valid as arguing which gets me to work more efficiently-- a Chevy chevette or a Ford escort... that is to say, they both seem to do what they're supposed to do, they both do it pretty well, and they both have a hardcore fanbase that sees only evil in one and righteousness in the other.)

www.ubuntu.com.

Download the latest version (7.10). Burn it to a CD/DVD. Install it. Say goodbye to Windows forever. Bask in the happy glow.

"User Account Control" :wtf:

More crap shoring up a great monument of crap. Useful crap, sometimes, but crap nevertheless, and expensive too. If computers didn't come with Microsoft pre-installed, Microsoft might have trouble giving their OS away for free.

Microsoft went horribly wrong when they didn't implement and enforce Unix style security functions with the very first 386 processors. It should have started with MS-DOS.

Unfortunately our market is such that having a good product doesn't matter so much as having control of a market. And control of the market isn't always the result of having a good product.

The first time I encountered UAC, I actually burst out laughing. What numbskull thought up this nonsense and called it a security feature? Surely, M$ must have known every user would turn it off within five minutes of booting the OS. With UAC off, Vista is, at best, as secure as XP. At worst, it's wide open to attack.

UAC is the software equivalent of all those elaborate airport security checks: it does nothing whatsoever to enhance security, but it's big and obvious and in your face, so you're supposed to think it's making you safer. Pure window dressing.

Within a week, I'd replaced 15GB of Vista bloatware with 2.8GB of Ubuntu Linux. Not only do I have 12GB more space to use, I have a faster, more secure, and more functional computer. All for free.

Paying hundreds of dollars of an OS that's worse than the free alternatives doesn't make much sense.

Even when I sudo and dev and compile myself into places where I'm not quite sure what I'm doing.

There's still a lot of stuff that Ubuntu won't do without modification, mostly stuff that uses some sort of Digital Rights Management. There are gadgets and gizmos that only have Windows drivers. There's no easy iPod solution, which is the primary reason my kids run Windows XP.

But other than that my Ubuntu machines see my cameras and scanners and printers just fine, and they do everything I want them to do without much fuss, and I don't ever have to purchase software or keep track of licenses.

Good luck.

If it ain't a Mac, it ain't coming into my house.

M$ products get turned away at the door, however.

and then transfer your data from your old PC.

Although I'm not sure how an XP install over Ubuntu would work, because I've never done it.