2013-07-21 17:50:12

So, yeah. Vista. Going back to it.

I need a new Windows OS for my VM for those occasions. XP will go soon. I can't think of a reason to upgrade from XP, but you know that story by now, of course. I'll have to. And yet, Windows 7 is so ... forced. I just don't like it. I don't care if you can hack your way around problems, they shouldn't be problems in the ****ing first place. You know the ones I mean: the stupid start menu; the inability to disable snap and pinning; the Piece-'O'-Crap(TM) search. All that.

So, Vista. X86, for the VM. Or x64, if I can find a module to add TRIM support for my SSDs. What do you guys think?  Have I lost it?

Cheers,

Sabahattin

Just myself, as usual.

2013-07-21 20:45:43

Vista's good, if you have the right hardware.  I still have two machines running vista and have had them for the better part of 5 years, and will continue to have them as long as they continue to work properly, which thus far they've done quite well. So, in short, no, I don't think you've lost it. smile

When life gives you oranges, demand lemons since everyone else is obviously getting them.

2013-07-21 23:06:24

Thanks Nocturnus. What a relief, to know that I'm not going completely bonkers. smile

I do try and be as objective as I can, and I know Vista isn't perfect when you look at all the feature enhancements in 7 and 8, but it strikes me as a reasonable compromise with XP's demise so near. Can't believe it only just occurred to me that for a VM it'd actually make a reasonably good candidate over XP; I guess that's what happens when you want everything about your OS to be perfect in a world of increasingly awful interfaces. Certainly I will also look at doing the unthinkable: putting Vista back onto my oldest (2009) plastic MacBook. Unthinkable, because that's how I came to OS X in the first place. The circle is complete, and I feel pretty good about it. smile

I have SP2 from TechNet and a key already. The CDs are burned. All that remains is to find the time, and I'll do it.

Cheers,

Sabahattin

Just myself, as usual.

2013-07-22 00:21:09

Er, windows 7 search works *great*. Like, really, really great.  Like, better and faster than vista's ever was?  Also, I think vista may have had the same start menu problem, not that it is that big a deal-start everything with the search box and rarely use start menu.  I don't know what you mean by pinning, but suspect that this is because I just start such with the search box.

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2013-07-22 05:53:24

Nah, Win7 search is an exercise in futility. Try using the word "in" in your search query, and realise too late that it's a search operator. Sure, you can think your way around it, but why bother? Vista's categories work much nicer for me.

Pinning is where taskbar items stay put so you can use the taskbar as an app launcher. Sort of like the OS X dock, only less well implemented. (In fact, that's Win7 in a nutshell: too much copying from OS X, although it certainly brings innovations of its own there.)

Vista gives you the XP start menu if you want it back. I do. I don't like sacrificing the hierarchical menus for searching. Personal preference, I suppose, but I always was a bit bummed out by the changes that you couldn't revert.

Just myself, as usual.

2013-07-22 13:04:55

My experience with Vista actually started out pretty well, up to the point when it randomly started to corrupt programs. Yeah, weird as that may sound, a lot of programs would suddenly stop working and give me the usual microsoft error with the "Windows is looking for a solution" message. I had it happening on at least 2 machines, both of which had vista on them.
If you want to get your xp start menu back, get classic shell. It gives youthat, plus you get a search box if you want it. I think 7 is a lot better than vista.

<Insert passage from "The Book Of Chrome" here>

2013-07-22 14:52:32

My windows installer got corrupt in vista. Not sure how it happened but, i think it had to do with some strange registry issue. I would install 7 before vista any day.

2013-07-22 15:58:12

There was an NTFS corruption bug that bit many people. It was fixed post-SP1. Perhaps it affected you? I'll definitely be on the lookout for anything bad, but I understand that was something quite a few people with the RTM releases had happen to them that M$ specifically addressed.

I'll let you know how it goes, anyway. I'm sure you'll be the first to know if I repent. smile

Just myself, as usual.

2013-07-22 17:18:47

Sebby, this is obviously a subjective opinion, but I personally feel Windows 7 is far better than Windows Vista ever was. The new Start Menu doesn't bother me that much, and Windows 7 runs faster and is more stable than Vista on any virtual machine I've run it on. I'm really frankly surprised that so many blind Windows users constantly complain about the new user interface when there is absolutely nothing wrong with it other than being different. However, to answer your question I don't think you are crazy just set in your ways.

Sincerely,
Thomas Ward
USA Games Interactive
http://www.usagamesinteractive.com

2013-07-22 18:53:05

"Set in my ways" sounds about right. I prefer "Principled", but that's just me. smile

Just myself, as usual.

2013-07-23 14:41:57

Right, well I'm now full speed ahead on this Vista VM. And, yes, I really do like it. I can see how it might be possible to transition to the new start menu, but I'm still back with classic, and it's all smooth and modern--when compared to XP, that is. And I don't buy the whole argument about people "Moving on" to 7; MS have simply aborted Vista, and I think it's a shame. Oh well, gotta be better than sticking with XP.

Just myself, as usual.

2013-07-23 16:07:43

A little off topic but, how does a windows VM perform on your mac, do you get typing lag with the screen reader of choice? Just curious, as i may be getting a macbook air very soon.

2013-07-23 18:31:13

There is a difference, but one learns to deal with it as anything. It really isn't significant, though you definitely notice when you're doing low-latency gaming. I don't find it to be worth a dedicated partition for Windows, FWIW.

Just myself, as usual.