Microsoft VISTA OS

[Sportymonk]

Originally posted by Sportymonk
For what its worth, We just had to get my wife a new laptop since the Dell POS can't be fixed (still under extended warranty. Trying to get our money for extended warranty back or a new laptop. But that's a separate issue.) We got a IBM/Levano Thinkpad with XP since her desktop has XP and the old laptop had XP. Since she is in the middle of her dissertation, we didn't want to make any changes. Also the issues of some older printers and all not working with Vista (HP 722 printer!) I have an old desktop running 466 MHz CPU and XP Pro on 128 MB of ram!! Works for me.

Update: After going around with Dell and being switched between Tech Support and Customer Service, we finally got somebody to listen to the fact the Dell laptop was junk. The repairman said the last time that there was nothing left to fix. To date we have replaced (under warranty) the video card and cooling fan; the motherboard, the video card and LCD screen; and the hard drive (think that covers it). Dell shipped us a refurbished (like new) E1705 or 9400 to replace the old 15" one. New one was supposed to have everything we had on the old one. It did and more except one thing! VISTA! We wanted XP so everything would be the same among my wife's desktop and IBM laptop. (The new Dell has a 17" Wide screen glossy screen, 2 GB ram, 120 GB HD, camera card reader. Nice if it lasts more than 6 months.

As to Vista. Some programs won't install.
1A. Microsoft Office 2000 (again, need compatibility with other computers). Installation of Disk 1 gave the error message "Windows can't install the OLFAXDRV kernel-mode print driver. To obtain a driver that is compatible with the version of Window you are running, contact the manufacturer."

1B. Installation of Disk 2 halted. Message "Error 1305 Error reading from file:\PFiles\MSOffice\1033/MSAIN900.DLL. Verify that the file exists and that you can access it."
Could not ignore, only retry or cancel. Could never get it to install.

2. Compton's Encyclopedia 1995. Wouldn't install. Admittedly this is pretty old but it install with no problems on XP.

3. Bible Works 6.0 (also 7.0 if you have it) won't install properly. Contacted Bibleworks and they have developed a fix. The problem is caused by Vista's User Account Control or whatever. Installed fix, everything ok.

3. Adobe Professional 6.0 or 7.0 - Will not install. Vista msg of conflicts. Contacted Adobe for fix. There won't be a fix for Adobe Professional 6.0 or 7.0 but if you buy 8.0 (the current version) it does have a fix.

As to Vista itself. Since I didn't run an upgrade but it came with it, I can't comment on that process.) Haven't done a lot with it but the tabbed browsing like Apple Safari and Firefox is a nice feature. Every time I change something like turn Norton off to install something, it has a pop-up that asks if I authorize it to continue. No password or username. Prefer Apple's requirement of a password much better. I like the ability to open different screens at once to switch between them, about the same as Apple's Expose. All in all, a nice appearance, just a little frustrated with the older software that won't run on it. Never had this problem switching between Win 3.11, Win 95, Win 98, Win 98 Second Ed, Win Me (blah bug filled), and Win XP. Overall it seems like a nice improvement to XP but not anymore secure (no requirement for password to install or change programs). If I was getting a new computer on my own and it was going to be a Windows machine, I would prefer Vista but considering the problems of old programs and old hardware, I see no reason to upgrade to Vista unless you want to buy a bunch of new software and hardware. (In the end I still prefer Mac OSX 10.3 Panther and will upgrade in October to OSX 10.5 Leopard when it comes out. )

As to the Dell, it weighs a ton! My wife will stick with the IBM Thinkpad. I think our heartburn is more with Dell than MS. The Tinkpad (T60 is lightweight and easy for my wife to carry.)

(Thanks for the recommendation on the IBM Thinkpad Rocky - see post long time ago)

We will use the new/refurbished laptop (aircraft carrier!) to replace the old desktop (486MHZ 128 MB Ram Win XP, inop DVD drive,)

Total computers in our family
1. Old Dell Desktop 486 MHz in the home office.
2. Dell Desktop 866 MHz at wife PHd study
3. iMac (snowball version) in son's room at home.
4. Powerbook G4 (just upgraded to 1.25 MB ram for Father's day, thanks kids)
5. MacProBook for son when he started NCSU)
6. Wife's R 60 IBM Thinkpad with XP.
7 Refurbished E1705 / 9400 Dell laptop (aircraft carrier) with Vista.

[larryziegler]

Originally posted by Sportymonk


Update: After going around with Dell and being switched between Tech Support and Customer Service, we finally got somebody to listen to the fact the Dell laptop was junk. The repairman said the last time that there was nothing left to fix. To date we have replaced (under warranty) the video card and cooling fan; the motherboard, the video card and LCD screen; and the hard drive (think that covers it). Dell shipped us a refurbished (like new) E1705 or 9400 to replace the old 15" one. New one was supposed to have everything we had on the old
As to the Dell, it weighs a ton! My wife will stick with the IBM Thinkpad. I think our heartburn is more with Dell than MS. The Tinkpad (T60 is lightweight and easy for my wife to carry.)

(Thanks for the recommendation on the IBM Thinkpad Rocky - see post long time ago)

We will use the new/refurbished laptop (aircraft carrier!) to replace the old desktop (486MHZ 128 MB Ram Win XP, inop DVD drive,)

Total computers in our family
1. Old Dell Desktop 486 MHz in the home office.
2. Dell Desktop 866 MHz at wife PHd study
3. iMac (snowball version) in son's room at home.
4. Powerbook G4 (just upgraded to 1.25 MB ram for Father's day, thanks kids)
5. MacProBook for son when he started NCSU)
6. Wife's R 60 IBM Thinkpad with XP.
7 Refurbished E1705 / 9400 Dell laptop (aircraft carrier) with Vista.

I have a Dell 9400 w/XP Pro I bought in Feb 2006 as a desktop replacement and I love it! It is heavy to tote around for sure and for that purpose I also bought a Dell XPS M140 (Win XP Media Center), which is basically an E1405 that was loaded up, for travelling purposes. Sorry you have had problems with your Dell as I find them to be of the highest quality. I also have 6 Dell desktops at home or at my office and bought my daughter an E1405 and they all work flawlessly. 2 of those machines are now 2 years old and not even showing their age. The most recent desktop I acquired was thru DellOutlet.com so I could get a machine equipped with XP Pro as opposed to VISTA. I have no desire to acquire any VISTA OS equipped machine for at least a year until it is more refined.