[Dmrobin]

I don't see what all of the fuss is about. I use Windows Vista Home Premium on a machine with a 120GB HDD, 2GB RAM, 128MB ATI Radeon Graphics, 2.0 GHz AMD Turion 64, and it runs very smoothly. I would personally recommend not to get Home Basic, because like another PCWorld editor said, Vista Basic is around so that Microsoft can say, "you can get Vista for only $99". I would recommend getting Vista Premium (or higher), because it does have some useful features. I use Aero quite often, and it is useful at times. The sidebar (which I believe you can get in Vista Basic), is extremely helpful, because it tells me my CPU and RAM usage, and a bunch of other stuff.

[mathion]

Upgrading to Vista is still a major headache insofar as rolling the performance dice goes. And with the cost of the OS so high compared to even XP Pro, it's an expensive mistake if it doesn't perform to specs. The minimum recommended system requirements for XP is still 128 MB and a Pentium 233 or better. Anyone tried running XP SP2 on that lately? Makes Vista look like a thoroughbred. But it points out minimums aren't a good guideline. The point is Vista is still a major issue and is still generating a lot of vitriol on the part of enthusiasts even almost a year and a half later. That doesn't bode well for it's future popularity. The only reason Vista sells so much NOW is because few home users realize they have a choice. It's running 75% against Vista in my neck of the IT world. And it's not improving that much as time goes on. So, despite what the article says, Vista isn't being chosen by most PC users who buy it. They don't know better. It's being forced on them by PC OEM's

[g4acre]

try buying a new PC from best buy or any where else for that matter. that has XP loaded.unless you order it and build it,you get Vista & Vista only. just took my Mom.who dont want to change to Vista, and at 76 yrs old shouldnt have to learn a new OS. to buy her a new PC.if you want the benifits of buying in a bundle you must take Vista.bull hocky.it is cheaper to buy the bundle & XP pro disk and then install it than to order a PC with XP and loose the bundle price.this is more like BLACK MAIL than good buisness.but that is only my thoughts. G4acre

[Tech4me]

[~26780] . Alot of people have big problems to swap out Vista for XP...With new machines that come with Vista INSTALLED.....Are you up to this..?

I understand your Mom's situation.....The Worst case is....You HAVE a CHANCE to spend more time with her and show her new stuff.... !http://forums.pcworld.com/legacyimages/
1!



Cheer.

[g4acre]

Hello [~110135] , the down side to that is my parents moved 3 states away after Dad retired.they now live on Bull Shoals lake in Arkansas and I here in Illionis.so I cant spend more time helping her to learn.the upside is that we have a freind down there close to them that is Computer savie. my Mother was disappointed to say the least. but I got her a system with 4 gigs ram and Vista seems to run OK on it.I will be visiting soon and when there I will install her hard drive from last PC along side they new one. she then will have her files & best of all XP pro & Vista. then she can toggle between the 2 OS's untill she learns or just decides to stay with one or the other. G4acre B-)

[MarioJP]

And also don't forget that vista is not cpu memory only but also a good graphics card with at least directx9 support with 256 Video memory at the very most. Vista is the first os that has a pretty steep requirements on the video card if you were to compare to windows xp. Windows xp you can have 2mb of video ram and it will just run fine. However not all is bad considering 256mb cards are cheap nowadays. Just got to make sure it is dx9 and you should be ok.

And i believe this is the problem with retail pc's onboard integrated graphics just does not cut it. For those pc's its best to stay with xp until you can get a fully dedicated card with at least 256mb of video ram.

Laptops do a better job at this than desktops believe it or not. Unless you decide to go really cheap on a laptop using desktop counterparts that i will make an exception lol

[piyushsingh]

MarioJP said:

And also don't forget that vista is not cpu memory only but also a good graphics card with at least directx9 support with 256 Video memory

omg , i never knew that . I have seen PCs run vista smoothly with 512mb ram.

[oldfellow]

Hello genidefcon, How did you get onto here then , and why?

[MarioJP]

which type of ram are you talking about Main system memory or Video memroy??? If you have 1 or 2 Gigs of main system memory and a 256mb video card. Vista should run fine

[piyushsingh]

vista is even running fine with 512mb primary memory and intel 945g chipset without any dedicated graphics memory .

[MarioJP]

then i am guessing its for the vista aero glass effect then

[g4acre]

Dmrobin wrote:I don't see what all of the fuss is about. I use Windows Vista Home Premium on a machine with a 120GB HDD, 2GB RAM, 128MB ATI Radeon Graphics, 2.0 GHz AMD Turion 64, and it runs very smoothly. I would personally recommend not to get Home Basic, because like another PCWorld editor said, Vista Basic is around so that Microsoft can say, "you can get Vista for only $99". I would recommend getting Vista Premium (or higher), because it does have some useful features. I use Aero quite often, and it is useful at times. The sidebar (which I believe you can get in Vista Basic), is extremely helpful, because it tells me my CPU and RAM usage, and a bunch of other stuff.
|My Components|
|PROCESSOR|Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q6600 (8MB L2 cache,2.4GHz,1066FSB)||
|OPERATING SYSTEM|Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium - English||
|MONITOR|24 inch E248WFP Entry Widescreen Digital Flat Panel Monitor||
|MEMORY|4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz- 4DIMMs||
|HARD DRIVE|750GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache^TM^||
|OPTICAL DRIVE|Dual Drives: Blu-ray Disc Combo (DVD/-RW BD-ROM) and 16x DVD+/-RW||
|VIDEO CARD|nVidia GeForce 8600GT-DDR3 256MB||
|SOUND|Sound Blaster® X-Fi^TM^ XtremeGamer (D) Sound Card||
|TV TUNER AND REMOTE|Hauppauge HVR1250 hybrid TV Tuner with Remote Control||
|KEYBOARD & MOUSE|Logitech Cordless Desktop S 510 Keyboard and Mouse - Arctic Silver||
|BLUETOOTH OPTIONS|Dell Bluetooth Wireless Media Hub + Keyboard/Mouse||
|FLOPPY & MEDIA READER|Dell 19 in 1 Media Card Reader||
|MODEM|No Modem Option||
|WIRELESS|Internal PCI 802.11g Wireless Network Card||
|OPTIONAL PORTS|IEEE 1394a Adapter|

[piyushsingh]

vista ultimate takes up around 29% ram at idle from my 2 gigs (that makes it approx. 580mb) with all aero options ON , sidebar full with 8 gadgets running and all UI options set to appearance rather than performance. boots in 56 seconds . I play a lot of high end games without turning aero OFF. pro street and cod 4 played at all max. settings . Crysis at medium settings and with aero OFF. All this with a core 2 duo and an 8600gt.

If you cant run vista properly with those specs , then probably you may start a discussion or two to sort out the problems. Some one may help you out .Its your choice.

btw - read my earlier post also. i.e post no. 29 .

off topic: nice pc specifications. ;)

[MarioJP]

I am more than able to run vista. I do like the os and been trying it out for the past 6 or so months. Its really not that bad. And the requirements are not that bad as well i am getting used to vista. Sure when u first install it it comes too locked down but tweaks here and there you can have it like xp in performance wise. So really people can complain all they want about vista. But i seem to like it. Vista is made for modern hardware and the fact that there has not been a new os revision from what 6 or 7 years now i think its time. Sure its off to a bad start but i am sure it get sorted out.

And fact i have already setup a dual boot xp/vista because i still like xp and yet want to keep vista so i just keep both =).

And like i said I DO NOT LIKE CONSOLES thats my 2 cents for ya

[Tech4me]

[~26780] . Gees ....man......Its a Impressive peace of PC you got there.........But Whats it...Dell...? And Whats your problems.....? Can't handle Vista..?

[g4acre]

unfortunately it is a Dell. the last one I will ever be buying.I have 2 Dells and neither work to well.I am on with tech more than a person should be.or I should say used to be on with tech.I can fix more issues on my own, plus I speak English & we all know what the tech people speak . I installed service pack1 on my vista PC 3 days ago and now it seems to be running stable and more to the speed it should.so I recomend every one having issues with Vista install SP1 and see if it helps them out. G4acre

[Tech4me]

[~26780] . Good to know you r back on speed...!http://forums.pcworld.com/legacyimages/
1!......Have fun ..

[g4acre]

how the heck is it running on 512mb? I would think slow. I bought my Mom a lap top when Vista first came out and it had 512mb and was terrible. I upgraded the ram to 2gigs to make it run like a PC should. and it didnt have home premium, only had home basic. G4acre

[g4acre]

Tech4me I thank you my friend. it seems like I can learn to like Vista w/SP1. G4acre

[MarioJP]

actually my system happens to be a custom built. Cutting off the middle man. It is the middle man that you should blame for causing all these weird problems with windows. Seriously they put sooo much crap that sometimes causes problems with the os. Way too much junk some of their applications are BROKEN. Its them that you should point the finger. (hp,dell,Sony,etc) All they care about is sales. Their software are very buggy and not to mention also proprietary software that sometimes causes BSOD in windows.
in case you are wondering what my system rig is well here it is
Antec Nine Hundred case (I love this case very well designed for better cooling)
Q6600 quad core 2.4ghz (OC up to 3.5ghz per core)
8GB of ram DDR2 G.skill memory rated at 1ghz but actual rated speed is 932 ddr2 (PCDDR2-8000)
windows xp pro sp2 soon to be dual boot with vista X64 Premium or Ultimate depending on the price
ATI 3870 512 GDDR4 (GPU: 777mhz but OC up to 862 Mem 1126 But OC up to 1226)
950 watt power supply from rosewill
Abit QuadGT MB with Intel X38 Chipset (supports dual video cards for CF both at 16X too)
2 Samsung 750GB drive that are in Raid0 for better response time.
And i happen to have a custom restore image just in case my hard drive fails
as you can see getting rid of the middle man will save you TONS of problems.
However i will make an exception for laptops.