Ok guys, so i got a new laptop and it came with vista premium installed. I however, have an XP MCE disc laying around (legit). So far I havent had any troubles with Vista but pretty much everyone says its impossible to secure as well as terrible at networking. Soon i go back to college and ill clearly need to be on a network. Should i stick with Vista and see how it goes?

any info would be great, thanks.

Well if you are going to be using wifi, Vista is very easy to use. It should automatically detect your existing network with little or no configuration on your part. Your main problems will probably be software compatibility and driver compatibility, not to mention all the extraneous crap running by default. The laptop I saw with Vista had like 66 processes running with nothing open but the desktop! If it were me, I'd format it asap and install XP, just to avoid having to "tweak" Vista to be usable.

__________________

My answer to the subject line question: Is Vista Worth Buying?

In short. No.

well ill be using the ethernet connection at school, no wireless.

At first I did not Read exactly what was posted so my response was off topic but I left it anyway.

Buy a Mac w/ Intel Chips it might cost a little more now, but trust me, it is well worth it in the long run(kinda like a laser printer). And if you really want XP or Vista, you can just install it. I went out and bought ,3 years ago, a powerPC (pre-intel) mac mini and i have had no problems, no slowdowns, no viruses, my only complaint is that I cant put a bigger Internal HDD in it.(I can use up 75gb real fast). Just my 2 Cents.

If it's a laptop I'd agree with going with a mac. Mainly because you're not gunna be gaming on it,and macs are awesome workhorses as far as crunching goes.

Second,as soon as vista came out they were already talking about win7 within a 5 year span...so how long do you see the support for vista staying around for? Not too long if you ask me.

Third....there's no real reason to go from XP to vista anytime soon anyways. The hassles outweigh the benefits for the most part.


being that the original poster got the vista for free....I'd say there's no harm in trying it out. At least get your own opinion on it...but keep in mind that you might run into issues with compatability still and / or bugs that haven't been worked out yet. Hell...Xp was in Sp2 and it still wasn't up to snuff yet.....and everyone is all praising Sp1 for vista already. have they learned anything yet?

__________________
[SIGPIC]http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/6458/signaturexr5.png[/SIGPIC]

No because until vista sp4 comes out you will have problems with it.then they will bring out a newer version of windows and vista will be outdated or at least that will happen in australia.America,asia and most of europe will probly have Windows vista sp4 in a month or a year latest if they havnt got it yet.

__________________
my problem is i give my opinion and sometimes it offends.
1 decent phone.alot of old computer parts.will have a new computer soon and consider playstation 3,xbox360 or nintendo wII

Vista is garbage. Enough said =)

__________________
[IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/ADMINI%7E1/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-2.jpg[/IMG]

Why put up with the extreme bloat in XP and the registry sucks move up in the world, I love Vista once you get through installing the drivers and not being lazy its quick it doesn't slow down because of registery errors because there is not a registry.

Its neat and tidy, it can do everything XP can with out the errors from the registry.

The only downside to vista is the annoying pop ups but they can be turned off all fixed why not try it instead of listening other people on how it is.

Unless you have a really old pc that could not run it then go linux.

Edit: 64 bit rocks - 32 bit sux

Well the Vista I've seen is anything but need and tidy. There are a zillion unnecessary services and processes running. My single core OEM Dell with XP boots twice as vast as all the Vista PC's I've used. They were all dual cores with more RAM and SATA HDD's.

Vista may be usable if you get rid of all the unnecessary services and boot items. If you factor in the massive driver and software incompatibilities, I just don't see the point.

If you are having success with it, that's cool.

Bloat in XP? Well maybe on a standard install, but I use a custom XP iso created by nlite with all the usual tweaks enabled and unnecessary services disabled. I have used the same install for a year with no major problems.

__________________