Anyone Tried Vista Yet? ITS EVIL

skavenhorde

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I just got back from America and set up my mom's new computer. It came with Vista. I set it up did all the driver stuff and loaded The Witcher for her to play. Everything was going great till about halfway through the first tutorial. The I heard my mom scream "HELP" I went over and it seems that Vista doesn't like Witcher at all. It would crash or freeze up every now and then while playing. So I tried loading KOTOR 2 and that game wouldn't even start. So I gave her the option of rolling back to WINXP or keep trying the games. Of course she opted to roll back.


Now here is where the Microsoft Corp and HP corp really pissed me off. There were certain drivers I needed when I installed WINXP. So I looked up on HP's webpage and they had a nice little page warning about the evils of going back to WINXP. You may have seen something like this in other products "If you go back to a different operating system HP is not responsible for any damage done to your computer" ok well that should scare off the newbies from trying to do it but not me I know enough about computers to be dangeroues :evil: Anyways I figured out her video card driver (wan't too hard to find a driver for NVIDIA :)) and nothing blew up. Then after a bit of searching I found her sound card driver. Then the motherboard and packets came next. This I couldn't figure out on my own so I call up tech support to ask them to give me the BRAND NAMES and versions of the components in the computer. First I got a really rude guy (he must love Vista a lot or gets these kinds of calls about 100 times a day) anyways he flat out refused to help me saying that it would void the warrenty. Bullshit I have the recover disks that sends the whole computer right back to Vista. So I talked to a Costco REP next (She bought it at Costco) and she was really nice, hooked me up with another guy at HP which then told me that if the computer was sent back the techs would put Vista back on it and all your data would be erased. DUDE THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE COMPUTER I JUST WANT THE NAMES OF THE HARDWARE INSIDE MY COMPUTER. Sorry about the all caps but even thinking about it now I'm a bit peeved. He wouldn't do it so the Costco girl gave me a 1 800 line that might help. The HP guy was still on the line and told her she couldn't give out that information because that is for inhouse only. She said but it's a 1 800 tech support line, then the douche bag finally shut up. After I called that number I got a really nice guy who sent me an email right away with all the info I needed on my computer.

After that it was a breeze I setup WinXp with no problems found the drivers I needed. Loaded them with no problems (the world didn't come crashing to an end and the computer didn't blow up) now my mom is kicking some monster butt with Witcher and KOTOR 2.

The moral of this story my wee ratties is DON'T UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE buy Vista. It is the devil's program and hates anything to do with having fun on the PC. Vista reminds me of my sixth grade teacher. He was always taking away my D&D books because he thought they were evil. Vista does something similiar. Takes away the gaming portion of the computer and just works well with business crap.

Anyways just thought I would share that little fun adventure with you guys.
 
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Sounds like a harrowing experience of corporate doublespeak and pointless alienation with the usual level of "customer service' we get these days. What an aggravating way to spend a trip home--but you are a good son. :) I think I'd like your mom.
 
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Funny, that. I've been cheerfully playing The Witcher and KOTOR and KOTOR II on my Vista box.

There was a problem with KOTOR II, though, but it was fixable, and I understand the latest updates to Vista don't even need the workaround.

The moral of the story is... Vista is a perfectly acceptable operating system, with backwards compatibility that is 100% minus something, which means that sometimes you do need to do some work to get older games to run. But it's certainly not as evil as you paint it there.
 
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XP is a rock solid, mature operating system. It has some funky moments and I wish it was a little easier to run older games on it, but in general it works great. I never thought I'd say anything good about Microsoft, but I think XP is pretty well done. You should call those people and say you want to install Windows 98SE just to mess with their heads.
 
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Win XP as it currently stands most certainly is pretty solid functionally (although a long way from "rock solid" in any meaningful sense of the word); however, it is rather creaky underneath, and it's in a bit of a dead end when it comes to addressing them.

Vista fixes some, but unfortunately not all, of these architectural flaws. It also introduces a bunch of practical issues related to backwards and network compatibility. It's neither the Great Leap Forward that XP needs, nor the turd that people like the OP make it out to be.

IMO Microsoft made a mistake in not biting the bullet and making Vista a new OS, with a transition path from XP -- e.g. by virtualization, like Apple did with the Classic to OS X transition. That would have created a fully modern, genuinely robust OS without damaging backwards compatibility any more than happened now. They lost that opportunity, and fixing any of Windows's fundamental flaws won't be any easier now.

But lay off the "Vista is EEEEVIL" rhetoric already, willya?
 
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Funny, that. I've been cheerfully playing The Witcher and KOTOR and KOTOR II on my Vista box.

There was a problem with KOTOR II, though, but it was fixable, and I understand the latest updates to Vista don't even need the workaround.

The moral of the story is... Vista is a perfectly acceptable operating system, with backwards compatibility that is 100% minus something, which means that sometimes you do need to do some work to get older games to run. But it's certainly not as evil as you paint it there.


You know how much I love to disagree with you but here we go again. I'm happy it worked out well for your comptuer, but for my mothers nothing worked well. I MEAN NOTHING. I didn't want to go into too many details about what I did before I called tech support but here goes....loaded Crysis...only played a little but seemed ok....loaded overlord....worked ok....loaded bioshock.... worked somewhat ok for awhile then got those freezing screens....loaded NWN1 definately didn't work (didn't think it would anyways) Loaded Dark Star One ....worked ok for the tutorial....Crossed my fingers and loaded Quest for Glory 5 ...that didn't work either (once again I didn't think it would due to the fact that game is too old for its shiny new OS....I am not willing to be a beta tester for this hunk of junk they call an OS. This piece of garbage will never be on my computer unless they fix a lot of these problems.

The Costco gal did say that she has had more than a few of these types of calls. Why does HP make it so hard to roll back. Don't tell me that voids the warrenty crap either. I had three different HP reps tell me three different things that would happen if I did this not just voiding the warrenty.

Hell they even had a nice little page explaining how to roll back your computer but didn't mention where you needed to go to get the drivers or have them available on their webpage. I don't need that just tell me what manufactureres made the components inside the computer and I would of been a happy camper. I'll find them myself then.

Anyways PJ your computer must be really nice to you because my mother's wasn't. It was throwing hissy fits if any kind of fun game was attempting to be loaded.

PJ if the shoe fits.....VISTA IS EEEVVVVIIIILLLL.

The whole point of this nice little story was two fold. One to tell about my experience with the devil's OS and second the harrowing experience dealing with anyone at HP. They love their Vista :)
 
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XP is a rock solid, mature operating system. It has some funky moments and I wish it was a little easier to run older games on it, but in general it works great. I never thought I'd say anything good about Microsoft, but I think XP is pretty well done. You should call those people and say you want to install Windows 98SE just to mess with their heads.

I wish I had thought of that earlier because that would of just been priceless..thanks Markus

Sounds like a harrowing experience of corporate doublespeak and pointless alienation with the usual level of "customer service' we get these days. What an aggravating way to spend a trip home--but you are a good son. :) I think I'd like your mom.

Yea it was a bit harrowing, just glad that nice Costco lady was still on the phone and actually attempting to help me.

I got my mom to sign up here but she is waayy to shy to respond yet. She just likes reading about the info, clashes and stuff that is waaayyy above her head. She's going to try Fallout 1 and 2 pretty soon. She wants to know what the big deal was with the BF and AF discussion in the top ten oldies thread. I think you two would get along great, she is a bit more like me though with getting pretty cranky when people condecend other people :biggrin:
 
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And I never get cranky? That's a new view of my character. :p

I do think there's a generational thing going on with the Before and After Fallout Days. It's something your generation got at a young age when your little minds were being formed and all, and when you go back with an old rigid adult brain, you just miss that. Corwin and some other of our resident oldies seem to be able to transcend it, but I often wonder if it has to do with their becoming computer literate much earlier than many of an older generation and playing those games before the new stuff was around.

Anyway, I sympathize with your mother's shyness--I lurked for years before I ever posted anything anywhere--its embarrassing to make an ass of yourself on the internet, though fortunately, you do get used to it. :)

On Topic: HP used to be pretty well known for having crap customer service. One of the reasons I switched to Dell was watching a friend get instant help that worked from them--and I have to say I've also had excellent CS from Dell, especially for a mega-company. We'll see how they match up when the inevitable day comes when I am forced to Vista-ize myself. :)
 
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I'm happy with XP too, but....

Remember when Microsoft assurred everyone that all their old games would work "even better" by upgrading to XP? Of course, Microsoft will tell you that they didn't exactly say that (everyone just thought they were saying that).

Let's face it, Microsoft can afford the best double-talk money can buy. If Bill Gates showed up at my door, I'd undoubtedly invite him in. But I'd definitely watch my wallet!
 
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While this story might say something about Vista, I believe it says (much) more about tech support/customer service. Therefore, the moral of the story is: build your own systems.
 
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Let's face it, Microsoft can afford the best double-talk money can buy. If Bill Gates showed up at my door, I'd undoubtedly invite him in. But I'd definitely watch my wallet!

I don't think he'd go as far as to steal your wallet. It's more likely he'd end up selling you some girl scout cookies that'll make you break out in hives, for girl scouts who don't need the money.

@VPeric: I like your moral of the story best so far.
 
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While this story might say something about Vista, I believe it says (much) more about tech support/customer service. Therefore, the moral of the story is: build your own systems.

Amen to that. Building your own is rewarding and surprisingly easy (and a lot cheaper), plus you get what you want, which is a BIG plus for gamers. Driving around town to pick up parts on sale, or ordering parts online, is time consuming but I think it's worth it.


http://www.build-your-own-computers.com/
 
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And if you're just a wee bit lazier (i.e., don't feel up to the driving around and shopping for components, and want to risk less of a fuss if/when warranty problems come up), just buy the whole shebang from one source. If you do a bit of scouting, you'll probably find that the additional savings from shopping around for the parts will be pretty small.

But... just a small caveat. No, building your own isn't rocket science -- anyone who isn't totally all thumbs *can* do it. However, it does demand a certain amount of patience; in particular, if you're like most people, you will make some kind of mistake on your first project, and will end up disassembling it, swapping out some part, or noticing that you forgot something. That means that a certain amount of patience and enjoyment of problem-solving is something of a requirement.

If you want a box that just works, get a Mac.

But if you're at all the tinkerer, go ahead and build your own -- you'll probably enjoy it, and you'll almost certainly enjoy the end result.
 
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Building your own is rewarding and surprisingly easy (and a lot cheaper)

Rewarding yes, cheaper no... big retailers get special offers for software bundles; plus, since they make entire lines of certain configurations, they can include custom made card readers, tv cards and other hardware that you couldn't even find anywhere if you tried to on your own. All you have to do is reinstall the operating system as there's usually lots of junk pre-installed on it. ;) Building your own box does provide you with a lot more options and flexibility though, but there is no guarantee that all the components will work together smoothly. But as you said, it's rewarding.

Personally, I opted for a complete box this time around, with mostly the hardware I was looking for, and I'm very happy with it - including Vista, which works like a charm.

And the box is pretty quiet too.
 
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I builded my own rig (took my time for months in PC components research on line) and the system work fine so far. All (new) games i bought last year ran great. Only thing was the fuse of my Logitech z-5500 blown (common problem with that model) but after put in new one i got from electronic shop it's working again, thumping and rattling the house again.
 
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Two points- the only PC I ever had that was total crap was one from HP. You couldn't even upgrade it unless you used HP parts!!!! NWN1 works perfectly on my DELL laptop under Vista, so Vista is NOT the problem here, I'd suspect it's HP compatibility issues!!

My regular PC has been a home built one now for MANY years!! :)
 
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Vista was evil to me as well. I built my latest computer, so I bought Vista to go along with it, thinking DX10 stuff would eventually make it worth it. I installed it on my old computer instead for some reason now that I've forgotten. I loved it at first and was enjoying the "glass", the floaty windows(forgot what they were called), and the gadgets. It worked fine for a couple of months until some update fooked it up royal. Yes, I tried going back to a previous update but that didn't fix my problems either.

For some reason, Vista would sporadically load my drivers. Sometimes it wouldn't load my video driver, or sound card driver, or some dll and the only way to fix it was to reboot...over, and over again because getting all the drivers to load was pure chance. If it wasn't the drivers, it was CTHelper that would give some error message that would...not...go...away. CTHelper would pop up an error message about every 30 seconds and after I dismissed it, it would just come back.

Then I had a long nightmare of trying to reinstall an operating system. I tried to roll back to XP, but ran into a glitch and it wouldn't complete. Never could finish the roll back. Tried reinstalling Vista. It wouldn't. I ended up just formating the hard drive and starting over. XP is my OS for a looooong time I think.
 
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From the replies here, I'm thinking the problems I had may have had to do with Vista and HP. If I had been in the states I would of warned her off of buying a computer made by HP because I never even seen one before. I thought HP only made printers. Guess over here in Asia we only get the best companies :)

I've heard too many horror stories abou Vista. Actually,I'm quite surprised about the responses in favor of Vista. In other forums anytime someone has had a problem with Vista and a game the usual response is "load WinXP".

I still think Vista is no good for games and will stay away from it as long as possible, but I do that with all operating systems. I hung around with Win98 till about 2 years ago, the same time every company stopped making drivers for Win98. It's a pain trying to play older games with a newer OS. When Dosbox came out I jumped for joy. Now they need to do it for Win98 games and in about 10 years Winxp games.
 
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Quite a lot of criticism of Vista were valid, especially when it was just released. Among the complains including it need powerful machine to run, certain hardwares lacking new driver supports, limited physical memory supports on 32bit version of Vista, and underwhelming gaming performance when compared to WinXP.

After one year with various updates - Vista becoming more stable, gaming performance improved both on 32bit and 64bit versions, and less driver issues although here and there on techie websites we still heard complaints. Note that WinXP is very mature OS after two patches, as compare to Vista - and still waiting for its first patch. When WinXP was just released, i also remember quite a lot of complaints, and many people still think Win98SE as best version of Windows OS ever released.

I would suggest anyone who are not comfortable with something new or lacking skills to customized Vista, and wanted maximum gaming performance - stick with WinXP for now until first or second patch been released and been recommended by many technical sites as a real improvements over WinXP.
 
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