Testers see Windows XP passing Vista

Well they do it for a couple reasons:

1) If their competitor does it, so must they or they go out of business.

2) Ram is cheap so many users buy with 1gb and then buy cheaper ram and add it once they get their PC from the mfg. Often times companies over charge for their ram so to save money people will buy their own after market ram and simply plug it in.

3) Vista will run with 1gb ram but it sucks performance wise, you don't make the sale if you twist your customers arm to buy 2gb. When you order a new computer the website will advise you to buy 2gb, but ultimately its the consumers choice. PC Mfg are in the business to sell computers, not ram.

4) Its just cheaper to order 1gb ram and then whine and moan when Vista is slow, there are lots of cheap people out there ya know. (please don't take this as a jab at you or anybody else here, just giving my opinion).

5) Programs are exponentially getting larger (same as hardware) and the larger the program the better the hardware you need. In the old days games were 1mb with low end graphics and were fantastic (ie pacman). Now days games are 1gb or larger, that's a thousand fold increase. Its just the nature of the beast.

6) Lastly I'd say just plain ignorance. Many consumers do not research their purchases anymore, they just charge it and then they are unsatisfied when they get the product because it does not perform the way they think it should. Again I'm not calling you or anybody else stupid (in any way), its just the way it is out there.

Please don't take offense, I'm not trying to bait you or anybody else, I'm just stating my opinion. I don't know everything nor am I always right. I can say I've been around since the BBS days and the original 8086. I recall thinking we were all that when we had a 80286 with 2mb ram (ROFMAO!!! This was the 2nd generation personal computer).

Respect,

-Reby

 

Windows Media Center (WMC) is a collection of media players similar to Windows Media Player (WMP) but it also does things like act as a TV if you have an external TV Tuner. It does things like fetch TV guides, organizes music/movies/data so it performs kinda like a TIVO on crack (ie lots of toys/features). I've only been playing with it for a week or two since I got that pinnacle TV tuner I reviewed here on these forums for you guys, but overall I think its pretty cool. It will play a large selection of file types from music to movies but I will say I prefer the DiVX player for movies better than Windows Media Player (WMP) or WMC, mostly because DiVX doesn't have DRM which is one reason I like it better.

I think you need one of three versions of Vista for it to be included (Vista Media, Home Premium, or Ultimate).

-Reby

 

NEVER RUN VISTA WITHOUT 2 gigs of RAM!!!

I've used it for six months or so now and I'm fine with it. I still run XP on the other machines in my house.

Mind you, I know how to turn off the annoyances of Vista and I also know how to be a "true" administrator. Without those helps, I'd never use Vista.

Vista, IMHO, is for people very versed in computer use so they can tweak it to work well AND for complete idiots who may unintentionally install spyware, malware, etc.

I use Vista ultimate on a Dell Inspiron 6400 with 2 gigs of ram and it runs just as fast as XP and runs everything as well as XP does or better.

I'll tell you one thing, I haven't had the blue screen of death since XP... or had random shutdowns or freezes.. it really is an improvement but, unfortunately, it's so huge it runs a bit slower, as you've noted above.

Selling Vista with less than 2 gigs of ram is just asking for complaints. It's stupid. NEVER use less than two gigs of RAM for Vista 32. Ever.

I have Vista Ultimate. I never use WMP - I use winamp. WMP is bloated and huge, can't stand it. I remember the days of the 8086. $14,000!!!! And DOS. Wow, how things have changed, eh?

Funny how people forget how AWFUL XP was when it first came out, isn't it?? LOL!!!!

 

Regretfully, I have seen the Blue Screen of Death two times in the past 2 weeks I have had my new system. Once yesterday after installing Google Earth Pro. Had a ton of other stuff running too so I let it off easy. All in all I am gonna give it till the end of the year....if I have no other issues with it, it will stay, if not, I have XP Pro waiting in the wings.

 

From what I've heard and read, the 64 bit version isn't as stable as the 32 bit just because it's not as well used. Don't know for sure, though.

 

Well it gave me the choice when I booted it up for the first time and selected 64 instead of the 32 just cause I thought it was the better of the two.

 

I'd explain the 32 bit and 64 bit architecture but to be honest its complicated for most to understand if they don't know a lot about computers. For the best explanation try wikipedia here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/64-bit_application

They cover it better than I could explain in detail, but the techno babble is extensive. The main problem with 64bit is the mainstream developers design software for 32bit systems and its not always compatible with the 64bit OS/hardware. Thus you usually you have to run in an emulation mode so the software will run. This is fine however it usually needs another program that sits between the OS and the program to (how do I put this)...translate the data from 32bit to 64bit and back. See...complicated. Just wait, the next version will be 128bit computing (lol).

Again computer programs are getting bigger and bigger and thus we need faster ways to interpret/read the data on a hardware level. There is a finite speed at which data can be processed, so by extending the size/chunks of data can be processed they can make it go even faster. See I told ya Wiki could explain it better! lol

-Reby

 

Exactly. Quickly translated - use the 32 bit version at all times unless you're a super computer wizard

 

I am not a "super" computer wizard, but I am working on it.

 

I believe most programs other then games and getting bigger because they are bloated with unneeded feature. Just look at MS Office, it does more than any one person could ever know. I still use Office 2K, see no need to upgrade to Office 07.

Microsoft is trying to keep backwards compatibility with VISTA. They should start over like apple did with OSX.

Mark