vista

[i luv msn]

got 4 questions
1 does any1 know were i could get ANY vista for cheap
2 does any1 know were i could get ULTIMATE vista for cheap
3 does anyone know how long it takes to install vista ultimate
and 4 is ultimate better than enterprise?

[Ethel]

Your question would be far easier to read if you didn't use text speak.

Anyway - Vista can be problematic if you are upgrading an existing pc. The cd or dvd may not work, your graphics card may not work and any Vista needs a whole lot of memory to run smoothly .
Programmes you have installed may not run on Vista, and the printer drivers may need updating. Including any security utilities.

No doubt in time a lot of these problems will be ironed out, but for now it just isn't worth the hassle.

By far the easiest way to get Vista is to by a new computer with it pre-installed. And probably a new printer too.

[Ethel]

Oh - Enterprise is designed for large business organisations and Ultimate is far better for the home user.

[vehelpfulguy]

Just to back up what Ethel says.

I follow many forums and technical web sites and have seen disaster after disaster of people upgrading from XP to Vista.

Twice I have tried to upgrade one of my PCs at home and both times it failed (for different reasons)

Dont believe all the Microsoft marketing hype, this was a product released before it was finished and it has been a marketing disaster for Microsoft.

Even Dell have had to go back to offering XP as so many people did not want Vista.

What AT LEAST six months and see if MS bring out a refresh of the code with many of the bugs fixed.

[ryepie]

As a counterpoint to the posts above, I did a clean install of Vista on my laptop (a reasonably modern model), and it's all working fine. I did attempt an upgrade intially but Vista had a few problems, so a clean install is the way to go I would say.

Microsoft do provide an upgrade advisor utility, which will scan your hardware and software and alert you to any compatibility problems that may occur. It's not perfect though, I would suggest you visit the manufacturers websites of the hardware, and of any software you know you will need to install, to see if they are vista compatible. just do a little research.

Ignore the suggestion of buying a new printer, as it is merely the drivers that would need updating, and not the printer itself.

As to the 'unfinished' claim, that can be subjective. For me Vista loads a lot quicker than XP, it's multimedia capabilities are miles better, it is much more secure out of the box, and the imbedded search facilities are just marvellous. There is an good critique of Vista here: http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/winvista.a sp and the recommendation there is to avoid upgrading and do a clean install instead. I did notice bugs after upgrading, but after I did a clean install I've been extremely happy with it. Remember, for every disgruntled Vista owner, there is at least one satisfied customer.

And if you can get your hands on Vista Enterprise then that will be the cheaper option; because Enterprise is not available to the general public, only to corporate customers, which means the only way you would have got a hold of it is for free from a generous person in the IT department! :-)

[ACtheTROLL]

Download the MS upgrade advisor
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/wind owsvista/buyorupgrade/upgradeadvisor.mspx
before you do anything

read the vista blurb
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/wind owsvista/editions/default.mspx
home, home premium and ultimate are home versions
Business enterprise and ultimate are business versuins (spot the common version!)

Ultimate is very expensive when compared to the other home versions and unless you are a power user it's just an ego trip

the cheapest versions are the OEM versions ... but they will only install and activate on one particular machine

if you chnge too many components ...or try to transfer it to a new machine it won't re-activate - you'll need a new copy.

[HWKE]

If you decide to install Vista, make sure that you already have the appropriate driver for your ethernet device. Without that you (and Vista) cannot access the internet to get updated drivers for your other devices.
Like Ryepie, I am pleased with Vista. It isn't right yet, but it isn't too bad.