Windows Vista is everyone's favorite tech punching bag, and not without reason. But the reviled operating system has some amazing potential and with some tweaks and a few utilities, you can do what Redmond didn't: make Vista great.
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Member since:2006-01-16
"full vendor support they can call and complain to when something's broken"
I don't want to dissent any other part of your comment. But can you please stop telling this myth?!
Seriously!
The only help with Windows the ordinary end user gets is from his Windows-knowing peers. Name me one hotline where you would call and complain if your system starts to crash, programs don't work anymore or any other typical mess, AND get a satisfying answer to solve your problem.
Every time Windows gets broken the only real "solution" most people have is a reinstall, while also a disturbingly big portion of them just arrange themselves with the problem. Perhaps they are lucky to know somebody who can fix it, but calling the vendor isn't fixing it for them at all.
Member since:2007-04-29
your isp helpdesk for internet trouble, most likely they support osx/windows but not your linux distro.
and for the dutch microsoft support : http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support?LN=nl
there is a hotline you could call, there is usenet support and some other stuff.
feel free to say windows is crap, their helpdesk sucks or people have trouble pinpointing the nature of their problems. but windows is fully supported by all hardware manufacturers. with nearly all products you have phone support. you are just not part of the target audience.
Member since:2005-07-06
I don't want to dissent any other part of your comment. But can you please stop telling this myth?!
Seriously!
I agree. Unless one happens to be from multi-billion dollar mega corporation - its delusional to think that Microsoft (or infact any software company) actually gives a toss about a lowly end user and their problems with Windows. Unless those with the dollars are complaining - one has Buckley's chance of getting problems fixed.
Member since:2005-08-11
"I don't want to dissent any other part of your comment. But can you please stop telling this myth?"
Businesses want support, and are willing to pay for it. The old saying still holds: Nobody ever got fired for buying MS (used to be ibm).
Every retail version of Windows comes with 2 free incidents. Just because people don't use them doesn't mean they are not there.
"Every time Windows gets broken the only real "solution" most people have is a reinstall"
Theres a myth YOU should stop telling, That hasn't been the case since Windows ME. NT based systems just don't act that way, especially XP or Vista. They are much more stable. They also don't need to be reinstalled every 6 months either.
It's not 1998 anymore.
Member since:2006-02-05
Everywhere I have ever lived (albeit that has all been fairly large cities) there are small computer shops in the area, and independent computer repair guys in the phone book, and both deal exclusively with windows.
For OSX, there is the Genius Bar in the apple stores, and the odd independent licensed reseller that will help you out. Both will be in the phone book.
For linux, there is nothing but online forums (which exist for both osx and windows as well), business support licenses (which also exist for everyone), and a do-it-yourself attitude.
If you are unskilled, have no job, or are in the extreme minority of people who actually enjoy doing this, spending hours and hours of your life fixing your own problems is not so much of a problem. For the other 99% of the world, there are plenty of options available to them that will take way less time then becoming a unix expert.
Member since:2005-09-13
//Name me one hotline where you would call and complain if your system starts to crash, programs don't work anymore or any other typical mess, AND get a satisfying answer to solve your problem. //
Erm ... Dell support ... HP support ... Sony support ... Gateway support ... IBM/Lenovo support ... Toshiba support .... Fujitsu support ....
Satisfied?
Most folks buy systems from one of the above .... and typically call them when they have a problem.
Member since:2007-02-17
I'm going to correct a different part of the comment.
Average user doesn't know that the FOSS alternative to Windows exists. They very much care that Vista is so atrocious, but they are lead to believe (by vested interests) that there is no alternative (or that the alternative is too hard for them to use when in reality it is easier), and are never offered the FOSS solution that would solve their problems with Vista and be much kinder on their wallets.
No. People need to know that they do have an alternative.
BTW, this post is on-topic for this thread subject. The very best way to fix Vista on any machine is to re-format the drive and install a better alternative OS.
Edited 2008-10-15 22:33 UTC
Member since:2005-11-13
Well, you don't really need to 'fix' Vista because technically, it isn't broken. I have spent some time with Vista and I can say that as long as you feed it quality software and drivers that are compatable with it, it runs very smoothly. It's slower than XP and has a lot of 'idiot-proof' features that just annoy the hell out of power users, but it's not broken. Honestly, I don't know if any OS that's going to run happily if you load a bunch of bad drivers on it and install softare that wasn't designed to run on it.
It's just too bad that most people's experience with Vista is having it installed on top of XP with a 3yo version or Norton Something on it, or purchased from OEMs with at least 30 craplets running in startup. No wonder people hate it so much. On it's own though, Vista is quite capable.
As for Windows Explorer, just forget all that mess and install Directory Opus
Sure, you'll balk at the price as I did, but spend some serious time with it, and you'll never want to use anything else again. It is just light years ahead of any other file manager on the planet. See, that's the thing about Windows... it's like Firefox without any extensions installed. It's not very impressive by itself, but what makes it great is the stuff you can load on it
Member since:
2008-07-15
1. instead of tweaking a proprietary system to behave as someone wants, I'd prefer setting up a fully configurable environment in a FOSS OS...
2. Or, if people is happy with their XP, why change it?
First, because XP is being phased out, gradually but surely. Like it or not, your XP downgrade option won't stick around forever. Either get used to Vista or sit and wait for Windows 7, if you want to use Windows that is. This naturally doesn't apply to business environments, where the individual rarely gets a choice in what os they get to use and how it behaves.
As for setting up a foss os, will you guys give it up? Average user doesn't want foss. Further, they don't care. They want well-known names and full vendor support they can call and complain to when something's broken, not fifty forums to search in hopes of finding an answer they can understand. Why must every discussion about a windows article always have to set you guys off about foss? Give it a rest.