!@$*&%$(+)~?<>_ VISTA

Man seems like you guys are pretty unlucky. I got a new HP laptop with Vista on it and used one of those Belkin USB cables to migrate from the old XP desktop. Worked just fine even using the old Office 2003 on the Vista laptop.

I initially had to fumble around a little in Vista to get used to the new interface, but it seems fine now. Not too much of a learning curve.

Vista seems to be running great so far, will see in the long run. It seems to be a lot faster than other XP systems I have at work (with similar hardware to the new Vista Laptop). Vista does seem to boot a bit slower than XP, but then again I just put the laptop in standby and it is ready for use in a flash. I really like the spped it has to start up applications.

Hooked it up to the wireless netwrok and wireless printer no problem as well. I use an external Seagate USB drive for backups with no issues either. iTunes, etc seems to run just fine as well.

Maybe I got lucky, but it seems the preloaded Vista on the HP laptop seems to work just fine. Only thing I would recommend is to load Office and other applications on the new computer first before migrating your settings, files, etc fromt he old computer.

I tend to buy a PC with the OS on it and keep that OS for the life of the system. The effort involved to upgrade to a new OS rarely seems worth it to me given the new hardware prices.

I looked at the Macs for quite some time, and really like the packaging as they seem very sleek (especially the desktops). However I played with it for some time at the Apple store and it just didn't seem to be buying me that much and I hate the single mouse button idea. I also have a number of applications that only runs with Windows, which means a dual boot system. Does Apple sell laptops with dual boot with Windows directly from the factory? I really don't feel like monkeying to get it to work. I do like th efatc that Mac OS is Unix based, so it should be a lot more stable and secure, adn a lot simpler to maintain (no funcky registries, folders with shared file junk, etc at least that is what I assume??) I might seriously consider getting a Mac laptop in the future if they can have a small WIndows section with dual boot for the apps that simply doesn't run on Mac OS's, at a reasonable price though.

 

A few things to answer some of your question/comments:

1. You can use two button mice with Macs! Just grab an old two-button mouse and plug it in - it works just like it does in windows, with left-click being select and rick-click bringing up a small menu of options. If you're only using a single-button mouse (like on their laptops), you can use control-click to get a right-click. Or on a touch pad on a laptop, put two fingers down and click.

2. AFAIK Apple does not sell systems with Windows on them. However, the install process is extremely simple. Boot into Leopard, go to "Boot Camp" under utilities and follow the instructions to select how big you want each partition to be. Put the windows CD in and reboot. go through the install for windows, and boot into that. Put the Leopard CD in and it'll download all of the drivers you need, and you're done!

3. Yes, it is MUCH easier to maintain. I had my laptop for about a year before Leopard came out. During that time, i performed no maintenance tasks, and i haven't since i upgraded. Contrast that to my windows box, which has required two fresh installs (wipe the hard drive and start over) and ~once/month maintenance during the same time period.


Some other things you might not be aware of:

1. Installing programs is easier than Windows. Instead of having to go through a long series of screens with options, most programs you just drag an Icon into your Applications directory and you're done!

2. Prices are competitive when you look at comparable machines. Mac's in general are high-end machines, so you won't find a Mac that is price-wise comparable with a bargain e-machine, or Dell's line of cheap-o computers.

3. There's only one version of Leopard, and you get everything. You don't have to worry about if your computer can run Vista Basic, premium, platinum or whatever. Every mac being sold runs the best possible version of Leopard: the only one

 

I just came across this Gem at PC World:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,136649-page,3-c,notebooks/article.html

a Mac is the fastest Vista laptop tested this year, or ever!

 

Thx good to know. I will check into it next time round.

do not know, but everytime I look at buying a new system the Mac ends up being almost 2x the price of a similar PC setup from one of the major manufacturers through a mainstream retailer.



Funny on the PC world report, I think taht must have a put a few folsk nose out of joint . However I smell a rat lookign at the specs of what is availabel from the other manufacturers vs the top of the line MacBook. Have they actually tested the top of the line stuff with the best config in them?

 

That's because you're looking at specs but not quality of components.

When I got my iMac, the one thing I saved from my PC was the Logitech trackball with three buttons and scroll wheel. Everything about it operates the same as it did on the PC. There was no need to configure anything. I just plugged it in and it worked.

And the fact that tech support is face-to-face at a storefront a couple of miles from me, rather than a telephone call to India, is worth a few hundred dollars. I can phone them or I can carry my iMac in (it's light enough for even me to carry). And instead of reading canned answers to me from a computer screen, they actually know the computer.

 

+1. I have not taken my MacBook Pro in for any support needs. The only time I needed to call in for support was when I was setting up the AirPort Extreme. My experience on the two times I had to call in for support on the AirPort has been that I would be talking to someone in the U.S. and they had actual experience setting up the AirPort Extreme base station. None of the B.S. about reading a canned response from some knowledge-base.

 

Ha! You have got to love it.