Chris Pirillo leaned away from his webcam and pointed to his printer/scanner/fax machine, which stopped scanning and faxing after he installed Microsoft Corp.’s new Windows Vista operating system.
“I can’t live in Vista if the software that I use in my life for productivity does not work,” said Pirillo, in the third minute of a 52-minute video he posted on YouTube.
Nearly six months after it launched, gripes over what doesn’t work with Vista continue, eclipsing positive buzz over the program’s improved desktop search, graphics and security.
Pirillo is geekier than the average user. He runs a network of technology blogs called Lockergnome, and was one of several “Windows enthusiasts” Microsoft asked for Vista feedback early on.
Still, Vista tested even Pirillo’s savvy. He fixed the hobbled printer and other problems by installing VMware, a program that lets him run XP within Vista. But when his trial copy expired, he decided the solution was too clunky — and too expensive.
He “upgraded,” as he called it, back to XP.
I admit it. I read through this piece because Chris Pirillo is featured. Always liked what he did at Tech TV.
Everything else is pretty much what I expected from Microsoft. And that’s just sad. Because I think they’re capable of doing better.
CHRIS!!!
Man I miss watching that dude!
I think I speak for a vast majority of people when I say that im wating for Windows Vista : Service Pack 2
He’ll get no sympathy from me. Should’ve checked the compatability list beforehand. If he didnt, he’s not much of a tech in my opinion. The vendors share responsibilty in not having their drivers ready. I’ve been running it for close to a year now, and I have no major problems, and a lot of hardware and software to support.
If you want something that just works use Apple.
If you want freedom use Linux.
If you want over priced half baked crap use Vista.
As for myself I am staying on Windows XP until I have transitioned to Ubuntu Linux.
3, Yeah whatever Improbus, I cant tell you how many calls a day we get from Apple users whose programs “just crash”. Stop the fucking hype already.
Yeah, after having been forced to use Vista (came on a new laptop) for about 3 months, I’d have to say “zzzzzzzzzzzzzz”. The interface is cute, the gidgets or widgets or whatever they are is cute. Having 2G of memory as an “entry point” bites the big one, performance sucks, IE and FireFox crash on a regular basis, it takes so long to reboot I have time for a nap.
And those Office apps are a real pain in the ass. I’m just glad I know most kb shortcuts for most of what I need to do (they still work in Office 2007, but you have to close your eyes so as not to become confused). Otherwise I’d be sitting there for 15 minutes trying to figure out how to change the font.
If I had to do it again, I’d buy a new laptop that had been upgraded to XP also.
@ 3
“If you want something that just works use Apple.”
If you got no skill and can’t make your computer work.. Use Apple the AOL of computers. It can’t do as much as a PC, but its simple. (for the simple minded)
+++++
I’m running vista 64 with no problems..
I have a color HP networked laser that has no Vista drivers. The printer was in almost the third year of it’s product cycle. How could this product be so lacking in drivers? What is so difficult about Vista support?
We’re slowly seeing Vista creep into work on new laptops some of our salespeople have purchased, as a result, I’ve been supporting it. Slick interface, yes. Some features that I like, some extras that are really good. However, as mentioned above, I find the hardware requirements steep, and like #5, for being ‘new’ and ‘improved’ it takes waaay too long to boot, even straight from the store. It is no faster in any realistic sense that I can see so far. So I’m not saying its terrible, run screaming….I’m just not seeing why I would pay that much money for what doesn’t really seem like an upgrade.
My desktop at work (Pentium III 1 ghz) with a gig of ram starts and responds far quicker. I will certainly admit I keep it leaner and cleaner than the average user, so that has something to do with it.
I use XP and Ubuntu at home and work on my main machines, Zenwalk linux on an old celeron 550 laptop, and I play with Menuet OS on a similar laptop. I’m happy with those, I consider them all more efficient. Maybe in time things will change – but I don’t prefer to be forced to purchase a new machine just so I can purchase a new OS that doesn’t give me significant improvements.
#6 “If you got no skill and can’t make your computer work.. ” What are you? 12? If you need kung fu to make a computer ‘work’, then you need to get a life…or a Mac. People need computers to do actual work, not to get them to ‘work’. Computers for computer sake is for 30 year olds living in their parents basement, screaming upstairs for mom to make more hot pockets.
In this order:
Go outside in the sun.
Eat a steak.
Kiss a girl.
#0 – Eideard
“…I think they’re capable of doing better.”
No they’re not. And they’ve proved it time and again for decades.
Unless you mean, “They make enough money to do better if they actually cared about doing so.”
• • • • • •
On a not-entirely-unrelated note, I see it took only 5 comments before the adolescent Mac-bashing trolls stuck their heads out from under the bridge…
[Duplicate post. – ed.]
Hey FIsh Man, it took SIX comments, to five, for the adolescent Mac-bashing trolls to stick their heads out. I made comment number 5, and I’m no Mac basher. I OWN a G4 powerbook (although I only really use it for iTunes and some graphics stuff nowadays). It is a little frustrating and AOL-like, but it’s a heck of a lot better than the silly Mac toys they used to sell in the 80’s and early 90’s. And one thing I’ve got to say for it, is it has NEVER gotten infected with anything, and has never crashed on me. BSOD or anything else.
I think the biggest problem with Vista is when I sit in front of 2k computers, without font bluring, it is jarring.
Then the other big issue I have had (maybe someone can give me an url to help me fix this?) is the Vista computes won’t even minimally join a samba domain.
Then there is a few bits of legacy software… simply won’t work with the ways the ms has changed network share mounting…
Not bashing Macs, just tired of the “just works” bullshit. Its about as effetive a message as the “just say no” campaign was for the drug war. Personally, I could give a shit what you use, just stop the hype.
Pirillo has been whining about the same thing since before Vista was released. It’s getting a little old. If he can’t figure out how to get a system to work, maybe he should try another line of work.
I installed Vista a few days after its release and really haven’t had any problems. With the exception of my Ergodex DX1, all of my peripherals work. I did my homework -before- installing Vista. Why didn’t Pirillo do the same?
#13 – Meanwhile, Mac marketshare is around 10%. Makes the anti-Mac crowd look that much more feeble.
Dvorak nailed this kind of topic years ago: M$ peaked with 2000. Personally, I run Vista on my only Windows machine, and include Vista (32 and 64 bit) in my VM matrix for testing. With the right hardware it runs fine, and with the right tweaks (turn off widgets and user access control) does quite well.
Nevertheless, it is simply not an elegant OS, does not provide higher end users the power *nix environments do (even OS X), and has not provided a good upgrade story for customers. Maybe when a lot of DX10 games come out this will change, but until then it just isn’t that important.
Now, where’s that hype thread over Leopard?
Word of advice for users with color/B&W HP lasers: Try HP’s universal driver. Works really well.
Myself, I went in to Vista not expecting much and expecting old hardware to not work. I’ve had only a couple of niggling issues, but have been pretty pleased so far. My six year old HP printer and Canon scanner work perfectly, as does my one year old HP laser. Some of the driver problems for my NVIDIA card and Creative X-Fi have been troubling, but I knew there were going to be problems with those before I upgraded way back in November. The ease of installation is a big plus for me; no more fiddling around with having a floppy drive available for RAID drivers.
Admittedly, I wouldn’t be using Vista if it wasn’t free (legally) for me. On the other hand, I wouldn’t be complaining if I willfully upgraded myself. I would just return to XP.
Windows 98SE was the best OS from Microsoft. If it weren’t for security issues I’d still be using it. W98SE was lightning fast, the desktop icons and start menu were superb in their design (colors/shapes) and it was all-around a friendly OS. W2K and XP are bland but okay but they lag behind in performance compared to 98SE. I haven’t used Vista yet but I’m sure the Windows pinball game still takes a minute to load. Microsoft has gone from the simplicity and beauty of 98SE to a resource-hoarding gaudy Vista operating system.
Bring back Windows 98SE !
#16,
That 10% number comes from a market research firm that measures market share among indoor shopping mall vendors. And yes, amoung the stores selling computers in indoor shopping mall markets the Macintosh has a commanding 10% market share.
However when you look at market research firms that measure accross the industry, it is still 2.7% up from about 2.4% last year. That however is the dollar value market. When you look at actual units sold, the Macintosh is still somewhere in the 1-1.5% range.
I’m getting ready to build my second machine and i’m thinking of sticking with two year old parts slightly upgraded. AGP slot video card, pci-e tv tuner, Socket 939, and Win XP. I can get 80% of the performance of a “current” set up at 30% of the cost. Toms Hardware has a review of “all” of the cpu’s. I will also be able to play 1080P. By the time I am forced to upgrade, XP should have a hack to run Direct X-10? Why would anyone upgrade?
I have found XP to be more stable than 98 or 2000, but my issues may have all been a defective hard drive caddy sending an electrical signal into the SATA controllers. Anyway, its all fixed now. I’m happy.
Mustardamente –
Of course I meant 5 comments posted before the sour-grapes-jealousy-resentment boilerplate appeared…
“Not bashing Macs, just tired of the “just works” bullshit.”
Why’s it bullshit? I’ve spent over 25 years fucking with computers big, small and in between for a living. I don’t really like working on them any more. I just want to use ’em. I no longer am fascinated and amused by tinkering with ’em. I can use any platform and any OS I want. Since I don’t wanna tinker, I rely on my Macs. And that IS “because they just work,” not advertising I fell for, like some Windoze sheeple looking at bogus ads.
‘Where do you want to be dragged, kicking and screaming, today?’®™ Pffft.
I still (happily) use W2K, no need for XP as it is too much burden for me. Vista is not in my foreseeable future.
Lauren- its because I support both platforms. The “just works” moniker is “just hype.” Its just simplistic jingoism that means nothing. I see the same software glitches on both paltforms. And on a daily basis. Maybe it just works for you, but for many of our clients, we see the same problems, granted, other than viruses, of which I see less and less of. And I too have been doing this for 25 years.
You are correct, truthful and honest on this one, mark. Yet so am I.
After I get back from errands, I will try to get back here to explain the invisible piece of the puzzle that lets us both be correct…
The only computer that does what it is “supposed to” without error, all the time is one that is left off.
#22 – Especially on older, underpowered machines win2k _does_ work like a charm. And no activation hassle… Otherwise I’m a happy Ubuntu (Xubuntu for said underpowered PCs) user. Even on my HTPC with 1080P big phat screen 🙂
#23,
What is this Virus that you speak of? I haven’t seen one in such a long time I am losing the instinct to put anti-virus on new computers. Right now av makes it on only because I grind through it.
#26,
I still like win2k a lot. However I am starting to run into situations where companies are no longer providing 2k support, even on peripherals like motherboards…
This constant battle between Apple people and PC people is ridiculous. If you buy a quality PC, it will run great with no problems. I have a Dell XPS laptop that is three years old and it runs flawlessly. I have had one BSOD in all that time and that was caused by a really poor piece of software I was experimenting with. I have no problems with viruses because I run a good program that watches for them.
#10 Lauren:
Took only 5 comments to bash Apple because it took only 3 to Hype it…
I’m still an happy XP user and will be for more two years or so, till I can afford a system that can breeze it’s way through Vista. Also in two years Vista’s rough edges will be sanded off to a polished shine…
And also in two years time it will be irrelevant (already is, but hey…) the OS.
In two years time will be running Google apps for the trivial and Adobe apps for work…
That’s the world out of the distortion field 4U…
Ok,
question for you Old folks, with experience on OTHER formats…
What options Software/hardware would you like to see in Vista…
what could be done BETTER with OLD tech?
What was done better in the PAST?
And is the MMU any better? the Amiga had a Hardware MMU that WORKED…