Why do I hate Vista?
Nov. 4th, 2007 12:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lostcarparkMark Minasi asks Why exactly does everyone hate Vista?
He comes to the conclusion that it was the same with every new version, and that it will pass and we'll all be happy with Vista soon.
I have to say I beg to differ. I have used almost every previous release of Windows since 1.0 (I was 16 when that came out), and while there have been versions I have had reservations about, I've always been able to see the improvements. I might have waited for a service pack to fix the bugs, but I've generally migrated eventually.
But after a fair bit of experience of Vista on other people's computers, I can't see myself wanting it on my computer. Not now, not at the first service pack, not ever.
There isn't a single reason for this, but rather a multitude of things that contribute to a general feeling of unease.
First are the user interface changes. Microsoft have regularly introduced user interface changes in the past, but they've always made an effort to accommodate their old user base. I knew people who used the Windows 2 file management thingy for years on Windows 3 because it was what they were used to. And there were plenty of people running the Windows 3 file manager on Windows 95. And I still know lots of people who run the Win2K look and feel on XP.
But Vista has dumped the old menu/toolbar system and replaced it with a new "ribbon" system. How much contempt do Microsoft feel they can treat their existing users with? Lots of "power user" commands are just gone. There may be other ways of achieving the same thing, but they take time to figure out, when the old command wasn't doing anyone any harm. A small one I found quite useful was the "Help... About" command. You could open any Explorer Window and use it to find out how much memory the computer had. It's not the end of the world that it's gone, but I found it quite handy and there was no real need to just nuke it.
Office 2007 is, of course, where the real fun begins. It's not part of Vista, but the two are closely related, and shows what MS now think of their existing user base. There should be an option to turn off the new interface and switch back to the old one, but there isn't. Even an option to put the old menu above the new ribbons would give existing users a half-way house. There are some very pretty things in the new UI, but if you're an experienced user and know how to do something the "old way" it can be very frustrating. Where is the "Save As" command on the new interface? The irony is now that the free OpenOffice suite is now easier for an existing user to adapt to than the new version of Office.
But aside from all the user interface changes, there are the new security "enhancements". I can't help feeling that many of these create an illusion of security without actually making the computer any more secure. Take the constant stream of "Windows needs your permission to do this" requests. How long before users stop reading them and just click yes on auto. I know a thing or two about them and I still find myself doing it. I have on occasion clicked without thinking then realised that I shouldn't have, but for many users there is no understanding or realisation. When will Microsoft realise that running in administrator accounts will never really be secure. The only real solution is to use restricted user accounts. It may take a little user training for users, but I don't see how the result could be any worse than what users are put through now. It will also take some thorough beating around the heads of application vendors to get them to produce applications that can work, and preferably install, in user mode accounts.
Finally there's the new swooshy graphics effects that Vista does. They look cute (unless you happen to be one of the not inconsiderable number of people who hate them), until you realise your 3D graphics card is running at full tilt, your CPU is at 97% and your laptop's battery life has been cut to about 7 minutes...
Well, I say finally, but there's probably a few other things I haven't thought of. I hear rumour of some new DRM stuff that I haven't had a chance to check out properly, for example.
I hope never to have a computer with Vista installed. I'm somewhat relieved that the company I work for rolled out XP to desktops last year. Our previous desktop upgrade was to NT4 in about 1998, so I think we're safe from Vista for a while. I still use XP at home, but I'm finding Ubuntu increasingly usable, and if some of the big software vendors realise that there's money in releasing Linux versions of their apps, it could be bye-bye Windows.
Alternatively, maybe Microsoft will one day stop treating their users with contempt and I might like the next version of Windows.
Now all I have to do is wait for the replies telling me I should switch to a Mac.
He comes to the conclusion that it was the same with every new version, and that it will pass and we'll all be happy with Vista soon.
I have to say I beg to differ. I have used almost every previous release of Windows since 1.0 (I was 16 when that came out), and while there have been versions I have had reservations about, I've always been able to see the improvements. I might have waited for a service pack to fix the bugs, but I've generally migrated eventually.
But after a fair bit of experience of Vista on other people's computers, I can't see myself wanting it on my computer. Not now, not at the first service pack, not ever.
There isn't a single reason for this, but rather a multitude of things that contribute to a general feeling of unease.
First are the user interface changes. Microsoft have regularly introduced user interface changes in the past, but they've always made an effort to accommodate their old user base. I knew people who used the Windows 2 file management thingy for years on Windows 3 because it was what they were used to. And there were plenty of people running the Windows 3 file manager on Windows 95. And I still know lots of people who run the Win2K look and feel on XP.
But Vista has dumped the old menu/toolbar system and replaced it with a new "ribbon" system. How much contempt do Microsoft feel they can treat their existing users with? Lots of "power user" commands are just gone. There may be other ways of achieving the same thing, but they take time to figure out, when the old command wasn't doing anyone any harm. A small one I found quite useful was the "Help... About" command. You could open any Explorer Window and use it to find out how much memory the computer had. It's not the end of the world that it's gone, but I found it quite handy and there was no real need to just nuke it.
Office 2007 is, of course, where the real fun begins. It's not part of Vista, but the two are closely related, and shows what MS now think of their existing user base. There should be an option to turn off the new interface and switch back to the old one, but there isn't. Even an option to put the old menu above the new ribbons would give existing users a half-way house. There are some very pretty things in the new UI, but if you're an experienced user and know how to do something the "old way" it can be very frustrating. Where is the "Save As" command on the new interface? The irony is now that the free OpenOffice suite is now easier for an existing user to adapt to than the new version of Office.
But aside from all the user interface changes, there are the new security "enhancements". I can't help feeling that many of these create an illusion of security without actually making the computer any more secure. Take the constant stream of "Windows needs your permission to do this" requests. How long before users stop reading them and just click yes on auto. I know a thing or two about them and I still find myself doing it. I have on occasion clicked without thinking then realised that I shouldn't have, but for many users there is no understanding or realisation. When will Microsoft realise that running in administrator accounts will never really be secure. The only real solution is to use restricted user accounts. It may take a little user training for users, but I don't see how the result could be any worse than what users are put through now. It will also take some thorough beating around the heads of application vendors to get them to produce applications that can work, and preferably install, in user mode accounts.
Finally there's the new swooshy graphics effects that Vista does. They look cute (unless you happen to be one of the not inconsiderable number of people who hate them), until you realise your 3D graphics card is running at full tilt, your CPU is at 97% and your laptop's battery life has been cut to about 7 minutes...
Well, I say finally, but there's probably a few other things I haven't thought of. I hear rumour of some new DRM stuff that I haven't had a chance to check out properly, for example.
I hope never to have a computer with Vista installed. I'm somewhat relieved that the company I work for rolled out XP to desktops last year. Our previous desktop upgrade was to NT4 in about 1998, so I think we're safe from Vista for a while. I still use XP at home, but I'm finding Ubuntu increasingly usable, and if some of the big software vendors realise that there's money in releasing Linux versions of their apps, it could be bye-bye Windows.
Alternatively, maybe Microsoft will one day stop treating their users with contempt and I might like the next version of Windows.
Now all I have to do is wait for the replies telling me I should switch to a Mac.
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no subject
Date: 2007-11-04 06:43 pm (UTC)A lot of the real stability problems and stuff that annoys me on Ms laptop are driver realted and it's clear they launched too soon. They did this with XP though and by the time SP1 was launched people were starting to move over. There's a lot of features in Vista I do like.
Office 2007 - you're quite right about the Ribbon, it's dumb and annoys the hell out of people including most of the original users in Redmond. M is going out of her mind because a lot of the serious keyboard shortcuts she learned are now disabled. A lot of work is going to have to be done on that.
OTOH - there's some stuff to like. They've fixed some of the scheduling bugs that have been in Outlook for most of the last decade. The evidence also suggests it is flying off the shelves.
I can't make up my mind whether Vista will end up getting fixed gradually, or will be reborn and discarded like ME was.
no subject
Date: 2007-11-04 09:57 pm (UTC)I just started using vista on my dev box in work three months ago and while it works, I'm tired of its general flakiness (unexplained explorer crashes and apps which worked before now behaving in a flaky manner). I find the animations intrusive rather than useful and the default colour scheme and bubbly look n'feel is gaudy and visually offensive.
I find getting home to my mac an ubuntu boxes in the evening a welcome break from vista's general crappiness
Office 2007
Date: 2007-11-05 09:58 pm (UTC)Mamó (from NaNoWriMo Dublin)
Thanks!
Date: 2007-11-09 12:52 pm (UTC)[sigh]
Sooooo, how's the novel going?
Susan
(your fellow Wrimo, Onyva)
Not Being Objective
Date: 2007-11-15 09:21 pm (UTC)I think they should invent a new word to classify all the people who share your point of view -- wait, there is one: Complacent.
There is a common philosphy amongst all the complacent Vista haters, and that is they all hate to change. They hate to learn new things. They are very proud of their prior accomplishments and see no reason to change anything, unless of course, they are the ones designing the changes. Vista just made them lose their perceived control over things. Why? Because, in the scope of operating systems (or applications), all that they have learned prior to the release of the new OS, is instantly nullified. Their once great status of 'Expert' now changes into 'Novice'. They are fumbling around in the dark saying things like: 'Where is that damn menu?', 'Why did they move the display settings there?' By the way, you would never hear one of these people say 'I don't know how to do that', it just isn't a viable response for them. The common habit of them measuring other people's intelligence is suddenly removed.
So, they have to go through a whole new process of learning all the new things. Or not. They could just not buy Vista and stay in the past. They could switch to another OS, but wait! Their forced to use MS products, so they can't. So they end up being laggards and staying with Win2K or XP for as long as they absolutely can. Oh well.
Anyway, if the amount of energy spent complaining about NEW OS's or Applications was put into LEARNING the new OS or App, they all might actually acheive something called PROGRESS.
Re: Not Being Objective
Date: 2008-01-04 06:17 am (UTC)In General, users are dumb, but they are also the customer that holds the cash. There is no point pretending to be righteous and blaming them for not having the artistic vision to see the greatness in vista design. Microsoft, as a business, should provide the product that suits the customers, not the other way around.
Re: Not Being Objective
Date: 2008-01-05 11:30 pm (UTC)My point was that in the past, Microsoft have helped ease that migration by including the old interface in a compatibility mode. Vista, and especially Office 2007, fling the migrating user into a new interface where nothing is familiar and everything has to be learned from scratch. Personally I find that approach rather arrogant and inconsiderate.
Re: Not Being Objective
Date: 2008-04-26 01:32 am (UTC)Here's something to consider, OSX Leopard (The newest version of Apple OS) is actually booting faster, is more feature rich and the overall performance with it's core functionality and the applications it supports is greater or at least equal than the previous OSX version (Tiger), I believe it is a logical impulse for any Mac user to upgrade to Leopard without a doubt. However Microsoft is going in the opposite direction, their new OS is heaver and requires more Memory, CPU and Video power increasing your electricity bills and contributing to global warming and for a bad reason, it's not even worth while, it's a broken OS!
If anybody can give me a single reason why Vista is worth upgrading from XP I might reconsider, sure it comes with DX10 but games on Vista have 6% to 10% less FPS compared with XP, and that applies to any game, even games that don't support DX10, besides, soon we will be able to install a functional hacked DX10 on XP.
Windows Vista is Microsoft's response to OSX and nothing more - it was never an attempt to revolutionize the computer industry, what they did is grab XP, integrate Direct3D into the interface (hence, stressing your CPU and Video Card and making it slower), load a bunch of security enhancements that bug the shit out of people with constant confirmation windows, change the settings position so they're harder to find with the purpose of making the search feature in the Control Panel useful.
As far as I am concerned there is not a single reason why I should use Vista, XP is not perfect but we've grown into it and know how to bypass it's weakness, like using firefox instead of IE. Anyone not seeing that Vista is the result of a broken bureaucracy at Microsoft and a simple attempt to make more money is an ignorant in my book, and if they didn't keep DX10 exclusively for Vista no gamer would by it, because gaming is the only reason why anyone should stick with Microsoft buggy OS's.
VISTA cant be fixed
Date: 2007-11-26 08:47 pm (UTC)Re: VISTA cant be fixed
Date: 2008-08-01 05:16 am (UTC)noVISTAhere!
Date: 2007-12-08 11:06 pm (UTC)Linux makes it all much easier..
IMHO, VISTA is just for gaming:P
Next time I will buy a pc without an OS, or with Linux pre-installed, noone will call me a thief
You see, Linux is a good alternative..:P I simply ignore what MS says..
Baslow
kerstman
Date: 2007-12-26 08:16 pm (UTC)3d user
Date: 2008-03-14 07:42 pm (UTC)vista = crap
Date: 2008-04-13 09:40 pm (UTC)I never switched to Mac because I was always afraid to lose productivity. But, thanks to vista this fear has disappeared, nothing can be worse than vista, nothing. Windows XP wasn't that bad and I chickened out one more time buying a pc with vista a few months ago. I was hoping vista was just an upgrade of XP. But, I quickly realize that vista was the end of the windows OS road for me. Vista is the biggest piece of crap ever produced by windows which is in itself an achievement!! They basically took the same things they had with XP and superimposed tons of shit on it. Everything is so deeply buried under that pile of excrements that it is impossible to work for me. I experienced tons of similar problems than other users regarding installation of new softwares, plus why is that dumb OS keep asking me a 100 times a day about registering mcafee and other softwares I don't want. There is not even an option to ask them to stop popping-up and bothering me!! So, they keep appearing and asking me again and again the same thing. I tried to go and kill the mcafee folder just to see vista denying me the right to get rid of that software!!! Regarding MS office (i used word, excel and powerpoint), it is the biggest joke of all. They changed every button and menus so that people like me that were quite efficient with their programs are back to square one. It takes me forever to do basic things which is of course unacceptable. By the way, this is the definite incentive for me to switch to mac, why stay with something crappy like windows and relearn everything instead of going to something new and better?? Here, just got the latest pop-up asking me about registering, once again...I can't stand it anymore, tomorrow I go buy a mac. Thank you windows for making the switch easy for me!!
$$$
Date: 2008-05-14 11:04 pm (UTC)Re: $$$
Date: 2008-05-15 12:20 am (UTC)Ubuntu
Date: 2008-08-05 06:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-19 04:53 pm (UTC)vista is a very good money maker for microsoft
Date: 2008-10-22 06:57 am (UTC)you will pay for the O.S. on every new P.C. and the people who love X.P.will upgrade from vista to X.P. (yes i said upgrade to X.P.)so they can have a P.C. thats works every time they need it so how many vista oem pcs will go back to xp? and those C.O.A.S will never be used . all the companies will pay extra for no O.S. or what is now called down-gradeable, to xp and never use the vista u.l. with win xp downgrade (again needs to be called win xp upgrade) . by the time they fix vista or replace it with a new o.s. that works(hopefully)thats built to work on a network with a server at the office no one will want those vista c.o.a. because most companies replace there p.c.s every two to there years!
back to gamers they will have spent all that money
on every new piece of hardware and will settle for a little less
graphics or new cards will come along that will work with x.p.and give the same or better graphics than on vista and now they have all that memory supper fast processor's big hard-drives and until something better comes along you guessed it they will be running WINDOWS XP PRO (AND IF YOU LOOK AT THE PRICES ON EBAY THEY HAVE ALREADY WENT UP ON LEGAL COPIES OF WINDOWS X.P.PRO
VISTA SUCKS
Date: 2009-02-19 02:57 am (UTC)Just saying "hi" from the Gold Coast, Australia - Looking Forward To Getting Involved.
Date: 2011-04-11 02:21 am (UTC)