I am anticipating purchasing one or two laptops or PC's this coming year. As I can't afford Macs, PC is going to have to be the choice. I am hearing that Microsoft shot themselves while the gun was in the holster with the Vista system. Can anyone compare the two?

If XP is the better choice, what options are there to put XP on a computer that comes with Vista already installed?

I bought a brand new computer with vista, I hate it, I have been installing XP for the past hour on it... Vista looks nice but it sucks for me


Sometimes it goes smooth sometimes it does not..... changing to a different OS is always a crap shoot, sometimes you spend days looking for certain drivers.

Since I have a low geek quotient what does one do to change over from one to the other? For example, does the hard drive have to be reformatted and then a copy of XP loaded onto the computer?

I honestly don't understand all the crying about Vista. I bought an HP laptop last May with Vista Home Premium. Graphics programs I've had put away for a couple of years because they didn't work on XP's platform installed and worked flawlessly on Vista. The different look and location of some things can take a little getting used to, but if you don't want to bother getting used to the new look, you can just set the computer to display like Windows Classic.

The wireless recognition makes connecting to WiFi networks so easy even the most technologically impaired person can do it easily.

Frankly, I love Vista and would recommend it to anyone. I've used Macs in college and I've used every single version of Windows from 3.1 to 95 to 98 to 2000 to ME to XP to Vista. I started out programming in Fortran on TRS-80's back in the "olden days" of the 80's.

Vista can take some getting used to and there are some little quirks (like the security features) that can be irritating, but you can customize it so those little quirks go away. You just have to be willing to work with it and take the time to set it up for your personal tastes.

Good luck!

Yes, like many people, I don't take well to change. But under that theory we would all be using windows 3.? I held off with win98 2n ed for a long time before switching to xp. I hated it. Then later wondered how I ever used 98. I didn't like the change to vista but I forced myself to use it for a week. Now I can't imagine going back to xp. At first I had trouble getting some programs to work with vista, but with all the updates they send out I have found that almsot all the programs I need are working quite well with vista. The driver situation you speak of is a valid concern, but it is becoming less of a problem as time goes on. At some point you will have to make the switch. When it comes you will accept it after a very short time.
As medic above says, the wireless recognition makes connecting to WiFi networks very easy. And that is worth a lot when you are out on the road and at hotels etc.

If you are going from vista back to xp?

If such a transition were to take place, it would be from vista to xp. However, these are the first positive comments I've heard about Vista. Could it be that Microsoft is addressing the situation and making the software a lot more user friendly?

I suggest you try your best to adjust to vista. If you are having any specific problems adapting to vista, I would be happy to help you.