Windows XP to Vista

[eyelostit]

I have XP, called HP i can get an upgrade to vista but it seems like I have to take it somewhere or a person will come here.

So if you get it installed does it work right, or is it going to be a big project to get used to it, sometimes i feel like its better just to get a new computer, than to pay for this stuff. I cannot do myself, my HP is vista compatable but when i had MS check my computer they said some stuff was missing to install the vista.

Life gets more exciting every passing day:rolleyes:

[We Hope]

Dolly,

What type of CPU do you have--an Intel or an AMD? I know someone who has an AMD CPU in the computer and the system is graded as Vista compatible.

When this person wanted to put in MS Windows XP Service Pack 3, she was told that it had to be done a certain way or "else"--they suggested she have a technician install the SP. She contacted her serviceperson and he told her that he could do it, but there could still be issues. I think she also has an HP with an AMD Athlon CPU.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2335152,00.asp

PC Mag November 21, 2008

Emails Reveal How Vista Decisions Infuriated HP

Issues with Intel's integrated graphics touched off a cascade of complications affecting Microsoft's Vista rollout, prompting the creation of the "Vista Capable" designation that eventually angered Microsoft customers Hewlett-Packard and Sony.

Emails unsealed last week by a district court judge reveal the at-times heated back-and-forth discussions between Microsoft and its partners. The case, filed by two consumers, was brought against Microsoft in a Washington state court earlier this year, and later given class-action status.

A new batch of email, released Thursday, point to a even more problems between HP and Microsoft, as HP chief executive Mark Hurd complained to Ballmer that the company was "being overrun" with support calls.

Covering a period from roughly April 2005 through Feb. 2007, the emails show that Intel was initially unable to supply an integrated graphics chipset that would meet the needs of the "Aero Glass" interface that Microsoft had so highly touted in Vista. However, the company had a stockpile of older, less capable chips.

At Intel's request, Microsoft created a "good/better/best" product rollout strategy – ranging from "Windows Capable" to the Basic and Premium Vista logo programs – allowing PC makers to manufacture low-end PCs using the Intel 945 "Calistoga" chipset and thus participate in the Vista launch. Those chipsets lacked a Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) (also referred to as the Longhorn Display Driver Model) driver, one of the keys to the Aero Glass interface.

Hewlett-Packard, meanwhile, had invested heavily in leading-edge Intel chipsets, even designing two motherboards around them. The inclusion of the "Vista Capable" designation angered HP, worried Sony, and even frustrated some of Microsoft's marketing and technical executives.

While the emails further detail the level of frustration felt by Microsoft's partners, the initial motivation for the Vista Capable logo was explained in February, when another passel of email was released describing more of the relationship between Microsoft and Intel, and the integrated chipsets. The smoking gun there was the astounding lack of driver support that accompanied Vista's launch, a consequence of Microsoft's apparent lack of credibility with independent hardware vendors. In those emails, both Microsoft senior executives as well as board member and former Microsoft president Jon Shirley complained about the lack of drivers and the overall poor user experience on Vista machines. The reason? Microsoft's partners didn't trust the company to ship Vista on time.

In late 2005, Microsoft was worrying about how its PC OEM partners would prepare for the launch. Vista-optimized PCs would go out on launch day, but there was a concern about whether or not existing PCs could run Vista. A "Vista Ready" list of requirements had been passed along to OEMs for about a year, and Microsoft executives were reluctant to change them – which they eventually did.

The problem Microsoft faced was how to prepare the market for Vista without cannibalizing Windows XP sales. Windows manager Rajesh Srinivasan sent an email to several managers on Oct. 11, 2005, noting that it was "impractical" for OEMs to design systems without something to test against. "The primary goal of Ready PC program is to limit stall of XP sales as we continue to build Vista buzz," he wrote.

"You cannot go out and 'reset' Ready PC requirements with OEMs," wrote Mark Croft, a Microsoft marketing director, on Nov. 1, 2005. "This is a very highly charged topic with OEMs." But Srinivasan also worried about "customer dis-sat[isfaction]" with PCs that were marketed as Vista Ready, but would not be able to run the premium Aero Glass graphics interface.

After a conversation with Sony executives and its own graphics team, however, Microsoft punched several holes in its logo programs where ultramobile (UMPCs) and ultraportable (UPPCs) were concerned. On Dec.15, 2005, Windows manager Rajesh Srinivasan sent former corporate vice president for Windows Product Marketing Mike Sievert a lengthy email, waiving the premium graphics requirements for ultraportable PCs (UPPCs), and the Vista logo requirements for ultramobile PCs (UMPCs). The rationale Srinivasan gave was to "close the issue and protect [Sievert's] credibility with Sony".

"This gives Sony the ability to market UPPCs and UMPCs as Premium, despite not meeting the graphics logo criteria," Srinivasan wrote.


This article continues at the link. I'm passing on Vista and will see what the OS to come will be. A lot of people say it's a lot better than Vista. I passed on Windows Me, 2000, and NT also--went from Windows 98 Second Edition to XP. Have always had computers with Intel CPUs--I just don't want the hassle when I know they'll be bringing out Windows 7 in the not so far off future.

Kathy

[eyelostit]

I have an HP with a Intel Celeron D, from what I read sound better to get new computer, I'm not gonna do it now, seems its better to wait till all the smoke clears the air, this computer is not quite 2 yrs old.

I'd like the MS office programs but i don't like the high price, i still use MS works 2000.

[We Hope]

After I posted the above, I found this which was written today:

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/11/24/vista-kernel-vulnerable

The Inquirer November 24, 2008

Vista kernel is vulnerable

A FLAW has been discovered in Microsoft's flagship Windows Vista operating system, but the company has said it won't fix the glitch until its next, as-yet unannounced, service pack.

Discovered by Austrian researcher Thomas Unterleitner of the insecurity company Phion and announced last Friday, the buffer overflow flaw reportedly exists in Vista's networking I/O subsystem.

It can cause a blue screen of death system crash, allow denial of service attacks, or enable injection of rootkits or other malware such as viruses, trojans, bots or keyloggers.

Unterleitner told ZDnet UK that Phion had notified Microsoft of the vulnerability in October.

Phion successfully tested an exploit of the vulnerability against Vista Enterprise and Vista Ultimate and believes that other versions of Windows Vista are "very likely" also vulnerable. It says that both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the operating system contain the flawed code.

Windows XP reportedly doesn't contain the vulnerability.

Unterleitner said administrator privileges are required to execute a program that calls the function containing the flaw, but that doesn't seem like much of a hurdle, since Vista trains its users to click on "OK" to all sorts of security warnings.

He also said it appeared possible, though not yet confirmed, that an attacker might craft a malformed DHCP packet to "take advantage of the exploit without administrative rights."

"We have worked together with Microsoft Security Response Center in Redmond since October 2008 to locate, classify and fix this bug," Unterleitner reportedly said in an email. "Microsoft will ship a fix for this exploit with the next Vista service pack."

However, Microsoft said that it had investigated but was "currently unaware of any attacks trying to use the vulnerability or of customer impact." Nor could it confirm that a fix will be included in the next Vista service pack or project when it might get around to releasing that.

Both my desktop and laptop are Intel Celeron D's. I hope not to need to buy a new computer for a while yet--when I needed to buy the desktop, it came with XP on it.

Kathy

[k9diabetes]

My husband has Vista on his laptop and it's worked okay. Much of the change, from the user's point of view, seems cosmetic mainly. Things look different and are organized differently but the overall experience isn't much different.

I haven't done an upgrade though. My system is still on XP, mainly because I have so many drivers, etc. that had to be changed with Vista. It required us to buy a bunch of new software to run programs on the the Vista-laptop.