Windows XP vs. Vista

I have Installed Vista and I did not like it at all and many appz does not run well on Vista yeat so I would like to know what Is making Vista so good I see nothing In Vista I can use or need.

People said the same thing about XP - give it time. Stay with Windows XP or use a dual boot. one of the biggest reasons most people will update to VISTA is DirectX10 - I've been beta testing Vista from the beginning and I have done some compares on a dual boot test system, I must say that Vista is a resource hogging bloat when installed fresh - but using different tools you can really tune it and remove all the junk, disable uneeded services, etc.... I have done some benchmarking with EVEREST and have gotten better CPU scores and memory transfer scores - I have gotten quite a comfortable increase in performance with disk transfers - loading of appliactions and games. DX9 games will run faster too. Everything runs smoothly for me but honestly see no reason yet to upgrade, I still like XP, and Service Pack 1 for VISTA is already scheduled for this year. Stick to XP.

Many users have reported faster and better integration with Vista. But you are right, until ACDSee comes out with a Vista compatible version, I will stick with XP Pro on my main computer.

Stay with XP.


Been reading up on Vista vs Windows XP. Seems that Vista will not let you record from your sound card (regardless of what recording software you use). But with Windows XP you can record off your sound card. Now virtual audio cable "might" solve that problem.

I have Windows XP media on one computer and it is impossible to record off the soundcard, where as my other two computers (which use plain Windows XP) one can record off the sound card.

So in essence it would appear that soundcard recording using Windows XP is feasible and Windows XP Media and Vista it is not.

I had another computer which had Windows XP Pro and was able to record off the soundcard.

I tried using Virtual audio cable (trial version) with Windows XP Media to record off the soundcard and it did not work. It might work with Vista though.

Further note, I asked at some computer stores if were possible to install Windows XP over Vista, they said that if I did , it would invalidate the warranty. Sounds like MS made a deal with the powers that be to make sound card recording impossible on Vista.

I will wait till Vista Becomes lighter and gets rid of DRM crap

Its called PMP (Protected Media Path) part of DRM and it can be Patched!

Looks like you will have a long wait.

First of all what sound card do you have ? I have an Audigy 2 with latest drivers and when I was beta testing Vista my sound card worked fine, I had access to ALL control panel option - And in fact in Vista, my Audigy 2 control panel has more options that were not available to me before. sound recording is poisslbe, to record off line-in, microphone, etc, and yes I can record from "what-u-hear" source, worked just fine for me - I was testing this using a WDM driver, which worked just fine in Vista.

I've been a MS OS'es fan ever since, but testing Vista I can surely say I highly anticipate the next OS since this one I'll pass

I have gone to the stores, looked into the Vista computers that were on display. Then opened up the control panel clicked audio. Then clicked the record tab only had microphone and line in enabled.

One store at Circuit City had two Windows XP notebook computers left on display, checked the audio record tab and sure enough the options were microphone, line and the mixer. there is your clue, search it yourself.

So by upgrading, it would seem you are actually "downgrading" your options.

As for my Windows Media compter that will not allow sound mixer record what you hear. In my record program the mixer option is not to be found and any attempts to record off the mixer results in silence. The soundcard is a realtek, but the mixer is a intel. I tried using virtual audio cable trial to see if that would bridge the gap. it would not. I can only record with a wire connected from the headphone jack to the line in. I would assume by getting a full duplex soundcard would solve that problem. So seeing that you have a Audigy 2 panel, I guess I need the Audigy soundcard and panel and maybe that is what I should be looking for.


I would assume that I have a half duplex sound card in my Windows media computer. My other computers are basic Window XP and have no problems at all recording off the sound card.

Based on my observations, again it would seem that Vista and Windows XP Media are NOT soundcard friendly. Finally to back up my claims that Vista is not friendly, please read the following tech page from Applian.

http://www.applian.com/support-vista.php

I agree with Oleg24. Vista aren't completely ready at the moment. So I still waiting for the better times with my XP (for gamning) and Linux Ubuntu (for working)

I have been using Vista for about 2 weeks and I really like it. Seems to run Faster then XP and the Superfecth function help a bit.

Yes some of my prgrams didnt run but thry funny thing they were things like install issues, prbelms with UAC which could have been fixed by the developer. I havent seen any driver/hardware issues.

Incase anybody is interested, the following software installs and runs great under Vista:

NOD32 - antivirus
WinDVD8
Perfectdisk
DVDFAB
AOA DVD Ripper
Alcohol 52 - So why wont DVDCopy5, Nero wont run (or install)
Roxio
Gom Player
McAfee Site Advisor Plus

If you do go Vista, dont go Upgrade since it wont do a clean install.

Get Acronis Disk Image to backup/restore your system. Saved me days of work.

I think I will stay with XP for the time being.

You actually can do a clean install of Vista upgrade version, (not as easy as I believe it should be)

How to Clean Install Windows Vista with Upgrade Media.

Step 1: Install Windows Vista
Boot your PC with the Windows Vista Upgrade DVD. After the preliminary loading screen, click the Install Now button to trigger Vista Setup. In the next screen, you normally enter your product key. However, there's a little-known trick in Windows Vista Setup whereby you can simply skip this phase and use the install media (Upgrade or Full, any version) to perform a clean install of virtually any Vista product edition. What you do is leave the Product Key field blank, deselect the option titled "Automatically activate Windows when I'm online," and then click Next. Vista Setup will ask you whether you would like to enter your Product Key before continuing. Click No.

In the next Setup screen, you'll be presented with a list of the Windows Vista product editions you can install. This list may vary from locale to locale, but in the US, you'll see Vista Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, and some N editions. Choose the product edition you actually own. You'll be asked to verify that you've chosen the correct version. Do so to continue past the End User License Agreement (EULA) screen.

In the next screen, you select the type of install. Choose Custom (Advanced) instead of Upgrade. Next, you choose the partition to which to install Windows Vista. If you need to format the disk, select the Drive options (advanced) option to do so and then continue.

Now, Setup copies the Vista install image to your PC, expands it, and installs Windows. This phase of Setup should take about 15 to 20 minutes and trigger at least one reboot. When Vista is installed, you'll step through the penultimate phase of Setup in which you enter, in succession, your user name and password, computer name, and the date, time, and time zone. Then Setup runs its final task, a performance test that could take about 5 minutes. If everything goes well, and you're running fairly modern hardware, you should hit the Welcome screen and, after logging on, the new Vista desktop less than 30 minutes after you began this process.

Step 2: Upgrade
What you've installed is decidedly temporary. You've got 30 days during which you can run this non-activated version of Windows Vista. If you try to activate Windows now, it will fail, because you've performed a clean install of Vista and you only have an Upgrade product key.

What to do, what to do? If you read Microsoft's support note carefully, you will have seen that the Upgrade versions of Vista support upgrading from "a compliant version of Windows, such as Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows XP, or Microsoft Windows 2000." Well, you just installed Windows Vista, so why not just upgrade from this install? That's right: You're going to upgrade the non-activated clean install you just performed, which will provide you with a version of the OS that you can, in fact, activate.

To do this, just open Computer and double click on the icon for the DVD drive that contains the Vista Upgrade media. Run Setup again, this time from within Vista. Choose Install Now, and then "Do not get the latest updates for installation" in the next screen. Then, in the now-familiar Product Key phase, enter your product key. It's on the back of the pull-out Vista packaging. You can choose to automatically activate Windows when online or not, it's your choice. In the next screen, accept the Windows EULA.

Now, choose the Upgrade option. Windows will install as before, though you might notice that it takes quite a bit longer this time. (Upgrade installs seem to take up to 45 minutes, compared to 30 minutes or less with clean installs, and reboots at least one additional time.)

Because you've just completed an upgrade install, you won't be prompted to enter your user name and so forth (only the time zone screen is presented). Instead, you'll just boot directly to the Welcome screen when the performance check is complete. Using the user name and password you created during the first install, logon to Windows.

Once again, you have 30 days in which to activate Vista. However, this time activation will work: To activate Vista immediately (unless you told it to do so during Setup), open the Start Menu, right-click Computer, and choose Properties. Then, at the bottom of the System window that appears, click the link titled Activate Windows now.

Is this legal?
One might naturally wonder whether the aforementioned instructions describe an action that is legal or ethical. After all, anyone could purchase an Upgrade version of Windows Vista (therefore saving a lot of money when compared to a Full version) and use it to perform a clean install even if they don't own a previous, compliant Window version.
Fair enough. Of course, if you do use this workaround to clean install Vista with the Upgrade media, and you don't own a previous, compliant version of Windows, you're most certainly violating the Windows EULA and, thus, breaking the law. Proceed at your own risk.

Now wonder they do not make it known, or easy to clean install an upgrade Vista disk when they could make more money from selling people who don't like to do an upgrade install compared with a clean install the more expensive full version.

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Last edited by darwin03; 12-02-2007 at 14:44. Reason: Left out important text

I don't know about other sound cards, I personally use a Sound Blaster Audigy 2, and it supports What-U-Hear recording source, and it IS enabled in VISTA - However at the time of the beta test I was using XP drivers for my soundcard, and it worked just fine. Perhaps the VISTA specific driver disables this. But there are ways around this I'm sure.

Already MS is saying VISTA is obsolete and is planning on the next CUT THROAT, behind ramming OS due in 2009, which will make Vista's DRM pretty tame in comparaison. I think Microsoft is slowly digging its own grave.