>><snip>
>>>>Yes, several apps dont work at all / will not run including VMWare, ZoneAlarm, and a PDF driver from Amyuni. And I have no printer driver for my printer (Lexmark), so no printing. But the system does not crash and burn. It does stay up and run so at least thats something.
>>>>
>>>>I must add though that from an end-user, eye-candy pov, the Aero theme is quite slick. I dont know how long that affect lasts and how much thats worth but it came with the new laptop so ...
>>>
>>>
>>>Slower, programs don't run, buggy or missing drivers...
>>>
>>>But at least it looks good :)
>>>
>>>Bob
>>
>>Hey, at least it looks good while we lose money ... <g> But I'm sure that the eye-candy gets tired real fast and then we just lose money on it :( ...
>
>What's wrong with Vista. You think it was released to fast? You think someone at MS said "I don't care what is its status we have to release it NOW!"

Actually thats exactly what I think goes on. There is always a battle between marketing and business pressures and technical issues. Its a classic situation. Was Vista released too early? Probably. Is it material to the end-users? I think it will depend on a case by case basis.

Is there really a compelling reasons to upgrade to Vista (besides eye-candy)? I don't think so. Much has been made of the security enhancements but all in all I think a properly setup Windows XP/SP2 box is just fine, but I guess its a personal choice. UAC is a huge pain and will result in users either (a) switching it off, or (b) just clicking "continue" without even reading the message. Windows Defender is no where near as good as 3rd party products. The Windows firewall is only half a firewall by protecting inbound traffic only.

And if major apps like VMWare and Zone Alarm don't work then I imagine there must be many more apps that are going to have problems. These problems will be solved by a new release which often means you need to pay an upgrade fee. So once again you need new hardware to drive it and new versions of stuff that were working fine before. Personally I've been there-done that and its boring, expensive, and time consuming.

I think the pundits are right when they say most people will get Vista when they buy their next box. Thats the only reason we have a it because one of the sales people needed a new laptop. At least what we really need to work does and thats ok. The eye-candy is good for demonstrations to end-users. Personally I tend to switch it all off as I prefer performance over looks. And it doesnt crash (or at least we have not had that so far). We will uprgade no one in our business unless it comes with a new box.