I'm sure there are other users out there who share the same feeling as I do
about Vista compared to XP. In my opinion XP is far more stable!

I recently borrowed my friend's laptop to fix it. It was 2 months old, with
Vista on it.
He was fed up with it so he decided to downgrade to XP. I couldn't believe
how hard it would be to do that. I had to call Microsoft for support, waited
40 min on the line and finally the customer service rep told me the version
my friend has was not able to do that using the same liscence key. They
wouldn't explain how to do it. Instead he recommended that I buy a liscence
for Windows XP and try installing it again and if I had trouble, call back
for support.

I refuse to upgrade to Vista myself since all I hear is problems from my
friends.
But when Microsoft stops making updates for XP and I start getting problems,
I think I will be switching to Mac. So unless Microsoft improves their
customer service and OS, I'm sure more and more users will be switching over.

Do you feel better now that you have vented your anger?
If you feel qualified to install, or down grade to, XP, you should have known that you would need an
XP license key.
You should have also checked with the laptop manufacturer's site to see if they even made hardware
supported by XP.
Most Vista problems are user induced. If you have a specific problem, describe it and you will get
help on these newsgroups.
If you have the money for a MAC, go there and stop bothering us.


"Unsatisfied" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:1A47F2CD-FBAE-4478-B7E3-(E-Mail Removed)...
> I'm sure there are other users out there who share the same feeling as I do
> about Vista compared to XP. In my opinion XP is far more stable!
>
> I recently borrowed my friend's laptop to fix it. It was 2 months old, with
> Vista on it.
> He was fed up with it so he decided to downgrade to XP. I couldn't believe
> how hard it would be to do that. I had to call Microsoft for support, waited
> 40 min on the line and finally the customer service rep told me the version
> my friend has was not able to do that using the same liscence key. They
> wouldn't explain how to do it. Instead he recommended that I buy a liscence
> for Windows XP and try installing it again and if I had trouble, call back
> for support.
>
> I refuse to upgrade to Vista myself since all I hear is problems from my
> friends.
> But when Microsoft stops making updates for XP and I start getting problems,
> I think I will be switching to Mac. So unless Microsoft improves their
> customer service and OS, I'm sure more and more users will be switching over.

On Oct 21, 3:50*pm, Unsatisfied
<Unsatisf...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
> I'm sure there are other users out there who share the same feeling as I do
> about Vista compared to XP. In my opinion XP is far more stable!
>
> I recently borrowed my friend's laptop to fix it. It was 2 months old, with
> Vista on it.
> He was fed up with it so he decided to downgrade to XP. I couldn't believe
> how hard it would be to do that. I had to call Microsoft for support, waited
> 40 min on the line and finally the customer service rep told me the version
> my friend has was not able to do that using the same liscence key. They
> wouldn't explain how to do it. Instead he recommended that I buy a liscence
> for Windows XP and try installing it again and if I had trouble, call back
> for support.
>
> I refuse to upgrade to Vista myself since all I hear is problems from my
> friends.
> But when Microsoft stops making updates for XP and I start getting problems,
> I think I will be switching to Mac. So unless Microsoft improves their
> customer service and OS, I'm sure more and more users will be switching over.

With the release of Windows 7 on October 22, Vista is "supposed" to
"disappear." Windows 7 will have a "Windows XP" emulator and both
Business / Ultimate will have downgrade rights to Windows XP Pro.

Don't let the doorknob hit you on the way out. Let us know how happy you are
with MAC when you start to install the many programs that only work with
Windows ;-)

: I think I will be switching to Mac. So unless Microsoft improves their
: customer service and OS, I'm sure more and more users will be switching
over.

In news:1A47F2CD-FBAE-4478-B7E3-(E-Mail Removed),
Unsatisfied typed on Wed, 21 Oct 2009 07:50:01 -0700:
> I'm sure there are other users out there who share the same feeling
> as I do about Vista compared to XP. In my opinion XP is far more
> stable!
>
> I recently borrowed my friend's laptop to fix it. It was 2 months
> old, with Vista on it.
> He was fed up with it so he decided to downgrade to XP. I couldn't
> believe how hard it would be to do that. I had to call Microsoft for
> support, waited 40 min on the line and finally the customer service
> rep told me the version my friend has was not able to do that using
> the same liscence key. They wouldn't explain how to do it. Instead he
> recommended that I buy a liscence for Windows XP and try installing
> it again and if I had trouble, call back for support.
>
> I refuse to upgrade to Vista myself since all I hear is problems from
> my friends.
> But when Microsoft stops making updates for XP and I start getting
> problems, I think I will be switching to Mac. So unless Microsoft
> improves their customer service and OS, I'm sure more and more users
> will be switching over.

Actually Microsoft promised XP support till 2014. And that might get
extended too. Since 70% plus of all Internet users are running XP.

And once Microsoft ends support, it won't bother me anyway. As I will
keep on using it. And security updates don't mean much to me, since I
have third party security software for that anyway and EWF. This netbook
for example, hasn't had an update since June 2009. As they take up too
much room on this 4G SSD. And they are not worth the space they take up.

--
Bill
Asus EEE PC 701G4 ~ 2GB RAM ~ 16GB-SDHC
Windows XP SP2

This newsgroup isn't frequently read by MS staff, so no point in making a
complaint here.

That said, Vista is slow, but not as diabolical as some would make out.
(From a clean install it runs OK on a 1GHz P3 with 750MB RAM, a spec which
most XP users wouldn't accept these days) A great number of troubles with
Vista computers are down-to crappy preinstalled antivirus or 'Internet
security suites.' I suspect that when Windows 7 hits the shelves the
sparkling perfomance us beta-testers have seen will likewise vanish once all
the OEM junk gets loaded onto it.

It might also be surmised that the apparent superiority of MacOS and Linux
to Windows may in part be due to the freedom from preinstalled crap which
these platforms enjoy.

IMHO the best thing MS could do to improve their own image would be to ban
preinstalled sofware other than essential drivers. Now that they have an AV
offering of their own, there is no reason NOT to do so.


"Unsatisfied" wrote:

> I'm sure there are other users out there who share the same feeling as I do
> about Vista compared to XP. In my opinion XP is far more stable!
>
> I recently borrowed my friend's laptop to fix it. It was 2 months old, with
> Vista on it.
> He was fed up with it so he decided to downgrade to XP. I couldn't believe
> how hard it would be to do that. I had to call Microsoft for support, waited
> 40 min on the line and finally the customer service rep told me the version
> my friend has was not able to do that using the same liscence key. They
> wouldn't explain how to do it. Instead he recommended that I buy a liscence
> for Windows XP and try installing it again and if I had trouble, call back
> for support.
>
> I refuse to upgrade to Vista myself since all I hear is problems from my
> friends.
> But when Microsoft stops making updates for XP and I start getting problems,
> I think I will be switching to Mac. So unless Microsoft improves their
> customer service and OS, I'm sure more and more users will be switching over.

Unsatisfied wrote:
> I'm sure there are other users out there who share the same feeling
> as I do about Vista compared to XP. In my opinion XP is far more
> stable!
>
> I recently borrowed my friend's laptop to fix it. It was 2 months
> old, with Vista on it.
> He was fed up with it so he decided to downgrade to XP. I couldn't
> believe how hard it would be to do that. I had to call Microsoft for
> support, waited 40 min on the line and finally the customer service
> rep told me the version my friend has was not able to do that using
> the same liscence key. They wouldn't explain how to do it. Instead he
> recommended that I buy a liscence for Windows XP and try installing
> it again and if I had trouble, call back for support.
>
> I refuse to upgrade to Vista myself since all I hear is problems from
> my friends.
> But when Microsoft stops making updates for XP and I start getting
> problems, I think I will be switching to Mac. So unless Microsoft
> improves their customer service and OS, I'm sure more and more users
> will be switching over.

You should have known:

* Microsoft does NOT support OEM versions of its operating system.
* That it may NOT be possible to downgrade a laptop to XP inasmuch as
hardware-specific drivers may not exist.
* License keys are version-specific. A license key for Vista will not work
for XP, and indeed, the license key you have will not work on a retail
version of Vista.

Had you known any of these three items of common knowledge, you could have
saved yourself a forty-minute 'phone call - and a forty-minute rant.

Enjoy your Mac!

--

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience & Security

Your unsatisfied because you have no clue what your doing, fairly common
problem.

--


--
"Unsatisfied" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:1A47F2CD-FBAE-4478-B7E3-(E-Mail Removed)...
> I'm sure there are other users out there who share the same feeling as I
> do
> about Vista compared to XP. In my opinion XP is far more stable!
>
> I recently borrowed my friend's laptop to fix it. It was 2 months old,
> with
> Vista on it.
> He was fed up with it so he decided to downgrade to XP. I couldn't believe
> how hard it would be to do that. I had to call Microsoft for support,
> waited
> 40 min on the line and finally the customer service rep told me the
> version
> my friend has was not able to do that using the same liscence key. They
> wouldn't explain how to do it. Instead he recommended that I buy a
> liscence
> for Windows XP and try installing it again and if I had trouble, call back
> for support.
>
> I refuse to upgrade to Vista myself since all I hear is problems from my
> friends.
> But when Microsoft stops making updates for XP and I start getting
> problems,
> I think I will be switching to Mac. So unless Microsoft improves their
> customer service and OS, I'm sure more and more users will be switching
> over.

Unsatisfied wrote:
> But when Microsoft stops making updates for XP and I start getting problems,
> I think I will be switching to Mac. So unless Microsoft improves their
> customer service and OS, I'm sure more and more users will be switching over.

Oh yeah, good luck with that. Be prepared to spend about 1500+ for the
computer. I don't see people leaving Windows in droves because Microsoft
refuses to support a 6 year old OS. Apple won't even support their
MACHINES that are 6 years old! All they will tell you to do is buy a new
computer.