My impressions of Vista after 4 months

[Anton Hinds]

I have been using Vista for 4 months now. All in all, I like the OS
(after disabling UAC). Aero is slick and performance is great. However,
I am plagued by annoying issues with device drivers and general
instability. A few examples are:

1. Explorer crashes a couple times a week. Usually after selecting a
file in an "Open File" dialog, but also sometimes just when starting
explorer.

2. My wireless intermittently fails where I cannot see any access
points. Vista says it detected a problem but it could not be fixed. I
have to reboot to fix it.

3. My wireless has problems detecting access points that do not
broadcast an SSID. I typically have to refresh my network list several
times to see the access point.

4. About once a week, my video driver fails on boot. I have to reboot to
fix it.

5. I use dual monitors. Vista still gets confused from time to time
which side my second monitor is on when coming back from hibernate.

6. Periodically, the search feature in explorer incorrectly shows no
results. For example, type "txt" in the search field and it doesn't show
any files even though there are files named readme.txt and notes.txt in
that directory.

Vista has been out for over a year now. I know a lot of my issues are
due to third party drivers (Intel and NVIDIA mostly). However, it is
ultimately Microsoft's problem when their OS simply does not work with
existing mainstream equipment.

Explorer crashes seem to be a common problem and this is unacceptable a
year after release. I know a lot of people are waiting for SP1, but
Microsoft themselves are downplaying the importance a service pack. How
long do I have to wait for Vista to be stable?

-Anton

 

[HLS]

I have been using Vista for 4 months now. All in all, I like the OS (after
disabling UAC). Aero is slick and performance is great. However, I am
plagued by annoying issues with device drivers and general instability. A
few examples are:

1. Explorer crashes a couple times a week. Usually after selecting a file
in an "Open File" dialog, but also sometimes just when starting explorer.

2. My wireless intermittently fails where I cannot see any access points.
Vista says it detected a problem but it could not be fixed. I have to
reboot to fix it.

3. My wireless has problems detecting access points that do not broadcast
an SSID. I typically have to refresh my network list several times to see
the access point.

4. About once a week, my video driver fails on boot. I have to reboot to
fix it.

5. I use dual monitors. Vista still gets confused from time to time which
side my second monitor is on when coming back from hibernate.

6. Periodically, the search feature in explorer incorrectly shows no
results. For example, type "txt" in the search field and it doesn't show
any files even though there are files named readme.txt and notes.txt in
that directory.

Vista has been out for over a year now. I know a lot of my issues are due
to third party drivers (Intel and NVIDIA mostly). However, it is
ultimately Microsoft's problem when their OS simply does not work with
existing mainstream equipment.

Explorer crashes seem to be a common problem and this is unacceptable a
year after release. I know a lot of people are waiting for SP1, but
Microsoft themselves are downplaying the importance a service pack. How
long do I have to wait for Vista to be stable?

-Anton

Ive had mine about as long as you have.. It is stable enough for me, it just
has many
features and restrictions that truly suck.

I have pulled my old computer out of retirement, had it put back in working
order,
and populated with Windows 2000.

I'll use this Vista computer for whatever emergency use it is good for.

 

[Mike of Wrexham]

UAC is such a PITA that it's permanently swiched off now - with UAC switched
off Vista is no less secure than XP (which doesn't have UAC & I have 2 PCs,
one with XP Home & one with Vista Home Premium).
Regards Mike.

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

"...ultimately Microsoft's problem when their OS simply does not work
with
existing mainstream equipment."
A lot of older hardware is supported while a lot is not.
The older the hardware the less likely it will ever get Windows Vista
support.
It is a problem for users, hardware manufacturers and Microsoft.
However it is the hardware manufacturers responsibility to create
drivers for their hardware.
The manufacturers decide which if any hardware they need to support
based on their perception of their customers needs balanced with
needed resources and other factors.
If the manufacturer decides not to support hardware there is nothing
anyone can do.
However what you can do...
Contact the manufacturers of hardware you want Windows Vista support.
The customers and not Microsoft pay for the products so the customers
desires probably weigh more than Microsoft.
Did you verify Windows Vista compatibility of your essential hardware
and software before purchasing Windows Vista?

Some of your other issues may be resolved by updates.
Have you installed all the latest updates from Microsoft?
Make sure you have the latest drivers.
Manufacturers are still updating their drivers with newer Windows
Vista drivers always being released.

UAC shows often initially when installing hardware and software and
configuring the computer.
After that UAC is rare.
I rarely see UAC prompts.
If you see UAC after the initial set up is completed you may not be a
typical user or are using older/poorly written software.
Some have reported problems using software with UAC disabled when the
software was installed with UAC enabled.

 

[Andre Da Costa[ActiveWin]]

Be sure to check out my Vista Year in Review:
http://adacosta.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!E8E5CC039D51E3DB!16644.entry

 

[Anton Hinds]

Comments inline...

In the 4 months you've been using Vista, have you completed a full
Windows Update, and how often do you check for updates? In the first few
months, I checked daily. Auto Update still checks daily for me now, but
usually only finds an update maybe one or twice a week.

I ran Windows Update when I first got my computer and it runs everyday.
I am definitely getting the patch Tuesday updates since I have to reboot
Wednesday mornings.

The wireless issues with Vista have been fixed in previously relased
updates.

I have all the updates and even the updated drivers from the manufacturer.

Again, do you have the latest drivers?
Yep.

It's possible that the folder you are trying to search does not appear
in the index. Open Control Panel, click on "System and Maintenance",
then click on "Indexing Options". Click "Modify". Click "Show All
Locations". Make sure that there are check marks in the appropriate
drives, and that there are no exclusions listed.

The folder was My Documents. Which is in the index. Like I said, it only
fails sometimes.

The only time Microsoft is responsible for hardware drivers is if the
hardware is Microsofts own. It is NOT a Microsoft problem if a third
party vendor such as Intel or nVidia drags their feet in providing Vista
drivers.

I used the words "ultimately responsible". I can go into business making
monster truck tires for compact cars. From a business perspective, is it
my fault that they don't make cars with wheel wells big enough for my
tires or the car manufacturers fault? It is ultimately the company that
makes the products responsibility to ensure their product works or it
will fail in the market.

In order for Vista to succeed they need buy in from manufacturers.
Without it, Vista will fail.

BTW, I've been using Vista x64, for nearly a year now, and have never
had any problems with nVidia's drivers.

I have a NVIDIA GeForce 8400GT and I have problems.

You don't have to wait any longer than it takes you to re-enable UAC
and install the proper drivers for your hardware...

I have the latest of all drivers and I fail to see how turning off UAC
can cause the OS to be unstable.

-Anton

 

[Vista User]

Vista has been out for over a year now. I know a lot of my issues are due
to third party drivers (Intel and NVIDIA mostly). However, it is
ultimately Microsoft's problem when their OS simply does not work with
existing mainstream equipment.

-Anton

No it is not Microsoft's problem it is the equipment manufacture that writes
the drivers.

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Anton;
"In order for Vista to succeed they need buy in from manufacturers."
And obviously many manufacturers have as is demonstrated by the many
people that run Windows Vista successfully.
Windows Vista runs well for me on two older computers.

Your example is at least partially flawed.
If the tires are marketed for compact cars, it is up to the car
manufacturers to manufacture cars that meet the required specification
of the tires if they desire their customers use those tires.
If the compact car manufacturers will not, consumers will not or at
least should not purchase tires incompatible with their compact car.

However in following your example, some compact car manufacturers have
made cars that can use the tires and sold the tires with their compact
cars.
Some people purchase the tires without taking much into consideration
and complain to the compact car manufacturer that some tires will not
fit their compact car.
Others modify their compact cars to accommodate the tires and have
results varying from great success to complete failure.
The difference in success and failure is often the research done
before purchasing the tires.

 

[Ken Stuart]

I have been using Vista for 4 months now. All in all, I like the OS
(after disabling UAC). Aero is slick and performance is great. However,
I am plagued by annoying issues with device drivers and general
instability. A few examples are:

1. Explorer crashes a couple times a week. Usually after selecting a
file in an "Open File" dialog, but also sometimes just when starting
explorer.

2. My wireless intermittently fails where I cannot see any access
points. Vista says it detected a problem but it could not be fixed. I
have to reboot to fix it.

3. My wireless has problems detecting access points that do not
broadcast an SSID. I typically have to refresh my network list several
times to see the access point.

4. About once a week, my video driver fails on boot. I have to reboot to
fix it.

5. I use dual monitors. Vista still gets confused from time to time
which side my second monitor is on when coming back from hibernate.

6. Periodically, the search feature in explorer incorrectly shows no
results. For example, type "txt" in the search field and it doesn't show
any files even though there are files named readme.txt and notes.txt in
that directory.

I have had all those problems with Windows XP - except for the Search problem,
since I long ago switched to the free program "Agent Ransack" for searches,
which also runs fine on Vista.

I generally have less stability problems with Vista than with XP.

The only Vista problem I have is that I change settings in programs, and then
they revert back by themselves....

Ken

 

[DX]

You really are full of yourself aren't you.

IMHO it was a poor review.

 

[DX]

Yes i read it, but i didn't realise "yours" and "Andres" word was god, I can
disagree with something right ?

Get a life, why don't you?

Rather an insultive comment coming from someone who was moaning like a bit**
not so long back over an insult regarding there name, makes you a bit of a
twa* don't it.

 

[xfile]

A more experienced reader will stop right at the second paragraph where the
author used predicted sales figure from IDC for the current user number and
the following conclusions can be made:

(1) either the author doesn't have basic business knowledge and thus doesn't
know what he is talking about, or (2) the author is twisting the fact, or
(3) both.

For an experienced reader, the second paragraph actually is the conclusion
of the entire article and anything further is a waste of time.

Personally, I couldn't care less about the actual user number nor sales
figure. I also respect and accept each and every one's positive and
negative experience, but don't treat the general public as a fool.

If one is not confident enough for his/her own decision, don't bother to
write.

 

[The poster formerly known as 'The Poster Formerly]

You have obviously not read it, have you? Either that, or you read it
with a biased optinion that contradicts what Andre wrote.

Get a life, why don't you?

Andre was biased when he wrote it. By all means, it's his perrogative
to be biased, but that makes it not an entirely impartial review.

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free speech rights under the First Amendment and is a cornerstone of the
creativity and innovation that is a hallmark of this country. Consumer
rights in the digital age are not frivolous."
- Maura Corbett

 

[zachd [MSFT]]

1. Explorer crashes a couple times a week. Usually after selecting a file
in an "Open File" dialog, but also sometimes just when starting explorer.

What's the fault bucket for that crash according to the Problem Reports and
Solutions center?
http://zachd.com/pss/pss.html#bucket
?

 

[Anton Hinds]

What's the fault bucket for that crash according to the Problem Reports and
Solutions center?
http://zachd.com/pss/pss.html#bucket
?

The most recent crashes of Explorer have been: 87734328, 13973573, and
344533245

Fault 87734328 happens the most often.

-Anton

 

[hielan' laddie]

I have been using Vista for 4 months now.

It's been about six months for me.

All in all, I like the OS
(after disabling UAC). Aero is slick and performance is great. However,
I am plagued by annoying issues with device drivers and general
instability. A few examples are:

1. Explorer crashes a couple times a week. Usually after selecting a
file in an "Open File" dialog, but also sometimes just when starting
explorer.

Explorer on Vista has been a major pain. The Vista desktop is, hands down,
the single most problematic part of Vista for me.

2. My wireless intermittently fails where I cannot see any access
points. Vista says it detected a problem but it could not be fixed. I
have to reboot to fix it.

My original wireless setup, a D-Link internal card, simply wouldn't work with
Vista, period, despite allegedly having the proper drivers. My new wireless
setup, a Netgear USB dongle, works... sometimes.

3. My wireless has problems detecting access points that do not
broadcast an SSID. I typically have to refresh my network list several
times to see the access point.

The Netgear will sometimes refuse to connection to a WAP that uses WPA or
WPA2. After I fiddle with it a little, it connects.

4. About once a week, my video driver fails on boot. I have to reboot to
fix it.

Do you have the 'black-screen-with-mouse-pointer' problem? Basically what
happens every ever so often (such as _right now_, which is why I'm typing
this on my Mac...) when I boot Vista I get perfectly normal behaviour all the
way to the password entry screen. I enter my password, and get the 'welcome'
screen with the spinning circle. That sits there for a while, as usual, and
then the screen goes black, again as usual... except that usually when it
does, it shows the mouse pointer and the spinning circle, and it almost
immediately starts loading the Vista desktop. About one third of the time,
instead of that, I just get the mouse pointer in a perfectly black screen.
There's disk activity. There's sound effects. Just nothing visible except the
mouse pointer. Clicking, left or right, does _nothing_. Most of the time,
hitting control-alt-delete brings up the task manager and I can log out and
log back in... and this time everything is just fine. Sometimes
control-alt-delete does _nothing_, and the only cure is a power-switch
shutdown and reboot. If I'm in a hurry, it's faster to move to the Mac than
to fiddle with Vista...

I don't think that this is a driver issue.

5. I use dual monitors. Vista still gets confused from time to time
which side my second monitor is on when coming back from hibernate.

Only one monitor. Every ever so often the Vista desktop crashes and I get a
little note about a problem with the drivers. I have most current drivers
installed. I tried rolling back; things got worse. I have a NVIDI GeForce
6200 video card; not exactly top of the line, to be sure, but still a fairly
good card.

6. Periodically, the search feature in explorer incorrectly shows no
results. For example, type "txt" in the search field and it doesn't show
any files even though there are files named readme.txt and notes.txt in
that directory.

Vista has been out for over a year now. I know a lot of my issues are
due to third party drivers (Intel and NVIDIA mostly). However, it is
ultimately Microsoft's problem when their OS simply does not work with
existing mainstream equipment.

Explorer crashes seem to be a common problem and this is unacceptable a
year after release.

Ooh, yes.

I know a lot of people are waiting for SP1, but
Microsoft themselves are downplaying the importance a service pack. How
long do I have to wait for Vista to be stable?

A very long time. I am increasingly using my Mac for most things, and using
XP for many more, and using Vista only when I absolutely have to.

Fortunately I got Vista Business at the education price (I teach part-time in
a community college, and the book store sells all kinds of Microsoft products
at low prices to students and staff) so I'm not out much. I'd be _really_
annoyed if I'd ponied up a couple hundred for this; it's bad enough that I
paid $20.

 

[Doug Smith]

I finally went out and bought XP yesterday, after using vista premium
for several months. The bottom line for me is that vista is a resource
hog that simply is not compatible with today's hardware. My prior use
is audio recording and I use high-end audio interface. The company
actually even develops a WaveRT driver for audio, which is not common.
Getting a good recording done without any glitches is almost impossible.

There is no other solution but to use XP. I find it amazing that MS
took and operating system that was reliably used for thousands of
applications and purposes and replaced it with a new OS that almost
guarantees that some/many of the applications can no longer be used.
Boggles the mind.

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Windows XP has nor been replaced, at least not for a while.
Windows XP will be sold at least through the middle of next year and
will be supported for several more years.

 

[zachd [MSFT]]

Explorer on Vista has been a major pain. The Vista desktop is, hands down,
the single most problematic part of Vista for me.

What's problematic about it? If you're running into crashes, what is the
fault data from the Problem Reports and Solutions center for those failures:
http://zachd.com/pss/pss.html#bucket
?

 

[hielan' laddie]

What's problematic about it?

Well, for example, there's what I mentioned further down but you snipped:

"Do you have the 'black-screen-with-mouse-pointer' problem? Basically what
happens every ever so often (such as _right now_, which is why I'm typing
this on my Mac...) when I boot Vista I get perfectly normal behaviour all the
way to the password entry screen. I enter my password, and get the 'welcome'
screen with the spinning circle. That sits there for a while, as usual, and
then the screen goes black, again as usual... except that usually when it
does, it shows the mouse pointer and the spinning circle, and it almost
immediately starts loading the Vista desktop. About one third of the time,
instead of that, I just get the mouse pointer in a perfectly black screen.
There's disk activity. There's sound effects. Just nothing visible except the
mouse pointer. Clicking, left or right, does _nothing_. Most of the time,
hitting control-alt-delete brings up the task manager and I can log out and
log back in... and this time everything is just fine. Sometimes
control-alt-delete does _nothing_, and the only cure is a power-switch
shutdown and reboot. If I'm in a hurry, it's faster to move to the Mac than
to fiddle with Vista..."

That problem is Windows Explorer going tits-up on startup.

In addition, there's this other common problem, which I mentioned a little
below that:

"Every ever so often the Vista desktop crashes and I get a little note about
a problem with the drivers. I have most current drivers installed. I tried
rolling back; things got worse. I have a NVIDI GeForce 6200 video card; not
exactly top of the line, to be sure, but still a fairly good card."

If you're running into crashes, what is the
fault data from the Problem Reports and Solutions center for those failures:

The black screen on startup doesn't show as an error in the PRS. The crashing
desktop shows as either Video Hardware Error or Could Not Find Driver
Software.

Given that the same hardware worked fine with XP and works fine _most_ of the
time with Vista, I suspect that there's more to it. The fact that the black
screen is not reported as an error makes me wonder what on Earth is going on.