New, Non-Cosmetic Features In Vista -- Ten Good Reasons To Upgrade

[D. Spencer Hines]

No, Totally Mistaken -- as I've pointed out in previous posts.

No one has been able to come up with a bullet list of TEN good reasons to
move from XP Pro SP2 to Vista NOW.

The best one I've seen so far is the little box that springs up when you
move over a file to make sure you have the right one -- but I'm not even
sure about that one -- because with SP2 I THINK I already HAVE that
capability.

Microsoft needs to come up with that TEN POINT LIST -- if no one else will.

Vide infra.

DSH

The problem you pose is in part, while worded as if this is a simple
straightforward request, it really isn't. Face it, you control the
rules -- someone tries to respond to what on its face is a simple
request, but then you have the option (which you readily exercise) of
rejecting the response.

No, the responses have mostly been quite trivial. Some, honest ones, have
simply been admissions that they can't do it -- even FIVE.

Ten good reasons -- someone replies with what *for them* represents a
good set of reasons and you (for your own reasons which for you might
well be quite reasonable) reject them as not being 'good' reasons.

Have you seen a list of TEN -- in bullet form? I certainly haven't.

The nature of your responses to those who have tried to reply suggests
that quite frankly, you are not *really* interested in switching to
Vista from your existing XP SP2 environment. No problem with that, (by
and large that's my own inclination at this point in time), but at a
certain point, your approach just might put folks off.

Too Bad. I'm open to EVIDENCE. SHOW ME SOME.

No, I'm not from Missouri -- but SHOW ME.

DSH

 

[D. Spencer Hines]

Instant Search. Being able to search files and email, all with the same
search, one keystroke at a time. As well as network files.

Well, yes. That sounds worthwhile. What do you mean by "one keystroke at a
time"? Is it FAST -- or crawling and SLOW?

Fun stuff!

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/features/details/instantsearch.mspx

You can come close with Windows Desktop Search on XP but then again, that
app is garbage. Especially when it comes to a large amount of files.

Being able to resize thumbnails and look inside documents (explorer).
This has made a few people at my place of work MUCH MORE productive as
well as myself.

Possibly. How does it help you save time?

Need more?

Yes, EIGHT. <g>

Could you please put these in bullet form -- as one-liners?

Muchas Gracias.

DSH

 

[Justin]

Well, yes. That sounds worthwhile. What do you mean by "one keystroke at
a time"? Is it FAST -- or crawling and SLOW?
FAST

Possibly. How does it help you save time?

Ugh, I'm tired of explaining this, sorry. Sometimes I spend a LOT of time
searching. Now I don't.

Yes, EIGHT. <g>

Where did TEN come from? Why do you need ten? Higher productivity is all I
need to justify Vista Business @ $120 per license.

It's going to cost less then the cost of a NAS storage extension for us to
upgrade.

For home, with Vista starting @ $99, it'll cost WAY LESS then a months worth
of gas.

 

[D. Spencer Hines]

"One keystroke at a time" -- sounds like AutoComplete writ large.

But it starts the search immediately, whether you want it to or not?

That sounds like a Time-Waster rather than a Time-Saver. You say you have
to paste what you want in? That certainly sounds primitive.

DSH

 

[Richard Urban]

No really worried about points here. I am using Vista. I have no problems. I
am happy. I have a 4-5 year old box that was last upgraded 2 years ago.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[Leythos]

Well, yes. That sounds worthwhile. What do you mean by "one keystroke at a
time"? Is it FAST -- or crawling and SLOW?

The same search function is already provided for XP my Microsoft, but
Justin doesn't have enough experience to know that.

 

[Lang Murphy]

1. UI now drawn by DirectX
2. Better security (perfect? naw... better? mayhaps...)
3. Better search
4. Bitlocker
5. Better help system/content
6. WinPE 2.0 (based on Vista) allows hot plug n' play of USB devices (among
other improvements over previous versions of PE)
7. Windows Easy Transfer
8. Windows Sync and Sharing
9. Full System Backup (lame compared to third party apps... yet, still, a
new, and some might say, valuable addition)
10. Parental controls
11. New media tools like DVD maker, etc.

Lang

 

[Leythos]

1. UI now drawn by DirectX

No benefit

2. Better security (perfect? naw... better? mayhaps...)

On a properly configured network this is little change.

3. Better search

XP has the same, MS provides it.

4. Bitlocker

I didn't look for this and don't see it.

5. Better help system/content

LOL, help could not answer several questions I had, and it appears to be
the same help with a different interface.

6. WinPE 2.0 (based on Vista) allows hot plug n' play of USB devices (among
other improvements over previous versions of PE)

Strange, my USB devices work the same as in XP as far as I can tell.

7. Windows Easy Transfer

Didn't work on two machines I tested, failed to copy files unless they
were in specific locations.

8. Windows Sync and Sharing

Ok, I can see this as good, but sharing is still limited to 10 concurrent
connections.

9. Full System Backup (lame compared to third party apps... yet, still, a
new, and some might say, valuable addition)

Have you tried a restore using a clean drive?

10. Parental controls

Can be good, but, we could lock XP down also.

11. New media tools like DVD maker, etc.

But the third party tools offer so much more.

 

[Stan Brown]

For home, with Vista starting @ $99, it'll cost WAY LESS then a months worth
of gas.

Are you serious? I commute every day to work, and make the usual
number of other trips, and gas costs me about $40 a month.

What do you drive, a Hummer?

 

[TOM7601]

1. If you want the fish, buy the fish.

2. If you don't want the fish, don't buy the fish.

In other words:

1. If you want to buy Vista, buy Vista.

2. If you don't want to buy Vista, don't buy Vista.

In either case, you have to convince yourself that you want to spend the
money, don't rely on others to make up your mind for you...

 

[D. Spencer Hines]

Hey!

We may finally be getting somewhere.

Thank you kindly!

However, some of these seem to be incorporated in XP Pro SP2.

For example #6 and #9.

DSH

1. UI now drawn by DirectX
2. Better security (perfect? naw... better? mayhaps...)
3. Better search
4. Bitlocker
5. Better help system/content
6. WinPE 2.0 (based on Vista) allows hot plug n' play of USB devices
(among other improvements over previous versions of PE)
7. Windows Easy Transfer
8. Windows Sync and Sharing
9. Full System Backup (lame compared to third party apps... yet, still, a
new, and some might say, valuable addition)
10. Parental controls
11. New media tools like DVD maker, etc.

Lang

No, Totally Mistaken -- as I've pointed out in previous posts.

No one has been able to come up with a bullet list of TEN good reasons to
move from XP Pro SP2 to Vista NOW.

The best one I've seen so far is the little box that springs up when you
move over a file to make sure you have the right one -- but I'm not even
sure about that one -- because with SP2 I THINK I already HAVE that
capability.

Microsoft needs to come up with that TEN POINT LIST -- if no one else
will.

Vide infra.

DSH

The problem you pose is in part, while worded as if this is a simple
straightforward request, it really isn't. Face it, you control the
rules -- someone tries to respond to what on its face is a simple
request, but then you have the option (which you readily exercise) of
rejecting the response.

No, the responses have mostly been quite trivial. Some, honest ones,
have simply been admissions that they can't do it -- even FIVE.

Ten good reasons -- someone replies with what *for them* represents a
good set of reasons and you (for your own reasons which for you might
well be quite reasonable) reject them as not being 'good' reasons.

Have you seen a list of TEN -- in bullet form? I certainly haven't.

The nature of your responses to those who have tried to reply suggests
that quite frankly, you are not *really* interested in switching to
Vista from your existing XP SP2 environment. No problem with that, (by
and large that's my own inclination at this point in time), but at a
certain point, your approach just might put folks off.

Too Bad. I'm open to EVIDENCE. SHOW ME SOME.

No, I'm not from Missouri -- but SHOW ME.

DSH

 

[Richard]

No version of XP has a built in disk imaging backup application.

 

[Paul Smith]

1) New fonts, much easier on the eyes.
2) Restore previous versions of files (volume shadow copies).
3) Far better security, user rights being used, address space randomization
on boot etc.
4) UI rendered through DirectX (no tearing windows anymore when you drag em
around!)
5) Search, being able to save search results as virtual folders, network
searching.
6) Offline files that take seconds to sync, and does it without annoying
you.
7) Windows Mail has these groups all set to go.
8) Diagnostics, loads of them can keep you busy for ages.
9) IPv6 and IPv6 over IPv4, brand new network stack, makes communicating
behind a NAT easier.
10) New faster audio stack.
11) New driver model, puts more drivers into user mode so they don't bring
down the system if they crash.
12) Ad Hoc networking support, in Meeting Space and available to 3rd
parties.
13) Photo Gallery, plus image tagging that isn't in a separate database but
stored in the files themselves so you don't need to retag them on different
machines.
14) Networking is easy to set up now.
15) Parental Controls, great for locking down what your parents (or
children) can break on their systems and for seeing what they've been up to.
16) Multiple clocks.
17) Sidebar.
18) Superfetch pages applications into memory so they start up instantly,
ReadyBoost and ReadyDrive too.
19) Speech recognition now built in.
20) Tablet features now built in, you can even use a regular drawing tablet
to unlock the hand writing recognition and all that.

There's 20 off the top of my head.

--
Paul Smith,
Yeovil, UK.
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User.
http://www.windowsresource.net/

*Remove nospam. to reply by e-mail*

 

[Justin]

But it starts the search immediately, whether you want it to or not?

It waits a split second for you to stop typing, but when I need to search
for gibberish for example, 008003654GHTF then I tend to type that out
slowly. The only reason it becomes a pain is because of the massive amount
of files I have. On a normal system you don't notice anything at all.

 

[D. Spencer Hines]

O.K.

Now we're cooking with gas.

Vide infra.

DSH
-----------------------------------------

No benefit

What is it, precisely?

On a properly configured network this is little change.

My security is excellent with XP Pro SP2, Norton Internet Security 2007,
regular, daily updating and a functioning brain that doesn't do stupid
things. What more do I need?

XP has the same, MS provides it.

Yep. The search I have is darned good. How is it being improved in Vista?

What is this, precisely? Lock the bits where -- for what gain?

I didn't look for this and don't see it.


LOL, help could not answer several questions I had, and it appears to be
the same help with a different interface.

_Help_ is often pretty worthless anyway because the technical content is so
low. I usually go straight to KB or Google to find an answer to my
questions.

Strange, my USB devices work the same as in XP as far as I can tell.

Bingo! I have hot plug and play for USB devices in XP Pro SP2.

What is this precisely?

Using Copy and Paste, Cut & Paste and DLA, I transfer files wherever I want
to NOW -- with XP Pro SP2.

Didn't work on two machines I tested, failed to copy files unless they
were in specific locations.

What is this precisely? Do I really need it in the Home Environment.

Ok, I can see this as good, but sharing is still limited to 10 concurrent
connections.

Why do I need that when I have True Image 10.0 Build 4940, which I just
downloaded today and which is far more sophisticated? Why should I pay for
a Full System Backup capability that is vastly inferior to the one I already
have? Microsoft seems to have missed the boat on this one [Backup
Programs].

Have you tried a restore using a clean drive?


Can be good, but, we could lock XP down also.

Why do millions of us need this when we, and perhaps our wives, and perhaps
an occasional visitor are the only ones who use our computers?

Why should we pay for "parental controls" that we never use? Are we
expected to subsidize the parents on this one?

But the third party tools offer so much more.

Bingo! There are far better tools for that on the market.

I just have Roxio DigitalMedia Studio Deluxe v7.

I'm sure there are far better suites on the market. What's the Best One?

Cheers,

DSH

 

[D. Spencer Hines]

Who wants a LOW-END Vista to replace XP Pro SP2?

DSH

 

[D. Spencer Hines]

Hilarious!

This guy simply doesn't want any more smart input to his decisions ---- and
has locked his feet in concrete, then pulled the blanket down over his
head ---- after sticking bananas in both ears.

Note that he doesn't have the courage to use his Real Name either.

Further, it's not a matter of money -- it's a matter of sound decision
making, good policy, coherent thinking and avoiding PITA whenever possible.

One can buy fish in Many Markets.

A Great Benefit of the Free Enterprise System.

DSH

 

[Justin]

Are you serious? I commute every day to work, and make the usual
number of other trips, and gas costs me about $40 a month.

A tank a month (or two)? I'd say you are below average.

Ok, hybrids aside!

Let's get some math in involved. You say you "commute"?

"to travel regularly over some distance, as from a suburb into a city and
back: He commutes to work by train."

Every day? I'll assume a normal work week so 5 days. I wont be absurd and
use the entire 7 days of "every day".

With the average gas price being $2.41 for regular:

http://www.fuelgaugereport.com/

That almost gives us enough info:

20 days
$40 dollars
$2.40 per gallon

= 16.6666666 gallons per month

Now we need to know what car you drive in order to establish how many miles
you can drive per gallon. For now I'll just use a consumer average since
we're talking about the average consumer.

http://www.bts.gov/publications/tra...l/Average_Motor_Vehicle_Miles_Per_Gallon.html

This is old, so I'll bump it up to 28MPG (which is being very generous)

28 * 16.666666666 = 466.666666 per month

466.666666 / 20 = 23.333333

23.333333 / 2 = 11.66666 miles each way

I would hardly call that a commute. Plus we haven't even factored in lunch,
weekends or errands.

"Usual # of other trips" would bring you down to 5-6 miles to and from work.
This is also the BEST CASE scenario. Imagine worse mileage or needing
higher octane.

You do realize that you can save the planet a little and ride a bike to
work? Even more reason you can afford Vista! Yeah!!!!

Or we can look at it a different way. I'll spare you the individual steps:

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Traffic/story?id=485098&page=1

26 miles each way @ $40 a month comes to you're getting - 62.40 miles per
gallon. WOW!!!!!!!!

 

[Justin]

Nice list! However there will be fools that post they don't need any of
that and Linux already has it.

Take #3, I've mentioned it many times before, and people still claim XP has
that feature. Or that you can gain it from Windows Desktop Search.

For anyone that thinks XP already has the same search feature as
Vista....you're completely lost.

 

[Justin]

#6 goes further buy allowing you access to USB during install.