Posted by Bill Chambers on January 30, 2007 at 12:10 PM
What are the real world advantages for photographers with Vista, and is it going to be worth the reported $260 upgrade price tag?
I've read several articles on it, but the techno people who write these articles are generally way over my head. It sounds like it might be great for gamers, but are there any real advantages (speed increase, etc.) for photogs?
If so, what other changes will be to be effected to make everything compatible and better (will I need to increase RAM, change graphics card, etc.)?
Thanks in advance.
Posted by David Prichard on January 30, 2007 at 12:28 PM
Bill,
From a variety of views I've been reading the impression is sit tight for a bit before investing in Vista. Apparently it is not that much of an improvement over XP; you may have to reinvest in hardware to use it and there are reports of security flaws in it.
It may be prudent to give it a few months of general use to see how it is received.
Dave
Posted by Trym Espeseth on January 30, 2007 at 12:46 PM
Hi Bill
My advice is to wait beacause there are flaws and errors that have not yet been sorted out. It is a completly new operating system, and I know for sure there are issues concerning drivers for perpherials. Unless you amuse yourself with spending time on the computer fixing things my advice is to wait
Trym
Bill, a lot will depend on how old your computer components and applications are. I got a free copy of Vista as part of their early adopter program and though it installed easily enough on my (fairly new) laptop, several applications stopped working, including Norton Anti Virus 2006 edition, Quicken and Quickbooks etc.
The vendors I contacted said the only solution is to upgrade to the latest 2007 versions of their product.
Vista does have a somewhat nicer user interface and some things are more streamlined, but other than that I did not encounter any "wow, this is so much better" features.
Like David, I'll suggest waiting. I kept XP Pro on my main workstation and have no plans to upgrade any time soon.
Guy
Posted by Bill Chambers on January 30, 2007 at 1:00 PM
Thanks all for your advice - looks like I'll sit tight for the time being. I'm ordering a new laptop for work, but I think I'll try ordering it with XP Pro if it's still available and hang on to the free Vista upgrade certificate that comes with it. Will stick with XP Pro on my desktop as well for now as well.
Posted by Rick Dunn on January 30, 2007 at 1:00 PM
Bill,
I just bought a new Dell last week, intentionally buying one with XP before Vista became the standard preloaded operating system. After reading and surfing a lot, I came to the conclusion that Vista may have some nice features for the casual photographer, but given that most of us here use a variety of more advanced programs to manage image libraries and workflow, I didn't find the reviews of Vista's features compelling...certainly not compelling enough to offset the potential hassle of dealing with compatibility issues with existing software programs.
I'm in agreement with the suggestions to wait a while.
Rick
Posted by Bill Chambers on January 30, 2007 at 1:45 PM
Well, it looks like I may have waited too long before ordering the laptop. I just went online to place the order and they are only shipping Vista now. I guess I don't have a choice on that one, butI will keep XP Pro on my desktop.
Posted by Dan Borzynski on January 30, 2007 at 2:09 PM
The earliest reports I have been seeing on it is that it is a huge memory hog, 256 meg, if not a half gig just to run it to it fullest capacities. Many applications are reported to be running noticeably slower. Drivers for older equipment may or may not be available, if ever. You'll need to check this with the manufacturer of the equipment.
Quite honesty, I live in fear of Microsoft upgrades (let's not talk about XP service pack 2) and I definitely didn't want to be one of the first ones in with Vista. Unless I absolutely have to, I probably will not upgrade my XP machine.
Is there anything your current machine can't do or doesn't do well, that Vista will fix? That's probably my best answer to your question.
I'll second what Dan has heard about Vista being a huge memory hog. Our IT guys here at work say it has some "neat" features, but nothing you can't live without, especially photographers.
The last thing I want to do is have to update every program and driver to work with a new OS and then lose half my memory capcity. Ugh.
Alex
Posted by Carol Hyman on January 30, 2007 at 10:37 PM
Bill,
I want to add my two-cents to this debate. If it ain't broke, don't fix it ;^)
I've worked with computers for almost 40 years from mainframes to micros and minis, along with many operating systems and applications, including DOS and the many iterations of windows.
Please know that Windows was at first an application that simply lived on the DOS operating system. In later years, the various Window releases have been based on NT which was based on UNIX.
Vista is not going to make any application "better."
We all lose sight of the idea that we find the application to meet our needs first; then we find an OS and a piece of hardware that will support the application.
Unfortunately an application from Microsoft is fraught with security problems, even more unfortunately the integration of software and a Microsoft version of the OS is at times a bit "iffy" until the bugs are most likely worked out. Remember that all computer companies push releases out the door without full testing--it's a fact of life.
Also you need to be aware that Adobe will support you in moving from the Microsoft world to the Apple world for very little cost.
No I never was an Apple employee and I'll get off my soap box
If you are in the market for a new laptop, you might want to consider a product made by Apple mostly because it is based on UNIX which is a very stable OS.
But first please ask yourself what applications you are putting on the computer, then how much memory do they require to operate efficiently, what OS versions do they need, and lastly start looking at computers. What feels best. How does the keyboard feel? What is the monitor resolution?
Please do some solid thinking and a lot of research before jumping on the publicity band wagon.
Posted by Les Barstow on January 30, 2007 at 11:50 PM
Guy, no more needs be said than that. ;) Except maybe SET DEFAULT USER$DISK:[USERNAME.DIRECTORY]
The current complaints about Vista seem to be more oriented around gaming and audio than around the video subsystem. If you're a gamer or musician/audio programmer, I'd suggest that downlicensing to XP is your best solution on a PC right now.
If your system is older, then definitely stay with XP, unless your system was top-of-the line a year ago and has a high-end DirectX 9/10 hardware-capable video card. Older systems will not work - or will not work well - with Vista.
Posted by Rick Dunn on January 31, 2007 at 9:19 PM
Bill, I imagine you could get hold of XP for bargain prices now and load that onto your new laptop. Not an exercise I'd particularly look forward to, but it might be better than having to deal with different operating systems on your laptop and desktop.
Posted by Don Miller on January 31, 2007 at 10:34 PM
My upgrade solution to Vista is switching back to Apple.
There was a article yesterday by a reporter who went to Best Buy at midnight to see the Vista release event. Only one guy purchased a copy. When interviewed, the customer wasn't excited at all. Who says the general public lacks good judgment?
The final straw for me was the release of IE7. How does the worlds most profitable technology company produce a product inferior to Firefox, an application coded by a bunch of volunteers? The pasty white guys in blue oxford button downs aren't getting any more of my money.
Hasn't Vista been out for years and all the bugs if it ever had any fixed........................Oh sorry that was OS X. Sorry couldn't help it. Can Microcrap produce anything on their own without copying.
Yes I'm switching to Mac as well, sick of Microsoft and their buggy programs.
Posted by Mark Hudon on February 2, 2007 at 5:56 PM
My installation of XP is nicely stabilized now. I think I'll just stay here for now. I ran the Vista advisor, and my system had no known hardware issues, but the handful of software issues and a bucketful of mistrust (are the Vista patches coming out yet?) are enough to keep me a late adopter. I was a Mac user for years, but work forced me into Windows. I've been grumpy ever since. Oh, wait, I was grumpy before too.
Discussion
16 repliesI've read several articles on it, but the techno people who write these articles are generally way over my head. It sounds like it might be great for gamers, but are there any real advantages (speed increase, etc.) for photogs?
If so, what other changes will be to be effected to make everything compatible and better (will I need to increase RAM, change graphics card, etc.)?
Thanks in advance.
From a variety of views I've been reading the impression is sit tight for a bit before investing in Vista. Apparently it is not that much of an improvement over XP; you may have to reinvest in hardware to use it and there are reports of security flaws in it.
It may be prudent to give it a few months of general use to see how it is received.
Dave
My advice is to wait beacause there are flaws and errors that have not yet been sorted out. It is a completly new operating system, and I know for sure there are issues concerning drivers for perpherials. Unless you amuse yourself with spending time on the computer fixing things my advice is to wait
Trym
The vendors I contacted said the only solution is to upgrade to the latest 2007 versions of their product.
Vista does have a somewhat nicer user interface and some things are more streamlined, but other than that I did not encounter any "wow, this is so much better" features.
Like David, I'll suggest waiting. I kept XP Pro on my main workstation and have no plans to upgrade any time soon.
Guy
I just bought a new Dell last week, intentionally buying one with XP before Vista became the standard preloaded operating system. After reading and surfing a lot, I came to the conclusion that Vista may have some nice features for the casual photographer, but given that most of us here use a variety of more advanced programs to manage image libraries and workflow, I didn't find the reviews of Vista's features compelling...certainly not compelling enough to offset the potential hassle of dealing with compatibility issues with existing software programs.
I'm in agreement with the suggestions to wait a while.
Rick
Quite honesty, I live in fear of Microsoft upgrades (let's not talk about XP service pack 2) and I definitely didn't want to be one of the first ones in with Vista. Unless I absolutely have to, I probably will not upgrade my XP machine.
Is there anything your current machine can't do or doesn't do well, that Vista will fix? That's probably my best answer to your question.
The last thing I want to do is have to update every program and driver to work with a new OS and then lose half my memory capcity. Ugh.
Alex
I want to add my two-cents to this debate. If it ain't broke, don't fix it ;^)
I've worked with computers for almost 40 years from mainframes to micros and minis, along with many operating systems and applications, including DOS and the many iterations of windows.
Please know that Windows was at first an application that simply lived on the DOS operating system. In later years, the various Window releases have been based on NT which was based on UNIX.
Vista is not going to make any application "better."
We all lose sight of the idea that we find the application to meet our needs first; then we find an OS and a piece of hardware that will support the application.
Unfortunately an application from Microsoft is fraught with security problems, even more unfortunately the integration of software and a Microsoft version of the OS is at times a bit "iffy" until the bugs are most likely worked out. Remember that all computer companies push releases out the door without full testing--it's a fact of life.
Also you need to be aware that Adobe will support you in moving from the Microsoft world to the Apple world for very little cost.
No I never was an Apple employee and I'll get off my soap box
If you are in the market for a new laptop, you might want to consider a product made by Apple mostly because it is based on UNIX which is a very stable OS.
But first please ask yourself what applications you are putting on the computer, then how much memory do they require to operate efficiently, what OS versions do they need, and lastly start looking at computers. What feels best. How does the keyboard feel? What is the monitor resolution?
Please do some solid thinking and a lot of research before jumping on the publicity band wagon.
Thanks for reading ....
Carol Hyman
http://hy-tec-training.com
Guy
The current complaints about Vista seem to be more oriented around gaming and audio than around the video subsystem. If you're a gamer or musician/audio programmer, I'd suggest that downlicensing to XP is your best solution on a PC right now.
If your system is older, then definitely stay with XP, unless your system was top-of-the line a year ago and has a high-end DirectX 9/10 hardware-capable video card. Older systems will not work - or will not work well - with Vista.
There was a article yesterday by a reporter who went to Best Buy at midnight to see the Vista release event. Only one guy purchased a copy. When interviewed, the customer wasn't excited at all. Who says the general public lacks good judgment?
The final straw for me was the release of IE7. How does the worlds most profitable technology company produce a product inferior to Firefox, an application coded by a bunch of volunteers? The pasty white guys in blue oxford button downs aren't getting any more of my money.
Yes I'm switching to Mac as well, sick of Microsoft and their buggy programs.
Pete D.