This isn’t a question directed at you guys 
This is a question that lots of people have been asking me of late, and I felt the need to answer the question once and for all.
- The short answer is: No.
- The medium answer is: I have a licenced copy because I am an MSDN subscriber and I still haven’t installed it. So what does that tell you?
- The long answer is: If you are looking for an operating system that chews up a lot of resources, behaves like Windows XP with a new coat of paint, doesn’t play nicely with most of the games on the market, takes away your rights as a user and consumer of most forms of digital content and gives you constant issues with your hardware, then yes. If you’d prefer to have control over your computer instead of giving that control to Microsoft, then I highly recommend avoiding it.
If you don’t have any issues using Windows XP then I feel you have no reason to upgrade. If you have issues running Windows XP then you’re going to have a big problem getting Vista to work, and hence you should consider something else (like Linux).
All flames, trolls and whinging repsonses are welcome
February 18, 2007
PREACH ON BROTHER JUICE!!!
February 20, 2007
yeah ‘cus linux is always such a walk in the park to get up and running…
February 21, 2007
Gav, ease of installation has nothing to do with why I think people should avoid Vista.
Also, when was the last time you tried to install Linux? Based on your comment, I think it’s been a while. I recommend that you pick up a copy of Ubuntu and give it a spin - you’ll be surprised how easy it is!
February 21, 2007
I didn’t mean that as a reason to install Vista instead of Linux. I was just commenting on your point that if you have trouble with XP you might want to try something else. And it was a tongue in cheek comment rather than a serious point anyway.
And you’re right, I haven’t tried installing Linux recently. However, we do have a machine here running Fedora which we just updated which wasn’t as effortless as i’d like. Plus setting up other things such as the networking properly wasn’t that easy. I did read your post on installing Ubuntu and the steps you had to go through to get the Ati drivers working are the sort of thing that puts me off using Linux (along with my familiarity with Windows).
I’m not really in a position to comment on the merits on Linux seeing as I don’t actively use it, but I also see no compelling reason to change to it either.
February 22, 2007
I know how you meant it mate, I’m just ruffling your feathers a bit
I’ve not used Fedora at all, so I can’t vouch for it’s ease of use. But again, I think that the advances that have been made in distributions like Ubuntu shouldnt’ be overlooked.
I totally understand why you feel no need to change it - but then again you don’t fit into any of the categories I listed above, and I’m a believer in “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”
Those people who are having issues are the ones I’m targetting here. Anyone considering a move to Vista clearly has issues 
I use Windows XP and Linux, and I see no reason to upgrade to Vista. What I have suits me nicely, and no amount of MS waffle is going to make me think otherwise.
February 24, 2007
The only compelling reason I can think of to actually buy Vista at the moment is that I’m running a slightly dodgy (ahem) copy of XP - the last bit of pirated software on my PC I might add after migrating to OpenOffice (which more than meets my requirements for writing the odd letter and viewing Office files). I can’t see me paying for something now that I’ve been using for years with no problems so I may as well go for the latest and greatest if my wallet’s getting involved.
Remember also that when XP first came out it was a pain in the arse for gamers, mostly due to driver problems as the NT driver model was totally different than for Win98 (though the driver authors did get a bit of a headstart since Windows 2000 had DX8 at the time). After about a year or so, barely any game on Win98 outperformed XP and there were several free real mode DOS emulators for the few oldies that wouldn’t run.
Your other issue is one of DRM, but to me it’s a non-issue. If you don’t like it, don’t use it (just as I don’t use iTunes now). Vista doesn’t stop me playing any of my music.
I think I will move to Vista, just not yet. I reckon around this Christmas or not long after it’ll be there.