Top 8 Vista Annoyances

[b1lk1]

Last year I became a Mac user. Just couldn't take it any more. It was that activation deal you mentioned. (Also I could never find a backup solution that was as reliable as I would have liked.)

I reserve the right to experiment with my system and change things as often as I like

You said both of those things in the same rant.

Guess what? You cannot change things as often as you want with a Mac and OSX. You make yourself sound even more foolish again. Also, you get zero credibility when you cannot even take the time to register to post a rant.

Try again.

 

[Unregistered]

> You cannot change things as often as you want with a Mac and OSX

Wrong. As before. Depends on which Mac - mines fine, thanks. Besides, most of it was right to begin with. As for OS X, you can change whatever you want - like any other Unix.

Geez, if Johnny rotten over here gets any more excited he's going to spit up his cream soda all over his Zalman.

Are there any adults in here who might want to talk about this?

 

[On_Wisconsin]

No problems on my desktop or even my far-less powerful Pentium dual-core VAIO (1 GB RAM). I like it - as have people I've talked to in real life...

Online, on the other hand, seems to be less rational and more "OMG VISTA BLOWS!!!!11," even with guys who are generally rational and older.

For what it's worth..

 

[Rob Williams]

I agree that Microsoft shoots themselves in the foot with their stupid activation scheme, but like bl1k1 said, it can be taken care of with a phone call. Still stupid, however. I have a legal copy of Vista Ultimate and Office 2007 Professional sitting on the shelf that can't even be installed right now until I give them a call and ask for a new activation ID. So yes, I'm there with anyone who thinks that such a required thing is a pain in the ass. Microsoft is not alone though... I had to do it three times in the past year with Adobe. But again, it was rather painless.

As for Vista itself, I still dislike it as much as I did when I wrote this rant. There are a few applications I need to run in Vista when benching (eg: when notebooks include Vista) and it never fails that I will run into an error. On a Toshiba notebook I have now, I can't run SYSmark 2007 Preview an entire way through without it crashing... so I have to leave its results out of the review entirely.

As for Macs, they are definitely an acquired taste. Most people on this forum are diehard PC enthusiasts who desire a computer upgrade every other week. You can't do that to the same degree with a Mac... unless you count upgrading your RAM to be a worthy upgrade.

That's where Mac OS X and Linux are at some strange divide. Mac OS X, I admit, has a nice OS and great support, and also a slew of excellent applications thanks to some stellar developers who care a lot about quality. But then there is Linux, my preferred OS, which allows me to install a slew of hardware without much worry and I still have complete control over the system. When Mac OS X and Apple allow similar features to cater to the enthusiast, I think their offerings will catch on more. But that will not happen now, if ever. Apple locks their machines down so that they work, and that's fine.

 

[Unregistered]

Cool - we've struck brain.

So are you guys as irritated as I used to be about the backup options? I jumped ship before Vista released so I don't know anything about that, but I just couldn't find a disaster recovery logistic that worked in XP. And even when the recovery worked to whatever extent, you still had to re-activate.

So on top of rebuilding your machine, you get to be treated like a criminal by Microsoft.

In OS X you just boot off the backup drive and clone it back to the system drive. 3 minutes work, go for coffee, and when you get back, the job's done. Furthermore, you don't even need a third party app; all of that is built into the system. And no re-entering serial numbers. Try THAT in XP...

There are many other options, too. Granted, that 'Time Machine' front end is as hokey as a painted horse, but the damn thing does seem to work.

 

[b1lk1]

Oes Noes!!!!! Me thinks me be insulticated by a sofisticated mac user!?!?!?!

Well, you have even proven my point more about your lack of intelligence and ability with computers. I can use various ghosting programs to make an image of my OS install and everything on it and restore it time and time again with ease without even needing activation, I can even use the free program that Seagate offers to do this and anyone, even us dumb PC users, can use.

As for being treated like a criminal, Macintosh treats you like a convicted convict. How do they do that you are asking yourself? Well, since they RAPE you on the price and spoonfeed you proprietary software/hardware, even a convicted murderer has more choices as to what they can use and do.

Obviously, I am a die hard PC enthusiast. To me, 99% of all problems are user error. I will not defend Vista because I have only used it on 3 PC's (albeit FLAWLESSLY) and don't have as much experience as Rob with different configurations. But we all know that XP is pretty much bulletproof and it takes a "special" person that cannot run XP properly. You utterly fail and can call me names and flame all you want, but if you cannot run a XP based machine without an issue and if you cannot run a simple HD Imaging program to do all your precious backups then I guess a Mac is perfect for you since they are simple enough for a child to run.

Again, poke fun at me and call me names but I, like pretty much every other PC user in the world, like the TRUE ability to change my computer in anyway I see fit. I like changing my motherboard, video cards, CPU coolers, and overclocking is a blast! Funny how you never hear the word "overclocking" used in the same scentence as "Mac". You are not an enthusiast, you are a simple user. Mac is your choice and only after hundred of hours of therapy will you ever realize that you indeed like to be raped by the man (the man = apple by the way) and indeed do not like having much if any choice when it comes to your computer and the software it runs.

PS: This is also my last post towards you, Mr. Unregistered. I will most certainly ignore any further attempts made by you to sound intelligent when you contradict yourself in every single post. Look at your latest garbage you posted. Now you are bashing XP in a Windows Vista thread. Windows XP bashing has been out of the norm for many years. Time to disconnect that computer from the internet since it seems to be stuck in the past with you.

 

[Unregistered]

>> Funny how you never hear the word "overclocking" used in the same scentence as "Mac".

That's because it's all completely redundant, Junior. Mine came out of the box with 4 cores all running at 3 gigahertz just as cool and quiet as an autumn morning.

Along with an OS that actually knows how to schedule threads amongst multiple processors.

 

[Rob Williams]

I use Nero BackItUp for all system backing up... and yes the one in Vista is horrid. I don't think I've ever used it without spawning some sort of error. Not to mention that the application takes about one minute to even show face after I click it in the start menu. Such is Vista life.

As for being treated like a criminal, Macintosh treats you like a convicted convict. How do they do that you are asking yourself? Well, since they RAPE you on the price and spoonfeed you proprietary software/hardware, even a convicted murderer has more choices as to what they can use and do.

I agree... it's one reason I haven't gone and purchased a Mac yet. I remember when their new Macbook Pros came out and the top offering was $2,799. I did some research and found an ASUS notebook with identical specs (everything from the screen resolution to the hardware inside) and it cost $1,799. Chances are good that the Macbook Pro was not far different from the ASUS at all, since ASUS does a whack of manufacturering for them.

To me, 99% of all problems are user error.

In general, perhaps. I've run into so many issues with Vista, I just gave up and never contemplating installing it on my main Windows machine. I have a friend who bought Vista months and was die-hard for it at first, but even he's run into some retarded issues. The worst, I think, is when an application quits responding, and even though you hit End Process, it never does. Instead, you need to reboot the machine, or log out and back in if that works. That is highly annoying if you have a lot of stuff going on, and have a single lingering dead application in your way.

But we all know that XP is pretty much bulletproof and it takes a "special" person that cannot run XP properly.

I can agree to an extent here as well. It depends on the person and level of knowledge. Some people may have less hassle on a Mac, maybe. My mom for example though, she's been running the same Windows XP rig for almost two years and doesn't even run an anti-virus... and hasn't run into any trouble. She's not that knowledgable with PCs like we are either, so it can be done.

That's because it's all completely redundant, Junior. Mine came out of the box with 4 cores all running at 3 gigahertz just as cool and quiet as an autumn morning.

3GHz is a weak clock-speed as far as enthusiasts are concerned. Some Intel processors can push 3.8GHz or more, on air. That said, no one is going to convince anyone here with their personal preferences, so aruging about it will get us nowhere.

 

[Unregistered]

>> and yes the one in Vista is horrid

That's what I was wondering about. Confirms my suspicions, tnx.

>> 3GHz is a weak clock-speed as far as enthusiasts are concerned.

Yes, but Boy Genius is apparently running at 2.91. And I'm talking about a machine that has to run quiet. (Studio.)

 

[b1lk1]

2.91Ghz and as close to silence as one can ask for. The best part, I paid about $1000 total for my PC. That's including a very high end sound card as well. Again, this genius is atleast $1500 smarter than you!!!

 

[Unregistered]

Well, bully for you. That's certainly more than *I'd* ever spend on a peecee...

 

[Rob Williams]

To each their own... that's all that can be said. We each like our preferred computers for personal reasons. No one is going to change anyones mind here.

That said. Linux rocks.

 

[Unregistered]

Agreed on every count, including the bit about Linux. My happiest times on a peecee were spent in Linux.

In closing (and apparently unlike my new young friend, I *do* mean closing) I must insist on pointing out that I did not come here for a flame war and most certainly did not fire the first shot(s).

Sorry for the annoyance. Is that guy *really* a 'staff writer'? Perhaps higher standards are in order.

-peace, bro
(Happily) Unregistered

 

[Rob Williams]

I prefer punishments over helping people improve, so I recently sent b1lk1 a copy of Windows Vista. As we know, that's the direct equivalent of being thrown into a maximum security prison for a minor charge. In the end, the pain he will feel will more than make up for his remarks towards you.

That much is certain. Thanks for your input and feel free to post on the forum anytime.