[Darfin]

Not for me, but for a friend.
Hes still trying to decide whether to upgrade to Vista or not.
He needs to know whether his comp will run with Home Premium or not.
The upgrade adviser Microsoft put out sucks. So we need your opinion
Any help will be greatly appreciated

Some of his system specs:
Dell Notebook Inspiron 2200
Intel Celeron M
Genuine Windows XP Home
Service Pack 2
1.40GHz processor
1.24GB of RAM
DirectX 9.0
I THINK his graphics card -
Mobile Intel 915GM/GMS,910ML Express Chipset Family - if that makes any since.
Maximum Graphics Memory - 128mb

If you guys need anymore info, then just ask

Thank you,
Darf

[Grimm]

im almost certain that any machine that can run XP natively and easily can also run vista easily. just dont expect it to run vista ultimate very easily. but home premium should run smoothly

[Darfin]

Well..thats the thing that concerns him...
I've heard of cases where brand new computers were bought and Vista didn't take too well to it.
He's had his computer for like a year and a half I think.
It runs XP perfectly without any hint of a problem though.

Thats why I asked your guys advice first

[Sparky]

I am waiting till vista has come out with patches for its buggy system before i upgrade. I would say at this time it is unwise.

[Phoenix]

I am waiting till vista has come out with patches for its buggy system before i upgrade. I would say at this time it is unwise.

I'm in the same boat as you Sparky. The way I see it, i've got something that works for everything I need- why upgrade straight away and be prone to all sorts of problems Vista is likely to bring?

Anyway, yea I would say that laptop would be fine with Vista Home Premium, my only issue is the ram, which only just over the recommendation. That means your friend might suffer from slow start-up times etc, but thats pretty common with Vista anyway

Recommended specs for home premium (taken from Microsoft):

* 1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
* 1 GB of system memory
* 40 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space
* Support for DirectX 9 graphics with:
o WDDM Driver
o 128 MB of graphics memory (minimum)
o Pixel Shader 2.0 in hardware
o 32 bits per pixel
* DVD-ROM drive
* Audio Output
* Internet access (fees may apply)

Taking into consideration that the computer is a laptop, I think that would be fine running Home Premium although like Darfin, I wouldn't try Ultimate unless you are sure Vista works fine to begin with.

[Chantelle]

That spec should be fine, You should hopefully get AERO working on that aswell.. ( one main reason for having home premium on it)

I wouldnt say if it runs XP it can run vista no problems however.

The earliest i would upgrade properly to Vista is when SP1 comes out ETA september..

however I might wait for Vienna (code name) if thats going to only be a a few years.

Like XP I think once vista has been patched up and programmers have caught up it should be a neat working system..

However I hope that Vienna will be a better step up in improving on how well it runs the hardware as Vista probably does have a lot of legacy code.

However DX10 will be a big incentive.

[Grimm]

holy crap pho, those are system specs for vista? i didnt know it was that intense on machines....mac os x tiger which is close in comparrison to size/strain, barely needs a gig of hard drive space and only like 512 system memory.

as a random question: is vista 64-bit? cuz i know mac os x leapard will be...

[FlapJack23]

that might run Vista, but I expect that he will see a HUGE drop in performance, especially games. Vista has a ton of background programs running, which use up lots of system power. Like everyone else here, I would wait till service pack 1 comes out.

[Chantelle]

alot of the game performace is down to bad driver.

as long as there is sufficient RAM it will ultimateley run fine.

vista can run on half a gig fine.. I think MS have just been more realistic with there reccommended specs so you get something thats adequate

[Darfin]

Well Ive been taught never to trust Microsoft and their recommendations.
What I think is that Vista Home Basic just isn't worth buying. Seriously. If your going to get Vista, at least get Home Premium because Basic just isnt worth the money. It doesnt have pretty much everything you want to buy Vista for. Specially the Aero effects and the flippy 3d thing.

And I agree, Ultimate would be way out of his computers league lol.
My system is alot better than his and it runs Home Premium fairly well. Most of the problems I experience with it are compatibility issues which have to do with Viista not my comp. I wish I had waited till service pack 1 comes out...could make my life much easier.

[Phoenix]

Please note that those are the recommended system specs, and not the minimum recommended specs- like Chan said MS tend to put the specs a little higher so people aren't disappointed when they run Vista.

but I expect that he will see a HUGE drop in performance, especially games. Vista has a ton of background programs running, which use up lots of system power.

Yep, and slow start-up problems as mentioned above.

Pho~

[Chantelle]

Well Ive been taught never to trust Microsoft and their recommendations.
What I think is that Vista Home Basic just isn't worth buying. Seriously. If your going to get Vista, at least get Home Premium because Basic just isnt worth the money. It doesnt have pretty much everything you want to buy Vista for. Specially the Aero effects and the flippy 3d thing.

And I agree, Ultimate would be way out of his computers league lol.
My system is alot better than his and it runs Home Premium fairly well. Most of the problems I experience with it are compatibility issues which have to do with Viista not my comp. I wish I had waited till service pack 1 comes out...could make my life much easier.

Yeah the main two things for home users are aero which is that 3d thing .. I do think that Aero will be much much more in thr future thats only the start.

Media centre..

Your right Home basic is a castrated Vista..

Ultimate well it should run either copy, you wont really need any more power for ultimate but what you get in ultimate over Premium isnt going to do alot of benefit for the home user.

The Microsoft specs are well your right on history MS said you could run XP on 64 RAM... while physically true it woyld be awful... I think this time with Vista they raised the bar to a more realistic bar so that it would generally run alot better.

I ran Vista Ultimate RC1 on a 5 year old machine.

althon xp2000
768ram
nVidia geforece 4 ti4400
40Gb HD

it worked absolutleey fine

however because the card was only up to direct x 8 it couldnt get aero on that one.

My current machine isnt a massive ner power horse but that runs it absolutleey fine..

I think it will just be a waiting game , we do need to wait for developers to catch up with it all now...

I think we had the same problems with XP ..

[Darfin]

Haha...my friends obsessed with updating his comp any chance he gets. A new version of something comes out...he jumps. Hes been doing crap with Windows Blinds and other stuff to make his comp seem more like Vista. He did a pretty good job actually, fooled alot of people. But it can't really beat the real thing.
I was the same way. I can't stand knowing that theres something out better than what I have. In fact, you probably shouldn't have told me about a new windows coming out in 2 years.

Im curious...what are the Vista RCs? Ive heard about them but have no idea what they are. Are they like for beta testing or something?

He has another question, what if he wants to revert back to XP after he installs Vista? He doesnt have a recovery disc. His laptop just came preloaded with no disc.

[Chantelle]

well what did he have, no licence? he woudl be a bit screwed ten or have to obtain a licence

does he have the XP key for his laptop? (there might be a sticker on the bottom) if so then he shodul eb able to borrow a CD copy of WIndows xp (Same version) as long as his key is unique it dont matter.

RC is release candidate it was like post beta2 but not quite the first release

[Darfin]

Well the XP recovery disc/install disc cost like alot of money extra so he didn't bother with it when he bought his laptop. Yeah he has the key. He could probably figure it out.
Apperently the reason he was so worried about buying Vista is because of all the bad things hes heard about it.
(examples:)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3x57Ni4Q6k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVbf9tOGwno

Im sure you can find a whole library of videos downing Vista on youtube. Lucky for me Vista actually installed after buying it.

[Chantelle]

While I understand that guys sentiments the UAC has botehred some people..

to a degree I understand its usefulness but more at a business than a personal level..

THe way id like it to wok woudl be you have your normal user which can navigate and use their desktop as they need too, however when application or something requireng administration is needed it merely requires the administrator to authorise it using a password.

MS havent really done a clean job of that , yet..

I think alot of the problems thought are down to applications/ drivers and stuff just havent caught up yet.. so thats why sp1 along with the time taken for pick up is a good boundary point before upgrading..

However I am often sceptical about videos like that, it very much making me think it is some sort of Macintosh propaganda..

THe fact he kept saying WOW all the way through seems rather pre,emped

[Darfin]

Thats a good point. It could be some sort of Mactintosh propaganda. But its just the fact that there is so many cases of it. Vista not even installing on a brand new machine way better than mine, much less my friends. I think I might have just gotten lucky or something. Ive managed to fix most of the problems Vista has to offer.

See Microsoft should see that Vista is simply a version of windows. People shouldn't have to worry about installing it or going through months of planning before buying it. Its an operating system for a damn computer. I would have gladly waited an extra year or so if it meant fixing and revising Vista. I think they put it out much too soon, as they did XP.

[Chantelle]

maybe, but after 5 years you'd expect better ..

Dont get me wrong I know I have done a bit of defending on their behalf but I dont think they do themselves any favours.. although a lot of the problems about software and drives, its not their fault its lazy people for hardware and software who have been pedestrian.

HOwever I have personally found vista to install no probs on the machines I have done so far..

Youve probabaly got a point like I said earlier on we had this same fiasco with XP..

I think vista or MS could do better by dropping some of teh legacy code and start alot fresher..that would allow the system to run alot faster.

its good to dabble in other systems however, but until there is a system which does everything I want to do for pleasure and work I cannot and wont change from what i use now (XP predominantly)..

[Darfin]

He downloaded the upgrade advisor and it said

Your current video card will not support the Windows Aero™ user experience. Contact your computer manufacturer or retailer to see if an upgrade is available. Click here for a list of video cards that support Windows Aero.

Now when it says that it won't support it, does that mean it just wont work period...or it won't run very well?

Thats the only issue the advisor gave him however.

[Chantelle]

what is his card?

[Darfin]

He has an onboard card - doesnt really have a name.

[Chantelle]

well if its on board its not likeley to have teh muscle to run aero.

on board carsd are unfortunateley not good for 3d graphics, and games.

if he were to get a proper graphics card for his pc it should run it

[Darfin]

Well - its onboard but its a good one. He can run alot of top games on his computer like Half-Life 2 and Quake 4.
But - because his card isnt good enough for aero, does that mean it just wont run at all or it wont run very good?

[Chantelle]

It wnt run it at all likeley..

Plus on board is neververy good, it may seem ... ok.. but you will never run games that good unless ou have alot of the settings on low.. especially FSAA and Af which make a lot of aethetical improvement.

however he would be far more beneficial getting a new card for his machine to suit. then it would run games alot better, give him more RAM (onboard takes a quota of RAM) and should run vista providing its decent enough.

[Darfin]

Well the only problem is that PCMIA - or whatever what theyre called (you know what I mean) - video cards cost alot of money. At least from what I've heard.