is vista THAT bad?

  • Thread starter Thread starter tom18222
  • Start date Start date
T

tom18222

yes
i'm in the market for a laptop. obviously, all thats available nowadays is vista. is it that bad for recording? is a certain version better than others? just wondering.

thanks, -tom
 
Vista requires way more CPU/RAM just on its own
It's sluggish
Some recording software doesn't work on it but most do now
A lot of recording interfaces don't have Vista drivers so you'd be stuck with on board sound card

etc...

You can always pop an XP CD into the laptop and reformat and have XP on there. You can probably find a used copy of XP for pretty cheap now.
 
I'm recording with Vista 32 bit using a Firepod and Cubase Studio 4.1 with no problems. I have an off the shelf Acer with an AMD dual core and 2gb of ram.
 
If all of the devices you want to use are Vista-compatible, you should have no problems.

It's getting Vista-certified device drivers that's the problem.
So just make sure the interfaces and devices you want to use are compatible.
 
I wonder if there is something wrong with Vista on my computer. It isn't sluggish at all.

It's a waste of resources in my opinion. Take the same computer and put XP on it and it'll be smoking.
 
I've been using Vista since the day it came out. It was not voluntary.

When I first had it installed on my machine, it was a disaster, but I'm pretty sure that it had more to do with the machine than with the OS. Yes, Vista requires an assload more processing power (and RAM). But from the time I got a lappy that came with Vista installed on it, I've been happier. I think people forget how bad XP sucked when it came out...that's why the Service Pack is bigger than a house. The one thing that made XP tolerable was that unlike all previous MS systems since Win95, it didn't crash.

My biggest gripes with Vista had nothing to do with speed...the gripes had everything to do with incompatibility. Just INSTALLING drivers is a pain in the ass, because the computer tries to save you from yourself. I'm one of those guys that doesn't need to be saved from himself when it comes to bad registry entries, but I also understand that Microsoft has very little interest in spending 90% of its available coders trying to undo stuff that dumbasses do to their computers.

I don't like the fact that MS uses the public at large as Beta testers, but by now, most of the rocky waters have been navigated.

I guess what I'm saying is, you're probably ok at this point. The longer people hold onto XP, the harder it will be for them to make the switch. One day, you'll be trying to download some killer VST free plug and it won't work with your ancient OS, lol.

As an aside, I had problems with my Firepod on XP...skipping, dropouts, etc. Jacked with buffers, latency settings, the whole 9 yards. Since I installed the Vista drivers on a Vista machine, it's been flawless.

Good luck.
 
I too had to switch to Vista earlier this year--involuntarily. I rank Vista up there with Windows ME (Moron Edition) as proof of Microsoft's egregious profiteering by charging astronomic prices for microscopic quality. They basically scrapped XP and replaced it with memory sucking window dressing.
 
Stick with XP until at least Q3 2008.
At least wait and give XP SP3 a go - apprently there are large performance benefits in there!
 
I've been working in IT for the last few years. Vista has been a nightmare in every sense of the job...

When it comes to computers in general, and audio recording on a PC specifically, STICK WITH WHAT YOU KNOW WORKS. Don't upgrade unless you need too, and/or you know it will be stable! You'll probably hear/read that countless times even in this forum.

I say: buy whatever laptop/PC you want. If it comes with vista, do a fresh install of XP right away using your old computer's XP disc (or go get a new one!).
 
and by the way, head over to Dell Small Business. The Vostro series has insane deals right (I'm also in the market, and cannot find those prices beaten anywhere!) now until Wednesday, and are configureable with XP as well as Vista....
 
thanks for the responses. i have an OLD xp disc (from around the time it came out) if i bought a laptop, and loaded that on and dled SP 2, would i be all set, or is it bad because the CD is so outdated. i appreciate it. thanks.
 
Everything on XP is patchable. I still use a first-gen disc for my installs and go from there. Shouldn't have a problem.
 
and by the way, head over to Dell Small Business. The Vostro series has insane deals right (I'm also in the market, and cannot find those prices beaten anywhere!) now until Wednesday, and are configureable with XP as well as Vista....

I was going to suggest the Vostro too. I bought a Vostro(with XP) just a few months ago. It was about $3-400 cheaper then similar setups from other companies.
 
vista IS better than xp in almost every category except the resource/driver issues .... soon the standard for how much ram a computer has will be so high that the resources problem won't even be noticeable... and drivers will be caught up too.. you're going to have to make the switch to vista eventually , if your computer is good enough now might as well. make sure you have 2 gb of ram with the ability to upgrade to more and a nice dual core processor and you'll be fine. windows 3.0 uses less resources than xp, does that mean xp sucks? no , the switch is inevitable
 
everything about the operating system is better, except that it uses more resources which is expected ... use common sense. more ram is needed to do more and better things ... hence my windows 3.0 to xp comparison . soon everyone will have AT LEAST 2 gb of ram on their home computers and no one will even care that it uses slightly more resources
 
'Prettier' does not equal 'better'.

more ram is needed to do more and better things

Did you research this? What are these 'better' things that use up the RAM? Apart from looking pretty of course.

If I have 2gig of RAM on my PC, I'd rather as little as possible of it was being used on the OS. If I had 20gigs of RAM I would still feel the same.
 
Back
Top