I'm sure I deserve this, but....

[Xerapis]

Here's what I don't get.

I own this thing.

I'm the administrator.  The only account that will EVER be on this computer.

I can understand the OS double-checking with me before deleting key system files and possibly totally ass-fucking my whole computer.

But short of that?

I should BE ALL-POWERFUL, GODAMMIT!!!

I miss DOS.

[bhodi]

I suspect your solution is Ubuntu.

[Yegolev]

If you want to be all-powerful, your only choice is to be root.  I am not advocating Linux, since being all-powerfull can mean that you have a tremendous amount of shit to do.

I think the registry is a sound theory but the execution is bad.  Strangely enough, AIX has a version of the Windows Registy called the ODM, due to a shared heritage (yes).  You really, really don't want to go fucking around with the AIX ODM, for more or less the same reasons... also the ODM had a command-line interface, which makes it lots of fun.

[Jayce]

But short of that?

I should BE ALL-POWERFUL, GODAMMIT!!!

The problem, with that, of course, and what MS has been roundly criticized for in the past, is that a virus or worm running under your login is also all-powerful.  Now they're criticized for fixing it.  Not that I disagree with you.  It's a terrible UI experience. But I don't really know if there's a good answer.

Next to no-one runs regularly as root on linux boxes, but then all the software is written with a non-admin user in mind, and when it's not, everyone who runs linux are power nerds who know how to switch back and forth easily.

[Sky]

Root's nice, but I'll stick with su-su-sudo. Did I just make a Phil Collins reference? Ugh.

Another gripe about winders: dlls. Wrap everything in a damned package folder ala OSX, already. Quit sprinkling shit on my hard drive. Maybe MS will have that in 2015.

[Xerapis]

My new sources of hate:

I uninstall a program.  Never mind the annoying change in how to do that.  What really gets me is the way the desktop icon stays there when the program is uninstalled.  I try to delete the icon, and Vista claims that the icon isn't there.  But it is.  Until I restart.

Next on the list.  Defragging.  How the hell did they manage to screw that up?  I tell it to defrag, I get no analyze option, no upfront report, I don't even get the big window showing my progress.  I tell it to start and go to bed.  Come back, and see no difference.  It claims to still be defragging.  Um....5 hours later for a 250gig drive?  I doubt it, but have no progress screen to confirm.  So I just cancel, drink my OJ, and check out the news.

More hate to come, I'm sure.  I'll keep y'all posted.

[Trippy]

My new sources of hate:

I uninstall a program.  Never mind the annoying change in how to do that.  What really gets me is the way the desktop icon stays there when the program is uninstalled.  I try to delete the icon, and Vista claims that the icon isn't there.  But it is.  Until I restart.

If you right click on the desktop do you get a choice to "Refresh" like you do in XP and does that remove the icon?

[Xerapis]

If you right click on the desktop do you get a choice to "Refresh" like you do in XP and does that remove the icon?

Yes, yes it does.

Now fix the defrag ~cracks whip, giggles~

[Ironwood]

Good work, Trippy, but that's still fairly fucking poor.

[Xerapis]

Oh, yeah, let me make that perfectly clear.

I should NOT have to hit refresh to make the icon go away.

It is still extremely annoying.  But better than restarting.  But both are wrong.

Seriously, even old XP got the icon removal right.  Why are we taking steps backward?

[angry.bob]

So I should grab a spare copy of XP for the next PC I build before they stop selling it?

[Xerapis]

So I should grab a spare copy of XP for the next PC I build before they stop selling it?

Only if you want to keep your sound and what's left of your sanity.

[Trippy]

So I should grab a spare copy of XP for the next PC I build before they stop selling it?

Yes, unless you really really want DirectX 10 RIGHT NOW or you are suffering from a serious case of Mac-envy and need to run Aero or your life will be over.

[Xerapis]

So I should grab a spare copy of XP for the next PC I build before they stop selling it?

Ok, serious answer time.

Yes, you should grab a spare copy of XP.

You do NOT want to slog through the hell of finding Vista drivers right now.  It is just not worth it.  I'm not sure who fucked who when it came up for release, but updated drivers for Vista are a BITCH for some things.

I particularly disliked spending over two hours to get my onboard sound working again.

And the UAC might make you put your fist right through the keyboard.  It really is just as annoying as that YouTube link that Trippy posted.

I'm not going to uninstall Vista by any means, but if I could go back in time, I wouldn't have upgraded.

[Jayce]

I think the short version of this thread is:
Don't be an early adopter.

I'm looking forward to Vista.  I should upgrade right on schedule in another year or so.

[Sky]

Who in their right mind buys a MS OS before SP1? Some things never change.

[Ezdaar]

I have Vista and XP set up on different drives. Vista seems to work fine so far for everything but playing games. It's nice and shiny and new, I haven't had any real problems with it. I boot back into XP for gaming at the moment since the couple games I have tried in Vista ran slow and sounded like ass.

I don't think I would pay for it but since I have access to free copies through my place of employment I figured I would give it a shot. It is Vista Business, which seems to be home premium with some extra stuff like remote desktop and minus the media center stuff.

[Trippy]

Who in their right mind buys a MS OS before SP1? Some things never change.

I bought multiple copies of XP pre-SP1 and didn't have any significant issues with it. Switching to XP early on was far better for me than sticking with Windows 98 (I skipped ME entirely for obvious reasons).

[Lantyssa]

In that case you're jumping several generations though.  XP is in the NT -> 2k -> XP line, and 2k had been out and stable for some time at that point.  I found 98 was a wreck even after 98 SE and at the end of its product cycle.  So I can see why it worked okay for you under those circumstances.

[Xerapis]

Ok, defragging still does not work correctly.

I started it last night.  Let it run for a good 8 hours.  Nothing.

I get no detailed pre-defrag report with this one either.  Quite annoying.

I find it hard to believe that it couldn't defrag my hard drive over night.  So WTF?

[bhodi]

Defragging 'starts over' if there are a lot of writes to disk. Like, for instance, if you have some program running that is logging stuff to disk or if you're downloading torrents, etc.

[Xerapis]

~resists many snarky replies~

I shut everything else down (even scheduled scans and such) before starting the defrag.

And that's no excuse for not providing a before-defrag analysis.

[Evil Elvis]

So I should grab a spare copy of XP for the next PC I build before they stop selling it?

Yes, unless you really really want DirectX 10 RIGHT NOW or you are suffering from a serious case of Mac-envy and need to run Aero or your life will be over.

Make that Linux/Beryl envy.

[raydeen]

~resists many snarky replies~

I shut everything else down (even scheduled scans and such) before starting the defrag.

And that's no excuse for not providing a before-defrag analysis.

Does Vista have a Safe Mode like the older Windows? I don't recall having to do this in XP but 98 and ME would occasionally force me into Safe Mode to do a defrag as there would always be something trying to access the drive.

And Thank You. You and a few other people have shown that it is pretty much a headache to get Vista right now.  I had been considering it but after seeing first hand the crap that other people have gone through, I won't be touching Vista for a loooooooong time.

Edit: Just got Beryl working on my box. I think my favorite part is the Expose-like feature that shows thumbnails of all the open apps and windows that you can then click on to zoom right to what you want. For me, that's the cake. All the other effects are icing.