Me. Home Premium....2 Gig RAM memory.
For over a year now.
No problems...many, many times better than XP.

If you use wireless (WiFi) network connections to Internet and wireless devices, like printers, Vista was built to work with them, very easy to connect.

Nobody likes change............. I don't mind Vista at all. The only thing I am not crazy about is I have two email accounts with my ISP. With XP, I had two user accounts with Outlook and my mail downloaded separately. With Vista, all your mail from your ISP downloads together. So when you reply to an email, you have to be more conscience of your own email address for replying. I've often sent people email from the wrong account. I used Opera for my browser on XP, but it doesn't work well with Vista, so now I use Firefox. I prefer Opera......... Other than that, I honestly can't think of anything that I don't like. I got used to the differences rather quickly.

I don't have it but was told by an 'expert' that if I decided to get a new computer with it on to make sure I got a minimum of 2 gig RAM.

Good luck.

Shirley

I've been using Vista on a laptop for over a year and am happy with it. Having said that, however, I recently read that Windows will be releasing a new operating system in the near future because some users of Vista have complained about various things. Might be worth waiting for it.

I have had it at the office since April of '07. On my laptop since Nov. '07. I have honestly not had any problems!

I think there is so much MORE to Vista that very few use, hence the need for more RAM. Supposedly, the 'new' windows will be about the same as what Vista is now...without all the stuff that most people do not use. Making it more 'home version' friendly. I know alot of gamers don't like Vista for whatever reason.

It took me a couple of weeks to get the hang of the differences, but you can set it up to Classic View and it in most cases, looks like XP, so the differences don't seem that major (IMHO)

I bought an HP desktop with Vista Home Premium in March 2007. I love Vista - the sidebar is great for gadgets (weather, stocks, games, etc.). I have XP on my old desktop and on my laptop, but I like Vista better.

Support isn't there for it yet. In other words, their certified technicians seem to be at a loss when problems, that are out of the ordinary, happen. And because it's a fairly new operating system many users haven't had a need to use them so it isn't well known. Ask me how I know...

From a user's point, it reminds me of the Mac for some reason. Seems like more clicking. Some things seem to run slower than XP but once you get used to it, it's ok. Keep in mind that there's a lot of intergration so if you have problems with your mail, that means that your Vista is corrupt.

Signed,

Not a Huge Fan

You might double check your current software compatiblity with it. I know you are an avid scrapbooker - so you might want to double check to see what works with VISTA.

I have heard that most software is compatible with the 32 bit, but not always with the 64 bit.

I just bought a new laptop with VISTA 32 bit - but other than my photo editing software (it WORKS!!) I haven't installed much else.

I had to get some drivers online for a few of my "previous" programs once we got the desk top with Vista..but otherwise..I like some of the upgrades over XP or 2000Pro.

My daughter doesn't much care for it and it took her at least a year to stop cussing at it. Gamers do NOT like it because it often does not work with game CDs. My SIL bought a new computer from Dell last week and had to pay $99 to DOWNGRADE from Vista to Windows XP. I also read that Microsoft is coming out with another operating system. I've been seeing more TV ads for Vista and am wondering if they are trying to pump up its popularity and inform people of its many features.

Not sure what your problem was with Opera but I've been using Opera on Vista since I got the unit. I won't use the Internet Elephant. What kind of problem did you have? You might want to try it again, it truly is the best browser out there.

Ever since about Windows95 the RAM requirements for each new OS from Microsoft meant needing more RAM. A good plan is to double the amount as basic RAM for each new version. XP did quite well on 512mb to a gig, so Vista should have a minimum of 1gb to 2gb of RAM.

Yes Windows 7 is talked about and they're hoping to release it sometime next year. They want to have it out for a year before discontinuing XP support.

The major differences I've found is that, as with every new Windows version it's more reliant on the mouse and it's more newbie workable. It's very frustrating to tech-minded and people who like to know how things work. It's more for the ones who just want to click and go and don't want to know anything about the computer. I've found it to be rather unstable, but it will recover by itself better than any past versions, and it's essentially automatic. Many have problems with the User Access Control causing troubles with program installation. But that can be worked around. I much prefer XP and will have it on one machine anyway since I might work with people who have it and need support and it's easier to work with the similar OS.

I'm converting to Linux more and more. Many people are. But for those who want to stay with Windows, the reality is that it's the current generation and you should go with it instead of XP. If you're buying a new machine it should be set to work with Vista and likely comes with Vista anyway so isn't the decision really made for you anyway?

One other thing I notice about Vista, it really is helpful to have broadband, and nearly is to the point you need it. With 50mb patches coming every few weeks, dialup users are really penalized with it. But again, there's really no big choice unless you go Mac, Linux, other OS, or without.

Unless you get a custom built machine from someone competent, few low-cost computers have enough RAM. RAM is cheap and will make a huge difference in the experience. As with any new machine, you need to do some setup right away. I recommend a different firewall, a decent browser and of course antivirus and malware protection. There's also a lot of tweaks I do to make it a far more functional unit for me but that varies from person to person.

We have a new Computer with Vista home premium and a
lot of our software isn't compatible with it,which
means we will have have to fork out more money and I
have had to purchase a new program for my gifs.
I've had our Computer geek out and he said a lot of
people aren't happy with it.
But my DD who teaches and sells it said it's just a
matter of getting used to things called different names.
Good luck. :-)

I was using Opera on XP and sometimes would not download properly on some sites...
Since getting the new desktop that came with Vista, some of those sites that I had to open in IE..I can now open in Opera..there are still a few things that don't "support" Opera..but it's not the browser it's the website or software.
My husband uses Mozilla/Foxfire as his preferance..so my computer has that plus Opera, plus IE on it.

I'm not a computer geek, but here is what I like and don't like about vista (I've had it for over a year I think):

What I like:
-gadgets on the desktop....you can add things like a slide show, clock, weather, news feed, etc. Cute.
-view button on folders. Click once for list, click again for details view, icons, small thumbnails, large thumbnails, etc.
-search window in folder window

What I don't like:
-I have a lot of folders, some for photos, music, documents, etc. I like to sort them in certain orders for photos and a different order for music. Vista does not remember the order and when I open up a folder the order and views are all messed up. It is never consistent. Same with the tabs I have in the folders to sort my photos, music, etc. I use "date modified", "size", "type" and "name" as my tabs in my photo folders. But sometimes they will disappear, sometimes new tabs are added, etc. It is really frustrating because I like to have mine organized in a certain way.

That's all I can think of but I am sure there are other things I am not happy with, just won't remember them until it happens again.

I have it on this laptop and hate it. When the new Windows comes out I'm going to have this reimaged and get the new one. I've had all kinds of little pesky issues. IE used to crash all the time (they must have done an upgrade because that issue seems to have stopped). I don't like the way it's organized. It's just not as intuitive. I also don't like the new Word or Excel, but that's another story...

I wound up breaking down and buying the new Office but I wish I hadn't. I don't like the layout either but you can go for a "classic" look on that too. I use OpenOffice for a few things too. I like OpenOffice but it doesn't work well with complicated forms and things I made in Office. But I'd much prefer to use the open source items rather than give MS anything more than necessary.

If you don't like Vista, what makes you think you'll like Windows7? From what I'm reading, it's nothing more than "Vista 2". They still have dreams of the subscription based Windows but can't get it working right. Surprised? Nor am I? I guess I figure that a new OS requires a new machine with double the ram and hard drive.

I'm disappointed with the sidebar. Thought it could be convenient but it's very amateurish. The three things that I found somewhat useful were a month calendar, but it's JUST the calendar, no other functions, but it does show week numbers which I find useful. But I use Rainlender now. Far more features, better clarity, better program. Another is a basic timer, but 1time works just as well, if not better. And the other is the Weatherbug, but I find WeatherWatcher to be better with the icon temperature. So I shut off the sidebar altogether.

I run a lot of browsers. I use Opera for general purposes, Kmeleon for email and for when I have trouble with a website. And Firefox is often used too. For various things. I do like a couple of the weather add-ons on FF and version 3 has improved on speed but it's still much slower than Opera or Kmeleon. But nothing like the Microsoft Bloated Beast! So I often sit with at least two browsers open at all times, sometimes three. And running several things in the background.

One thing I noticed is the latest version of Opera doesn't seem as smooth as the last several revisions. They had new versions about every two weeks for a couple months. Not sure when they'll release v10 but I'm interested in seeing how that will be different. The problem is I do a lot of tweaking on things. I condense the toolbars and customize it, use one button for the main toolbar and have button shortcuts to programs. I don't suppose that will convert to v10 but I'll have to see.

One thing I've found is there was a lot of talk about software not working on Vista. I just haven't found this to be true. It doesn't always load up easily, often you need to turn off UAC or something but I can't think of a program that doesn't work on here. PageMaker was one that was said no-way, no-how and they wouldn't even consider updating it. They said buy the new version for $1200! I don't use it very often but figured a $600 program should last a bit longer and I had nothing to lose to try it. Well it's working fine... now. Problem is, I can't find my FrontPage disks.... and I need to update some websites... (sigh)

I am in the same boat... i noticed dell is selling computers loaded with xp but comes with vista and you can decide when you are ready to convert. I am not sure i am ready for vista yet...