Jez Cunningham wrote:
> Hmm - thanks Nathan. Yeah, Vista being so new scares me, whereas XPpro has
> been rock solid since I got rid of ME. I am rather conservative about it
> (only went to SP2 a few weeks ago) but I'd like to avoid an OS upgrade in
> the life of this next machine. I did go through it on this machine but it
> wasn't 'a walk in the park'.
>
I try to follow the same plan you do, new OS pre-installed on new
hardware, avoid upgrades.
I bought a new desktop with Vista several months ago. Although there are
a few, relatively minor interface/operation differences, it has been a
fairly smooth transition. Biggest problem was drivers, which should be
better as hardware makers get their drivers updated.
Once I realized that most of the driver trouble I was having, which was
only with a few, was with the driver installer, not the driver itself, I
would set the installer app for compatibility with an earlier version of
Win, it would then run and install the driver and all would be well.
As to stability, Vista has been stable from the beginning, significantly
more so than XP. I know everybody assumes each new version of Windoze
will be flaky at first, then slowly get more stable over time, finally
becoming really decent about the time a new version comes out.
At least for me, that model has not applied to Vista.
As to the desktop vs. laptop question, my answer is one of each, for a
few major reasons:
- They act as back-ups to each other. My life is now computer dependent
enough, with on-line banking, bill payment, etc., that I am
uncomfortable with only one. I backup my financial files to flash
storage usable on either one. And the notebook runs XP, just in case I
need something that won't run under Vista.
- As others have pointed out, laptop screens in general are poor for
image editing. I thought the one on my Vaio was pretty decent, better
than a lot of others I looked at - until I tried some editing on the
road recently. It calibrates OK, but the viewing angle is very narrow
for accurate color. It's just not comfortable and useful for that
purpose except in a pinch.
- I actually use my notebook for travel - for on-line access and for
image storage and review. And I am unwilling to carry around the
"portables" with big screens, just too heavy and unwieldy for travel.
With on-line financial connections, I can go on the road essentially
indefinitely without having to have someone open my mail, pay bills for
me, etc.
- The flexibility and expandability of the desktop is just too useful to
abandon. Simple example. With all the images I generate, I need lots of
storage, both primary and backup. With eSATA, an external drive performs
just like it's inside the box, no performance penalty at all. And a
backplane header for eSata comes with the external enclosure. To use
them with a portable, I would need to buy a relatively expensive PC card
eSATA interface, and couldn't just leave it connected when I need the PC
card slot for some other use. And it will be much slower than the direct
connection on a desktop.
Moose
==============================================
List usage info: http://www.zuikoholic.com
List nannies: olympusadmin@xxxxxxxxxx
==============================================
|