Windows Vista question.

Forgive me if this has been posted before. I've searched on the forum and couldn't find anything on it. Anyways I have a couple of questions.

1. What is required to run a Vista? Does it have to have that Vista Capable logo on your computer?

2. I've heard that Microsoft is experiancing problems with there new program. Best to wait until they improve it?


-Thanks in advance-

Minimum requirements:
A modern processor (at least 800MHz1 (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/capablefootnotes.mspx)).
512 MB of system memory.
A graphics processor that is DirectX 9 capable.

But you should have these:
1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor1 (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/capablefootnotes.mspx).
1 GB of system memory.
Support for DirectX 9 graphics with a WDDM driver, 128 MB of graphics memory

I would wait to buy vista until more people have used the program, mainly because new programs like operating systems will always have problems, because people cant type millions of words without errors, as they do in programing, i wont buy it for a while myself if i were to buy my computer this year

Edit: you dont need the vista logo, as long as you have the requirements met, you will be fine for any opperating system, this is the site where i got the above info, http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/capable.mspx

The only thing im confuse is the directX 9. What is that? My laptop has 1gig of ram and 100gig of hard drive. I dont know if that matters or not.

im not sure exactly what it is, all i know is that it is a program for your pc, i will ask my computer admin here during 7th period, around 2:00 central time, being that your computer has a gig of ram already i would say you should be fine, what is the speed of your processor? if you have a ghz you should be good, but vista is more for 64 bit processors i think but will still work with the 32 bit processors, just not as efficiently, but i would say your computer will handel vista

im not sure exactly what it is, all i know is that it is a program for your pc, i will ask my computer admin here during 7th period, around 2:00 central time, being that your computer has a gig of ram already i would say you should be fine, what is the speed of your processor? if you have a ghz you should be good, but vista is more for 64 bit processors i think but will still work with the 32 bit processors, just not as efficiently, but i would say your computer will handel vista

Its a 1.6 ghz.

heres what I got out of my system info. Dont know if this means anything...

Processor x86 Family 6 Model 13 Stepping 8 GenuineIntel ~1729 Mhz

Yes... my 300th post...It should work on your system then, but it will have security holes and such as all new opperationg systems do, if you decide to go with it, update often, use a good antiviris, spyware remover, and backup often, use a firewall to if you want, vista should still support the 32 bit programs too

1 gb of mem is kinda like saying win 2000 runs on 32 meg, man that would be slow. the beta version we played with took up over 700 meg with out any apps loaded yet.

i wouldn't upgrade to Vista unless i got a whole new PC designed for it.

yea, it would be a little slow...not to bad tho, 2 gig would be better,
i know some peple who run it on 1 gig, but i would wait until the
service packs are out, i would rather build my own pc than buy dell or
hp etc...i dont like them or their prices...worst of all - tech support

Im still debating whether I should upgrade to 2 gigs and upgrade my hard drive to 160 gigs. I guess im goin to have to wait on the Vista program to see how the reviews turn out.

Windows Vista is going to be like everything else Microsoft pushes out. It will be new and loaded with bugs that will be fixed with several updates and service packs down the road as the programmers figure out how to fix the problems. As for directx9 the current version is directx9.0c which is a program that windows uses for displaying video such as when you play a game like Doom3 it requires directx9.0c. If you are unsure about what version you have click on start then click on run and type in dxdiags and hit enter and it will open up a directx window that shows what version you have and other options for it. Soon there will be a new version of directx being directx10 which is only supported and able to be used by high dollar high end video cards like Nvidia's 8800 series.

Your PC should comfortably run Vista, what graphics card do you have? You might not get all the eye candy of the Aero Glass interface.

yeah, Vista, the Longhorn replacement. It has several versions, to begin with.

Home Basic~~sort of like XP Home vs XP media Center. No Aero [very nice graphic interface, IMO, but that's where need for a good graphics card and puhlenty of RAM and processing is needed]

Home Premium~~ Aero is in here, runs around $160 to up from XP, it can upgrade from XP. About $240 for full fresh install of Premium. That's for current machines.

Business~~ Adds business backup and network items. Doesn't carry Windows Media Center, like all the other options in this list {except Basic and Ultimate, Basic and Ultimate do not carry Media Center].

Ultimate~~ Has Drive Encryption.

Anyhoo, you can in-place upgrade any of the above options from current XP Home, or in the more $$ options, can also up from XP Media Center, Professional, or Tablet PC.

Wait, if you can, to get a Vista-pre installed PC. But, as others above said, wait on that, too. Let Micro run the glitches out of it first.

If ya want to really upgrade, be prepared to wipe your HD, bring in Vista, then reinstall your app.'s and data again. That's the current word if ya want a good take on the upgrade. Perhaps wait a bit before upgrading.. you can goto Microsoft as mentioned above, and find their Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor for the system needs.

Current anti-virus software and even most on-line app.'s for ant-virus haven't yet figured Vista out, so they are currently incompatible. Not a good thing. They'll square that up fast, but in the meantime? Again, wait a while. Several current isssues, Symantec partition Magic, Quick Time, and ZoneAlarm get glitchy in Vista [at this time]. Add to that, printers/faxes and other peripherals VERY likely will need new drivers, and those drivers may not be available for awhile.

Vista comes in 32 and 64 bit versions across all options of Vista. Word heard is 32 bit versions fine for majority of users, the 64 is better for things like CAD, heavy-duty users who do a lot of video or image editing. Speaking of which~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Drivers!!!!!!!! 32 bit drivers are more available than 64 bit drivers [if you upgrade, you'll need new drivers, one possible + for Vista-ready new PC's].

When in a public network, you may need to tweak it to share files or printers. And of course, Vista has renamed several XP actions, such as Display Properties, and made change in Control Panel, etc etc.

It a DVD d/l, ya need a DVD Rom drive to run it. [If ya upgrading from current OS]

What do you need in the system? That was already given above by doberman.

My take~~~~~~~

Wait.

If ya can purchase a new comp. with Vista pre-installed, best. Get a Vista-ready and upgrade new comp., good. Up your current XP with version of choice, poor.

Honestly, what I see is very nice graphics displays, some very useful additional options. Upgrading creates a lot of issues. Someday, I may think about Vista, but I'm happy with XP until Vista gets some more real-world mileage.

And, as an aside, as much Ram as your system can accept/and or you can afford never hurts.