Why XP

Here is the second part regarding Windows Vista. You will see here why XP user should not avail Windows vista instead. Again this is from a magazine I read and want to share here for more information to those who are not so technically-inclined people with regards to computers like myself but willing to experiment new and different things to their personal computer.

10 Reason Not to Deploy Windows Vista
by Alan Sugano

With a weak economy, businesses need to do more with less. When it comes time to consider upgrading a Windows XP environment to Windows Vista, many companies are choosing not to. Ultimately, upgrading has to make business sense, and many companies find the cost to upgrade outweighs any benefits they receive. Here are my top 10 reasons why companies are staying away from Vista.
1.Vista requires new hardware or significant hardware upgrades. To get acceptable performance on Vista, you're probably looking at significant hardware upgrades, if not a new computer. In my work environment, we've found the minimum requirement for a Vista Desktop is 2GB of memory, a dual core processor, 80GB hard disk drive, and a video card with at least 256MB of VRAM. For most users, these specs mean getting a new computer because upgrading an existing system isn't cost effective.
2.The additional cost of additional upgrades. There's a good chance you'll have to upgrade your applications as well. Unless you're running the latest version of your application, you'll probably need to upgrade – or at the very least install a patch – for Vista compatibility. Application upgrades could cost thousands of dollars per desktop, depending on the number and type of applications your company's running. Make sure you check for compatibility and upgrade problems before committing to upgrading your entire company.
3.Compatibility problems with applications. Even with the latest updates, you might still encounter compatibility problems with some applications. You might even be forced to change applications if the vendor doesn't plan to support Vista. VPN clients, accounting applications, faxing applications, and some graphics programs have caused problems in my environment.
4.Training cost. With the upgrade form Windows 2000 to XP, users could pretty much figure things out on their own. With Vista, you might not be so lucky. Many programs and utilities have been moved in Vista, and your users might have a difficult time location them. When I first started using Vista, I wanted to view my installed applications. I launched Control Panel and looked for Add/Remove Programs, but it wasn't there. I eventually found the applet – renamed Programs and Features – but the search added to the frustration of getting up to speed with Vista.
5.Vista requires significant tweaks. Changes to User Account Control (UAC), local user rights, and application settings might be necessary to get your company's applications to run on a Vista computer. Most of these settings can be controlled with Group Policy; however, finding which settings to change can be the real headache.
6.Boot times and the patch installation process. This is one of my pet peeves: Vevn with a fat computer, Vista is slow booting up. Vista SP1 has helped somewhat, but when I”m wainting for Vista to boot, all I can think about is how fast my machine would be if it were running XP. During some patch installations, Vista installs the patch, reboots, runs another process to complete the patch installations, I always seem to get hit with the double-boot patch installation at the beginning of meetings, so everyone has to wait while my machines completes the patch process before I can show my PowerPoint presentation.
7.Laptop performance problems. Properly configured, the current generation of desktop computers generally has acceptable performance running Vista. However, if you have a laptop – especially a sub notebook – you could encounter performance problems. You might need to disable some of the features on Vista, such as Aero, to obtain acceptable performance.
8.Windows XP works well. XP is stable, and it's more compatible with existing applications than Vista. Vista is arguably more secure, but some of the security features, such as UAC, can be so irritation that companies end up disabling them. XP isn't perfect, but it still works acceptably for most users, so many companies are hesitant to purchase an upgrade.
9.Limited payoff in productivity. Most people don't mind going through a learning curve if there's a significant payoff. Vista has some nice features; however, in my organization, we haven't experienced a big productivity payoff after getting up to speed with it. In contrast, there's a significant learning curve with Microsoft Office 2007 because of the changes to the UI. But after getting up to speed with office 2007, I can honestly say that I create documents faster and more easily than before. I haven't experienced any similar benefit with Vista. At the end of the day, upgrading has to make business sense.
10.Windows 7 isn't far away! In may opinion, Microsoft realized it missed the mark with Vista and is now scrambling to get the next release of Windows out. I think many companies are waiting to see the new features in Windows 7,currently scheduled to release in 2010, and might just skip Vista altogether. Vista is looking more and more to me like Windows Me all over again.

Deploy Windows Vista

A lot of us are skeptical about Vista and not to consider it rather we want the hassle-free XP in our OS. So here it is, I've found an article from a magazine that might pave way some Vista doubts perhaps an eye opener to what Vista could do in whatever business you're into. This is a two-part article. The battle between Vista and XP.

10 Reason to Deploy Windows Vista
by Mark Minasi, Windows IT Pro Magazine

At the tender age of a year and a half, Windows Vista remains the Rodney Dangerfield of Microsoft OSs – it don't get no respect. And that's a shame. Its biggest competitor ( no, not Leopard _ Windows XP SP3) is darned good, but a close look will show that Vista is better in many ways. If you're staying with XP because you're satisfied with it , then great , but don't avoid Vista just because your plumber's cousin's stockbroker heard that it was bad. Here are 10 reasons you should consider making the switch.
1. You won't need as many images. If, like most of us, you deploy your desktops with an image-based system such as Symantec Ghost or Microsoft's free ImageX tool, then you know that XP images tend to be hardware-specific: Create “the sales laptop image” on a Toshiba laptop, for instance, and it often won't work well on an HP or Dell laptop. Vista is much more accommodating; you often need only two images for your entire organization : a 32-bit image and a 64-bit image.
2. Finally, a desktop search that works! For nearly 10 years, Windows and Office have included tools that index the files on your computer to make searching for those files possible. Unfortunately, those tools have had a tendency to be clumsy and slow. In contrast, Vista's search index works unobtrusively and makes for lightning-fast searches.
3. A more complete backup tool. Ever tried to rebuild an XP box from scratch, using only a set of files created by XP's built-in backup routines? Ugh. Vista changes all that with its Windows Complete PC Backup and Restore, an image-based backup system that backs up your whole computer to one big file. My experience show that this system works quickly and allows bare-metal restores to quite dissimilar hardware – just make sure that the target hard disk is the same size or larger than the original.
4. Start great conversations. Next time you're out with your techie friends, tell'em that you're switching to Vista – there will be plenty to talk about after that! Seriously, if you are moving to Vista and people ask you why on Earth you'd do that, remind them that just about every Vista complaint – it's slower than the previous version, there aren't any drivers, it's not backward compatible – is a complaint that people leveled at XP when it was new. Look, XP's a great OS, and if you're happy with it, then by all means stay with it – but don't bypass Vista because of second-hand FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, & Doubt).
5. Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption protects your mobile data. Laptops are great for busy travelers... until they're accidentally left in a bar, on a plane , or in a cab, as reportedly happened to hundreds of thousands of systems last year in the United States. In contrast, absentminded folks who exploit BitLocker's encryption system might still lose their laptops, but no one will get their data. BitLocker is available on Vista Ultimate and Enterprise (although, incomprehensibly, not on Vista Business):
6. Get more out of Group Policy. Vista includes about 700 new Group Policy settings that let you control fleets of computers from one central location. Some new options include controlling power management settings, allowing nonadministrative users to lad approved drivers, and restriction which devices users can install on a Vista box.
7. Get a tougher Windows. Service programs wield great power in Windows, making them irresistible targets for malware writers: seize a Windows service, and you've often seized Windows itself. Vista uses a more secure way of building Windows services so that they have less potential to do damage and are isolated in their own little private universes, which makes a compromised service a much less juicy prize.
8. Confuse the bad guys with ASLR. Another Windows toughener is Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR), a feature that rearranges the relative location of Vista's different components in memory. Past creators of Windows worms such as Code Red, Nimda, SQL Slammer, and Blaster relied on the fact that every copy of XP load each of its components in the same location from computer to computer. Shuffling the deck with ASLR makes it much harder for the bad guys to write a worm that targets every copy of Vista.
9. Centralize events with Event Viewer. XP's event logs are useful for keeping track of your computers, but every computer maintains its own logs. Managing dozens of desktops means either wearing out a lot of shoe leather or buying a third-party event log aggregator tool. Vista's Event Viewer , in contrast, lets you centralize any of group of system's events to a single system.
10. And lots more! Resize existing disk partition with Vista's Disk Manager. Put eight gigs of RAM on your system and see and use! - all of it. Easily tell Vista to send you an email message if a particular event occurs . Eliminate LAN Manager hashes, that persistent 1980s security
hole, once and Intel Turbo Memory for a system that comes out of hibernation in just 12 seconds. Give Vista a close look, and you'll find lots of things to like!