I can’t believe people are so stupid these days, especially the ones who think they are technology experts. They say Vista sucks and so on. What a bunch of whining crybabies. These people need to get a grip on reality and learn something about computers. I will go through a few of the things they complain about and explain. Obviously, these people will simply not understand because they are just ignorant and greedy but I will do it anyway.  
 
Vista is Slow – Yes, Vista is slow on a Pentium 4 with 512 MB RAM. Vista was designed to run on new and future hardware. Listen up! If you want to play with computers people, keep with the times. Common sense should tell you not to try and run a 2007 operating system on 1998 hardware. The computer industry moves forward, not backwards. So either trash your old hardware and get new stuff or keep running Windows XP and keep your mouths shut about the software that runs fine on my quad core machine.  
 
Vista not Compatible – Again you are right! The computer industry is not only about new technologies, it is about making money. Just like I said above, the industry is moving forward at a fast rate. Do you think that all these companies that produced your printers, scanners, TV cards, game adapters and so on, are trying there best to keep your 5 year old equipment and software up to date. Keep wishing. I can just see the guys that make QuickBooks racking their brains to try and figure out how to get QuickBooks 2001 to run on Vista. They would really hate it if you had to spend another $200 to buy another upgrade.  Grow up people. Now after all that, Shut the hell up about Vista and go tell HP, Dell, Kodak, Philips Logitech and so on that they all suck for not writing new drivers for Vista.  
 
Vista has bugs – Well what did you expect when you try to please everybody? You want your OS to run all your old programs and all your new programs and all future programs and to work with every piece of hardware ever made. Did you ever stop to think that trying to combine all these different technologies might cause some problems? Like all other operating systems before it, Vista tries to be compatible with all this stuff, but in the end there are going to be problems.  
 
Nothing New in Vista – Maybe Microsoft is tired of getting sued by third party developers for including stuff into their operating system. Just what exactly is this new stuff you want? Do you want a Star Trek computer? Little steps people, little steps. I have been using computers for 27 years and all the operating systems did pretty much the same stuff.  
 
No, Vista is not perfect, but it is just another step in the operating system world. I have used DOS, Geos, Win 3.1, Win 95, Win 98, Win ME, Win XP, Linux and Vista over the years and they all have the exact same problems as Vista when they came out. So what’s all the complaining about? This is how it works, like it or not. If you think Vista sucks, then write your own operating system.  

There are people that just like complaining.
 
I also started with DOS 2 (I believe... too far) and I have Vista 64, 4GB of RAM and E6600. It working great. Not perfect because some company are not moving there applications to Vista and 64bits fast enought.
 
I reminder when I reinstalled Win 3.1 in a newer machine like pentium and damn, that was fast! OS are written for future machine that why it not that fast. XP is working great today because of that. Wait next year for Vista.

I don't like complaining, but my entire platform is "vista certified" and all I get are progams that stop running, and bluescreen crashes.
 
What do you propose for those people?

 
Hard to say. But you may have some problem other than Vista. Then again it could be some app or hardware incompatibility with Vista. Without more info it is impossible to say.
 
Is this homebuilt or brand? OC or stock? How new? Problems all along or did they spring up after running OK for a time?

To the OP: well said. I run Vista 64 with 6 gig ram, an e6600@ 3.5, and an 8800 gts. Smooth as silk. Glad to have Vista as a refreshing change from XP, though I still love XP too and run it on my lesser machines. Lot of FUD flying about Vista and very little substance to back up the complaints. The complaints are always so vague.

I thought your post was perfectly presented.  I could have not witten any differently expressing my disgust with people blaming Vista for their PC issues.  I used the same PC with XP for five years (purchased - 04.14.02) until recently upgrading - 09.19.07.  I did not have any problems with my old system.  NONE.  And now with my new system there are no problems either.  ZERO.  Windows Vista on my new rig is running better than perfect, if there is such a thing.  It's a kick ass OS!  I have written here recently to blame the hardware, not Vista.  I knew it was a matter of time before I saw another post the the one I wrote.  Nice work hrm2001.  All the complaining makes me sick too.  To all the Vista haters, I say, "shut it!"  Go back to XP and shut it!  You do not deserve to run Vista.

Don't you agree that the people who have bought Vista are always the ones that shout out loud that there is nothing wrong with Vista? Why? They payed big bucks for it. Or did they buy that new pc that got Vista allready on it instead of the  Pentium 4 with 512 MB RAM you are using as an example. Well, too bad to tell you this but I know different people who don't know how to build themselves a pc and they've bought an allready build pc at some stores and guess what? They had drivers issues and programs that would not run. When XP was first released this issue was way less worse than it is now. So why do you think people are complaining? Cause you spend lots of cash on Vista running superbly for you? Don't make me laugh. I just explained you why your post is total noncence. People don't lie about their issues...you just might have been among the few lucky guys that hasn't got issues YET. It's not that hard to understand. Hope this will help you to understand the whining of people. Wake up...it's reality.

 
Thank you for that well sourced and articulate analysis.

 
 
 
Sypher, speaking as one who went through Pre Service Pack 1 XP, as well as Vista, I have a few issues with your suppositions:
 
 
(1) Relative to the rest of your computer, the Operating System is hardly "Big Bucks" - OEM Vista Ultimate is $170, XP Pro has dropped $40 from the same pricing down to $130.   Retail Vista? $320.   Retail XP??  $280.    Incidentally, the current Vista prices are what XP used to go for before Vista was released, and I'm sure that $40 isn't going to break the budget of anyone who'd building their own computer.
 
(2) It is absolutely true that People Do NOT do their Research when changing Operating Systems.  They (seemignly) treat it like simply installing the cool app of the day. They expect all of the old crap they've had working for years to 'Just Work'.  Anyone who's been building comps for a while knows very well that reality simply does not work like that.   Microsoft *SAID* that a lot of people's old stuff won't work.
 
 - - (2a) Drivers and Applications - Microsoft made a big change in the OS from XP:   Drivers and applications/non-OS services can no longer communicate directly to the kernel and to the hardware.  This was done because hackers were using this to write malware.   Users, IT professionals, and the press have been screaming about Malware in Windows for years.  So guess what!?!?   Microsoft shut the door.     OOPS!?!?!  Now we all get a first hand view of the great "service" provided by the Lazy Programmers who couldn't be bothered to code their Drivers and Apps properly.   How do we know who they are?? Their stuff doesnt' work any more.  Why??   Microsoft closed their shortcuts by forcing the use of the OS.  Again - Microsoft said in advance that many older apps won't work any more.  
 
 
(3)  Why do I think people are complaining??      
 
 - - (3a)  They took an Operating System change far too lightly. They didn't do their research as to what does and does not work, and are now forced to troubleshoot it item by item.  
 
 - - (3b)  Vista works differently from XP:  They layout is a little different, some of the commands have changed, and people are lazy and don't want to be bothered learning new stuff.  And yes, User Access Control is freaking annoying.  But such is the price of security - *We* are the people running the apps that install the Malware.   So the reward for that is "Are You Sure" screens.   I figure somewhere around Vista SP3, if we install something we shouldn't have we'll get follow up messages saying "I Told You So, Dumba$$", the information as to who and what will be forwarded to Microsoft, who will have their own version of "MySpace" showing the names, dates, times, places, and type of malware that got into the system because people....     Nevermind - It'd end up being half the freaking Internet...    
 
 
 - - (3c)  Remember my earlier point about Microsoft changing access to core services??   Programmers have to (re)learn how to write efficient drivers.  Slowdowns, errors, and (yes!) crashes are the rewards for failure.   Just look to the more recent gaming benchies showing the frame rate difference from XP to Vista has greatly closed.  Why??  ATI and nVidia figured out how to write efficient drivers.   In the meantime, people b*tch and blame the OS.
 
 - -  (3d)  It is FAR FAR FAR easier to b*tch and complain about the Error Of The Day than it is to figure out how to fix it.   Driver errors??  In XP people know what that looks like and how to fix it.  In Vista, people blame the OS and Walk away.  Apparently this is acceptable behavior.     Settings?  People know what they are in XP.  Vista's are different.   But do people get a book and learn them??    NO, they b*tch and complein that the OS doesn't do what they wanted because that's easier than learning how to make the appropriate change.    Etc etc etc...  Ad Nauseam...
 
 - - (3e)  Lying about issues??    You mean the people who make posts complaining about "Endless Problems", yet when you ask for specifics they go strangely silent????  Naaah...   Couldn't be.    
 - - - - (3e1)  And far be it for someone to blow a molehill into a mountain, or make something up just to start controversy.    That just doesnt' happen on the Internet.    
 
 
(4)  Pre Service Pack 1 XP....    Better and more stable than Vista!?!??!?!      Dude...  I lived through first release XP, and there is no comparison: Vista is/was FAR FAR FAR better than XP was at the same stage.  More secure, more device/driver support, and *Hugely* more stable.   No doubt in my mind.   Compare XP SP2/3 to Vista??  Different story because Microsoft have had a good chunk of a decade to work out the bugs. XP SP2/3 is faster and more trouble free than just released Vista.   But release to release??  No contest:  Vista at release blows XP at release out of the water.

I would expect from people that have been using computers for so long (if you can remember using  dos you re at least 30) and people who have such superior tecnical knowledge to act different than 12 year olds. Your "logic" is based on the asumption: I once fell from a 20 foot lader and landed without a scratch so if you fell from the same lader and got hurt, you re just a pussy. You ceep forgeting that people paid for an os that in many cases seems to have STABILITY isues! I couldnt disagree more with  people  critisizing vista speed. Just upgrade your hardware! Now in my personal experience, I ve allways upgaded my pc before installing a new os and  in the case of win95, win98 and winXP i didnt have a single issue. WinME on the other hand was a nightmare. Vista is not that bad, but it will not open Firefox, it sometime stalls and in general its not fan to operate. Ive been patient since April cause i realy like its potential as an os but am sorry to say that for me, for the past 9 months Vista is crap

What version of Firefox?  I ask because I run 32 bit FF on V64, and haven't had a problem...  Should probably take this to another thread, tho..

Did you tried to install SP1?

2.0.0.11 It started last month when I downloaded the previous update and the new one last week didnt fix it

Not yet. I read that it might create more issues so I ll wait till the weekend  comes so i can reinstall vista if it does not work

To SyPheR
 
"Don't you agree that the people who have bought Vista are always the ones that shout out loud that there is nothing wrong with Vista?"
 
So you are saying that all the complaining is coming from people who do not own Vista?  
 
"I know different people who don't know how to build themselves a pc and they've bought an allready build pc at some stores and guess what? They had drivers issues and programs that would not run."
 
Would you care to explain why it is Vista's fault that PC manufacturers mislead people by advertising PCs as Vista capable when they clearly are not? Microsoft is even guilty here for giving permission to do so. However, it has nothing to do with Vista's performance. It is the crappy PC and crap ware the manufacturer put on it.  
 
"When XP was first released this issue was way less worse than it is now."
 
I would have to disagree. I had many problems with XP when it came out. I actually removed it several times and put my old OS back on until I actually stuck with it for a while and fixed as many problems as I could and just got use to the rest. Today it would be a Joke to prefer Win 98 to XP.  
 
"People don't lie about their issues"
 
Where did I say anyone lied? I said I agreed they had real issues. Because they were using outdated hardware and software. Do people really want technological progress to just stop because they really like what they got now? What about the future. If I had felt this way when I was running windows 3.1 with a 486 computer at 33 MHz, 1 MB RAM and 128 MB hard drive, could you imagine me still using that system today? Well that's exactly what these people are asking for who want to save XP and have Microsoft support it indefinitely. These are the people who need a wake up call.

 
Exactly. This is how the machine is improved. New demanding software drives sales of better hardware. Better hardware is expensive at first and soon is as cheap as the old stuff was and we are all very glad to have better software and hardware and that's EXACTLY why we have XP today and not Dos 3.
 
You sticks in the mud can draw your line in the sand if you want. I'm movin on.