Making the Vista Switch

Running Vista full-time

from WinCustomize Forums

Over the past few months I have written about my experiences with Vista, and the problems associated with it.  I first installed it several months ago and promptly removed it due to incompatibilities with printers, my network, Photoshop, and a few other things.  I ended up dual-booting with XP, and had my second machine running XP also all working seamlessly with Multiplicity. 

Now since then I found myself booting into Vista more and more, mostly because of Vista related work.  I personally don't like dual-boot setups, and having XP on my second machine made dual-booting kind of useless, so I made the decision to put Vista back on my main machine full-time.  Before making the jump again I made an image of XP so I could restore it right back if needed, and also made backups of all my data.

So after a quick format and installation, I updated all my drivers, installed my applications, and restored my data.  To my surprise many of the problems I had before were solved.  Dell updated their printer drivers to support Vista, so the biggest problem of me using Vista previously is gone.  The biggest surprise of all was Photoshop CS2 worked, and worked very well.  I recently wrote about my troubles with Photoshop and was looking for recommendations for new graphics software, but for whatever reason, CS2 works fine now.

So it's been about two weeks of running Vista full-time, and I am happy to say I haven't had any major problems.  All my applications are working, and I have finished all my projects without any hassles.  I was very hesitant about this switch, but overall I'm happy with the way it has turned out.  I still have XP on my desktop for any XP related needs, but I'm looking forward to all the cool things upcoming for Vista.


5,404 views 4 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Made the switch full time last night as well.

Photoshop CS2 works (although the basic shell titlebar shows up, and ImageReady still needs the 'desktop composition' disabled for correct loading of pallets).

My biggest issue was with Illustrator CS2, which was a mess with the Aero interface, but the CS3 upgrade is reasonable and will be installed next week.

So all in all, the switch is a nice move towards the future. Not going back to XP anymore, just living with the changes.

My notebook is now running Vista also (after posting my final monthly desktop with WB running on XP), but has been delegated to basic office work to get around the lack of performance (a 3.4 experience index).

Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Thanks for the updates you guys...good to know CS2 works okay. I've held off installing it for now, since PSP X is working great, but I have a couple of PS-only plugins that I need to test on Vista, so will give it a go soon. I am having some issues with Winamp and with a beta game...both connectivity issues. I'm thinking BitDefender firewall isn't playing well with the other apps. This move to Vista has been a rollercoaster ride for me, some ups and some hair-pulling moments as well. I love the challenge of trying to work through the bumps and issues...just hope there aren't too many. I don't want to be bald.
Sins of a Solar Empire II
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I've been running Vista Ultimate (32 bit) on a dual boot machine since January and have found Vista to be a very stable OS that runs all my hardware & apps just great....the only exception being the record & EQ functions for my Audigy 4 sound card. However, the on-board card adequately compensates, meaning I don't need to boot into XP should I have anything to record, etc.

In fact, the only time I boot into XP these days is to get updates, install some skins & files I've imported from Vista, and to do a little housekeeping to keep it operational in the unlikely event Vista ever chucks a hissy fit.

Am I happy with Vista? My word I am...it's the best thing I've put on my machine since discovering Stardock apps.
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Well, I was running RC2 on my laptop since mid-december, so when Vista was finally released, it was the only OS i installed on the new computer I was building at the time.  I had no regrets running it, finding most of what I used was quite compatible.  Although I was stubborn and kept a dual-boot setup on the laptop, that reached an impasse in the last week, during which I formatted the laptop and installed my free update to Vista Home Premium.  That means that both my primary machines are running Vista full-time, with only my server running XP Pro.  Overall, this has proven to be a very good setup thus far!

I definitely recommend Vista to new computer users, and highly suggest upgrading for those using XP, but are wanting a better UI and a more pleasant computing experience.