Re: Windows XP - What you'll miss about Vista
Dzomlija wrote:
> -This post is an extract from article
> "-'-http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/xpsp3_02.asp-'
> (http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/xpsp3_02.asp)-" appearing on Paul
> Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows.-
>
> _______________________________
> Paul Thurrott's article basically covers the comparison between XP and
> Vista quite nicely, and hopefully will give people a better
> understanding of why Vista is better than XP - even if XP SP3 is
> installed.
> _______________________________
>
> Aside from obvious look and feel issues, the most striking thing about
> downgrading from Windows Vista to XP is the sheer number of things that
> need to be installed and configured in order to bring the older OS up to
> speed with its more recent stablemate. Just some of these issues
> include:
>
> *Hardware drivers.*
> On three different systems, one a desktop and two portable devices, XP
> required me to install a huge number of hardware drivers, most of which
> had to be manually downloaded on other PCs because the XP-based PC
> initially lacked networking facilities.
>
> *Out of date software applications.*
> Even with the very latest version of XP, there are an alarming number
> of out of date applications that must be removed and/or updated. I
> removed MSN Explorer, Outlook Express, and Windows Messenger using Add
> or Remove Programs. Then I manually updated Internet Explorer 6 to 7 and
> Windows Media Player 9 to 11 by downloading the latest versions from
> Windows Update and the Microsoft Download Center.
>
> *Missing applications. *
> Windows XP does not include certain applications, like the
> aforementioned IE 7 and WMP 11. But it's more than that. You have to
> manually find, download, and install Windows Defender (or the
> anti-spyware application of your choice), an application that (like IE 7
> and WMP 11) is included in Vista by default. And like Vista, XP doesn't
> ship with any form of anti-virus. So you'll have to find some kind of AV
> solution on your own as well.
>
> *Microsoft Update. *
> Windows XP ships with a lousy Web-based version of Windows Update,
> which will not automatically provide updates for non-Windows products.
> To gain this functionality, you have to manually install Microsoft
> Update, a multi-step and time-consuming process. Once Microsoft Update
> is installed, you can't get it to appear in the Start Menu's Most
> Recently Used (MRU) list, no matter how frequently you use it. But the
> old Windows Update appears in the Start Menu MRU, even when it's been
> replaced.
>
> *Start Menu. *
> XP's Start Menu, which relies on pop-out menus that never remember how
> to stay sorted alphabetically, is demonstrably less useable than
> Vista's. As you install more and more applications, the Start Menu grows
> and grows, necessitating manual pruning and organization, a process that
> isn't required on Vista. And don't get me started on the lack of Start
> Menu Search.
>
> *Hidden applications.*
> Tied to the lack of Start Menu Search, you simply have to know that
> certain utilities exist in order to access them. Device Manager is a
> typical example. To find it in XP, open the Start Menu, right-click My
> Computer, choose Properties, and then go to Hardware tab. Obviously.
>
> *Desktop.*
> Unlike with Vista, XP's desktop icons are too small ... or way too big,
> assuming you can find the place in the UI where you can change their
> size. Vista's more configurable desktop is easier on the eyes,
> especially with the high-resolution screens of today.
>
> *ClearType.*
> Microsoft's ClearType sub-pixel rendering system is not enabled by
> default on Windows XP and must be manually enabled.
>
> *Windows Search.*
> Windows XP's unbelievably annoying Search Companion, which for some
> bizarre reason utilizes a cartoon dog, isn't just condecscending to
> users, it's also lousy at what it does. To fix this and provide XP with
> something approaching the power of Vista's Instant Search functionality,
> you need to know about, find, and then manually download Windows Desktop
> Search.
>
> *Networking. *
> XP's networking functionality is laughably bad compared to Vista's,
> which features simple, plain English auto-configuration capabilities
> that utilize location concepts like Home, Work, and Public Location. In
> XP, you have to enter the WPA network key TWICE to initially configure
> wireless networking. There are repeated "Now connected" pop-up balloons:
> Yeah, we get it, you're connected. And then there are those annoying
> disconnected network adapter icons in the tray. You can't make them go
> away unless you disable the connection(s) or connect them to something.
>
> *Power management. *
> You have to enable the power management tray icon in Power Options on
> portable machines. You also have to manually enable Hibernation,
> regardless of the PC type. And then you have to hope that it works,
> since power management is so much more dicey in XP than it is in Vista.
> Good luck!
>
> *Backup. *
> XP's backup utility dates back to the earliest days of NT and it shows.
> Not surprisingly, Vista features a completely rewritten backup utility
> that really works, and provides both image-based full PC backup and file
> backup functionality. Oh, and Previous Versions, which lets you get at
> older versions of documents and other data files. XP has none of that.
>
> *Taskbar. *
> Seriously, make the Language toolbar go away. Why does it appear? Why
> does it appear after I close it?
>
> *User interface. *
> I'm not going to harp on XP's out of date user interface too much. But
> I will point out that there is a decent XP UI available called Royale
> that debuted in XP Media Center Edition 2005. It doesn't come with XP
> Home or Pro by default, but you can download it from the Web. Why it's
> not just included in XP is beyond me, but anyone stuck using XP should
> search for it, download it, and install it.
>
> What makes this list even more daunting is that Windows XP, unlike
> Vista, does not include any automatic degunking technology. Over time,
> Windows XP simply gets slower and slower, and eventually you have to
> reinstall from scratch to recover lost performance. That's not the case
> with Windows Vista.
>
> *::Other features I missed from Windows Vista::*
> Windows Vista's detractors like to spread the myth that Microsoft's
> latest desktop OS doesn't offer enough unique new functionality when
> compared to its predecessor, Windows XP. That's not true at all. In
> addition to not suffering from most of the many issues listed above,
> I've found my time using XP to be quite painful at times because I
> missed, among other things, the following Vista features:
>
> *Windows Aero. *
> Dismissed as eye candy, Vista's Aero user interface is nicer looking
> than anything found on XP. It's also more functional: Aero's glass
> effects and taskbar icon previews make it easier to find other windows
> when you're multi-tasking. Subtle animations tell you where to look for
> minimized windows. And live icons give you previews of document
> contents. (One Aero feature I don't care for or use, however, is Flip
> 3D). Possible solution: Download Royale at the very least or put up with
> a potentially buggy UI replacement like WindowBlinds.
>
> *Start Menu Search. *
> It doesn't get a lot of press, but this just may be one of Vista's best
> and most important features. In my case, it affects my daily workflow in
> ways that weren't appreciated until I downgraded to XP and immediately
> missed its presense. Possible solution: Download a third party launcher
> like Launchy or Enso Launcher
>
> *Windows Sidebar. *
> I actually use Windows Sidebar regularly though I wish there were more
> quality gadgets available. After initially promising to port Sidebar to
> XP, Microsoft eventually gave up on the project. Possible solution:
> Download a third party sidebar replacement like Google Desktop or Yahoo!
> Widgets.
>
> *Breadcrumb bar. *
> The new breadcrumb bar in Windows Vista's Explorer windows is a huge
> improvement over the ancient address bars in XP and older Windows
> versions. The big advance, however, isn't the simplification of the
> location display, it's the ability to quickly jump around in the folder
> hierarchy using the breadcrumb bar's node-based navigation scheme. As
> with Start Menu Search, this is a feature you don't realize you use so
> often until it's gone.
>
> *Disk Defrag. *
> Windows XP does include a disk defragmentation utility, but it doesn't
> run automatically in the background so you have to remember to run it
> regularly.
>
> *ReadyBoost. *
> A lot is made about how much better Windows XP runs on older hardware
> than does Vista, but then why wouldn't it? A more important potential
> market for Vista is those PCs that are less than two years old and on
> the edge of meeting realistic Vista hardware requirements. For these
> systems--with 1 to 2 GB of RAM and a pre-Core 2 Duo processor--Microsoft
> has provided a truly useful performance feature called ReadyBoost that
> makes all the difference in the world. Plug in a 512 MB to 2 GB USB
> memory fob and suddenly that dog of a PC will run Vista just fine, thank
> you very much.
>
> I know, I know. You're looking at this list and you're thinking big
> deal. Remember, however, that this isn't a list of unique Vista
> features--a list that would include such technologies as BitLocker,
> Media Center, and Windows Calendar, among many others. This is a list of
> things that impact me, as an individual, on a regular basis. A list that
> should be combined with the list of issues from the previous section to
> provide a wider overall picture of the real world day to day differences
> between using each system. In this light, the advantages of Windows
> Vista are very real. Very real indeed.
>
>
Not very convincing, sorry. Who needs IE7 and Windows DRM Media 11? And
Defenseless? You *must* be kidding! At least the writer didn't complain
that UAC isn't included with XP. I wonder why ...
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