Microsoft To Dump 32-Bit After Vista

[P_T]

A bit like how Win95 was the transition OS between 16 to 32 bit I guess. That one took 3 years till win98, I wonder how long it'll take this time.

[mech7]

Finally about time.. when it's all 64 bit i don't have to worry about driver support anymore. Still have to use hacked drivers on my wireless usb :(

[Xtrude]

In some areas, from what I have read, many benchmarks don't really support the idea of dumping 32 bit tech for most consumers... I think that there will be the same markets as current for a bit of time yet :)

[vrempire]

I hope that when the time come, there is no issue on price and all the 64-bit stuff will become cheaper. I think that there will be no issue on price, but more on the developers.

[unseenthings]

I'm pretty annoyed because originally they were supposed to dump 32-bit *with* Vista, not after it. But they (supposedly) caved near the end and decided to make a 32 bit version anyway... which stinks because there's still a tremendous lack of 64 bit drivers for all kinds of stuff, like the POD XT Live I have, that I have to use on my 5 year old computer. :/

[benwatt]

Well you may continue to be annoyed, because Microsoft has only announced there won't be a 32-bit Server version of Windows again, no decision has been made yet about the Windows Client, so there could still be a 32-bit sequel to Vista: http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/windowsvista/archive/2007/05/18/on-64-bit-and-windows-client.aspx

[sacslacker]

Funny, I'm about to dump Microsoft after Vista!

[BillSpradlin]

In 5 years Vista will be a solid OS. Until then, I'm sticking with my solid version of XP at home.

[fuss]

Funny, I'm about to dump Microsoft after Vista!

Hahahaha, that's EXACTLY the line I was thinking of posting after having read the headline. I wonder how many other people had the same idea ;). I guess I just didn't post anything to keep my postcount from skyrocketing and I also did not want all the geeks here to see that I'm in front of my computer on a Saturday nigh... Oh, crap!!

[Chris Bacon]

Im using vista and I havnt had any probs with it....I admit it can be a real memnory hog but thats becouse how its set by default, after a few graphic tweeks ist not a bad os..

[Neil]

In 5 years Vista will be a solid OS. Until then, I'm sticking with my solid version of XP at home.

Unless they stop pushing updates/service packs like they did with 2k to get you to xp.

[d4o2]

not some grwat news :(

[JamesMK]

This can only mean one thing - the 128-bit systems are just around the corner!



.

[Boone]

Hehe, I dunno - I might skip Vista and try something else for a change.:)

[Szos]

Dropping 32-bits is definitely a positive...and honestly, by the time that Vista's sucessor is released, there won't be any 32-bit chips left. So really it's kind of a non-issue.

[salmonmoose]

In 5 years Vista will be a solid OS. Until then, I'm sticking with my solid version of XP at home.

Vista is a solid now.

[beaker]

Vista is a solid now.Ill wait for SP2 :)

[Tlock]

Ok, i will spell this out for ppl who seem to be missing the boat on the Vista thing. Let me start by saying i have bought a Mac Book Pro very recently and i love OS X as a user and developer. That being said let me get to my Vista arguements.

Vista is actually a VERY solid OS and i dare to say the best and most solid Client OS Microsoft released on release date. You may say i am crazy or an idiot (both are fine) but let me state these reasons why.

-Vista is based on Windows 2003 Server which has been running businesses for about 4 years now and not XP. XP 64bit is not even based on XP 32bit, it is based on Windows 2003 Server 64bit. So Vista 32bit is more like XP 64bit than XP 32bit is.
-Vista took all the security enhancements of XP (such as firewall) and made them better and more secure. So Vista today has better Firewall security than XP does. That being said how much do i trust Vista or XP firewall, not much but this is OS to OS comparison not if Vista has the best security software.
-Lastly Vista's biggest hurdle is not Vista itself as much as it is the Hardware developers creating drivers, look at nVidea which really shouldn't have released all those video cards until the drivers were solid. As a result, computer suppliers creating builds with nVidea card hit a brickwall. (IMHO)

So let me finish this by saying that Vista is not what we hoped it to be or even what it could have been (end of 32bit and EFI support please), but it is a very solid piece of software that should have only been released once all the Hardware manufactors were upto speed, which would have also given them a chance to add the finishing touches to the OS. I have been using Vista for dev work as well as day to day and i must say it is very solid and has never crashed on me as of yet (it's Microsoft it will eventually).

What i would love to see in SP1 is Reduce Memory Usage and Faster Performance which are also a big bone of contention with users, but that being said we all had to go from Win2k 128 MB of RAM to WinXP 512 MB and now with WinVista it's 2 GB, seems like a pattern to me.

[DrBalthar]

I don't get the fuzz, the only real commercial desktop alternative so far is not even full 64bit yet (MacOS)

[Szos]

TLOCK, go tell that to the people that are still having driver issues on everyday components, as well as video issues with DX10.
I have absolutely no reason to upgrade to Vista when XP is working perfectly fine the way it is now. Maybe if MS hadn't taken out some of the cool technology that was supposed to be in Vista, more people would be upgrading. I'll do it only when I absolutely am 'forced' to.

[beaker]

Vista is actually a VERY solid OS and i dare to say the best and most solid Client OS Microsoft released on release date. You may say i am crazy or an idiot (both are fine) but let me state these reasons why.One of my friends bought a brand new HP laptop with vista and it contantly crashed. He moved it to XP and it worked fine.

[PyroNeko]

I'll do it only when I absolutely am 'forced' to.
same here, there really isnt any point to upgrading at this time.

[Tlock]

Let me just clarify something, i am in no way suggesting you have to upgrade your system if it meets all of your requirements, that wasn't my intension. What i am say is that when Vista is on a system where all the drivers are stable and functional you will see that Vista is actually a very good OS, let's not forget the past when MS introduced 95/98/Me and XP they all had driver problems some worse than others.

In regards to the HP system, i am not surprised by that (not a HP fan here) at all. My question would be, why would HP release this system if they hadn't tested it for basic driver functionality? I bet you that at least 1 or 2 of the drivers were in either beta or for XP ensuring that Vista would crash.

Now i may offend some ppl here who are fans of XP you may want skip this part.

I believe in actions not words especially from MS.

-If XP was such a good OS why did they drop SP1 support almost immediately after SP2 came out, when they will still support Win2k?
-XP was sold to us a great gaming system (which it is) but they were comparing it to Win2k. Now if this was so true wouldn't they want to use XP as the core for the XBox 360. Well actually no they went with Win2k for the that, why?
-XP core is has been completely abandoned by MS and replaced by Windows 2003 Server for Vista, XP 64bit and Windows 2008?

Whenever MS comes out with a product i always look to see what they use in house and most of the time i am shocked cause the marketing doesn't match the action. I would love to find out the decisions behind these actions.

[sacslacker]

There are plenty of reasons not to use Vista. Fortunately they have been listed many, many places so I won't do that again. I dig XP and up until Vista, liked the way MS was moving it's OS. Vista is way off the mark for me. I mean, even that prompting you every five minutes thing is just plain stupid. Let's hope the next version of their OS isn't the major suck.

[beaker]

Let's hope the next version of their OS isn't the major suck.You don't have to wait for the next version,just wait till the 2nd service pack is when things tend to get fixed and everyone has their drivers stabilized.

[sacslacker]

For sure. I'd like to utilize DX10 for Conan but not at the price of my sanity. My workstation uses a Quadro 4500 at home so I probably wont be upgrading it for DX10 but my gamer station maybe.

I just hope to have a great 64 bit windows OS that is created with the user in mind. Right now it feels like MS is playing up to big corporations to score points for HD DVD and other DRM related stuff. =(

I'm a long time Windows user so it doesn't thrill me considering another desktop OS.

[salmonmoose]

There are plenty of reasons not to use Vista. Fortunately they have been listed many, many places so I won't do that again. I dig XP and up until Vista, liked the way MS was moving it's OS. Vista is way off the mark for me. I mean, even that prompting you every five minutes thing is just plain stupid. Let's hope the next version of their OS isn't the major suck.

Yeah, the whole UAC thing is mostly people who have learned bad habits in Windows 95 and then carried them through on XP (using an Administrator account). Once you get used to working in User Space, rather than system space, the UAC ceases to be a nuisance. (There are a few programs that don't work in user space that will keep bugging you - but most of these are getting sorted out).

My biggest gripe with the UAC is that you can't escalate an instance of Explorer - but I use Directory Opus on all my machines, and that allows per-instance escalation.

Now I only get bugged by the UAC when I install new software, or I work in a directory I don't own. Which is really how it should be.

Microsoft faced a huge challenge getting so much poorly written code to work under Vista and still keep the OS secure and they've done an admirable job. If you don't think it's the software's fault, go try using XP without Admin access and see how many programs just break :)

[Neil]

You don't have to wait for the next version,just wait till the 2nd service pack is when things tend to get fixed and everyone has their drivers stabilized.

i agree, xp got significantly better after sp2.

[inguatu]

One of my friends bought a brand new HP laptop with vista and it contantly crashed. He moved it to XP and it worked fine.

Well it's been in the news for months now that companies like Dell and HP released "Vista-ready" machines knowing they had issues, but chose to ignore them for the simple fact they wanted to be the first kids on the block to offer Vista laptops/workstations.

[inguatu]

Let me just clarify something, i am in no way suggesting you have to upgrade your system if it meets all of your requirements, that wasn't my intension. What i am say is that when Vista is on a system where all the drivers are stable and functional you will see that Vista is actually a very good OS, let's not forget the past when MS introduced 95/98/Me and XP they all had driver problems some worse than others.

.

OSX "kitty-themed" releases too had some driver issues, mainly at the beginning. It's just natural aches and growing pains associated with a complex peice of software like an OS.

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