NOOOOO
NO VISTA
IMHO Vista sucks
I found this online:
The Pros & Cons of Vista coming straight from a long-time user, beta tester, computer hardware/software technician, and working on my bachelors degree in Computer Sciences
Pros:
1.] Looks nice. (see Cons #7 below)
2.] More secure by default than Windows XP. (see Cons #15 below)
3.] ...other than that, none whatsoever.
Cons:
1.] Vista has poor driver compatibility because M$ has forced their driver signing on hardware/software manufacturers. Unsigned drivers that work fine in XP will not even install in Vista. It's not because they don't work or are incompatible, it is because M$ now controls what hardware and software you can install/use on Vista...hence the "Designed for Vista" marketing scheme. The hardware wasn't "Designed for Vista" at all, it's just that the manufacturer paid the extra cash to gain Microsoft's acceptance and M$ has denied driver signing for anything else. Nearly all hardware, software, and drivers that work in XP would work just fine in Vista if we could bypass the driver signing check...but since hardware/software manufacturers don't want to shell out the millions of $$$ it would take to gain "Designed For Vista" status for all of the older hardware out there, we all suffer for it.
2.] Vista has poor game compatibility and performance (see above and below). Because of Vista's buggy drivers, poor compatibility, and because the Vista operating system itself uses 3x more system resources than XP, 95% of all games and benchmarks show that XP outscores Vista in performance (both gaming & applications) by as much as 20% in some cases.
3.] Microsoft has forced the new DirectX 10 on hardware & software manufacturers causing even more instability and compatibility issues. If you want to play any game requiring DX10, you will have to switch to Vista and buy a new graphics card that supports DX10 (such as the GeForce 8-series cards which costs even more $$$).
4.] M$ has refused to release any sort of DX10 support for Windows XP. In other words, DX10 games will not run on Windows XP at all. In 3-5 years time, M$ will have a stranglehold on gamers, dictating what operating system they can & can not run as more and more games are released using DX10.
5.] M$ has announced that Windows Vista will be the last 32-bit operating system they will ever release. This means that EVERYONE will have to buy new computers if their current processors do not support 64-bit.
6.] For those wishing to run dual-boot Vista & XP, Vista's boot loader is full of bugs and 7 times out of 10 will corrupt the XP installation.
7.] Most want to switch because Vista looks nice. I can install a free program in XP that will cause XP to look identical to Vista and will have all of the same features without the problems & headaches.
8.] UAC causes a popup for nearly every action the user makes. If I CTRL+ALT+DEL I get a warning popup. If I run nearly any program I get a warning popup. If I make changes in the Control Panel I get a warning popup. That's worse than adware! Apparently, M$ thinks we're all idiots.
9.] M$ has locked software and hardware manufacturers out of the OS' kernel making it 30x harder to write software & drivers that will function as intended. Some antivirus & firewalls such as ZoneAlarm, the undisputed king of software firewalls, is still in early beta because they tie themselves into the OS' kernel for added system protection. Since M$ has locked the kernel, they are having to use workarounds that has greatly lowered their level of protection and has slowed their release dates...but at the same time, M$ released updated versions of their own firewall, antivirus, and anti-spyware programs, all of which are still vastly inferior to most 3rd party software. Coincidence? Doubt it.
10.] Vista uses almost exactly three times more system resources than Windows XP (needs 3x more RAM, uses 2x more processor cycles just for the OS, requires 2x more HDD space just for the OS, and at least a newer 64MB video card for some features). Most will need to upgrade or buy new computers to run Vista efficiently...especially if they plan on doing any gaming.
11.] Windows XP compatibility mode doesn't function correctly because M$ hasn't aliased the 'Documents and Settings' folder for reverse compatibility. M$ has announced that they currently have no plans to fix this issue...not even in Vista SP1 due out near the end of this year.
12.] Users are locked out of 80% of the files & folders on their machine even when logged in under an administrator account. The only way to access these files/folders is to take ownership of them by modifying the file/folder permissions. This can prove to be too advanced and/or time consuming for average users.
13.] After activating Vista 3 times (including the initial install), every installation thereafter requires a phone call to Microsoft to reactivate the OS. This is a major headache for professional PC technicians such as myself. If I upgrade a return customer's computer 3 times, I have to sit on the phone with M$ for 30 minutes each time afterwards if I make any hardware changes.
14.] All Vista installations are tied directly to hardware ID #s. This means that every time you upgrade your hardware you will have to reactivate Vista. After the 3rd activation you must call M$ every time to reactivate. So apparently, M$ thinks that we are all thieves too.
15.] By using Mozilla Firefox, Avast AntiVirus, and ZoneAlarm Firewall in XP I have 2x more security than Vista without all of the headaches...and all 3 are free! Using the above, I am 3 years spyware & virus free and counting on Windows XP.
16.] Currently, Microsoft has no plans whatsoever of fixing ANY of these problems in the future...neither in automatic updates or in Vista Service Pack 1 which is due out near the end of this year. Instead, SP1 will focus on adding more security. It's all of these so-called 'security' features that is choking us to death now!
...I could list about 12 more cons but I'm sure you get the point by now. Until M$ fixes these issues, I would stay with XP if you plan on doing anything more than surfing the web or checking your email.