There’s been a lot of Vista bashing going on in the blogosphere lately. Postings about the horrors of attempting to run Vista on a UMPC, postings about computer vendors now offering XP downgrades from Vista, even postings from Chippy at the UMPC Portal on how he’s removed Vista and installed the XP Tablet Edition on his Kohjinsha SH6.
Well, I’m going to have to post a respectful disagreement with all this Vista negativity. I like Vista on my SH6 UMPC. I haven’t had any serious problems with Vista, and I’ve really come to appreciate the new features that it offers over XP.
Features like ease of managing local networks, ease in adding printers, cleaner and more attractive end user interface, better Tablet features (like improved handwriting recognition), decent performance (if you have 2 GBs of memory!), and good stability (I’ve found it comparable or better than the Tablet OS).
Now there are a few glitches in Vista, like sometimes being very slow in coming out of Sleep mode, but really nothing that I feel detracts all that greatly from its positives.
What can I say but that I’m just happy with Vista on my UMPC. Am I really the only person who is?
I’ve commented fairly extensively on my mostly positive “mobile” Vista experience over at JK’s blog, but I’ll chime in here, too. I’m using it on a new Gateway retail laptop wth “average” specs — a 2.2 Ghz AMD single core CPU w/ 1GB RAM. Overall, I’ve had no real problems in terms of being able to use it for regular computing needs — which is good, because the manufacturer doesn’t offer Win XP (or Win XP drivers) for this model. So far, all of the applications I use are fully Vista-compatible and overall performance is good — unless I do some serious multi-tasking (see below). There are a few exceptions, of course.
Palm’s beta version of the desktop software for Vista would not run properly. I had an issue that apparently no one else has had up to now and I couldn’t figure out how to solve it. I think it was related to UAC, but who knows? I ended up uninstalling the beta version and re-installing the older version that shipped with my Palm TX. Everything works fine except for the Quick Install application. My workaround for that is to transfer applications I want to install to my TX either via wifi or USB. I haven’t checked back to see if the Vista beta version has been updated and as long as the older version continues to work for me there’s no reason to worry about it.
The other issue — and I’ll admit this is a potential show-stopper for some — is that none of my printers’ drivers are Vista-compatible (at least, not according to their web sites). I haven’t actually hooked up any printers, yet, to see if they’ll work on Vista with Win XP printer drivers. I haven’t really needed to print anything since I got the new laptop — I mostly send electronic documents. When I do need to print a document, I’ve got Network Magic set up to allow me to use another computer’s printer on our home network. I haven’t actually tried to see if that works, but it’s supposed to. I’m also seriously considering getting an Airport Extreme router. As a last resort, there’s always sneakernet.
Probably the most serious issue I’ve been having is an intermittent BSOD when I shut down the laptop (and, unfortunately, it has recently occurred a few times when going to, or awakening from, Sleep). I have no idea what might be causing it. There’s no solution available from Microsoft and the log files don’t offer any clues (not to me, anyway). Since it doesn’t occur consistently (other than it only happens at shut down), I haven’t been able to link it to any particular thing. I do now have to make sure I’ve saved any work I don’t want to lose before Sleeping, since it has started to happen then, too. So far, though, that’s the only time my laptop crashes. I realize that any regular (or semi-regular) OS crash should be unacceptable, but at least if it’s going to happen it happens when I am finished using my laptop and not when I’m in the middle of an important document.
Lastly, I also notice the performance hit from multi-tasking with only having 1GB of RAM. I had the same problem with Win XP on my desktop PC, too, so it’s not like this is a Vista problem. Installing another 1 GB of RAM is the top item on my To Do list.
Scott,
Just as an FYI: I’m running the Palm beta Vista desktop software on my SH6 without any problems. Also, I have never had a BSOD, but I’m knocking on wood as I’m saying this!
Michael
“Performance is good with 2gb of ram”
“slow to come out of sleep”
That’s what makes Vista such a pig for UMPCs. Ultra mobile computers rarely get 2 gb of Ram (my UMPC is a Fujitsu U8240 w/Tablet XP, so I have 1gb maximum), and, being Ultra-*Mobile*, tend to get slept a lot.
The people who chime in liking Vista all seem to have lots of ram and super hi-spec (for a UMPC) machines
XP is fast and stable now, and can do 99.9% of everything Vista can do. Vista’s only real advantage is better tablet-features support. If you can live without that then there doesn’t seem to be a reason not to use XP.
Kahm,
You forgot the word “sometimes” in front of “slow to come out of sleep”. It doesn’t always happen, in fact it’s fairly infrequent on my machine. So far it really hasn’t inconvenienced me a single time, and my UMPC is in and out of sleep many, many times a day.
Michael
[...] Link [...]
I have the Kohjinsha SH6, but I was wondering whether having 2G of RAM really makes a difference… the only problem I have with it so far is Skype with video, and I think that’s a CPU limitation…
In other words, is it worth it for me to go and spend 100$ for a 2G upgrade?
Concerning Vista, I definitely hate it because it was made for ease of use, with no thought going to efficiency or performance (especially efficiency is my primary gripe. For so many actions, it takes one or several more clicks into Vista than it did in XP, and MS knows what is good for you ™. What is bad for you – i.e. advanced functions – is hidden under loads of menus, and I whole heartedly despise that).
If I could easily put XP on my Kohjinsha, I would. Right now.
By the way, I hope everyone realizes that I’m not denying or minimizing other people’s problems with Vista. I have no doubt that some of you have found the entire Vista experience to be a complete nightmare. I’m just sharing my own particular experience with Vista on my 2GB Kohjinsha SH6 UMPC, which has been a surprisingly positive one. I’m truly sorry that this doesn’t appear to be a more common experience among all Vista users.
Michael
without going too deep into system specs, i have a dell inspiron 1520 dual core 2.2, with 2gb mem. and………….i am actually a vista supporter………..i do have some problems with vista but i have had some with xp also. vista is just really easy to use for beginners, and easy with the advanced features. however on my old desktop i have Ubuntu installed.
I hear ya. I haven’t even had a problem with Vista yet, except a few lockups.