Vista...Use At Your Own Risk
We recently added a new H-P desktop to our network, equipped with Vista Home Premium edition as the standard operating system. The PC was loaded with features including a 360GB hard drive, a fast front-side bus, 15 in 1 card reader, 6 USB 2.0 ports and IEEE 1394 Firewire, SPDIF output, 8 channel audio, NVIDIA chipset, SATA connectors, and more. We opted for the AM2 socket, and a fast AMD Athlon X2 dual core processor. One factor in buying the Vista machine was the pending release of Vista SP1.
Out of the box, this machine was easy to set up, and within 30 minutes had been added to our LAN. The Vista OS was somewhat different from the XP-based machines which we will continue to operate, and after personalizing the display and file system, it was easy to use. Due to our investment in software and peripherals, this desktop will be used only for communications, media, and local work until Vista drivers and upgrades are more available. We also allocated disk space for a dual-boot system, so that XP can be installed in a separate partition.
There have already been a number of issues with compatibility, but with XP machines nearby, we have avoided the pain which many users will experience through an OS upgrade such as this. Locating and adding new drivers is time consuming, so we acquired many of these prior to the machine's arrival, and placed them on a USB flash drive. Also, we anticipated problems with scanners, Bluetooth devices, webcams, et cetera, so having network devices or dedicated terminals for those applications has helped.
Within the past few days, I encountered a problem synchronizing my Palm smartphone with the Palm Desktop 6.2.2 software on Vista, and that bled over to the XP-based Palm 4.2 version. After a few hours of online research, I found no solutions, and resorted to checking the Palm file system. I discovered duplicate files and backup (bak) files in the Palm folders were causing the problems, and once removed, the system worked fine.
One of the actions we took early on was to order and install a new PCI express graphics card along with a higher wattage power supply. The HP unit worked fine, but the onboard graphics has some limitations (including a VGA output, rather than a DVI), and a new graphics card would require additional power anyway, so hence, the changeout.
The Vista Premium version includes the Media Center Edition, and may be enough justification for the upgrade if users do not have MCE on their XP machines. We installed a HDTV USB dongle to the unit, and within minutes were enjoying HDTV over the air with the included antenna. We also hooked it to the cable box, and recorded several programs with the DVR software. The MCE interface is excellent, and can be used as the default program for this device. The audio system and software is also highly rated and well matched. The voice recognition software is also easy to learn and use.
While there are several areas that are potentially frustrating during any OS upgrade, we have limited the problem areas through advance planning. We backup our system and network regularly, as anyone should do, in the event of a crash or failure. Thusfar, aside from a few BSODs with Vista, we have been satisfied with the results.
Out of the box, this machine was easy to set up, and within 30 minutes had been added to our LAN. The Vista OS was somewhat different from the XP-based machines which we will continue to operate, and after personalizing the display and file system, it was easy to use. Due to our investment in software and peripherals, this desktop will be used only for communications, media, and local work until Vista drivers and upgrades are more available. We also allocated disk space for a dual-boot system, so that XP can be installed in a separate partition.
There have already been a number of issues with compatibility, but with XP machines nearby, we have avoided the pain which many users will experience through an OS upgrade such as this. Locating and adding new drivers is time consuming, so we acquired many of these prior to the machine's arrival, and placed them on a USB flash drive. Also, we anticipated problems with scanners, Bluetooth devices, webcams, et cetera, so having network devices or dedicated terminals for those applications has helped.
Within the past few days, I encountered a problem synchronizing my Palm smartphone with the Palm Desktop 6.2.2 software on Vista, and that bled over to the XP-based Palm 4.2 version. After a few hours of online research, I found no solutions, and resorted to checking the Palm file system. I discovered duplicate files and backup (bak) files in the Palm folders were causing the problems, and once removed, the system worked fine.
One of the actions we took early on was to order and install a new PCI express graphics card along with a higher wattage power supply. The HP unit worked fine, but the onboard graphics has some limitations (including a VGA output, rather than a DVI), and a new graphics card would require additional power anyway, so hence, the changeout.
The Vista Premium version includes the Media Center Edition, and may be enough justification for the upgrade if users do not have MCE on their XP machines. We installed a HDTV USB dongle to the unit, and within minutes were enjoying HDTV over the air with the included antenna. We also hooked it to the cable box, and recorded several programs with the DVR software. The MCE interface is excellent, and can be used as the default program for this device. The audio system and software is also highly rated and well matched. The voice recognition software is also easy to learn and use.
While there are several areas that are potentially frustrating during any OS upgrade, we have limited the problem areas through advance planning. We backup our system and network regularly, as anyone should do, in the event of a crash or failure. Thusfar, aside from a few BSODs with Vista, we have been satisfied with the results.
posted by MM at 7:59 AM
