Eisboch wrote:



How about the average computer user who does not have advanced computer
skills or even the technical knowledge of what to buy?
My daughter recently replaced their computer with a new HP Pavilion laptop
preloaded with some version of Vista. They bought the best model they could
afford, but she doesn't know a megabit from a horsefly.

I was playing with it the other day. It just doesn't have the "snap"
opening programs or even simple navigation to files or folders that my 4
year old HP Pavilion running XP has. I neglected to check what her
processor type, speed or RAM capacity is, so it may not be a fair
comparison. Mine has a Pentium 4, 3.00GHz processor and 2.0 GB of RAM.
Next time I visit, I'll check and see what her new one has.

Point is, to us non-hobbyist or geeks, it seems that if Vista requires
certain minimums in terms of processors and RAM capacity to operate
properly, (which I am sure raises the cost of the computer) Microsoft is
sorta screwing many customers by forcing Vista onto all new Windows based
computers.

I also may not know what I am talking about, because my daughter's computer
.... which is only a month old .... is my first experience with Vista. So,
I am one of those "know-nothings" who claims Vista is slower than XP. In
this particular case, it *is* noticeably slower than the 4 year old computer
I am using now.

Eisboch



Eisboch,

I have helped two friends setup their Windows Vista desktops, one a
Dell, the other a HP, one had at 2gb and the other had 3 gb of RAM and a
Dual Core Processor with at least 4mg of Cache. They had the exact same
complaint. They had a replaced 4 and 5 year old computers, and could
not see any additional speed when opening their software.

There are people who enjoy playing with their computers and putzing
around and installing every alpha and beta software that comes along.
They love Vista, because it is a beta software that you actually get to buy.

Someone in rec.boats who purchased a laptop had the same complaint, and
was wondering how to tweak Vista to speed it up. It is a common
complaint in the Vista NG.

I will end up buying my son the MAC since it was important enough for
him to be willing to pay the difference. I am just glad my youngest
daughter loves the idea of the new Lenovo Laptop with XP, because it
will run all of her existing software. Since Lenovo doesn't preload the
computer will all the junk that slows down a new machine, she should
have a blazing fast computer, at half the cost of the MACPRO.

If your daughter is up to the task, she can ask HP for a free Install
Disk for Vista and do a clean install in the HP. Without all of the
junk they preload in their machines it will run faster,just not as fast
as it would with WinXP. HP might be willing to sell her a XP install
disk at a reasonable price.