I agree wholeheartedly with your comments. I was a Vista beta tester, and
when it was over, I was back to XP. They invited me for the SP1 beta, and I
said no thanks.

We recently replaced an aging machine at my office, and of course it came
with vista. After about a month of it falling off the network, which by the
way froze the computer if it was accessing a network share, as well as other
less critical, but annoying problems, I douched it and put on XP Pro. Not a
problem since.

Maybe SP1 will help, but I've already heard very good things about SP3 for
XP... hmmm.

--Mike

"Reginald P. Smithers III" wrote in message
. ..
http://www.informationweek.com/news/...leID=204700436

I love the comments at the end of the article:

1 What the article misses is the real reason that piracy is down 50% from
Windows XP levels, which is that NOBODY WANTS VISTA.. How ironic that by
writing code that nobody wants, they have less people stealing it. Perhaps
they should concentrate on development in other areas....

I'm pretty sure the "Yugo" automobile had a pretty low theft rate as
well...


2 I moved to Linux when 30 gig was not enough to run Windows XP. What
took 26 gig within Windows now takes less than 4. I am 100% MS free and
loving every minute of it.

"Mike" wrote in message
...
I agree wholeheartedly with your comments. I was a Vista beta tester, and
when it was over, I was back to XP. They invited me for the SP1 beta, and I
said no thanks.

We recently replaced an aging machine at my office, and of course it came
with vista. After about a month of it falling off the network, which by
the way froze the computer if it was accessing a network share, as well as
other less critical, but annoying problems, I douched it and put on XP
Pro. Not a problem since.

Maybe SP1 will help, but I've already heard very good things about SP3 for
XP... hmmm.

Instead of downgrading to XP, you could have upgraded to a penguin, Unbuntu
or Fedora. No kill switch, no DRM, no back doors and no Bill watching you.

OK.

"Canuck57" wrote in message
news:FiL5j.1996$iU.751@pd7urf2no...

"Mike" wrote in message
...
I agree wholeheartedly with your comments. I was a Vista beta tester, and
when it was over, I was back to XP. They invited me for the SP1 beta, and
I said no thanks.

We recently replaced an aging machine at my office, and of course it came
with vista. After about a month of it falling off the network, which by
the way froze the computer if it was accessing a network share, as well
as other less critical, but annoying problems, I douched it and put on XP
Pro. Not a problem since.

Maybe SP1 will help, but I've already heard very good things about SP3
for XP... hmmm.

Instead of downgrading to XP, you could have upgraded to a penguin,
Unbuntu or Fedora. No kill switch, no DRM, no back doors and no Bill
watching you.

"Mike" wrote in message
...

I agree wholeheartedly with your comments. I was a Vista beta tester, and
when it was over, I was back to XP. They invited me for the SP1 beta, and I
said no thanks.


I've been reading the various comments regarding Vista versus XP (while
mentally filtering some of the personal BS expressed by some) and have
reached the conclusion that I'll stick with XP for as long as I can. Our
household has a total of 4 computers, including three laptops (one used on
the boat) and a regular tower type. All have either XP Pro or Home
editions. My wife used to have issues with her two computers until we
finally disabled Norton in them (at the advice of a computer guru). No
problems since. I had one spyware infection on my home laptop a while back
and SpyDoctor cured it.

Thinking back, it seems like MS either hits a homerun or strikes out with
their new operating systems. Since I am not a heavy computer user, Windows
3.1 did me fine until it simply would not operate on the Internet anymore
..... sometime in the mid 90's. To me, it was pretty much trouble-free.
Then there was Win 95 that I used until the current computers were purchased
with XP installed. Meanwhile, it seems like there were a bunch of
strike-outs by Microsoft.... Win 98 Win 2000, Millennium, and another that
I can't remember. You don't hear many good things about them. My hunch is
that XP will fall in the ranks of 3.1 and Win 95. Based on what I've read,
Vista seems to already have two strikes on it. Since I am a user of a
computer, not a troubleshooter or software detangler, I'd rather keep what
has proved to work reliably until it is simply obsolete.

Eisboch

"Eisboch" wrote in message
news

"Mike" wrote in message
...

I agree wholeheartedly with your comments. I was a Vista beta tester, and
when it was over, I was back to XP. They invited me for the SP1 beta, and
I said no thanks.




One other "observation". I stopped using Internet Explorer and use only
Firefox for the web.
I still use Outlook Express for mail and newsgroups because frankly, I've
never experienced a problem with it, nor do I find it difficult or lacking
in features to use. I tried Thunderbird and Agent and just didn't care for
their formats.

Eisboch

On Thu, 6 Dec 2007 03:46:17 -0500, "Eisboch" wrote:

One other "observation". I stopped using Internet Explorer and use only
Firefox for the web.

I tried Firefox and didn't like it.

I might, now that I've been using the latest iteration of Explorer,
try it again.

I still use Outlook Express for mail and newsgroups because frankly, I've
never experienced a problem with it, nor do I find it difficult or lacking
in features to use. I tried Thunderbird and Agent and just didn't care for
their formats.

Thunderbird has some interesting "quirks" but you expect that for open
source programs.

Agent I've been with since like forever and am used to it, although I
will admit, it's not the most intuitive program ever designed.

On Thu, 6 Dec 2007 03:46:17 -0500, "Eisboch" wrote:


"Eisboch" wrote in message
news

"Mike" wrote in message
...

I agree wholeheartedly with your comments. I was a Vista beta tester, and
when it was over, I was back to XP. They invited me for the SP1 beta, and
I said no thanks.




One other "observation". I stopped using Internet Explorer and use only
Firefox for the web.
I still use Outlook Express for mail and newsgroups because frankly, I've
never experienced a problem with it, nor do I find it difficult or lacking
in features to use. I tried Thunderbird and Agent and just didn't care for
their formats.

Eisboch


I've been happy with Firefox, except in those very rare cases when I need
something from MS. MS Outloook works well, haven't tried the Express
version. I'd never use Agent as an email program, but it does a great job
at one thing - newsgroups.
--
John H

Eisboch wrote:
"Eisboch" wrote in message
news
"Mike" wrote in message
...

I agree wholeheartedly with your comments. I was a Vista beta tester, and
when it was over, I was back to XP. They invited me for the SP1 beta, and
I said no thanks.



One other "observation". I stopped using Internet Explorer and use only
Firefox for the web.
I still use Outlook Express for mail and newsgroups because frankly, I've
never experienced a problem with it, nor do I find it difficult or lacking
in features to use. I tried Thunderbird and Agent and just didn't care for
their formats.

Eisboch



Try Seamonkey. It's the best of both worlds integrated into one suite
and it's still from Mozilla.

http://www.seamonkey-project.org/

On Thu, 6 Dec 2007 03:36:08 -0500, "Eisboch" wrote:


I've been reading the various comments regarding Vista versus XP (while
mentally filtering some of the personal BS expressed by some) and have
reached the conclusion that I'll stick with XP for as long as I can.

I've stayed out of this, but I will say this.

My brother runs a huge IT operation and knows his stuff when it comes
to this.

His very words: "Don't buy Vista - it's going to be a diaster - stick
with XP because Vista will last only as long as it takes to build
another XP - it's going to become the ME of the MS ops line."

My wife used to have issues with her two computers until we
finally disabled Norton in them (at the advice of a computer guru). No
problems since. I had one spyware infection on my home laptop a while back
and SpyDoctor cured it.

If I could I would cancel Norton.

The problem is I don't know what to replace it with.

On Thu, 06 Dec 2007 12:44:50 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

On Thu, 6 Dec 2007 03:36:08 -0500, "Eisboch" wrote:


I've been reading the various comments regarding Vista versus XP (while
mentally filtering some of the personal BS expressed by some) and have
reached the conclusion that I'll stick with XP for as long as I can.

I've stayed out of this, but I will say this.

My brother runs a huge IT operation and knows his stuff when it comes
to this.

His very words: "Don't buy Vista - it's going to be a diaster - stick
with XP because Vista will last only as long as it takes to build
another XP - it's going to become the ME of the MS ops line."

My wife used to have issues with her two computers until we
finally disabled Norton in them (at the advice of a computer guru). No
problems since. I had one spyware infection on my home laptop a while back
and SpyDoctor cured it.

If I could I would cancel Norton.

The problem is I don't know what to replace it with.

Norton is on the bottom of the CR ratings. FWIW, here's what Consumer
Reports has to say:

CR Quick Recommendations Software suites

A security suite makes sense if you want the simplicity of a single
program. Suites also offer features that most stand-alone products don't
include (and that we list in the Ratings chart, but did not test). And
where stand-alone programs usually run on only one machine, some suites can
be used on as many as three computers, making them a potential money saver.

However, we recommend suites only for machines with at least 1 gigabyte of
memory; any less risks slow performance. All of the products offer a
unified interface, automatic updating of all components, and a software
firewall, and are compatible with Windows XP and Vista. Ratings reflect
performance against viruses, spyware, and spam. Quick Picks considers
performance and value.


Quick Picks
Best choice overall:
Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security 2007 $50

The Trend Micro suite excelled in every category and, even with its $50
annual fee, offers fairly inexpensive all-around protection for as many as
three computers. The few extras it lacks, including an ad/popup blocker,
file backup, and Windows cleanup utilities, might be found on other
software you use, such as your operating system and browser.

A fine value:
Check Point ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite 7.0 $50

Check Point's antivirus and antispyware components didn't score quite as
high as Trend Micro's, though its antispam protection was first-rate. Its
annual fee is $15 less than Trend Micro's. It includes an ad/popup blocker,
though it lacks the Wi-Fi monitor that Trend Micro offers. It can be used
on as many as three computers.



For full features at a premium price:
McAfee Total Protection 2007 $80
McAfee Internet Security Suite 2007 $70

These best combine high performance and ample features, including a file
backup utility, and offer an integrated security solution, albeit at a
relatively high price. The lower-priced suite also carries a lower annual
fee. It's the better buy unless you really need a Wi-Fi monitor, a
less-than-essential feature unless you suspect your neighbors of hacking
into your network. Note that McAfee charges $10 extra per year to service
each computer beyond one.

--
John H