Vista program compatablity
 

So im considering buying a computer that has vista on it...but i also use a lot of old programs which i want to be able to keep on using. for example aracnophilia which was made for windows 95/98. i was also told office 2003 won't work on vista. Is there i site out there that lists what is/isn't compatable?

pretty much if you need compatibility don't get Vista. Leave a POS system running win98 in the corner for anything XP won't run. Most manufacturers will put XP on it if you order over the phone.

I had vista on my laptop, and fought with it for about a year. Even waited for SP1, and that didn't help my problems either. Slow, incompatible with simple video programs I use daily, and did I mention how SLOW it was. Moving files over a network took twice as long as XP - Huh???? Switched it to XP a few weeks ago, and haven't been happier. I think Vista will go down in history the same as Windows ME did.

I would stay far away from Vista. I won't buy another machine with it on it that's for sure.

the problem is MS is really pushing it.... be interesting to see if they continue support for XP

Old shit + Vista = No. Even things written for NT5 (2000) and XP are having issues with Vista.

It's pretty. It's shitty. Wait for the fix. 95 -> 98 was fine. ME was 98 and could use 2000 drivers. That was a mess. NT4 lacked support, 2000 worked well. XP worked pretty well - it only took 4 years to make it so. Vista? 2012, anyone?

I'm playing around with windows server 2008 right now and I must say... I LOVE IT!

My workstation upgrade path went 98--> 2k --> XP --> 2k --> server 2003 --> XP --> Ubuntu --> 2008 (maybe)

Obviously when XP was brand new 2k was still the better OS just like XP is better than vista currently. Win 2003 (server) was the best blend of XP and 2k.

Win 2008 looks like the perfect blend of XP and Vista. I'll let you guys know after I've spent a few more days with it.

You could run a virtual machine if you need older systems.
If you turn off some of the security setting, vista runs much faster.
Out of the box it wants to authenticate every damn thing you do, which bogs it down.

Get XP - it's the best for common users and will stay like this for 2 more years. In this time maybe they will get Vista stable...

I use Virtual PC for the applications that doesn't work under Vista. The performance is just as good as if I was running XP as usual.

It's free:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/dow...c/default.mspx

I have yet to have an issue with Vista, and its faster then XP for some stuff, like the CS3 suit.
I have had Office 2003 since Vista Beta and it works fine.
I also transfer files from my vista laptop to my vista desktop at whats probably the max speed for the 5400rpm drive in the laptop.

Could be worse. Could be Windows Millenimule Edition.