Vista?

[BOB W]

Speaking of VISTA ( in another thread)........ Has anybody had problems with your older programs using VISTA? What is the compatibility???

[Golden Rocket]

Compatability

Bob, you are right to question. Many of my IT contacts are telling me they are going to postpone the purchase of VISTA as long as they can.

Microsoft built Windows95 to accommodate all previous programming, and almost everything that used to run on 3.1 or even DOS would run on Windows95. They also built Windows 98 to do the same thing, and earlier programs had virtually no compatability problems.

When Windows2000 came along, older programs wouldn't launch. I believe we were supposed to think that it was unfair to expect advanced platforms to accept older architecture. People who were burned last time are NOT buying VISTA.

[wv112]

Speaking of VISTA ( in another thread)........ Has anybody had problems with your older programs using VISTA? What is the compatibility???

I received notices from my 2 main software providers NOT to buy VISTA at this time. So I went out in January and bought one of the last computers in stock that still had Windows XP on it just in case one of my computers maybe (fingers crossed not) bit the dust.......

At that time all new computers being received came with VISTA installed. I think Micro Soft has changed that now...Not sure.

Also, I'm so tired of all the new stuff that we have to keep on learning....I hope I can keep using Windows for a few more years and then I'm outa here anyway..... Being 66 never looked so good.

[BOB W]

Buying computers "off the shelf" will not happen for me. I will have to use a private "clone" builder.

[JohnH]

Vista

I was one of those who mentioned Vista on the other thread.

I bought a computer real cheap at Office Max a few months back & it already had Vista loaded, so I decided to see what it is like. The only thing I have loaded on it is Office 97, and I mainly use it for internet access, some spreadsheet & data base work, and handling some graphics files. It seems to work fine, although I'm not running QuickBooks or ATX on it. I plan to follow the advice you posted from your IT person and keep running those programs on the XP computer.

[Joe Btfsplk]

VIsta

I was one of those who mentioned Vista on the other thread.

I bought a computer real cheap at Office Max a few months back & it already had Vista loaded, so I decided to see what it is like. The only thing I have loaded on it is Office 97, and I mainly use it for internet access, some spreadsheet & data base work, and handling some graphics files. It seems to work fine, although I'm not running QuickBooks or ATX on it. I plan to follow the advice you posted from your IT person and keep running those programs on the XP computer.

I read somewhere that someone had tried ATX with Vista and it worked OK. One of my clients said he bought a new computer with Vista on it and then installed XP on it to avoid any problems with Vista

I hope to avoid using VIsta as long as I can. My computer is now running very slow sometimes and it takes a long time to open Word and Excel. I think, however, that I can make it through one more tax season using my old XP computer.

[sea-tax]

Like I said before I am no computer wiz, but I have a few clients who work for Microsoft and all of them have told me off the record that Vista is great for home use and video applications and gaming , but not as good as Xp for business applications. In fact one person actually mentioned that in about two years they will come out with a whole new operating system that is similar to Xp or office 2000.


Who knows what to believe , all I know is that Xp has worked flawless for me and will hate to have to change.

[KJ Judd]

QuickBooks

QuickBooks will not support Vista for older versions. Many of my clients are on QB and for a number of them, there's no pressing need to upgrade based on how they use the program. So I'm sitting tight for now.

[LawrenceGR]

Vista

I bought a new HP CTO in January (I will never buy another) that came with an upgrade to Vista, I have not installed yet nor do I intend to anytime soon. I don't think it will support some of my older tax programs. If a person needed a new computer the last I checked Lenovo still offers either operating system.

[RJM]

Took 4 days to get everything working

It took 4 whole days to load all my accounting, tax, and utility applications onto a new vista desktop and get them operating properly. Getting used to vista was very fast, and all my main applications work fine including ATX tax back to 2002, and ATX accounting. The best thing of all is a much larger computer, with a duo-core processor and 2 meg of RAM. This new PC runs most applications at least 10 times faster than my old XP, which was 3 years old. Had to buy a 2007 QB, and am still having some pesky problems with 2 HP printers, but overall very happy with the new setup. -Bob

[JohnH]

HP Printers & Vista

I also had some problems getting Vista to talk to my HP printers.

Finally went to the HP web site for driver help and they advised loading a driver for an older HP printer from within Vista and then changing the ports from Com 1 to DOT-something. It looked like a goofy procedure but after I tricked Vista into letting me do it, the printer started working just fine.

[RJM]

Thanks JohnH, will give it a try. -Bob

[RLymanC]

Vista food for thought

Just curious,,,,why change to Vista. XP Pro has has been bullet proof. Is it a case of a better toy???

I have 4 computers all build by a local shop....running great for 5 years on XP Pro,,,if it aint broke, don't fix it, took me a long time to learn that...alway had to have the new toy....no more.

Computers are so easy to build or have built, I will never buy a Dell, HP or anyother manufactured machine. They just comes with to much junk loaded. I like a bare hard drive, load XP and the rest of the programs and never have a problem.

[skhyatt]

XP Solid

I agree. I have three computers in the house and all have Windows XP on them. Been pretty rock solid. I see no reason to upgrade.

[BOB W]

I agree. I have three computers in the house and all have Windows XP on them. Been pretty rock solid. I see no reason to upgrade.

The going forward problem is finding an "off the shelf" computer with XP pro. Upgrading to Vista, wouldn't think of it.