My daughter received a new laptop from her grandmother for an early xmas. BUT she hates Vista. BestBuy the outlet that Nana bought the laptop from says they can send off and get XP for us but it seems I could just download XP from the windows site onto that new pc? Is this possible and then delete Vista? I have tried to tell my 16 year old that in a couple years everyone will have Vista so just go on and get happy with it and use it but she really likes the old format. I don't know if any of you have run up against this issue and if so how did you resolve it? Is there a feature on Vista that you can click to revert to the old XP interface? Any suggestions on this are appreciated. I really really dread installing any Windows related platforms... so much can go wrong Thanks in advance

I think doing an uninstall/re-install of XP is more hassel than it's worth........as long as the new laptop has the extra poop to power all the Vista bells and whistles....I'd just live with it

I've got both Vista and XP..............XP gets my vote anyday

i don't know why microsoft felt the need to improve on the platform's interface anyways.. it worked this new format is a big pain to use and just annoying to no end. I wonder just how many complaints they have had over vista? It's irksome to deal ... she hates it so much she won't use her laptop.

I use XP at home, and Vista at work (not by choice). I just don't see why people have such a huge problem with Vista. Grab am extra memory stick for like 40 bucks and the platform works pretty decently.

It's like the same thing when XP came out, people were all boo hoo I hate XP, 98 or ME was so much better. Odd for me to say this too - I have no loyalties to Microsoft, I mean Vista isn't great, but it is not this demon monster everyone claims that it is.

So... I have no solutions for your daughter, she should stick it out like you said but what can ya do?

Just thought I'd offer my 2 cents.

I offer my good luck salute.

my biggest complaint was all the ram, speed, memory, etc that Vista sucked up................

my biggest bitch was when when you go to Vista's control panel, you gotta learn a new language

My son has a labtop with Vista as well, and he has no problem with it. I think it depends on what you want to use the laptop for.

The Microsoft website did have an item on the retailers being able to put XP on new computers for buisness computers, but not for private personal computers. I don't know if that has changed yet. You could ask the store where the laptop was bought, I guess.

Retailers were given some programme by Microsoft to delete Vista and put up XP, as far as I know.

I have Vista Ultimate on a computer I got for a graduation gift from my parents. It's a little different, but I have no major issues with it. Certainly no more than I did with XP.

What exactly do you all hate specifically about Vista? I always hear everyone complaining, but they never specify and it makes me think that half the time it's just BS that they're spouting.

Anyhow, you can convert it to a pretty close XP layout. I'm not about to fark around with my settings to find out, don't feel like trying to reset everything back to how I have it, but it's possible. There are also 3rd party apps that convert it all to pretty much an identical image of XP.

I very literally HATE Vista. I have a side business working on computers and setting up computers for people who can't read the quickstart guide.

The first BRAND NEW Vista computer I setup took 45 minutes to get to the desktop on the first boot. Mind you this is on a PREINSTALLED version of the OS. I had to reboot several times while uninstalling some of the bloatware that the customer didn't want. Each reboot took at least 5 minutes to get to the desktop. Everything just seems slower and these are computers that are powerhouse computers.

You want more specifics? Every time I wanted to install or change a configuration I had to say "yes I really wanted to do that and yes I'm not a virus or trojan doing this". Microsoft moved several functions to different spots (some that didn't make sense). How about all the people who bought new computers right before Vista came out only to find that their brand new hardware was incompatible? People having to buy new video cards, new sound cards, sometimes even new hard drives. How about having to have the recommended 2GB of RAM just to run the OS?

Networking functions that should be there aren't. I had another customer that bought a laptop and a desktop that they wanted to have networked together. Now part of this is Worst Buys fault but the two computers both had the same exact name in the networking settings. During the network setup the wizard should have complained about this but it happily chipped along.

You know that screenshot of the Vista warning about the mouse? I can't find it again but it basically says that Vista has detected an potentially unsafe device and that device is a mouse. I literally got that message when installing a cordless mouse! A MOUSE!

And what about the 4,000 different versions of Vista?!? (Okay so that's an exaggeration but I'm making a point here). You need THREE versions. Home. Office. Server. That's it. No need for basic, premium, ultimate, all-knowing, omnipotent, vast, etc., etc., etc. If there's shit in there that a PC can't run then have it turned off. Don't require a more expensive version just to get some eye candy.

Speaking of money. THE PRICE! Holy CRAP is Vista expensive for no good reason. It's literally priced at a point where it's cheaper to buy a new computer with Vista pre-installed than it is to buy the OS for your "old" computer. Seems like collusion with the PC manufacturers to me.

I dunno is that all BS?



Anyway.... to further answer manic's query. You can't, as far as I know, just "download XP" from Microsoft's website. What you're talking about is "downgrading" and many people are doing it. You'll buy a license for XP and do a complete format of the drive and install XP onto the fresh drive.

It's not difficult and it's not bad. Just backup any files she has for school to a thumbdrive/cd-r/cd-rw. I'll GLADLY help you out.



No offense manic but this is EXACTLY why Microsoft gets away with the crap they do. People have this apathetic attitude and just accept what Microsoft gives them as the standard.

Would you have the same attitude with a brand new car? "Oh it sucks gas like it's water in the desert and I have to replace the tires every 100 miles. But in a few years everyone will be driving them so I have to get used to it." I don't think so.

If people refused to accept Vista (it's bloat, it's price, and it's problems) and more importantly refuse to BUY it then Microsoft would have to rethink it's business model. But people don't. Too many people just accept that this is how computing is and Microsoft gets away with creating crappy overgrown software.

Mind you I am not a MS hater. I happily used Windows 2K and Windows XP (still). Microsoft has the difficult task of creating an OS that will work with many different hardware configurations. It's a bit like having to build an automobile engine that you can simply drop into any vehicle and expect it to run perfectly. Not exactly the same but the analogy makes the point.

Still. There's no excuse for putting out a shoddy OS just to meet marketing and sales goals. And there's no reason that the OS should cost so dang much or require you to get a new computer when your "old computer" is less than a year old (in some cases months old).

Anyway if you want help installing XP instead of Vista feel free to contact me.

YEAH!!!

Thanks Tofu, I can relate to the problems she is having with Vista. Just to find programs was a bee up my rear! It should have been easy to find, why hide it? I understand that it's not "cool" to accept this crap from Microsoft but really unless a mass amount of people complain or an activist group flies in the face of Microsoft to go back to the nicer easier to use... INTUITIVE XP then it's like every car you buy will have this on it and it's very frustrating to be given an inferior product.
It did take a century to get the desktop loaded up. I think I may ask Best Buy to provide a copy of XP and install from a disk and then I hopefully can delete the Vista software. Thanks and I may be asking for help if I get stuck with the XP "downgrade" lol

Whew.