I need to vent .... why is Vista such a disaster .... as an example I have an EXE that double-checks at the end of the day that I am not over margin. I installed as a service with srvany. On Windows XP, a few simple steps, no problem. On Vista - The service process didn't show up in task manager, I had to download Process Explorer to even see if it was running or not - The working directory defaults to something weird .... had to do a lot of digging to find out how to fix that in the registry - Had to change the account the service uses, otherwise no network access - If I stop the service the process doesn't terminate. While trying to fix things it left a bunch of ghost processes which caused even more unexpected behavior. Not to mention the "feature" where the INI file (may or may not) get be redirected to a local store folder. Does Windows 7 have all this hacked up "security" stuff?
And why does MS try to make you install 10 different apps when you upgrade MSN Messenger??? And even if you deselect all of them, it still installs 3 extra apps anyway?
Vista is my main system last couple of years (use it a few hours a day, heavily. Runs fine. Main thing I notice with every Windows, is you gotta completely power down every couple of days when you have like 10-20 apps/tabs open, or it hangs up - same with my previous windows. My main gripe is with Office 2007 - everything was SO rearranged, I never used some of its main functionality, and made my own toolbar with the 20-30 icons I used in Office 2003...
I use Windows Movie Maker to edit Windows movie files. It doesn't run well on XP, so I had to upgrade to Vista. I won't upgrade to Windows 7 because I don't want to take chances. I'll be extremely upset if I buy a new laptop containing Windows 7 and Movie Maker does not run right.
I don't know what's so hard about making an OS modular. I have no use for 3/4's of the crap they put on there. Hell, I'd be happy with the old DOS Green Screen if it meant my system was stable and fast.
Yeah at least once you manage to get things set up right, it is stable. I haven't rebooted for several months.
I had an idea for an OS based on sandboxes. Everything (even non-critical OS components) goes into an OS-level sandbox with whitelist security. When you install something it will show a single well-recognized security screen showing the privileges that the application is requesting for it's sandbox. Running in the background is a privilege. Accessing the network is a privilege. Listening on a port is a privilege. Any disk access outside the sandbox is a privilege. People like me would love it, most people would ignore it, but at least if you got in trouble it would be easy to kill a sandbox.
Since it takes months before many apps have stable drivers available for new Windows OS it is best to wait until a new OS has been out for about a year. That also give you time to read some reveiws and see what the problems are. I just ordered a new laptop and plan to use the XP downgrade instead of installing Vista. I may not even use the free upgrade to Windows 7 unless it gets some great reviews by spring.