Well, isn’t it ironic that while writing a post to lambaste rebuttals against this blog: 10 reasons not to get Vista, IE (not my usual browser of choice) chokes and crashes, losing all I’d written so far? One more reason to LOVE Microsoft.

So I’ll try to step back into this… basically I had to laugh while reading rebuttals to this post.

This author tries to pass off Vista’s new search capabilities like it’s something important! Ooooh, how about the new UI for handling video and digital photography? “Music folders come up in columns of ID3 tags”? Hmmm, last time I checked it works that way in XP already. And let’s not forget the all-important sleep mode! What would I do without sleep mode?!

Other rebuttals include the fact that Vista has now incorporated a lot of new features we once had to rely on a myriad of 3rd party apps to provide. Problem is, I’ve been using my favorite little 3rd party apps for years now and am quite fond of them. I know their ins-and-outs, tricks, and have a vested interest in their future developments. So by incorporating them into the OS you’re not doing anything I really need!

How about this rebuttal? “Can I change the volume on a per-application basis in Windows XP? Do I have integrated system-wide search in Windows XP? Can I set the language on a per-user basis in Windows XP? Does Windows XP have per-file emails and contacts? Does Windows XP have a photo organiser application (the fact that it sucks compared to iPhoto and especially Picasa2 is irrelevant)? Does Windows XP have an up-to-date, modern look? Does Windows XP have all those under-the-hood improvements like address space layout randomisation, a new networking stack, and so on?”

Must be terribly embarassing if you have to lead off your rebuttal with a list of “nice-to-have toys”. I mean, really, who cares about controlling the volume on a per-app basis or an “up-to-date, modern look”? How does he know the picture I have of my son as wallpaper is out-of-date?!

How about having a photo organizer that sucks compared to Picasa2? Irrelevant? What an assinine comment. Of course it’s relevant! You basically said Vista is better just because they bundled some crap application into the OS. Why, if it’s crappier than Picasa2 (which is FREE by the way, dimwit), would I want it in my OS??

He then goes on to say backwards compatibility problems with hardware and software are to be expected as this “…is usually the case when an operating system has seen massive internal restructuring, like new frameworks for graphics and audio.” however at the end of his article complains that “Microsoft’s obsession with backwards compatibility is hindering its development”. Hmmm… which is it buddy? Logic eludes you, doesn’t it?

Sad to say, most of his arguments go on like this. Let’s move on to what’s important.

I went to the Microsoft site to see what it would take to upgrade to Vista. Now mind you I run XP Pro. My choices were to install Home Basic or Home Premium by “copy[ing] all your files and settings to an extra hard drive or other storage device, and then install[ing] Windows Vista. After the installation is complete, Windows Easy Transfer will reload your files and settings on your upgraded PC. You will then need to reinstall your applications”. REINSTALL MY APPLICATIONS?! WTF?! OR I could upgrade (without reinstalling everything) to Business or Ultimate.

The kicker? Upgrade advisor tells me that my sound card won’t work with Vista, and my anti-virus software would have to be uninstalled before the upgrade and then wouldn’t be re-installable due to incompatibility. There were other issues called to my attention but after reading just those two, I knew Vista is just another example of Microsoft’s irresponsible coding.

Home Basic goes for approx. $100. Business, approx $192. Ultimate, $260.

So let me get this straight. I can move all my software settings, install the OS from scratch, move the settings back, then reinstall every single app I own AND it’ll cost me at least $100?! Or I can upgrade more gracefully and it’ll cost me somewhere around $200. And let’s not forget that some of my hardware and software won’t work. Nice.

Of course with logic such as our friend above; “If you use Windows for mission critical environments (dot dot dot), you should wait until SP1 or maybe even SP2 anyway. That’s called common sense”, who needs intelligence? Microsoft will never launch a responsible product when they know lame-brains such as this person exist and will eat up whatever crap product they market.