Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Perfomance Difference between XP and Vista
- Thread starter galganog
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Agreed. See my post about a new Compaq with Vista. Don't get me wrong. Our computers KILL the Compaq's specs, but still Vista is quite inefficient in terms of using any hardware.
When Leopard's BootCamp has easy-to-install drivers and good compatibility with Vista, then it might be worth it...but right now the negatives greatly outweigh the positives of installing it. If you do, I strongly recommend turning off the whole glass thing, and then performance will be good on such a powerful machine...
I seriously doubt I'll upgrade from XP to Vista in the lifetime of this current MacBook. Vista just looks to me like a overgrown XP with effects, and the more Microsoft code that exists, the more errors that are likely to occur.
I am quite worried that with all the Vista bashing that Apple is pushing - are they even gonna do a set of vista drivers for bootcamp final? They may construe that as looking stupid to support an OS that they are actively pushing customers away from.
I'm running Vista Ultimate on my MPB C2D and it rocks.
I'm not worried about the Vista bashing as much as I am about Apple arrogance.
The losses greatly outweigh the benefits of running Vista on any intel mac, especially those with non-upgradeable graphics. As I see it, Vista only has an advantage when DirectX 10 is required, since XP only supports DirectX 9 and below. Other than that, Vista is scarcely more secure and much slower in almost all tasks. As to the point made about Vista final drivers- Apple will definately release drivers for Vista final. Boot Camp is a major selling point for the new macs and Apple would be shooting themselves in the foot if Boot Camp only supported a deprecated version of Windows.
I agree, it's the people religiously pushing Apple who bother me as well. Vista Ultimate works just great on my CD MBP 2.16, couldn't be happier!
I installed Vista on one of my machines that used to run XP. I have noticed some slow downs but not too much. I gather that Vista Service pack 1, which is supposed to come out by December of this year, will fix a lot of these issues. At least Microsoft is claiming it will have the code optimized enough to bring it back to the level of XP. Also wait for driver to be officially supported. It makes a big difference.
Everything works fine. Aero is nice and smooth and was turned on from the start.
The Macbook is well able to run vista. Actually i quite like vista myself. I'd even be willing to buy it but the license is too restrictive (i'm using the 30 day period before it forces you to enter a serial), i'm thinking of upgrading to a macbook pro in the coming months and want to be able to move the license over. (Oh and before anyone tells me that i can easily do this... i'm buying OEM, not retail...)
A google search would have answered your question...
The Macbook is well able to run vista. Actually i quite like vista myself. I'd even be willing to buy it but the license is too restrictive (i'm using the 30 day period before it forces you to enter a serial), i'm thinking of upgrading to a macbook pro in the coming months and want to be able to move the license over. (Oh and before anyone tells me that i can easily do this... i'm buying OEM, not retail...)
A google search would have answered your question...
Yes it runs Aero. I was the first to post Vista running on a macbook many moons ago when the first public beta became available.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/208063/
Aero runs fine / no trouble on the GMA950.
Is there anywhere to download an official trial. Havent tried vista since the first beta.
An official trial? Not really, but i'm using the unofficial trial.
You could probably download it. I'm not sure of the legality of that but it can't be that bad if you don't actually enter an illegal key.
Sure call up to Cork and i'll give you a copy of the DVD
I think the discussion about whether or not Vista will perform well on Macs is moot -- it clearly does. Any Intel Mac can run Vista in all its Aero glory. The real question is...is it worth it?
I spend all day, every day on computers. At work, I've had Vista installed for almost 6 weeks now. Truth be told, I don't like it. It's frustrating to work with after awhile. Even after becoming familiar with where MS has hidden stuff (you know how many steps it takes to get to the Local Area Connection network properties? Eight!!!!!), I don't like working with it. Once you get over the glitz of Aero, which I thought was only moderately attractive to begin with, the "ergonomics" of Vista blow hard. There's no consistency to the organization of menus, toolbar icons, or wizard interfaces. There's new fancy control panels, and there's control panels that have looked the same since Windows 95 (you want a real laugh? Go look at the Install Fonts dialog. Yeah. That's the same one since Windows 3.1). There's strange colors. There's no more icons in the right half of the start menu -- where Documents, Computer, Control Panel, etc are -- which has really slowed me down because now instead of quickly recognizing an icon I actually have to read through a dozen things. You don't realize the value of icons on common tasks until they're gone, and then it's irritating as hell. Idiots.
And last but certainly not least is UAC, Vista's new security system. One word: ANNOYING. Holy CRAP, it's constantly asking to do ANYTHING. Way too much stuff is behind that UAC control in Vista -- like a ton of control panel items that really don't have a lot to do with system security. Also, even when security is necessary, it's just very poorly implemented. Take my favorite example:
Let's say you want to create a folder in Program Files so you can put uTorrent or PuTTY or some stand-alone program in there yourself for organizational purposes. You navigate to Program Files in Explorer, right click, and select New->Folder. You get (1) a UAC dialog telling you that what you're about to do will require admin rights; you click continue and get (2) the real UAC authorization box; you continue, and now you have a new folder with its name "New Folder" highlighted so you can start typing. You type a new name and press enter, and get (3) a dialog telling you that what you're about to do will require admin rights; you click continue and (4) get the UAC authorization box.
That's FOUR damn UAC clicks just to create one folder!!!! That's indicative of how annoying that system is. If it were done right, like Linux or OS X, it would ask you ONCE, and then remember that state for the duration of your folder-creating activity.
On top of the impressively poor usability, there's a lot of programs that behave weird with Vista. Certain things like FireWorks or java apps will kill Aero until you close them again. IE7 continues to be the default browser even though I've set FireFox to be the default over and over again, both in FireFox and in the Windows control panel. And on, and on, and on...
Which brings me to my main point: yeah, you can run Vista on your Mac, but if you're just using Windows to have access to a couple programs, and not to really USE Windows, then just stick with XP. I actually have a free copy of Vista Business, but I'm not using it. You get XP on there, buttoned up with all the latest patches and a decent lightweight virus scanner, and if you aren't a complete idiot it will be as secure and safe as Vista.
I never appreciated XP as much until Vista came out. Vista's an overgrown, shiny, annoying hog of an OS. I can understand some people's desire to have the latest and greatest, and by all means try it out for yourself and see if you like it -- if you can do so without buying a copy. By God, do not actually BUY a copy of Vista if you're a Mac user, there's really no reason to. XP can run anything Vista can run (for now and the forseeable future, anyway).
I spend all day, every day on computers. At work, I've had Vista installed for almost 6 weeks now. Truth be told, I don't like it. It's frustrating to work with after awhile. Even after becoming familiar with where MS has hidden stuff (you know how many steps it takes to get to the Local Area Connection network properties? Eight!!!!!), I don't like working with it. Once you get over the glitz of Aero, which I thought was only moderately attractive to begin with, the "ergonomics" of Vista blow hard. There's no consistency to the organization of menus, toolbar icons, or wizard interfaces. There's new fancy control panels, and there's control panels that have looked the same since Windows 95 (you want a real laugh? Go look at the Install Fonts dialog. Yeah. That's the same one since Windows 3.1). There's strange colors. There's no more icons in the right half of the start menu -- where Documents, Computer, Control Panel, etc are -- which has really slowed me down because now instead of quickly recognizing an icon I actually have to read through a dozen things. You don't realize the value of icons on common tasks until they're gone, and then it's irritating as hell. Idiots.
And last but certainly not least is UAC, Vista's new security system. One word: ANNOYING. Holy CRAP, it's constantly asking to do ANYTHING. Way too much stuff is behind that UAC control in Vista -- like a ton of control panel items that really don't have a lot to do with system security. Also, even when security is necessary, it's just very poorly implemented. Take my favorite example:
Let's say you want to create a folder in Program Files so you can put uTorrent or PuTTY or some stand-alone program in there yourself for organizational purposes. You navigate to Program Files in Explorer, right click, and select New->Folder. You get (1) a UAC dialog telling you that what you're about to do will require admin rights; you click continue and get (2) the real UAC authorization box; you continue, and now you have a new folder with its name "New Folder" highlighted so you can start typing. You type a new name and press enter, and get (3) a dialog telling you that what you're about to do will require admin rights; you click continue and (4) get the UAC authorization box.
That's FOUR damn UAC clicks just to create one folder!!!! That's indicative of how annoying that system is. If it were done right, like Linux or OS X, it would ask you ONCE, and then remember that state for the duration of your folder-creating activity.
On top of the impressively poor usability, there's a lot of programs that behave weird with Vista. Certain things like FireWorks or java apps will kill Aero until you close them again. IE7 continues to be the default browser even though I've set FireFox to be the default over and over again, both in FireFox and in the Windows control panel. And on, and on, and on...
Which brings me to my main point: yeah, you can run Vista on your Mac, but if you're just using Windows to have access to a couple programs, and not to really USE Windows, then just stick with XP. I actually have a free copy of Vista Business, but I'm not using it. You get XP on there, buttoned up with all the latest patches and a decent lightweight virus scanner, and if you aren't a complete idiot it will be as secure and safe as Vista.
I never appreciated XP as much until Vista came out. Vista's an overgrown, shiny, annoying hog of an OS. I can understand some people's desire to have the latest and greatest, and by all means try it out for yourself and see if you like it -- if you can do so without buying a copy. By God, do not actually BUY a copy of Vista if you're a Mac user, there's really no reason to. XP can run anything Vista can run (for now and the forseeable future, anyway).
u can't turn off UAC?
a side note, now look back, I used windows for more than 10 years, I really never created a single folder myself in C:\program files\
huh, I always put all my stuff in D:\ and not in "program folder".
u can't turn off UAC?
a side note, now look back, I used windows for more than 10 years, I really never created a single folder myself in C:\program files\
Yes, you can turn of UAC...but that's not the point. If you turn it off, you lose the security benefits and you're nearly back to an XP level of security. And I was just using the Program Files thing as an example of how badly it is implemented.
Who needs vista when you can get this
Media Center 11 Skin
(You'll get what i mean when you see the skin in it's alternate style...)
You'll need a uxtheme.dll patcher to use this though
Media Center 11 Skin
(You'll get what i mean when you see the skin in it's alternate style...)
You'll need a uxtheme.dll patcher to use this though