[itdiscuss] Vista to XP

Thu Feb 5 16:05:54 EST 2009

"From where I sit, it's all the others who are at fault."

Yes, you are right about the blame being in the other vendor's court.
However, The experience I've had makes it look like, and to some degree
I believe it is, Microsoft's fault.

The issue for us has been that installing a driver with "issues" brings
a system to its knees. When the installation of a bad printer driver
will so thoroughly crash the print spooler that it cannot recover I
believe the blame can be shared.

"They are working hard to be on a schedule for all their software
upgrades - it is a 4 year schedule with an R2 in the middle of each of
these."

As much complaining about this as we see from Microsoft users and
bashers, I find it interesting that Apple can release as many OSX
patches as they have and call them upgrades and no one says a word about
the costs. If Microsoft did what Apple does I could only imagine the
outrage flying around the message boards.

Bobby Stewart

Network Analyst

Brentwood Baptist Church

Brentwood, TN

(615) 324-6149 office

(615) 830-0012 cell

From: discuss-bounces at itdiscuss.org
[mailto:discuss-bounces at itdiscuss.org] On Behalf Of Thompson, Ken
Sent: Thursday, February 05, 2009 2:34 PM
To: IT Discussion Forum
Subject: Re: [itdiscuss] Vista to XP

I don't see the blame being Microsoft's.

They had a beta out a for over a year before they did a "final" release
of Vista. From where I sit, it's all the others who are at fault. Not
sure why but they dragged their feet. Now we're facing something similar
with Windows 7, thankfully, this is not the same change as the one from
XP to Vista, but, once again, Microsoft has given EVERYONE the
opportunity to check it out and test it in their respective environments
BEFORE the final release. That is a HUGE plus in my mind and one which
we who are in IT should be taking advantage of.

I just don't see Microsoft as being the "bad guy" in all this. I think
they're doing a great job of being responsible for better change
processes all the way around. Yes, there's still room for improvement
but, they're not to be blamed for all the issues and problems - let's
keep the blame where it belongs. 

I also agree with Bill Lloyd - they are in the business of making money.
If you're not aware of this, they are working hard to be on a schedule
for all their software upgrades - it is a 4 year schedule with an R2 in
the middle of each of these. That's why I was saying that Windows 7 is
really Vista R2. We IT people need to keep that in mind as we do our
planning and budgeting! But, they're really not all the different from
every software company - everyone has their upgrades and patches - just
the nature of the business these days. So, we've got to figure out how
we will steward the Lord's resources because getting too far out of
"sync" with these ongoing changes can cause lots of pain and added
expenses too. 

Ken Thompson

IT Manager, Mission to the World

From: discuss-bounces at itdiscuss.org
[mailto:discuss-bounces at itdiscuss.org] On Behalf Of Bobby Stewart
Sent: Thursday, February 05, 2009 3:24 PM
To: IT Discussion Forum
Subject: Re: [itdiscuss] Vista to XP

Those darned printing issues! We too have had them AND it has kept us
from deploying until we can get a stable printing/OS infrastructure for
Vista we'll still not switch. We do have a few stalwarts who've
transitioned but I'd really like to have Microsoft make sure that things
don't break in such a big way. I've had two support organizations review
the situation and have been able to come to no resolution. Vista print
drivers on Win2k3 print servers for Vista clients just have been a pain.

And... here comes 7! I'm testing as well. First machine hasn't fared as
well as some have indicated. IBM Thinkpad R50. Many issues with
subsystems drivers. Primary systems OK.

Bobby Stewart

Network Analyst

Brentwood Baptist Church

Brentwood, TN

(615) 324-6149 office

(615) 830-0012 cell

From: discuss-bounces at itdiscuss.org
[mailto:discuss-bounces at itdiscuss.org] On Behalf Of Rick Meredith
Sent: Thursday, February 05, 2009 12:44 PM
To: IT Discussion Forum
Subject: Re: [itdiscuss] Vista to XP

We've done it. Usually the best way to go is to wipe the hard drive and
do a fresh install of XP using the drivers from Dell's web site. 

But I'll agree with Jason that Vista is an improvement except with some
printing issues that can me worked around.

Rick

From: discuss-bounces at itdiscuss.org
[mailto:discuss-bounces at itdiscuss.org] On Behalf Of Ray Tyner
Sent: Thursday, February 05, 2009 9:36 AM
To: IT Discussion Forum
Subject: [itdiscuss] Vista to XP

Has anyone attempted to retrograde a Vista install to XP?  I have four
Vista computers that were purchased before Dell offered the "buy
Vista/ship XP" deals.  The users are fed up with Vista.

Ray Tyner

Peachtree City UMC

678.642.3362

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