[BC] Windows Vista

[Sid Schweiger]

I've been using Vista Business on an HP laptop that came licensed for Vista with the XP downgrade installed.  It generally runs well...some apps freeze on occasion, but not that often.  It actually runs better with Vista than it did with XP, which would freeze the machine several times a day, necessitating a cold reboot.

The nut that I think is crossing up a lot of people is that Vista needs tons of resources.  It's not really going to run competently with less than 2 GB of RAM and an up-to-date CPU.  It really shines with 3-4 GB of RAM and a dual-core CPU.  The snappy Aero graphics...well, I can take them or leave them, but if you really want them, you'll need an up-to-date GPU with, again, lots of RAM.  As in the past, the minimum requirements listed on the retail box are a joke, as are attempts to apply this OS to older hardware.  I've seen a lot of complaints about Vista from people who thought they could upgrade two- or three-year-old hardware from XP or 2000, and it's just not going to happen.

Some of the software providers we use have higher RAM specs for Vista than they do for XP.  The WideOrbit traffic system, which uses a thin client, specs 1 GB of RAM for XP and 2 GB for Vista.

Sid Schweiger
IT Manager, Entercom New England
20 Guest St / 3d Floor
Brighton MA  02135-2040