Doug's Mailbag: Smooth (and Expensive) Vista Sailing, More -- Redmondmag.com

Barney's Blog

Doug's Mailbag: Smooth (and Expensive) Vista Sailing, More

How do you make Vista run smooth, like the government seems to have done? Jim found his solution, but it didn't come cheap:

Actually, it was pretty easy -- except on the wallet. A new beefed-up system always helps to make things easier. In addition, replace all hardware with new hardware that has compatible drivers (or uses straightforward technologies). Running recent versions of software is always helpful, too. For the most stubborn issues, running Virtual PC 2007 with XP gets the rest of the job done. I was able to do all of this with a move to Vista 64-bit, which is even more challenging due to an even smaller amount of supported drivers, but still not a major problem except for the empty wallet). For every issue, there was an answer (almost always involving another purchase).

Happily, I am now running Windows 7 and I haven't even opened my wallet (yet) for replacement software. I did build a new system built on the new Intel i7-860...but that is another story for another time.
-Jim

Doug asked readers last week to share their favorite mobile OS. Matt gives his vote to Palm's:

My favorite mobile OS is Palm's new WebOS. I got a Pre last month and I love this thing. Touchscreen is great and the apps are FREE. My mail, contacts and calendar sync without any problems to my work MS Exchange servers. The form factor is small and light. This is the best smartphone on the market, I think.
-Matt

And finallly, a word of thanks from one reader:

I wanted to write and say thanks for your articles. I get a massive influx of newsletters in my inbox. Sometimes I am too busy to read them and just hit the delete button, but I always make sure to read yours. I like the content and your writing style.

I work with computers and know people only speak up when something is wrong; they never call or write to tell you their computer is working well. So I wanted to go out of my way to say keep up the great articles. I will be reading.
-Charles

Share your thoughts with us! Leave a comment below or send an e-mail to [email protected].

Posted by Doug Barney on 10/16/2009 at 1:17 PM

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