I refuse to use Vista! Any ideas?

Question

I have an incredibly crappy laptop that's around 4 or 5 years old and it has a crack in the back of the screen, broken keyboard, incredibly low memory and to top it all off a rather dim screen. I wanted to purchase a new laptop but I was mortified to discover that all the laptops I was interested in HAD WINDOWS VISTA! *dun dun dunnn*

Is there any way I can get a new laptop that has XP? Or do I have to succumb to the horrors of Vista?

Answer 1

I was in this exact predicament. I had an old, slow laptop and wanted to update it, but didn't want to have to use Vista. I ended up buying a new laptop with Vista, then using a program which you can download for free called VirtualBox. (search for it on YouTube to see real life tutorials on how to install and use it.)

What this allows you to do is to create a 'virtual' computer on your existing computer. If you were sent the XP disk with your original computer, (and have managed to keep it without losing it) then you can use it to create an XP computer on your new laptop. Otherwise you will have to buy an XP disk.  

Once you've set it up, you will have the original Vista, plus you will be able to go into this program and open up XP and use that instead. The good thing about VirtualBox is that you can create as many virtual computers as your space will allow. Each one takes up 10 to 15 gigabytes to be on the safe side initially, and then when you add files, it automatically gets bigger. So if you get a new laptop with 160 gigabytes or 250 or even more, you will have more than enough space.

I have Vista, and XP, and the Linux platform Ubuntu, which was totally free to install unlike XP where you have to buy the disk if you don't already have one.

So if you don't mind having to go into the VirtualBox program every time you start your new laptop (which will automatically start up as Vista) then this is a really good solution. But this only takes a few seconds.

There are also a lot of other benefits from using VirtualBox. (or Virtual PC 2007 - another free program which does the same thing but many people don't think is as good). One of the major benefits is that you can create a 'snapshot' which remembers how your settings are, so once you have things as you like it, you can save it, so if you later get a bad virus, or you mess up, you can go back to your saved settings.

Plus viruses etc. only affect the virtual machine,  your real laptop running Vista won't be wrecked, so if you haven't saved your XP settings you can just delete that virtual edition of XP and use your disk to install another one.

This way, you don't have to install XP instead of Vista, you can have both. And you can have other platforms like Linux, which has a lot of really good free applications and software you can download.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

personally I like Vista take getting use to but I like it better than XP, try it you can always buy Xp and put on it.

Answer 3

I resisted Vista too at first. But my dislike was driven by all of the problems associated with Vista when it was first released. Microsoft has put out a SP1 that fixed the issues I was concerned with.

XP is soon to become a member of the dinosaur group. Microsoft no longer manufactures it and their support will eventually stop.

you may as well just go ahead and get it. Really, you won't be sorry unless you purchase the 64-bit version...and that is because of the driver issues.

Answer 4

If you don't mind spending a bit of extra cash, you can buy the Windows XP setup disc and install it over Vista.

I was a long time Windows XP user. I was mortified that while I was looking for a new computer that all of them at Vista - but I found a good one, and even with Vista - it's already. It does have a couple of annoying things, but its similar to XP in a lot of ways.

Answer 5

I also have vista, and at first i didnt like it at all because it had changed so much from like XP and stuff. Now though a i have had vista a year, when i go on my mates Laptop and she has XP i dont like that anymore, i am too used to vista now!

Just give it a try, you will get used to it, just like play around to find things. In honesty i think vista is much better now because it has extra features, for example you can have more things on yourdesktop background. Now i have on mine all down the right hand side is a calendar, 3 photo albums, (which contantly change photo's) a game and weather reader.

Just give it a try because you may grow to like it, if not just replace it with XP. But that will cost you money, and on top of a new laptop aswell.........

Answer 6

linux's ubuntu. easy to download, easy on the resources, it's free, and easy to learn.

Answer 7

You have a few choices.  Buy a used computer.  Buy a refurbished computer, they often have the original operating system.  Or purchase a laptop with Vista Pro on it which is downgradable to XP.  

Answer 8

As windows xp is no longer sold, it will be very hard to find a copy of it. I think dell offers windows xp on select PCs, and it is available on ultra-low powered laptops that can't run vista. If you buy the installation cd from somewhere (which are probably getting harder to find, as they arn't sold anymore either) you will have to find all the drivers for your machine, with no garentee that it will work on xp.

Ever considered putting linux on the old machine?

http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resourc...

Answer 9

There is nothing wrong with Vista.  It loads faster then XP.  It is more secure then XP.  It handles the NTFS file system better then XP.  It is much more stable then XP.  It has many more features then XP.  And, it runs my applications better and faster then XP.  

XP is now "old hat", it's time to move on.  

I have had Vista installed on this machine for about 19 months and as of yet I have not had any problems of any kind or type.  There have been no crashes, freeze up, or need for system restore.  It runs just fine.  

Credentials.  A, A+, MCSE, MCDST.    

Answer 10

I'm personally not a fan of Vista or any other Microsoft OS for that matter.

You could do 1 of two things.

1. Buy a Mac. It is stable, fast and elegantly designed. It has a Unix OS under the hood, so viruses, stability and speed won't be a real issue.

2. Buy your cheaper windows based laptop and put Linux on it. It is a Unix clone that is fast, stable and secure. Additionally, it has hundreds of free programs available - some of which are also available for Mac and Windows. With a desktop like KDE, you might also find it very easy to use.

In any case, you are going to have a learning curve.