From ZDNet comes the article “Microsoft on Vista - the time of worry is over“. I must say I stopped worrying about Vista a long time ago, in fact I don’t think I ever did worry. I just went out and invested in the most expensive piece of technology I have ever bought - a shiny new HP laptop running Vista. Since that time I have experienced a raft of emotions, frustration and anger being the most common. I still can’t get wireless networking working reliably and I have spent a huge amount of time trying. Anyway, I did have a bit of a laugh at this latest article which reports on the Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference. There is a link to a new site called the Vista Compatibility Center. As reported in the ZDNet article:
During his keynote, Brooks took the wraps off a new portal site, the Windows Vista Compatibility Center, that is designed to provide users with a single place to check whether specific hardware and software is compatible with Vista. The site currently lists 9,000 devices and software products (3,500 apps and 5,500 devices) — a number that Microsoft is planning to expand via customer and partner feedback. The site will be all about helping to “bust the myth” that Windows Vista is not compatible with many apps and devices, Brooks said.
When you go to the site you get a page with the headline “The Windows Vista Compatibility Center will be launching soon, please check back.” With my odd way of looking at things I immediately thought perhaps there are no compatible devices yet!
Anyway - I applaud the initiative, there should be more of these. I wish there was a site like this available when I made my purchase. I will certainly be looking for similar sites when I make future purchases, it could save a lot of frustration and dissatisfaction. Over the last number of months I have been frustrated at hardware, software, security vendors and pretty much anything else that was bundled on this laptop that had the potential to be interfering with wireless networking. Most of those companies probably had nothing to do with the networking fault but it has still tarnished my opinion of them. I can’t wait to see if I have one of the compatible devices!
2 Comments
I have been reading a fair bit recently regarding Vista not being compatible with this and that, Vista being buggy, Vista bad, Vista bad………You get the picture.
What I find interesting is that in January this year I purchased a HP Compaq 6710b with Vista Business and have so far managed to install all but 1 of my XP compatible 3rd party software (approx 40) from the previously downloaded files. Most of this software is open source and some of it also advises that it may not be compatible with Vista.
My wireless networking at home worked out of the box and at work (with the install of security certificate) works perfectly.
Don’t get me wrong I am not a happy supporter of Microsoft, particularly the license fees charged to schools to use their products, but I do find it interesting with the inconsistencies with software, hardware, etc compatibility that people experience. One person does, one person doesn’t.
Maybe I should by a lottery ticket.
Hi Darren,
I agree with everything you are saying - at work Vista machines work great over the wireless network. At home I recently bought a cheap no-brand PC for the kids and put XP on it - everything, including the wireless networking worked out of the box. I don’t know what is causing the problems I have with my Vista laptop but I do know I am not alone and there are heaps of frustrated owners of laptops especially that just cannot get their wireless connections working reliably.
Maybe you should by a lottery ticket
Post a Comment