Vista vs Linux

Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols (DesktopLinux.com) has written a review of him comparing Vista to Linux, on a step-by-step basis from install up.

You can read his whole review here. However, what you should definitely read, is page 3.

Steven came across big problems with Vista relating to hardware support, such as buggy drivers with missing features, and certain common hardware not being supported. It also sounds like Microsoft has been understating the true system requirements to run vista, and there are some interesting stats in the article.

I fail to see how Microsoft can claim that Vista is ready for people to use, when there is a lack of driver support and missing driver features – it all shows signs of being rushed out of the door – and I wonder what else got rushed – security testing perhaps?

What scares me even more are certain big organisations who are starting to role out Vista installations on a big scale, when the software is so new. It is also unfortunate that Dell has stopped offering WinXP on their desktops, consider that lots of people will still want XP for another year or two at least.

However, I feel the best bit in the article was “When I switched back to Vista, I tried to play Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot CD. Whoops! Not a single sound emerged from my speakers. After a little investigation, I found that Vista disables media outputs that don’t incorporate DRM, when you try to play DRM protected media through them.”.

Vista certainly does deliver on the “WOW” experience. The “WOW, this really sucks” experience.