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Thread: New Windows Vista: Do you have to buy or can it be downloaded for free?

  1. #1
    Member farmall806's Avatar
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    New Windows Vista: Do you have to buy or can it be downloaded for free?

    Hi:

    I see that Microsoft is releasing the new Windows Vista operating system later this afternoon. If you have XP , and want to upgrade to the new Vista, can you download the new operating system for free, or do you have to buy it?

    Thanks,

  2. #2
    Member yokes's Avatar
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    Depends. If you purchased a new computer over the last few months, depending on the manufacturer you may be able to upgrade for free. Otherwise you would have to purchase the upgrade.

  3. #3
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    And it's priced to be more expensive that Windows XP.

    But here's something I read in BusinessWeek makes me real reluctant to upgrade to Vista (leaving aside the obvious "why would a computer moron like me need an upgrade at all?): Vista will only let you load it twice.

    I'm not talking about loading on multiple computers at the same time. But if you have to re-install your operating system more than twice, you'd have to buy a new package.

    Until the last four years, that wouldn't have seemed like a big deal. But I 've had to buy two laptops over the past years because the first one died. And the first died after I tried to nurse it along by re-installing all software once and then again after the hard drive stopped working.

    Four OS installations in four years. So Vista would have cost me $400 to $600 for a new package.
    Truth springs from argument among friends.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by farmall806
    Hi:

    I see that Microsoft is releasing the new Windows Vista operating system later this afternoon. If you have XP , and want to upgrade to the new Vista, can you download the new operating system for free, or do you have to buy it?

    Thanks,
    You are joking of course????

    When they release a new product, one not in BEta, you of course have to pay for it.

    Micheal

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    Quote Originally Posted by biker
    And it's priced to be more expensive that Windows XP.

    But here's something I read in BusinessWeek makes me real reluctant to upgrade to Vista (leaving aside the obvious "why would a computer moron like me need an upgrade at all?): Vista will only let you load it twice.

    I'm not talking about loading on multiple computers at the same time. But if you have to re-install your operating system more than twice, you'd have to buy a new package.

    Until the last four years, that wouldn't have seemed like a big deal. But I 've had to buy two laptops over the past years because the first one died. And the first died after I tried to nurse it along by re-installing all software once and then again after the hard drive stopped working.

    Four OS installations in four years. So Vista would have cost me $400 to $600 for a new package.
    XP had the same restriction. If you had to reinstall it more than once, you had to call an 800 number where they would give you a new key that was good for that installation. I did it several times, it was painless.

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    Quote Originally Posted by yaksplat
    XP had the same restriction. If you had to reinstall it more than once, you had to call an 800 number where they would give you a new key that was good for that installation. I did it several times, it was painless.
    If that's all it is, then it's no big deal. This guy seemed to think that it'd only be good for two installations, period.

    Although this was back in Oct/Nov and he said it was such a departure from the past that it might get fixed.
    Truth springs from argument among friends.

  7. #7
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    Yokes / Yaksplat:

    You both seem like you know what you're talking about.

    So, put it to us in plain english:

    Why should a computer moron like Biker upgrade? Is there any real benefit for morons?

  8. #8
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    no reason to bother with vista for the average user

    I am in absolutely no hurry to upgrade any of our systems to vista. There are far too many negatives, and very few positives, even for a technophile like myself.

    It will be at least a year, likely more before I adopt vista for mainstream use (e.g. aside from testing purposes, etc).

    One of the things I most dislike about vista is that right now you must have a previous MS operating system installed before loading vista.

    Think disaster recovery. How many times have you needed to completely reload your computer, be it from virus/spyware infestation, or whatever your reason... This means that the person performing the disaster recovery will first have to load XP, for example, onto the system being restored before installing vista. This might not seem like a big deal, but when you're talking about time on a grand scale this is going to add up to a lot more time (and money) spent on computer maintenance for the average user.

    Sure, they tell us vista will be more secure and stable and won't need to be reloaded as often, but we all know their track record in this area.

    Then there's the DRM (digital rights management) issues I'm not too fond of. I don't like the idea that MS can "lock" my office files (*my files* on *my system*) if they deem, at any time, that my copy of Office is not legitimate.

    It's not that I have anything to hide, but seeing how many false positives their "Genuine Advantage" fiasco has turned up, I cannot accept the risk of them arbitrarily locking my data, at the filesystem level.

    I could go on and on...but it's all been said before, by people more knowledgable than myself.

    The moral of the story is that if you're the average joe or jane, I believe that you should stick with XP.

  9. #9
    Member speaker's Avatar
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    I've reading up on this and all I can make out is that there's a stronger security system and the start up is somewhat different. Better search system. Better virtual folders. Nicer desktop.
    I'm glad to know of the drawbacks.
    I wish Microsoft would get that patch for word, though. A word document sent as an email attachment can have a trojan horse in it, so be careful. Why are they not making that patch available, because of Vista?

  10. #10
    Member yokes's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by therising
    Yokes / Yaksplat:

    You both seem like you know what you're talking about.

    So, put it to us in plain english:

    Why should a computer moron like Biker upgrade? Is there any real benefit for morons?
    Depends really, for the average user XP is fine. Vista is a resource hog, will most likely require some sort of computer updates before use. I plan to update my newest computer simply because its a free upgrade.


    There will be some neet multimedia and digital home features in Vista, however I wouldnt run out and upgrade just for the sake of it.

  11. #11
    Member 300miles's Avatar
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    I held off getting a new computer until Vista came out so I wouldn't have to deal with any upgrade. I wanted everything pre-installed. Still not sure what computer to get yet though. My ancient desktop running win98 has held up well all these years! But it's about time to retire it...

    adding to what Yokes was talking about, I've heard the cool graphics included with Vista require a good graphics card and lots of memory (at least 1 gig). If you don't have that, it will display graphics similar to XP.

    The service pack (bug fixes...) for Vista is already scheduled for Summer 2007. So if you don't have an immediate need to upgrade now then you may as well wait for the Service Pack.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by therising
    Yokes / Yaksplat:

    You both seem like you know what you're talking about.

    So, put it to us in plain english:

    Why should a computer moron like Biker upgrade? Is there any real benefit for morons?
    Moron!!!

    How dare you call me a moron!!???

    I think you ought to be banned for a year or two for that.

    Where do you get off calling anyone else a moron.??
    Truth springs from argument among friends.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by GeorgeB
    I am in absolutely no hurry to upgrade any of our systems to vista. There are far too many negatives, and very few positives, even for a technophile like myself.

    It will be at least a year, likely more before I adopt vista for mainstream use (e.g. aside from testing purposes, etc).

    One of the things I most dislike about vista is that right now you must have a previous MS operating system installed before loading vista.

    Think disaster recovery. How many times have you needed to completely reload your computer, be it from virus/spyware infestation, or whatever your reason... This means that the person performing the disaster recovery will first have to load XP, for example, onto the system being restored before installing vista. This might not seem like a big deal, but when you're talking about time on a grand scale this is going to add up to a lot more time (and money) spent on computer maintenance for the average user.

    Sure, they tell us vista will be more secure and stable and won't need to be reloaded as often, but we all know their track record in this area.

    Then there's the DRM (digital rights management) issues I'm not too fond of. I don't like the idea that MS can "lock" my office files (*my files* on *my system*) if they deem, at any time, that my copy of Office is not legitimate.

    It's not that I have anything to hide, but seeing how many false positives their "Genuine Advantage" fiasco has turned up, I cannot accept the risk of them arbitrarily locking my data, at the filesystem level.

    I could go on and on...but it's all been said before, by people more knowledgable than myself.

    The moral of the story is that if you're the average joe or jane, I believe that you should stick with XP.
    Thanks for getting to the bottom line, GeorgeB.

    It's helps those of us who have vast intelligence in other areas.

    And morons like therising.
    Truth springs from argument among friends.

  14. #14
    Tony Fracasso - Admin
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    I have vista installed on a new demo computer. 2 gigs ram , Intel duo core 2 , 7500 265 meg Nvidia card and a 160 gig barracuda hard drive. IT just doesn't do a thing for me. The calaboration stuff may help businesses but as a home user XP seems fine.

  15. #15
    Member farmall806's Avatar
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    2 gigs of ram?? WOW!!!!!

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