Mainstream Support Ends for Windows Vista - 10 April 2012

[Corrine]

From Windows Vista Microsoft Support Lifecycle, Mainstream Support for Windows Vista, SP2 ends 10 April 2012.

Note, however, that although Mainstream Support is ending for Windows Vista, Microsoft is continuing Extended Support until 11 April 2017. As illustrated in the table at the Microsoft Support Lifecycle Policy FAQ,
the differences between Mainstream Support and Extended Support result in the elimination of the following areas of support:

• Non-security hotfix support (unless an extended hotfix agreement purchased within 90 days of mainstream support ending)
• No-charge incident support
• Warranty claims
• Design changes and feature requests

 

[jcgriff2]

I was a big fan of Vista - loved it compared to XP.

But.. then came Windows 7 and I upgraded all systems here.

 

[usasma]

I worked as a consultant at Microsoft around the time that Vista came out.
I got it to run effectively on 512 mB of RAM (with assistance from Microsoft folks) on my old Toshiba M45 laptop.

Vista was an amazing OS. But it combined so many needed changes that it overwhelmed users.

And people bad-mouthed it because their old printer wasn't compatible (that's the fault of the printer manufacturer, not Microsoft).
Chris Pirillo - a "used to be famous" internet writer (Lockergnome) was one of these. Notice that you don't hear much from him anymore?

Cable companies refused to upgrade their hardware to cope with the DHCP Broadcast Flag - and refused to support Vista systems on their networks (even though the "fix" was a simple 2 line registry edit for each network adapter).
I fixed this one locally. Happened to find the fix while at MVP Summit and called a friend at the cable company and gave him the KB number of the fix.

 

[Corrine]

And people bad-mouthed it because their old printer wasn't compatible (that's the fault of the printer manufacturer, not Microsoft).

What people didn't realize was that in many cases the hardware vendors intentionally didn't update drivers to be compatible with Windows Vista for old products because they wanted to obsolete the product. This for two reasons -- it is costly to provide support for a large number of products but the main reason was because they too are in business to make money, which comes from selling new products.

 

[usasma]

Yep, we sold a bunch of new printers when Vista came out.

Another story, had a guy promise to buy a new (Vista) system if we could get his WFW 3.11 version of Omar Sharif Bridge to work in Vista. I used compatibility mode for Win95 and it sold him! Then he had to buy a new printer anyway!

 

[jcgriff2]

I'm lucky - Cannon 4100 works fine under W7 SP1 x64 - even with 2007 Vista drivers.

 

[Ninjaboi]

I personally prefered Windows XP over Vista when it first came out. Originally this was due to performance issues with Vista, but the first Service Pack corrected that issue. However, I didn't like some of the interface changes that just seemed to make things more tedious than they needed to be.

In my mind: Windows 7 > Windows XP > Windows Vista.

I still run XP at my house because I have lots of memories with it. My first OS was Windows 2000 to own personally, but I was able to see XP develop into a very senior and well-structered environment that to this day I feel wins me. The vast new technology that Windows 7 supports along with the many other hardware and software advantages that it utilizes makes it the better OS to me.

 

[AceInfinity]

I would agree with Ninjaboi, I never really found anything wrong with Vista, other than small things like the obvious missing "Videos" link in the start menu, and a couple other very minute aspects of the OS that I didn't like, but it's not at all as bad as people have been saying about it everywhere. Lots of people just download all possible Windows updates and do whatever they want with their system from a lack of understanding with their computer knowledge at the time, along with programs, etc... I don't think Vista does well when it's in a bulky state, but otherwise not having SP1 I too noticed was worse than when the system was running with it installed.

Those are all Windows updates though, what I do when I first install an OS, is run Windows updates and get all that I can installed for the important ones, reboot, install basic programs, reboot, install whatever new Windows updates show from downloading the first pack of updates as well as the ones that show up with the programs installed (for example MS Office, etc) and keep doing that until whatever programs are needed are installed, and updates as well. Then start using the system, after creating whatever backup disks or repair disks need to be created.

I've had and used virtually every last Windows version since Windows 3.1 -> 95, 98, 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7. Now there's about 7 computers in my house including one that i'm fixing for a friend to take on vacation the end of this month. All in the range of 2000, XP, Vista, and Windows 7, including a Macbook.

I'm glad that i'll still have support for the 4 Windows 7 Computers in this house though lol come April 10, 2012 :grin1:

 

[jcgriff2]

I learned under Vista, then went back and fought my way through XP - didn't care for it much.

I'm a huge fan of NT6 and its UAC and virtualization.

 

[JMH]

Purchased new laptops {4GB RAM, new printers, new router & peripherals} with Vista Ultimate 64-bit, pre SP1.
No problems encountered whatsoever.

In my opinion most of the problems were caused by people trying to run Vista on inadequate hardware.

Loved Vista. It is/was a jolly good OS.

Subsequently purchased new lappies with Win 7 Ultimate 64-bit.

 

[zigzag3143]

Anecdotal evidence aside. I had a horrendous experience and it is what got me into looking at BSOD's, so I guess something positive came out of it.

 

[Corrine]

In my opinion most of the problems were caused by people trying to run Vista on inadequate hardware.

I agree wholeheartedly.

 

[JMH]

I agree wholeheartedly.

Unfortunately the vocal minority, who complained loud & long, were listened to.

 

[JMH]

Were you a fan of Windows Vista?

Windows Vista represented one of the largest changes to Windows Microsoft ever undertook, both in terms of features and interface, however the end result was less than desirable. The new Aero interface did look great at the time, but it required many people still using older Windows XP machines to upgrade their PCs to experience it, and driver and compatibility issues plagued those who merely upgraded to the new OS.

http://www.neowin.net/news/weekend-...&utm_campaign=Feed:+neowin-main+(Neowin+News)

 

[zigzag3143]

It does seem like an excuse. On win 7 people have run it in woefully inadequate hardware (Doc Brown @SF in 512 Ram), and have jumped from XP to win 7 to avoid Vista's pitfalls. Most exist on win 7 gracefully.

For what ever the reason. Vista thank goodness is fading into the sunset.

 

[Temmu]

i, for one, am ever so glad to see vista go.
vista is the "me" (messed-up edition) of the nt os branch.
win 7 is 1/2 the code-base of vista (and rightfully so.)

yet, i have friends who still run vista and have never had a bit of trouble with it.

 

[Laxer]

The biggest issue I had with vista was that it didn't come 'out of the box ready'

Worked well after lots of tweaks. yet, many do not want to spend that time.

FWIW, I used XP up until I upgraded my personal computer to W7

 

[GZ]

I do have an affinity for the Vista Aero style... It had a bit of character IMHO.

 

[LilBambi]

I love Windows 7 Ultimate. It is awesome!

I loved XP Pro, and Win2K and WinNT as well (it was solid! I used it in a corporate environ).

And back in the day, Win98SE was better than sliced bread.

I even loved Win 3.1.1/WFW!

I wouldn't run any of those today, except in a non connected environment. But it doesn't diminish how great they were for the day.

Vista and WinME were not my favorite OSes. Out of all the OSes Microsoft did these are the ONLY two I was disappointed in. Still a pretty darn good track record, I think.