Is anyone using Vista?

[Simcfc73]

As said previously, I'll be waiting till I get a 2008 server up and running and will probably wait till 2008 sp1 before I roll any Vista clients out.

[torledo]

XP gets support till 2012. Windows7 is scheduled for 2010. Windows7 is most likely modular, therefore lower spec and certainly supported by 2008 server.

Evidence mounting: Windows 7 going modular, subscription

so we may just be able to skip vista.

 

Does that mean that it won't be based on the codebase of the NT lineage like their previous releases ? Or if it's from the ground up new i doubt they'd get anything out of the door by 2010. That's gives them up to 2.5 years - absolutely no chance. Plus the 'evidence' appears to be what people have seen in Server 2008 and Vista, i don't think anyone outside of redmond has a clue what stage they're at.

 

Anyway i thought MS idea of a modular OS was to split it into 7 different versions (or is that 8 i have no idea how many Vista's you can buy)

 

i'm actually hoping i can skip Windows altogether, hopefully by the time it's released i won't be doing Windows desktop support anymore. So i don't have to look at Windows 7 from a professiional point of view. More out of curioisty. Will probably still be exposed to Windows Server in some capacity, but i think server 2008 will be going strong for another 4 years atleast, i don't think they'll be in a rush to replace it.

Edited March 27, 2008 by torledo

[CyberNerd]

Does that mean that it won't be based on the codebase of the NT lineage like their previous releases ? Or if it's from the ground up new i doubt they'd get anything out of the door by 2010. That's gives them up to 2.5 years - absolutely no chance. Plus the 'evidence' appears to be what people have seen in Server 2008 and Vista, i don't think anyone outside of redmond has a clue what stage they're at.

 

I'm guessing as much as anyone else, but it is looking more and more like with every version MS are getting closer to building a clone of *nix, so making it modular wouldn't be a suprise.

Also consider that they are loosing a large revenue stream with small devices as more companies (asus,nokia, hp etc) start bringing their small devices to linux. Vista won't run on these things and the world is looking for lower powered devices so there are a lot of reasons for MS to go 'modular' - also the software as service (remember winfs?) to catchup with googles apps.

[Guest PatBoland]

@ Dos_Box

 

Laptops kept as default out-of-the-box setups, a fair bit of manual setup and as I am the only one here on site, a lot of work. I had to try it as we are in the process of a New Build for next February - complete new network and hardware from scratch. So all ideas are been trialled at present. We are leaning towards RM CC4 so may be guided by RM as to XP vs Vista. I am running NT4, Win 98, Viglen with some 2000pro and XP thrown in at present.

 

I have a test Server2k3 Domain running and although GP's etc is very good with an ICT staff of one (me) the RM deal may be better from a day to day management point of few especially as we get near to zero input from the Curriculum side as to what they require. So give them a package!!

[Benzini00]

Hi all,

 

In July 2007 after 4 months of testing, packaging software and creating new GPO's we deployed Vista Enterprise and Office 2007 to around 200 desktops using Windows 2003 Server, KMS, WDS and BDD.

 

We transitioned from Windows 2000 & Office 2000, there were a few small issues but nothing that we couldn't rectify with a macro, script or registry tweak. We opted for a PXE Boot 'lite touch' installation, we may move towards a 'zero touch' in the future.

 

All in all it was a smooth deployment, user acceptance has been high with many users not even being phased by the new look and feel of Vista & Office 2007, something we flagged up as a potential risk in the planning stages.

 

A few weeks after deployment, having had very little feedback or helpdesk calls, we started to approach users to find out how they were getting on, pretty much every user looked at us with a puzzled expression and replied 'fine, why?' or 'ok thanks'

 

If anyone wants to know anything specific about our deployment I'd be happy to post replies here ...

 

Cheers

 

Ben

Edited April 29, 2008 by Benzini00

[Dos_Box]

Therein lies the rub. You moved from Windows 2000. Most of us here are on XP, and Vista so far offers nothing that we would even consider worth the effort. Even WDS is far more convoluted than RIS, and even WDS running natively removes the ease of use the RIS could deploy an OS.

[Benzini00]

Hi Dos_Box,

 

We kept legacy RIS functionality in our WDS as this was how we deployed W2K and we were still deploying it during the planning and implementation of Vista, but to be honest with you I dont miss RIS or RipRep, I did at first but now I've got use to the extra functionality of WDS & ImageX and the flexibility of the images it creates I find ImageX saves alot of time during the build process.

 

I agree with your comment that the transtition from XP to Vista isn't that attractive though! ...

 

Cheers

 

Ben

[zag]

Not going to touch vista for a while yet!

 

Our network is about stability and speed. I don't want to compromise that for the sake of being a version junkie.

[jkuzo]

We have been testing Vista out on about 200 computer this year with very limited problems which have been resolved quickly. Most teachers and students like Vista more than XP and without a doubt like Office 07 more than 03. Many people dismiss Vista talking about incompatibility, but I have found software is more compatible with Vista than XP. You may have to change to compatibility mode on the installer, but after that the apps run flawlessly. We will be deploying Vista to to 3000 computers this summer and already have a 08 server in place. If you put in the work to learn about deployment with Vista its not that bad. Many school districts would rather dismiss it without fully evaluating it or reading rumors. If you have the proper knowledge in your staff its a fairly seamless transfer. It should come down to your students experience on the newest technology and not down to the IT staffs lack of wanting to learn something new. We use Altiris Deployment Server for all our deployments with "zero touch". Edited May 15, 2008 by jkuzo

[zag]

We have been testing Vista out on about 200 computer this year with very limited problems which have been resolved quickly. Most teachers and students like Vista more than XP and without a doubt like Office 07 more than 03. Many people dismiss Vista talking about incompatibility, but I have found software is more compatible with Vista than XP. You may have to change to compatibility mode on the installer, but after that the apps run flawlessly. We will be deploying Vista to to 3000 computers this summer and already have a 08 server in place. If you put in the work to learn about deployment with Vista its not that bad. Many school districts would rather dismiss it without fully evaluating it or reading rumors. If you have the proper knowledge in your staff its a fairly seamless transfer. It should come down to your students experience on the newest technology and not down to the IT staffs lack of wanting to learn something new. We use Altiris Deployment Server for all our deployments with "zero touch".

 

So what's better about vista over XP? I guess what I'm asking is what is your motivation for doing the upgrade so early in the release cycle.

 

I have yet to see a case other than bitlocker, glass windows and "its the future" arguments for its introduction.

[enjay]

So what's better about vista over XP? I guess what I'm asking is what is your motivation for doing the upgrade so early in the release cycle.

 

I have yet to see a case other than bitlocker, glass windows and "its the future" arguments for its introduction.

 

The ability to put tags on files is another plus point, as is the more friendly way of transferring files, e.g. merging two folders with the same name, offering a choice of actions when duplicate filenames are found, and so on. Hardly reasons to migrate, but they are nice features.

 

My Vista computers draw less power too - not sure if that is a Vista/XP question or just newer hardware though.

[jkuzo]

Our main drive behind deploying this summer is we are on a four year computer refresh and this summer is when all teacher laptops are replaced. If we don't make the move now, it will be too difficult to make the move in the next four years since we will have to work with each teacher to image their laptops. Now that I'm working with Vista for over a year, when I have to work on an XP computer it just feels dated.

[torledo]

@jkuzo, benzini

 

thanks for sharing your experiences - very interesting reading.

 

Ben, you guys transitioned to Vista quite early on, did moving pre-SP1 mean that your user base experienced the slow/inconsistent networking copying associated with vista....and were you also on a hardware refresh cycle like jkuzo ?

 

I think jkuzo you hit the nail on the head about IT teams retinence to learn and tacke Vista depoyment....people on here are nothing if not willing and able about trialling new things, but because of all the other duties we have to undertake it does feel a bit like 'here we go again' when it comes to a new os and new depoyment tools techniques. One mans progress is another mans reinventing the wheel.

 

I agree that xp ooks tired...imo very tired. And while an OS is primarily about being productive, with hardware refreshes over the next couple of years vista may well be the more suitable choice.

[BlogRat]

How did you get Vista to work with SIMS? i'm having a few problems..............

[ICT_GUY]

Going to vista would be a great excuse for dumping all our old software, say around 70% of it, also I guess our computer suite would have to be upgraded. 4.4gig celerons with 512 ram is not going to give people the vista experience.

 

Server 2008 all round though, and probably the 64bit versions at that.

[PeterW]

My Vista computers draw less power too - not sure if that is a Vista/XP question or just newer hardware though.

 

This is most likley down to the newer hardware.

[enjay]

How did you get Vista to work with SIMS? i'm having a few problems..............

I just installed it, and there it was (this is with a domain admin account, though). What issues are you having?

[BlogRat]

Every time we run SIMS it goes through a full upgrade install including asking the user if they wish to continue, do you trust this program etc, etc… it’s a bit of a pain but once it’s open it seems OK, apart from a dll error when I try to run system manager.

[steve_nfi]

Definitely not going down the Vista route. Perhaps you should explain to the powers that be how unstable it is (a bit more forcefully if you have already tried).

[DSapseid]

Every time we run SIMS it goes through a full upgrade install including asking the user if they wish to continue, do you trust this program etc

 

This sounds like the installation has failed, have you tried running the SIMSAplication setup again? Also have you turned UAC off?

 

apart from a dll error when I try to run system manager.

 

I had this and was sent a fix by our lea or capita i cant remeber which now. Just a small applicatino that takes about 10 secs to install can email it to you if you like.

[BlogRat]

The SYSADMIN patch worked a treat thanks. still the same problem with UAC off and SIMSapplicationsetup re-run:confused: