is it just me or is vista slower than xp?

Yes Vista is slower than XP and needs more memory. Most tests comparing the performance of Vista and XP on the same machine configuration show that Vista is a pig.

Information Week magazine did some tests that show that XP is twice as fast as Vista for most apps.

Do a Google search with the keywords.

'vista xp performance tests'

You will get tons of hits on this question.

Shameless plug.....

Consider going to Linux instead of Mac. It is free and will pretty much to anything you normally do on Windows with the exception of some hard core games and you will not have to buy a new computer. You can actually run both windows and Linux as Dual Boot. Also there are a ton of apps that you can just download for Linux and you don't have to worry about viruses and all those other mean, nasty ugly things going around.

Supposedly vista self-optamizes, so it'll be a little slower at first and get faster as it learns what programs you use a lot and has those ready to go for you. This and other things Vista does take a whole Gig of ram just to run the opperating system. You'll need 2 gigs if you want to run the computer properly. It can handle 4 gigs with no problem, which XP cannot. Some places sell it with only 512 megs (1/2 a gig), and that just doesn't cut it with vista.

Also, some programs, like Norton, slow it down a lot. I hear good things about AVG, a free antivirus program. Haven't tried it yet, but I will on my new computer soon.

Did you bought or upgrade a new machine for your Vista? Or you just installed Vista from your existing XP machine? Because people always says that Vista is slow, Vista is worse where in the first place they didn't consider their hardware.

About the permission, why turn it off instead. Simple as that.

Mac is not the solution. The true use of the OS are the applications your going to use, not by popularity and rumors. Microsoft will not create Vista if it is slower and worse than XP. Only freak company will do that.

Vista was never a choice for me it looks good ,it looks attractive,it looks secure but it has tons of problems,the slow machine is because you might not have high RAM like 2,3gb,and when i mean high ram i don't mean that you might have a slow one ,but vista needs tons or ram,all i can see in windows vista is visuals which xp can be tuned to have the same look with some themes or programs,really if you can switch back to xp do it,its faster on your machine ,and don't use vista unless you have a super fast computer.

Vista does take a lot more memory but as far as the speed goes, I have not noticed a difference. You might want to see what programs you have running in the back ground which will help slow your computer. As far as the mac goes, I had an imac and hated it, got rid of it and went back to windows and am much happier. I have a better machine now then the imac, sold the mac and won't go back but what ever works for you is what you should use.

Vista is swifter, no count number if this is desperate up good. the workstation desires to be truly good with 4Gb of RAM that's adequate. I used XP for years then replaced to Vista (Vista terrific). as quickly as I learnt approximately Vista and have been given used to it i could no longer be happier, this is plenty swifter than XP. I even have been applying it because of the fact it got here out, nicely even in the previous that. I examined the RC1 and the BETA 2 variations. this is an remarkable working gadget if set up good and on the remarkable gadget. Oh it by no potential crashes the two!

microsoft will never make a latest software slower than the old one..

FASTER VISTA

FASTER MENU

1. These tweaks require that you venture into your registry, please backup your registry.

2. Go to Start > Run when the Run box opens type in regedit

3. Your registry should have opened [Just checking...have you backed up your registry?] Navigate to the following keys; HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Control Panel >Desktop

4. On the pane to the right double-click on MenuShowDelay, it should open up a dialog box with a set value (it should be 400), change that value to 0.

5. Click OK, you're done

Ditching Aero

Vista's Aero interface gives Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) Free Trial. Security Software As A Service From Webroot. Latest News about Microsoft latest consumer operating system the glitz that makes it visually appealing. Semi-transparent title bars and a more three-dimensional appearance overall are trademarks of Aero. However, Aero eats up a lot of system resources -- and takes a toll on performance as a result.

Microsoft makes turning off Aero pretty easy. First, right-click on any blank area of your Vista desktop, and select Personalize from the resulting pop-up menu. The Windows Control Panel opens. From there, click the Window Color and Appearance link. Then click the Enable Transparency check box to remove the check mark.

Before leaving the Window Color and Appearance dialog box, click the link labeled "Open classic appearance properties for more color options." That link takes you to the Appearance Settings dialog box. In Appearance Settings, you'll find a list of color schemes from which you can choose.

Three of those color schemes -- Windows Vista Basic, Windows Standard, and Windows Classic -- will remove the Aero interface. Specifically, Windows Vista Basic gives you the Vista look without the transparency effects of Aero. Windows Standard revives the Windows 2000 look, and Windows Classic is a throwback to the Windows 95/98 appearance. Switch to any one of these themes, and you should notice that Vista becomes a bit snappier overall.

Revamp Explorer

You can tweak more productivity Save up to $500 off top-selling HP printers. and performance by changing some behaviors of the Vista version of Windows Explorer, which is heavy on the glitz but has arguably taken a step backwards in usability. The first sin of Vista's Windows Explorer is that the menus are no longer visible. Get them back by opening Windows Explorer, pressing Alt-T to pull open the hidden Tools menu, and then selecting Folder Options.

From the resulting Folder Options dialog box, click the View tab, where you'll see a long list of check boxes. Place a check mark in the second one, labeled "Always show menus," and you'll get your Explorer menus back in a flash. While you're there, check the first option as well -- labeled "Always show icons, never thumbnails." That option tells Vista not to bother with showing thumbnails of images in a directory listing. If you can do without thumbnails, you'll find that Explorer works faster and crashes much less often.

Back to Start

Vista's revamped Start menu has some nifty tricks up its sleeve. The integrated Search field, for instance, makes it easy to find programs that are nested deep within the Start menu, and the integrated scroll bar offers a solution to the monitor-hogging fly out menus that plagued the earlier Start menu.

However, if you find Vista's Start menu to be overkill -- or long for the simplicity of the earlier version -- you're in luck. Right-click the Vista Start menu, and select Properties. The Taskbar and Start Menu dialog box opens. From there, select the Start Menu tab, and then click the Classic Start menu option button. Click OK, and Vista will revamp your Start menu, giving you back the old-style XP Start menu.

These tricks won't make Vista work exactly like XP does, but they go some way toward giving you back that familiar look and feel -- as well as improving the performance of Vista.

Stabilize Vista

So, you've reluctantly decided to hang in there with Vista but still prefer the XP experience? The good news is that there are things you can do to make Vista look and work a little more like XP.

Faking It

First, right-click on an empty area of the desktop and select Personalize. Click the Window Color and Appearance link, and then click Open classic appearance properties for more color options. From the list, choose Windows Vista Basic to get a quasi-XP look and feel, or Windows Classic if you prefer the utilitarian interface from Windows 2000 and 98. Either choice should also improve system performance, since the flashy (and essentially useless) transparency effects are system resource hogs.

While you're at it, you can also revert Vista's Start menu to the simpler form it took in earlier versions of Windows. Right-click the Start button, select Properties, and then choose the Classic Start menu option.

Next, if you're frustrated by the absence of drop-down menus in Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer, you can bring them back any time by pressing the Alt key. To make this change permanent in Windows Explorer, open the Organize drop-down, select Folder and Search Options, choose the View tab, and then turn on the Always show menus check box.

One of Vista's biggest problems is the Green Ribbon of Death, the harbinger of a crashed Explorer window. XP certainly has Vista beat in this area, but only because XP's Windows Explorer doesn't take on as much. To make Explorer more stable in Vista, open Folder Options in Control Panel, and choose the View tab. Select the first option here, Always show icons, never thumbnails, and click OK.

Now, if you'd rather not do away with Vista's thumbnail previews of videos and pictures, you're probably going to need to deal with the occasional crash. If the Green Ribbon rears its ugly head, just press Ctrl-Shift-Esc, then choose the Processes tab. Click the Image Name column header to sort the list alphabetically, then select an instance of Explorer.exe and click End Process to close it (repeat for each open Explorer window).

If the desktop disappears in the process, don't sweat it: From Task Manager's File menu, select New Task, type explorer in the box, and click OK to bring the desktop back. If this problem keeps happening, particularly each time you browse a specific folder, the likely culprit is a corrupt photo or video file; delete the file to stop the crashing.

This tip is just a simple way to add shortcuts to your quick launch toolbar from your desktop shortcuts.

In the past, I found that dragging and dropping these shortcuts was a pain. Lining up the shortcut just right could prove difficult. Then I found a simpler way of doing it.

Here is how it is done:

Right click on the shortcut you want to move from your desktop. Click on ‘Add to Quick Launch’. That’s it!

After, you can delete the desktop shortcut; it’ll now be in your quick launch toolbar.

FASTER BOOTUP

1st,make SURE you're running at LEAST 2 GIG'S of memory! Vista is a memory HOG !

next,cut back on the number of programs running with windows boot.

press windows key + letter R

ernter

msconfig

click startup tab

disable those programs absolutely NOT needed at start up.

things like shockwave,flash,quicktime,java,anti spyware program [ removal type,not like spyware blaster ]

use disk clean nightly if an internet junkie

clean out temp file folders [ there are 2 of them in 2 DIFFERENT places ]

clean out prefetch folder [ useless appendage ]

do a disk defrag quarterly [ more often if heavy downloader ]

install Ccleaner to clean out useless crap daily

use your keyboard to lauch the 1st 10 programs from your quick launchbar [ formerly taskbar ]

press windows key + numbers 1-0 to launch programs that way

open mouse [ from control panel ] and set speed at "Fast "