Upgrading to Windows Vista

There's a certain voodoo to searching for problems. I don't expect that anyone is actually going to read this before upgrading to Vista... but here are the three problems I had.

First, make sure if you are running DaemonTools that you uninstall it first.  The Vista upgrade will force you to do this before proceeding, but sptd.sys will not be removed.  So... remove it.  It's in your Windows directory.

Next, make sure you download Vista updates for all your drivers.  I couldn't get my external monitor for my laptop to use it's native resolution.  The generic monitor driver in Vista didn't allow it.  I went to my manufacturer's website, NEC's, and download Vista drivers for the monitor.

Lastly (I hope), you might have trouble connecting to a cheaper broadband router.  Well, you'll be able to connect, but you won't get a DHCP address.  This knowledge base article should do the trick.

So, what do I think of Vista...?

I guess I don't know what all the hullabaloo has been about in the blogs and press.  Surely no one was expecting Mac OSX?  I run Ubuntu Linux too, and I don't expect it to be OSX.  In fact, I think Ubuntu's desktop experience sucks compared to Vista, but I love it as a Linux distro.  I ran Slackware in '98, and I can tell you things have REALLY changed in ten years.  And, I can tell you Vista is better than XP.  You have to take that with a grain of salt; I relish change.

Sure, you will have more trouble pirating music, but it's more secure, prettier, and cooler.

I guess that's why Vista is making Microsoft money.  Go figure.