Reading sites like digg.com, it seems that people either have no problem whatsoever with Vista or have major problems (basically things going wrong) and end up trashing it on forums or downgrading to XP. I'm about to buy a Vista laptop - what are my chances of things going right and I don't end up as one of those people who trash it online as often as possible? The laptop will have 3GB and run at about 2GHz.
You will notice new laptops designed for Windows Vista don't have the problems early PCs with old drivers had. I recommend you get the newest model as possible, make an image backup, apply all Windows Updates available and then apply Windows Vista SP1 immediatelly.
If Windows Vista SP1 is not listed in Windows Update after all cuirrent updates are installed you can download it and install manually.
Also be aware of the version of Vista that is installed on the laptop. Avoid the Basic version at all costs - it's just a waste of time. Home Premium is good but cannot join a domain. Business and Ultimate are also good, except Business doesn't have some of the more entertainment oriented features such as Windows Media Center. If you can go for Ultimate then do so - I just don't understand why they have released different versions with watered down features.
Do you need to use this laptop on a domain? If not then Home Premium will be the next best for you. If you do need domain access then Buiness will be suitable. It's all a pain in the butt really but just ensure you are aware of the differences between versions before buying and you'll be fine.
As for performance, the 3GB of memory is great, Vista is memory hungry so will make good use of the 3GB. 2Ghz CPU is average, but I guess since you're off-setting that with the large amount of RAM you should have reasonably good performance across the board.
If this is a new laptop - say less than 6 months on the shelf - then you shouldn't have any problems with Vista at all. As said, download all the updates before you do anything else, including driver updates if there are any available. Be careful not to install updates you don't need like all the language packs and ultimate extras (if you have Ultimate) unless you want them.
Vista SP1 can be downloaded from here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=B0C7136D-5EBB-413B-89C9-CB3D06D12674&displaylang=en if it's not showing up in Windows Update.
I think a lot of people with Vista problems are those that have upgraded a slightly older pc from XP, or were early adopters when driver support was a bit flaky. I prefer XP because I think it's less resource-hungry, but have installed Vista on 2 or 3 newer systems and haven't had any major issues at all.
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