How I escaped from Windows Vista

I have a new/old laptop computer and I love it -- finally -- because I dumped Microsoft Windows Vista.

In June 2007 I got a new Lenovo ThinkPad T61 with Windows Vista. I expected to be thrilled with my new laptop, but instead, it was horrible. Whatever I tried to do, the new computer fought me -- and usually, it won. By "do" I mean basic stuff: save a file, connect to my office network and the Internet, turn on, turn off, copy some files. It's MY computer -- shouldn't I be allowed to do these things? Nope, not without lots of effort, wasted time, and sometimes, complete failure.

I've been a devoted ThinkPad user since IBM invented it in the early '90s. Among other reasons, I can't stand using a laptop that doesn't have a TrackPoint, the pointing-stick IBM invented for the original ThinkPad. Because the TrackPoint keeps my hands on the keyboard, I can work twice as fast on a ThinkPad than on a computer that has a touchpad or mouse.

On paper, the T61 is the best ThinkPad ever, so I bought two directly from Lenovo (they have much better selection than the few ThinkPad models carried in stores). They were to replace my trusty ThinkPad X41, one of the last models from IBM before it sold the entire IBM PC Company to Lenovo, and my business partner/wife's ThinkPad X31.

We use our computers to run our business, so they must do what we need. Reliability and support are majors reason we buy ThinkPads. But what we had in our hands weren't powerful new laptops -- they were barely usable for much of anything.

After running out of colorful names to yell at the ThinkPad, and deciding that an axe isn't a suitable "repair" tool, I focused on the real problem: the new operating system known as Microsoft Windows Vista. Every problem with my T61 did NOT exist with my X41 or my wife's X31, and the glaring difference was Windows.

So I called Lenovo. The tech support guy quickly confirmed that Vista could cause all my problems (and more), and said for $50 I could get the CDs to convert a ThinkPad to be exactly as if it had Windows XP in the first place. Sold!

It took about two days to convert my X41 from Vista to XP, including a few hours to make a backup of all the data files I cared about, then a few hours to feed in the new CDs and configure Windows XP, then a few more hours to reinstall all the software I use and restore my data files.

It was not a trivial task. But the result is WONDERFUL. I now have the new laptop I thought I would have last June -- six months later!

Ironically, I was already committed to dumping Vista when it tossed me yet another problem -- that could have prevented me from making the switch! I tried to use Windows Vista's built-in backup software to copy my key files to another computer on my home network, since installing XP would reformat the hard drive. Vista refused, saying the other computer was running Windows XP Home edition and therefore was not an acceptable place for me to save my backup. Excuse me, these are my files, I'm trying to save them on my computer, and Microsoft won't allow this?

I greeted this absurd limitation with more colorful language directed at the brain-trust at Microsoft who created Windows Vista, perhaps because they were born too late to build the Titanic. Fortunately, Lenovo includes its Rescue & Recovery software on every ThinkPad, and it had no problems letting me backup my files as I pleased.

After two months of living with my improved T61, I converted my wife's; it seemed prudent to make sure my experience was worthwhile. Finally back on XP, she can now connect to our home and office networks, print to our network printers, and not run out of memory when working in Microsoft Office.

You might be thinking, did I "give Vista a chance"? To do what? I've used it for many months on an HP desktop (more below) and Lenovo ThinkPad. So I know how Vista works and where it is an improvement over XP. But an operating system that fights me, that literally refuses to do things I need it to do -- after six months of trying Microsoft's patches and "fixes" -- that's not software I'm willing to keep using. Your experience with Windows Vista might be different, but now that I'm free at last, I can't think of one single important benefit I "lost" by ditching Vista -- not one.

During my Windows Vista trial-by-fire, I had already turned off the silly and performance-robbing spinning screens and other goofy Macintosh-wannabe "features" of Vista. I turned off User Access Control after Vista asked me more than 300 times in a row if I really wanted to move some files on my computer. I had gotten used to my most-powerful-ever computer running slower than my older computers.

But I didn't get used to not being able to save files to folders I created on my own hard drive because Vista said I didn't have sufficient "rights". And Vista's habit of rejecting my wired and wireless network connections -- sometimes for days -- was intolerable. (Searching Microsoft.com for help with this problem, the solution is "buy a new router" -- even though my current router works perfectly fine with Windows XP!)

What is there about Windows Vista to like or "need"?

Oh, there are a few nice touches in Vista, but Microsoft overlooked many opportunities to make it really better than XP, which itself is far from ideal. Fortunately, weak areas of Windows can be bypassed by using add-on products from other companies -- most of them free. I'll share my favorites in another blog post.

I've been using computers since the '70s, so the novelty has worn off. A computer is a tool to get work done and to access entertainment, but I don't need a PC to have a "fun" operating system. Vista's desperate attempt to be cool is anything but. People who love spinning screens are advised to buy a Mac.

The pain is all behind me now -- I'm back to Windows XP and hope to not give Vista another thought, forever if possible. But Microsoft's market clout seems to be forcing computer makers to provide only Vista to unsuspecting users; apparently, XP is not available for "consumer" PCs after 2007, and for business PCs after mid-2008. If ever there was a reason for Linux, it is to avoid Windows Vista.

But, there might be good news, eventually. Around the first of the year, USAToday published a short interview with Bill Gates, and when asked about Vista he said Microsoft will be applying lessons learned to the next version of Windows. I read this as, Vista is a dud that Microsoft hopes to replace sooner rather than later. We'll see...

I still have some bad news, spelled HP. I also have an HP Pavilion a1750y desktop PC that came with Windows Vista, and with the same usability problems. But unlike Lenovo, HP does not offer discs to switch the PC back to Windows XP. Even if I bought a copy of Windows XP to install, HP does not provide hardware drivers to run this computer with XP. Even the ATI x1700 video card seems to be Vista-only from HP, and apparently ATI doesn't support it at all (another brand to avoid).

So I'm limited to using a powerful HP computer for just the things Windows Vista allows me to do, which is not at all what I can do on my other similar HP PCs running Windows XP. Perhaps the Vista-only HP computer will become my first Suse Linux Desktop or Ubuntu Linux machine. And HP will become my ex-favorite desktop PC provider.

I'm also keeping my eyes on Microsoft, which is already talking about Windows 7, the follow-up to Vista. Why talk about the NEXT version unless the reality is, Microsoft knows Vista is a marketplace dud? (In addition to the cute names, Windows like other Microsoft products also has version numbers; Windows XP is 5.1, Vista is 6.0, the next version will be Windows 7.)

What are your experiences with Windows Vista vs. Windows XP? Please post your comments below.