DART Vista Support Plans

None of the DART products run on Windows Vista® yet but we are working on it. Our intention is to have the support as soon as possible but we have encountered technical problems that will require fixes from MicroSoft. We have no idea when they will appear.

The products that support Vista will be new releases and require an upgrade and fee as is what all other software vendors are doing. Once the products are ready we will announce their availability.

In the mean time we make some suggestions about moving to Vista. If you have an older system do not even try it! Stay with Windows XP or move to it. If you are buying a new computer ask them to install Windows XP instead of Vista. Or if you are determined to have Vista we strongly suggest you ask them to install Windows XP and Vista in dual boot mode so you can run on either system anytime. It's best to do this with two different hard drives, one for XP and the other for Vista. This is what we have done for our own work.

In general the problem areas in Vista are compatibility, reliability, and performance. As far as we can tell no software that runs on Windows XP can be used on Windows Vista. New software is needed for Vista. Vista still exhibits instability. It can freeze and lock up or programs will just quit for no reason. Finally, the system is noticeably slower. It is a massive piece of software that requires unusual amounts of system resources - meaning CPU, memory and disk space.

For DART the issues are Sound Card support (mostly audio capture) and CD/DVD device support. Both areas are completely incompatible with previous versions of Windows and require new software. Our CD/DVD drivers are provided by a third party who specialize in this work and they are having as much trouble as we have had moving their libraries to Vista. They too are not sure when they will be done.

Having said all this it is still our intention to provide support for Vista. Most computer experts predict that eventually Vista will be made to work. Microsoft is very determined to move all users to Vista but it might take awhile and several service packs before that is accomplished. In the mean time Windows XP works well and is expected to be improved with the release of Service Pack 3 due sometime in 2008. This system could be around for many years we suspect or until Vista is at least as good.

Several articles have been written about the Vista issues and we list some of them below. They are worth reading so that you can understand better what the Vista issues are. We will add to the list as articles appear.

PC World: Technology Advice You Can Trust

The 15 Biggest Tech Disappointments of 2007

These much-ballyhooed products, sites, and services, it turned out, left much to be desired.

Dan Tynan

Sunday, December 16, 2007 10:00 PM PST

#1. No Wow, No How: Windows Vista

Five years in the making and this is the best Microsoft could do?

It's not that Vista is awful. The integrated security and parental controls are nice, and the Aero interface is as whizzy as it gets. Searching and wireless networking are much faster and easier than under XP.

It's just that Vista isn't all that good. Many of the innovations the operating system was supposed to bring--like more efficient file and communications systems--got tossed overboard as Microsoft struggled to get the OS out the door, some three years after it was first promised. Despite its hefty hardware requirements, Vista is slower than XP.

When it debuted last January, incompatibilities were rampant--in part because hardware and software makers didn't feel any urgency to revamp their products to work with the new OS. The user account controls that were supposed to make users feel safer just made them feel irritated. And at $399 ($299 upgrade) for Windows Ultimate, we couldn't help feeling more than a little gouged.

No wonder so many users are clinging to XP like shipwrecked sailors to a life raft, while others who made the upgrade are switching back. And when the fastest Vista notebook PC World has ever tested is an Apple MacBook Pro, there's something deeply wrong with the universe.

We have no doubt Vista will come to dominate the PC landscape, if only because it will become increasingly hard to buy a new machine that doesn't have it pre-installed. And that's disappointing in its own right.

PC World contributing editor Dan Tynan used to be disappointed, now he tries to be bemused.


Other Artcles on Windows Vista

  1. A third of new PCs being downgraded to XP
  2. Dell: We'll install XP for you, even after the deadline
  3. Ballmer: You want XP, we'll keep XP
  4. Windows XP Availability
  5. Windows XP or Vista
  6. Windows 7 will Deliver Next Year
  7. Save XP Petition
  8. Despite SP1, Vista is still slower than XP
  9. Microsoft Extends XP Through 2010
  10. Was Vista DOA?
  11. The Vista Death Watch
  12. It's Time for a Vista Do-Over
  13. Reasons not to buy Windows Vista
  14. Windows VISTA SUCKS Horribly vs XP
  15. The Vista Irrelevancy
  16. Survey: 30% Of Businesses Have No Plans To Upgrade To Windows Vista
  17. Windows Vista Annoyances
  18. When Will Vista Fizzle?
  19. Dell brings back XP on home systems
  20. Can the Vista Problems Be Solved?
  21. Windows Vista vs. Windows XP
  22. Windows XP: Still the One
  23. Early Tests Say SP3 Speeds Windows XP
  24. The XP alternative for Vista PCs
  25. Microsoft to simplify downgrades from Vista to XP
  26. PC users still prefer Windows to Vista
  27. Vista's Flash for the Rest of Us
  28. Windows XP outshines Vista in benchmarking test
  29. Can your computer run Windows Vista?
  30. WINDOWS VISTA SUCKS! OMFG!
  31. Consumers have rights
  32. Wait! Don't Buy Microsoft Windows Vista
  33. Businesses continue to avoid Vista
  34. How to dual-boot Vista with XP
  35. Dual-Booting Win XP and Vista
  36. Annoyance Buster: Make Vista's User Account Control Work for You
  37. Drivers for Windows Vista
  38. Microsoft Wants Smaller Software Footprints Starting With Windows 7
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