<p>
[quote]
you would find that you could not access the college's computer system, which is used for things like course enrollment. It's not Vista-compatible.
[/quote]
I'd be curious to know what the exact problem is since the statement doesn't make much sense. Most access to college computer systems nowadays is really via the browser and not something deep down in the OS. Of course, security settings on the OS's firewall and browser have to be set appropriately but that's not a big deal. I'd be very surprised if a Vista system couldn't access the college's computer system.</p>
<p>I found it interesting somebody mentioned that Dell would build you a new laptop with XP on it. The only ones I could find were on the Small Business side of their site and you had to be a Small Business to order. I just bought my laptop last week (website says it's shipped and should arrive this week) off of Dell's web site. Probably have to call to get XP.</p>
<p>Anyway, school I'm going to currently says "Limited support for Vista" until spring of 2008. I was really hesitant to move on to Vista, but I look forward to seeing it.</p>
<p>I was told today, however, that Vista does not allow you do use free downloaded programs such as Ad Aware or other anti-virus softwares you can download for free:(</p>
<p>My D just told me that her friend is having horrible problems using Vista with iTunes. I am sure this will be eventually straightened out, but for many college students, running iTunes is top priority.</p>
<p>There may be compatibility issues depending on the type of service, but it does not appear to be an issue over what the software "allows" you to do.</p>
<p>calmom, that's great to hear since my school pushes ad-aware and Spybot I believe it is. Information gets passed around and gets confused sometimes. I guess it could be one of those "your experience may vary" kind of things.</p>
<p>I will be buying a Vista laptop, but probably having one of my computer-knowledgeable friends add XP as a second operating system so I can run whichever I choose. Seems like the best course of action at this time.</p>
<p>Get a MacBook, there is no need to anguish over a computer. If one needs XP, it will run it, if one needs Vista, it will run it, but what most find is, no one needs either.</p>
<p>ucsd<em>ucla</em>dad, I may not have expressed the problem correctly because I'm pretty much of an idiot as far as computers are concerned, but there are many parts of the college's system that don't work with Vista, and course enrollment is one of them. I don't pretend to understand it.</p>
<p>I hate to be the lone contrary voice, but three weeks ago I bought a new HP desktop for my daughter to take to college in August. It came with Vista, and we added Itunes, AOL instant messenger and MS Office 2003 which run just fine. It is pretty cool actually.</p>
<p>Many parents don't know that their college students will be using their college's Blackboard and Banner systems, the first for coursework and the second to read their transcripts. I'm sure that universities are updating their BB and Banner sites to accommodate Vista users, who will arrive in droves this fall. They know they must, and therefore they will. That doesn't mean that all will go smoothly, however.</p>
<p>There's another concern that few people have discussed: Microsoft's newest version of Word which was (I think) developed to go with Vista. This newest version is NOT compatible with the old Word -- that is, professors who run an older version of Word and who receive student papers electronically saved in the new Word will not be able to open the documents. Students have to get in the habit of saving their files in the old format instead of the default more recent version of Word.</p>
<p>I talked to the IT people at UNC recently as son was ordering computer through school. When I asked if it came with Vista, the reply was that the school would not be using Vista at this time--so wherever we bought he rec. that we not purchase Vista. He said school plans to wait a year to see what bugs might develop before they begin using.</p>
<p>dt123, You are right. Many, if not most, people have no problems. But I almost always manage to be in the group that does. I have wasted more time in my life fixing computer glitches from badly designed software/OS problems then I care to think about. I wanted most of them taken care of before we leapt in this time. XP will be supported for at least the next four years. That is about as long as this laptop will last anyway.</p>
<p>There's no clean solution here. The two largest manufacturers, Dell and HP, sell only Vista machines. But, you can get an XP CD from them after-the-sale, and install it on the computer once you get it. My new HP laptop arrives Thursday, and I'm 90% certain I'll keep Vista. (I'm a part-time, fossilized graduate student as well as a parent, so I have the same concerns as all of you.)</p>
<p>Really, I can't see that it will be that bad for the hundreds of thousands of Vista machines that will be booted up on campus this fall. It's not unusual for your operating system to be different from that of the university's computers (called "servers"). </p>
<p>A Vista machine will surely be able to browse the internet and execute any well-written software that is deployed there. Blackboard, banner, WebCT, etc. are all browser-based. Anything written in Java, of course, should work on a Vista machine--Java is a Sun product, not a Microsoft product. </p>
<p>Supporting Vista machines might be a problem for university IT departments. But, really, what support do you expect from a university?</p>
<p>The only problem I can foresee is the establishment of an initial connection. Some of the buttons and options you will press to get the student's computer registered on the campus network will be different for Vista than it was for XP. Still, it's a problem the IT folks will have to solve a bazillion times, so I'm sure it will get addressed.</p>
<p>And, you introduce another set of problems when you choose to back-load an older operating system on a new machine.</p>
<p>I think the best course of action is to check the school's IT website to see when they will support Vista. XP should still be fine for pretty much everything and should still be fine for a few years at least. I've read that upgrading to Vista from XP is not a smooth process at all. Be forewarned if you're planning to go that route.</p>
<p>I will also be taking the plunge and buying a Macbook Pro. I'm not going all the way, though. I can get Vista Ultimate for $15 through the school and there is a free beta for Macs called bootcamp that allows you install multiple operating systems. I'll be going that route for the additional flexibility.</p>
<p>Also be aware that the newest version of the Mac operating system (10.5, aka Leopard) will be coming out around October. Again, the current OS should be fine for pretty much everything, but Leopard will have several nifty new features. It will also have bootcamp integrated.</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon just sent us a newsletter today about their computer system. It sounds like it's compatible with everything, but interestingly the laptops they are selling at their bookstore still come with XP.</p>
<p>I ordered her an XP machine from Dell last week - you will see a link that says Still looking for Windows XP? if you scroll down their notebook page; my daughter's prerequisite was that she be able to plug it in and go...she didn't want any learning curve nor any problems with compatibility with hardware or software either at college or anywhere else she goes with the laptop. Also since we all have XP at home it will be easier to troubleshoot problems with a system we are familiar with.</p>