My new Dell arrived Thursday and I spent a lot of time since then copying files, installing programs, and rebuilding my old computer into a backup file system. My new Dell runs on Microsoft Vista, the new computer operating system that Microsoft considers to be “cutting edge”. Well I’m here to tell you: it’s not.

Granted, the average user probably will not run into issues on this system and may find the new interface designs cool and fun. But as a power user, I am ready to throw Vista into the trash. I can make many small complaints that together wouldn’t make me give up on the OS (Vista’s constant security questions about performing tasks, the complete redesign of where system files are located, major changes in where configuration options are in the Control Panel icons, etc.). These are all annoyances, but after a while you just get used to the changes. But there is one major problem with Vista that I cannot get past: Vista has serious driver problems. The problems are so serious that I cannot use applications that run exceptionally well on Windows 2000 and Windows XP.

One of the main purposes for this new machine is to run 3D modeling and animation software, which relies on the stability and performance of OpenGL drivers. OpenGL is an open programming API used for graphic displays and is the main competition to Microsoft’s proprietary system, DirectX. Video card manufacturers provide OpenGL drivers as part of the video card and graphic programs can then use OpenGL to display graphics. Unfortunately, because of the way Vista handles drivers, it is much more difficult for a manufacturer to release a Vista-compliant driver (something I talked about in a previous post). And right now my video card driver, which was released about exactly a month ago, does not handle OpenGL displays well at all. On the main program I use (Lightwave), the program’s buttons are half blank and if I move the viewports around too fast, the application crashes.

I’m at the point now where I’m going to try a few more tech support calls (first with the software company and then with Dell) and if there are no solutions, I’m going to wipe the system and reinstall with Windows XP, which I know provides a stable platform for running my applications. Which means I have to do a lot more data copying and reinstall everything I spent the past few days installing.

When is Linux finally going to have a distribution that rivals Windows?