"liu" <spamfreeliu******.com> wrote in message
news:1183048552.476674.94540@o61g2000hsh.googlegro ups.com...
>I don't like Vista but the system is preinstalled. I'm disappointed
> that a new notebook can be slower than a 2-year old notebook with XP.
> In my opinion, the appearance has sacrificed the performance. Although
> there are new features (mostly security), OS always figures out a way
> to make the hardware speed gain unnoticeable.
>

That much is certain.

> The problem I heard is there are no XP drivers. Without all the
> drivers, you're limited with functionality. It's hard to believe that
> a manufacturer would limit the user in only drivers for one OS. I
> wonder if anyone has successfully convert a Vista Sony VAIO to XP?
>

Unfortunately, the reverse is also true. If you stick with Vista you will
find that drivers for legacy equipment are hard (if not impossible*) to
find.

> Also, I would not buy a SONY notebook again. They don't provide you
> with an OS installation DVD. All the drivers, OS is located in a
> hidden partition that takes up the space from user. If your HD is
> broken, how can you recover? How about other manufacturers? Do they do
> different?
>

Don't blame Sony for this. This is down to Microsoft. The licensing of OEM
versions of Vista require the OS reinstallation be placed on a separate
partition of the hard disk. You cannot even make a backup CD (or DVD) of
the partition. XP has been moving this way for some time - but at least you
could create a separate copy. The stated licensing conditions are that if
the hard disk fails then the owner must buy a retail version of Vista to
install Vista to a new hard disk.

I presume that it should be possible to make an image of the reinstallation
partition with Ghost, Trueimage or something similar (though it wouldn't
surprise me at all if you couldn't).

*Manufacturers of legacy equipment are very reluctant to produce Vista
drivers for the limited market because all Vista drivers have to be
digitally signed by Microsoft or they won't load. Naturally MS does not
perform this obviously beneficial service for nothing.