Discussion on:

Logging on to Windows XP (Transforming Windows XP into Windows Vista)

What I've come to hate the most,
Is the use of the UAC every time I want to make a move.I am the ONLY Admin on this computer and it's NOT a part of a network.AS a matter of fact, I'm the Only Anything!!
There should be a method where by once you've signed in as an Admin, you should have total control, without jumping through UAC hurdles.
The menu system is as usual, confused and disjointed. If you try to move an Icon to the start menu, Up comes the uac yet again. This is the kind of thing that takes the glimmer off Vista. I have a Lexmark all in one X73 and Vista won't let me install it, saying it doesn't "Comply" with the system.
The same thing with my Norton Anti Virus 2005. When I try to install, it immediately locks down and won't let me go any further quoting incompatibly. But Defender install without a hitch. I can't put the driver for my Sound Blaster 5.1 card in as it claim incompatibility yet the windows part works well with my card.
The more I go, the more I'm convinced that Microsoft is maneuvering itself so that we will not be able to use anything other than Microsoft products and this effectively locks out everybody elks.
Needless to say, though I'm mad for the graphics and grateful that they finally got the menu proportions right, I find the rest, so far, leaves a lot to be desired.
As for the UAC, in a public environment, but in a single user environment, PPULLLEEASe, common sense.
Back to work for me

Regards
Aaron
Afterthought;
It should be noted that I wrote this while using the version 4 of this program.
I have since Gone back to www.JCXP.net site and downloaded the version VTP5 of the Transformation Pack.
Found it to be excellent in every aspect, "Provided that you do as Instructed and follow directions carefully.
I didn't and paid the price. One hard Drive later, I tried again and followed the instructions "to the Letter" and now all is well and running Vista smoothly.
As a matter of fact, being a Vista Beta Tester, this gives me an opportunity for comparison and I can honestly say that VTP5 has all the bugs fixed and is running extremely well on my system. It's also succeeded in making me very lazy. Why switch Hard Drives to go to Vista, when I have this on hand. But I still have a job to do and will do it to the end. As for the VTP5,I couldn't be happier with the results and so a tip of the hat to Jack C at JCXP and the team, they have done a great job on this one.
They also put out some of the greatest pictures you've ever seen. I would strongly advise a visit. If you get a minute, check Jack out, I think you'll be quite pleased at what you find.
Regards to Jack and his great Team.
Aaron

They are at
http://www.JCXP.net
And what you want is VTP 5
Good Luck

From reading Aaron's post sounds like Vista can be summed up pretty easily. Windows VISTA, new boss, same as the old boss.
Did anyone really expect MS to change their engineering and business practises which force us to use their product to the detriment of the customer, technician etc.? They've been pulling this crap for 30 years. Bill Gates business model. It sucks.

You will probably feel the same, but at the very least you should download it, install it and test it before you judge it. I've been running it (RC1)for about 3 weeks now and while it could definitely use some spit and polish (especially the GUI menuing system and disk I/O), it's a good step up for MS. But, that's just my opinion. We will all have our opinions.

can you please point me to the download of transformation pack for vista to winxp. or if you have downloaded it before can you forward the same to my yahoo.com account, i am very eager to see it

here is the link to download the pack. http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/OS-Enhancements/Vista-Transformation-Pack.shtml
I found the last version that I've seen which was 4.0 off of Bittorrent.

you want to go if you are serious about downloading from the originator of this excellent program.
Go down to http://www.jcxp.net and check out the site. It's run by Jack C, and this is where VTFP originates from, NOT the other sites. All other accoutrements can be found here also. I highly recommend it. Run by Jack C, this is a good site.
They also have version 5 which mean all glitches in 4 have been repaired.
I'm using it right now with no trouble at all and so would strongly suggest that instead of going to bandwagon sites, go to the real thing. Let us know how you made out.
Remember

http://www.jcxp.net

Regards
Aaron

does anyone have a site where i can get the transformation pack for xp pro 64 bit edition

I have been using the RC2 release since it came out, The problems I have encountred so far have dealt with certain programs not being compatable Like Nero 7 but that is not a problem as the built in burning software seems to work fine also I had some problems with the ati radeon vista drivers for the video but the driver that comes from MS installed seems fine also there is stll the lack of printer sofware that is vista ready my epson printer software installed but not completley. a lot of the software companys will not release a driver until vista is offically released. Overall I am impressed with vista Even with it being a RC release it works great and I believe It is a great improvement over xp.

I remember when I was younger, my dad told me "Never work yourself out of a job". In other words, do a good job, but not so good where you're no longer needed.
That's the problem with XP. Microsoft really did do a good job with it, consequently when Vista appeared on the market, many people didn't feel a need to upgrade, being that XP was stable for the most part and fullfilled most of their needs.
I felt the same way when Vista first started to be hyped, why do I need this? That's a waste of resources, etc. I myself am going to stick with XP to the bitter end. It's like trying to sell a car on the basis, Oh, it looks great! It has a kick butt radio installed, etc.

Is this utility for those who can't afford VISTA but so insecure they want their colleagues to think they have it?

Jack M. posted, "Is this utility for those who can't afford VISTA but so insecure they want their colleagues to think they have it?"

Ha, ha. Fool your friends.

Maybe the utility is for those who don't want to upgrade to a Vista-ready computer without knowing in advance what it looks like - and not just in still shots.

Then again, I recall startup and shutdown screens for Win 3.1 that were supposed to look like Win 98. So go figure.

I can vividly remember changing the look of my Win 3.11 machine to look like Win 95 (I was 17 with no job, I couldn't afford 95 on my own), so I can see wanting to just change up the look of XP (I may even give it a shot.)

Wow, just thinking about that 486...16MB was hot stuff!

I stand corrected. Win 3.x could be made to look like Win 95, while Win 95 could be made to look like Win 98. And couldn't Win 98 could be made to look like XP? Now THAT'S computing.

So what happens when XP goes the way of 98 and Microsoft only supports Vista or its future offspring? Just a thought.

How about a mod to make XP look like windows 95? I would rather go old school and have my apps running on the "obsolete" OS.

couldn't agree more. do the "sorry for the inconvenience but this microsoft program had to shutdown" also come in this new look? i'd rather have them solve the problem but i guess this conflicts with their priorities. and how does the "your vista license seems to be invalid so we disabled your computer"-screen look like. or will they just use a blue screen for that?

Only a regular user on Windows would that 98 did not go from 98 to XP.

It was 98 to Me to XP, and if you were that poor that you couldn't afford to upgrade either to Me or XP, then you shouldn't be on a computer. $95 is pocket-cash these days, why do you think the price of Vista rose, inflation is a killer. Get use to it.

"Only a regular user on Windows would that 98 did not go from 98 to XP." - Is that in english?

And what a load of tripe "you couldn't afford to upgrade either to Me or XP, then you shouldn't be on a computer." Thats like saying if you can't afford an expensive dinner then you shouldn't be allowed to eat. The reason Vista's price is high is because MS did such a lousy and drawn out project in developing it, that they had to cover costs for delays etc. And frankly the new start menu is a disaster. I haven't met anyone who likes Vista, and as for the Aero effects, Xgl in Linux is so much more fun.

I tested Vista RC1 and some of the betas and i can say it isn't worth the money (yet).
The looks are fine but the way MS new OS lets users take control of their machine isn't that.
Maybe in a business environnement Vista will have some purpose, but not for home users or professionals who are used to have full control.
On the other hand, MS has made Vista more attractive with the Aero Glass feature and the new looks. I like XP the way it is and it will take a very, very long time for me to change to Vista. But a new look for my XP, why not ?
(And i'm sure i'm not alone in thinkin' this way)

If you want to jazz up XP.
Try window blinds.
It has many more themes than this, including an areo glass theme witch is much more configurable.
http://www.stardock.com/products/windowblinds/

... and have since uninstalled it.

It worked fine, I don't have any problems with it.
I got tired of transparent windows after a while, they're just not for me, I found my eyes hurting after a while - trust me I went through an adjusted the transparency levels several times just to see if other settings would be easier on my eyes but it just bothered them to much. You can turn off the transparency altogether which I ended up doing. The various themes are kind of nice to look at but after a while I just got tired of it and wanted my winxp classic mode back - little details like how they changed the window controls (minimize, restore down, close window) to be more graphical in nature - how does that help anyone, it looks nice but doesn't improve their function.

Here's a question, if the vista transformation pack can be applied to a winxp machine without 'killer' hardware specs and have it look & function similar to Windows Vista, why does the actual Vista OS installation require such high end hardware to do the same?

Style without substance.
Great. Now where are those 24" chrome wheels for my car?

Worse still, using that analogy imagine if adding those 24" Chrome Wheels reduced your cars performance by 10%, 20% or whatever... Then it becomes a MUCH less attractive proposition for the improved looks on their own. But then if it reduced the risk of someone stealing the car it would again be worth the trade off etc.

For what its worth I like the look of some of the new enhancements, but others I think are horrible. I doubt I'll be rushing out to make any changes based on looks alone.

It will probably take a bit of time to get used to, I'm sure there were plenty of discussion around the release of each version, I remember not being overly fond of the XP look & feel vs Win2k, but now its just what we accustomed to.

new vista looks little to much but scray to me

If anyone wants to try it, here is the free download of the Vista Transformatio Pack.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4924.html

I am a little cautious about installing it, since it modifies the Windows registry. I would suggest making a full backup of all the Windows files before installing it. Good luck, and let me know how it turns out.

michael W.

this gives you a good idea what you are getting before you actually buy the program. I really like it and will probably get it when it comes out.

What disgusting "improvements" on a visual level.

Vista might be worth it for security improvements--or not. Painting the XP Pinto with a new coat of paint is useless IMHO.

Well, the more I read about Vista, the more it starts to look like XP "SP3" (but they get to charge for it). With this free transformation pack and other free items (IE7, et al), you can almost "have it your way". Well, almost.

As for me and my house, it's XP for quite some time. Sure, my home box passes muster for AeroGlass (etc.), but surely it will run altogether slower if I don't pack in more RAM (I "only" have 1/2 gig), or get more than 128 MB vid card. Why upgrade to a slower-in-effect PC? I think I'll wait until I jump to a Conroe/duo chip (requires almost a complete rebuild anyway), and then see if Vista will sing like a canary.

Have you tried VTP 6?

Freak

forget windows get a mac

According to the pictures I saw here,I will keep my
nvidia gforce6200 and my system windows 2000 professional and wait another 5 years before to upgrade to these operational system.
window 2000 professional was the best system since
window 95,and its not vista that will be beat XP or 2000.