Using Vista For Development

Question

My company is pushing that everyone switch to Vista on new laptops. I am using Visual Studio 2005 and SQL Server 2005 right now and had to fix some compatibility issues. I could push for XP and go through HR, but I also could just get accustomed to Vista just for experience sakes.

Any experiences with development and Vista? Pros/Cons?

Answer 1

No programming issues with vista per-se. Vista SP1 has been rock solid for me.

However, I run Vista Ultimate 64-bit, so I have to target 32-bit, if I am using 32-bit compiled libraries.

Now that Vista has a few winters under its belt, it's gotten a lot better. Just make sure you disable UAC ;)

Answer 2

From my own experiences, developing on Vista works just fine. Also if you're doing website development, now that you're no longer limited to a single active website (like XP/IIS5.1), this removes lots of unneccesary pain from your life.

Contrary to the usual rumour mills, Vista isn't all bad. It's just a perception change.