Why exactly is Vista so slow?

[weEvil]

Also take into account that vista wasnt just made to run on todays hardware, but to run for several years, even long after windows 7 comes out. It has to have a lifespan, and the same with any OS that MS (or other companies) have brought out.

That doesn't matter. Vista is here today and it better run on today's hardware. Otherwise to the bargain bin for future generations.

My own personal experience is that vista has been the smoothest, most enjoyable, welcome, and much needed improvement in an OS i have so far had from MS... i have been using windows since 95 first came out.

I agree. It is a very solid OS. Slow, but solid with the undisputed best driver compatibility.

[mongo66]

I am sure we have ALL had this problem from a fresh install of Vista, takes 5 mins to copy a file across etc etc - solution?

Vista Service Pack 1 <-- install it

As for the slow file copy issue, the problem still exists in SP1 -- especially when transferring large files from a USB device to HDD. Copying the same files on XP takes seconds; on Vista 15-20 minutes... After hours of searching and reading through numerous forums, I finally found a solution (well at least it worked for me). Uninstalling the "Remote Differential Compression" feature solved the file copy issue (Control Panel > Programs and Features > Turn Windows Features on or off).