Headline: “Man Gets Vista to Work with a Printer!”

I’m not kidding… that is the headline in a story in a Seattle newspaper! I kid you not! Vista is, indeed, the lamest OS ever… and I have used Windows Me!

Man gets Windows Vista to work with printer

“Regular readers may recall the story of Charles Walling, the retired Seattle warehouseman whose struggle to get his printer to work with Windows Vista was documented in our story marking the Microsoft operating system’s first year on the market. Charles Walling prints from his Windows Vista PC. Well, it’s working now — but not without some help from a Windows test manager. The underlying problem reflects the huge changes Microsoft made from Windows XP to Windows Vista, and the need for hardware makers to adjust. At the same time, the experience may provide a good reminder for PC users making an upgrade. Here’s the back story: After the article ran, I received e-mails from a couple of people inside Microsoft who were curious about the cause of the problem. With Mr. Walling’s permission, I directed them to him. Tom White, test manager for documents and printing in Microsoft’s Windows Experience group, visited the Walling household on multiple occasions, figured out what was wrong, and ultimately got the printer to work. Here’s what White figured out: When Mr. Walling bought his new Windows Vista machine, he initially used the installation disc that came with his Dell 942 All in One printer that he had been using with his previous PC. That disc was meant for Windows XP. The problem: Dell’s printer driver for Windows XP did install on Windows Vista. But it didn’t work. And it couldn’t be easily removed.”