Heads up for Windows Vista Users (possible fix for you)
348591
I just purchased this trackball despite all of the warnings about the Kensington MouseWorks software not being compatible on the Windows Vista platform.  While that's true from an "official" standpoint, it's not true from an "unofficial" standpoint.

I can't guarantee this will work for everyone, but from an architectural standpoint, it should for any user on the Windows Vista 32-bit platform.  The first thing I did was plug in the Kensington Expert 7.0 Trackball and once it was detected by Windows, I then downloaded the latest release of the MouseWorks software(v6.22) from Kensington's site and modified the properties of the 'setup.exe' to run in Windows XP SP2 compatibility mode and then ran that 'setup.exe'.

Once the installation is complete, when you look in the 'Device Manager', it should show up as 'Kensington USB Expert Mouse'.  Now if you don't reboot after the installation, when you open up the MouseWorks software, it will show that no Kensington devices are detected, however, after the reboot, the MouseWorks software should detect the device fine assuming you installed the software package in Windows XP SP2 compatibility mode.

I am able to use all of the programmable functions within the MouseWorks software for the Kensington Expert Mouse 7.0 release with zero issues on the Windows Vista 32-bit platform.  64-bit users are more than likely out of luck, but that problem is probably at the driver level.

If you don't see Kensington USB Expert Mouse in the 'Device Manager', you may want to find which human interface device is representing the Kensington trackball and then change the driver for it to point to the Kensington INF and manually select the Kensington trackball.

I can't guarantee it will work for everyone, but it really should.  Good luck.
3722571
Tax cut Business does not load on Vista.  I have Microsoft Vista on my laptop and the business portion of tax cut does not load.  I called customer service and 4 conversations later they are still not able to fix the problem.  This includes trying to make changes to the registry settings.  I am now left with the product that cannot install.  I do not know if I can get my money back.

Be very cautious about buying this product if Vista is your operating system.
2875689
I  was having problems with my Vista operating system.  It locked up often, it was slow to start and some programs I wanted would not work in Vista.  I thought it was time for a new computer but now I should be able to get another few years out of the old thing.

I can't say the install was easy for me but it was because of my own mistake.  I have low vision and when the install box asked if I wanted to keep my programs or not, I clicked the wrong box and lost everyone of my programs.  I was lucky and had the key or had registered all of my important (expensive) programs and after a very long period of time, about a week, I recovered all that I needed.  So watch out and make sure you don't make that same mistake.
It does take a bit of time to get used to the new operating system but overall it is a big improvement.
I  did not find a problem going from 8 to 8.1.
1866539
This tax program does not work with the Vista operating system.  I had serious issues trying to load it into my PC( I kept getting a 1935 error).  I went to H & R Block's website and found a fix for the problem.  Guess what????  It did not work!  I contacted a technician through H & R Block's website.  The only thing he could tell me was to send back the program and get another.  This so called technician provided NO technical help what so ever! Evidently H & R Block is aware of this problem.
My suggestion, don't call them for help they are totally useless! If they knew a problem existed, they should have made customers aware.

Also, why was the price changing every week for this program?
4054377
Don't expect to use your old peripherals with Vista.  It's very pretty but what a gimmick!  Scanners, printers, camcorders, digital camera... worthless with Vista.  Only a few peripherals and software are compatible with special tweeking and thanks to the internet and a few hours of scouring the web.  Press the start button and Vista asks you to buy this program and that service.  It'll nickle and dime you into the poor house.  There's more to Vista than the purchase price.
3824766
Be ready to jump through some flaming hoops to get it to run properly.

Here's what worked for me:

Assuming your system meets the minimum requirements then,
1. Make sure ALL of your drivers are up to date.
2. Download all SEVEN patches for the game.
3. Install the game then ALL SEVEN PATCHES in sequence.
One of the patches removes the "Rock Star Social Club" requirement.
4. DO NOT overclock your CPU. This was the show stopper for me.
It kept causing WIN XP to BSOD. Something with the NVIDIA driver
going into an infinite loop. Running my CPU at stock speed corrected this.
Overclocking was not a problem with other game titles on my system.
5. "Securom". Deal with it as you see fit. Solutions are out there.
6. As for "Windows Live" just create an offline account. Problem solved.
7. Now you have to play with your graphics card settings both directly and
in-game till you find the happy balance that works for your system.

Even after doing all this there are still glitches, Occasional briefly missing textures,
occasional brief sound stuttering and other minor but annoying anomalies.
At least it runs now without crashing or taking WIN XP down with it.

Aside from the headaches of installing and configuring it to run and the glitches
It is a fun game. The storyline and missions are good, The graphics are nice,
The vehicles handle O.K. There's various "side missions" to do. BIG map to play with.
Plenty of "MODS" available, (I haven't tried any yet outside of a "trainer" to cheat with,
There are cheat codes that you type into your in-game cell phone but the trainer makes
it easier and gives you more options.)

Overall, If you liked the earlier GTA games this one is worth getting, (Wait till it's on sale. I did,)
And now that I'm familiar with the problems I'll probably get "Episodes from Liberty City" when
the price drops.

If GTA V is released for P.C. I do hope that Rock Star Games addresses issues like these before hand
rather than with SEVEN or more patches after release. Come on people!
1743356
The product does not come with Vista drivers.  I contacted the seller and they don't seem to have them either.  The listing needs to make clear that this product is for legacy systems only.
123816
I have this product and it will not work with the Vista on my new desktop.
2132773
Luckily I have an old computer running XP and that is where this program now lives.  It would have been nice to have it on the Vista computer too but it wanted me to change the monitor settings and I am unwilling to do so.  My kids are really enjoying this game and learning a lot.
1402144
This game uses Starforce Drivers and will probably not run unless you update them.  My old, Acer, Vista laptop said it blocked them and the game would not open  I went here to Starforce: [...]  I downloaded their Helper Utility and it worked.  Let it locate your game and make a report, then follow the directions.  I tried to open the game as an Administrator, it said it needed to update system "Information", ran for a couple of minutes. asked to restart, and the Starforce drivers were updated and  it opened right up and loaded.  Good, because I really wanted this game to run for me.  You may need to fool around with it some to figure out how to get it to update the drivers on your system, but it will do it, and fix your game if you persist, assuming you have this driver problem.  I keep this old Acer Vista laptop running because it runs old programs that just won't run on newer systems, so if an old game won't run on this, it's pretty sure bet it won't run on a newer system either.  This disc contains game version 1.3, and there are downloadable updates out there for V 1.5 if you want it, but google your potential source to see if they have a good reputation.
  As for the seller here, my game came fast, 2 days, and the package was nice and  new with product key clearly posted on the cd case.  Good seller.
2513114
On the box it this product says it works with Windows Vista, so I bought it. The problem is my Vista is the 64-bit version as oppose to the older 32-bit version. There are no drivers available for the 64-bit version. When I called Customer Support, I had to wait an hour on the phone for the representative to tell me to, "Get your money back."
Thanks SIIG for your very accurate description of your product.
437534
It wouldn't install on my Vista machine.  The back says it needs ME or Windows 98. Do not but this game unless you have a really old computer.  It will not work.
3829601
I love the ergonomics of this mouse. Too bad that Kensington is falsely marketing it as a "5 programmable button" mouse. The software included with the product explictly states that it does not support Vista.

How can this be? Vista shipped almost three years ago. It's really hard to believe that Kensington still does not support the most commonly used operating system. I guess they don't really care about their customers.

Their software does claim to work on XP and Mac OSX, but if you're on Vista be warned.
3383576
As of March 21, no Vista drivers available.  It worked fine on the same machine I was running XP on, but when I upgraded to Vista, no go.  Their Website gives no hint that they'll ever support it.  I find this inexcusable for a simple piece of hardware, especially since Vista in various iterations has been available for testing for almost a year.  Boo to you, Kensington.
476736
I have had to set up a few new installs of the Vista Business on some servers and I was disappointed with the overall performance.

My biggest gripe is when I tried to remotely log in from another PC and I sat there waiting and waiting only to discover that the Vista default setup is to ask permission to run even the most basic operations and was actually sitting there waiting for someone to click 'YES' to allow the process to run. How irritating! Kinda self defeats the idea of remotely logging in doesn't it?.

Also if you happen to rename the administrator account the change is not registered somewhere in the Remote Connections authorization. So when I *thought* I was remotely logging in under the new admin account name Vista wouldn't let me in and it was only after searching for what seemed an eternity - some hidden place it took me 15 minutes to find, I discovered that the the new admin account name had not been authorized when I did the name change. yikes!

For those who need to run VNC Server on Vista, be aware there are issues -  installing and running that you will need to work around as well.

It seems like Microsft drastically changed the menus, overdid the default security features, and installed a new hood ornament. Other than that I don't see what the big deal is.
1697610
I like the book, having skimmed my way through most of it, but I wish I didn't have to buy it. In other words, I wish I didn't own Vista Home Premium SP1. This piece of Sh_t has BSOD crashed more times in the 6 weeks I've used it than in the 3 years I used XP Pro SP2. The book warned me that Vista doesn't handle USB external HDDs well, & it is true. I rip my CDs to an external HDD. Rips fine. When I try to shut down Windows Media Player 11, I get a BSOD "IRQL_Not_Less_Than_Zero" error (or something like that...), crash then a reboot that never reboots. I have to shut the power off, then go through the whole "Windows did not start correctly" BS. I'm getting an Apple....
4833115
The version of Windows Vista I have on this particular computer is flawed to say the least.  I realized my computer functioned just fine until the Windows Updates were installed -- something did not jive and every time the updates took over, my computer had issues.  My computer "crash dumped" several times -- blue screen -- and there were moments when the computer's hummmmm would become a "loud" churning sound -- difficult to describe, but I believe it's the sound of the drivers and then it would crash.  Of course, this is quite upsetting considering this computer is not very old -- I cannot and should not have to keep running out to buy a new computer after spending a substantial sum of money on the one that I just bought.  I wasn't sure if my computer was a lemon or if it was a Windows Vista issue.  As I previously owned another lemon which had Win. '95 which was cured by the installation of Win. '98, I could not help but to surmise and hope that perhaps an upgrade on this computer to Win '7 would get my computer purrrring happy again.  I am so tired of troubleshooting computer issues as I believe that since they cost a healthy sum of money they should do what they are suppose to do -- WORK -- that my computer went unused for lengthy periods as I just shut it out of my mind for times out of sheer frustration over all of the computer troubleshooting I have had to do in my life.  FYI, at some point, I did a system restore and turned off Windows Updates so that I could use my computer -- another test -- though it would still crash dump at times with the blue screen.

Then, at last, I was able to purchase the Windows 7 Upgrade I have been wanting and put it to the test -- you know those funny unhealthy driver churning sounds -- well during the upgrade I believe it updated the drivers as the drivers got louder at moments.  You definitely have to download the service packs it says you must have -- I was nervous my computer would crash dump after installing them, so I was sure to immediately install the Win 7 upgrade after doing so.  It's been about a month now -- so far so good -- no blue screens and no crash dumping.  Though I do get some other funny screens and my computer does not agree with one of the subsequent updates -- these are minor issues and at least my computer has been purring otherwise.  I think it cured the Vista issues I was having -- I am scared to say it out loud as I don't want to jinx the computer.

As to Windows 7 features -- I absolutely love it.  Makes Windows even more user friendly -- my favorite new feature is that all open applications appear in the toolbar at the bottom of the screen and merely pointing the mouse at one of them will show you what document is in that application; just click on the one you wish to go to -- makes maneuvering between various applications much quicker and easier.

Well, that's been my experience and there's my take so far, Ciao.