ok, so some of you know I am building my own computer and at this time I am gathering all the parts that I need. I will have 4gb RAM (with the intent to expand later), so I know I will want to go with a 64-bit OS. Although I can't decide between Windows XP Pro and Windows Vista. I am used to XP, since it has been on my last few computers, although I have heard that Pro has problems with some older software. I've been reading up online about the differences and which would be a better choice, but it hasn't got me anywhere since half the reviews I read say Vista is the way to go, and the other half say XP is the better O/S to get. I don't want to spend $100+ on an Operating system, just to find out I should have gotten the other one .

so, any advice or experiences you guys have had with these two would be helpful.

also, I am assuming that I will want to get the software that is meant for "system builders"...? There are just way too many options on newegg with a very wide variety in price

For a brand new system, I would go with Vista.

Most of the difference between the system builders (oem) and retail versions are just price and a fancy box. However, with vista, I think the retail version actually gets you both the 32bit and 64bit versions.

The biggest thing to do is to make sure that all of your other hardware has a 64bit driver available. Everything from your sound card to your printer has to be supported.

Personally, I dont think its the right time to move to a 64bit os, because there are still a lot of driver compatibility issues.

You could always try out a 64 bit version of linux and see how you like it. its totally free.

Dual booting Vista X64 and Ubuntu 8.10 X64 should cover all the bases really. Its what I am doing and I have a lot of experience with both OSes. I don't find 64-bit to be a problem unless you're trying to load software/hardware from the stone age of computing. These things will also conflict with Massive hard drives, huge resolutions, desktop composition, dual core CPUs and > 3GB of ram. So basically they're at odds with your entire hardware profile, not just the 64 bit.

You could, if you've built a lucky enough computer, be able to run OS X. Unless you're planning to build a "hackintosh" its pretty hard to have the right hardware. However OS X 10.5 is UNIX core, so its probably possible to find some really awesome people out there developing drivers for it.

If you go Linux/Vista you need to install Vista first and then Linux. Unless of course you want to be messing with GRUB after the fact.

I'd say go with XP pro, it'd be faster and you wont have to deal with the bugs in vista...
unless you want to get a free copy of xp pro and vista to decide what you want

This post has been edited by stephen_lee: Nov 27, 2008 - 3:30 PM

Thanks for the help guys, but after everything I just decided to get XP Pro and probably upgrade to Windows 7 when it finally comes out in a year (or so). I also ordered my graphics card, CD/DVD-ROM drive, a 600watt power supply, and a 19" widescreen LCD monitor all from Newegg. Gotta love the Black Friday deals

I figure with Pro, I'll already be used to the OS and I plan on getting some newer software (that should be fine on a 64-bit system). As for older software, I have 2 other computers that will run them fine.

go with vista 64-bit. anyone who tells you to go with xp because "its faster and there arent any bugs" is just hopping on the vista hating bandwagon. I have used vista for well over a year now pre SP1 and with SP1. Service pack 1 fixed near every single problem that it might have had. If you arent trying to use incredibly old programs then vista will work with them. The number one problem i see with people trying to use vista is that they are using incredibly old programs designed for windows 95/98 and 2000. the other most common problem is using it on 1-2 gigs of ram, Vista uses 1-2 gigs as sort of a cache to run commonly used programs faster. rarely used programs boot up quickly enough especially since you are planning on atleast 4 gigs.


i gotta reply faster i guess lol. Have fun dealing with XP 64 bit. i havent used it for years but i hope they have more drivers for it now

This post has been edited by Celiracer18: Nov 27, 2008 - 5:20 PM

Thanks for the advice celiracer, though I already ordered it, soo...lol...Also, I was talking with my mom who uses Vista at her work and she hates. I think I'd be about the same just because we are pretty much the same when it comes to userability with software. I'm sure it has some good features and I know it looks pretty nice, but I'm going to see how XP works for me.

Every time I have to use my girlfriend's vista laptop another little part of me dies inside.

i just got a new hp laptop with 4gb of RAM and i cant remember how big the hardrive is...320? any who im running vista which i dont like as much as xp but i installed office 03 which was my biggest prob with vista (i couldnt get used to 07 and the layout) but i think vistas ok as long as you have sp1

do you have to buy sp2? where do you get it from?

ive been using vista ever since the beta version and i love it. im running a license free version of vista ultimate w/ SP1 and it has NO problems at all. i recently got my laptop which came preloaded with XP pro and i thought maybe ill keep it on there but after a few hours i remembered why i loved vista. the user interface is much more beautiful than xp and i havent ran into any hiccups. the only thing that gets annoying is when it always asks for my permission to open things....of course you can change the UAC to decrease that.

as far as windows 7 goes....don't expect too much. it looks just like vista except now it supports touch technology. oh and it has internet explorer 8 beta on it....big wow....i made the mistake of replacing my vista on my other laptop with the most recent beta of 7 and it bricked it. it was so terrible, few of my drivers were supported so i put vista back on there.

XP is OLD, way old. Vista is the way to go, and if you have dual or quad core processors get the 64-bit version to fully utilize them.

This post has been edited by forkee: Nov 27, 2008 - 11:55 PM

Honestly, I don't see much speed improvement with XP over vista. Maybe thats because my computer is a tank. But like for the short time I had XP on as my main gaming partition it did not seem very fast. Actually it did do a lot of things that got me very fed up. The most annoying one was BF2142 would crash randomly and often, like 2/3 times I played. It had something to do with the nVidea drivers and my 5.1 surround sound combo.

Vista does have some improvement but you're computer has to be new enough to take advantage of it. (Direct X 10 being the best improvement) Most people who complain about vista's speed are probably not running a very fast computer, and I assume since you're building it yourself its going to be fast (and probably overclocked)

Another big thing is that you have to click okay to a lot of stuff. Linux is the same really, and its probably a good thing that they ask you to confirm ****. If you actually read you can tell between **** that's supposed to happen and **** that's not. XP is pretty much the opposite, its very good for super users. If you know what you're doing, and what not to click on with XP you'll be okay for at least 6 months (before it becomes boggy and you have to reformat anyways).

Still, XP does have the benefit of being the most widely adopted and most used OS. Oh and its super easy to hack and customize.

Also, as it stands from the betas, Windows 7 seems to be like a Vista refresh, so don't really count on it being any better than vista... all it will really have is some bug-fixes and DX11. Its not going to be a radical departure from vista, nor will it reach anything close to the standard XP set for OSes. If anything, it will just raise the marketshare of
Linux. ($350 - $500 for an OS is too much. Plus Linux is being more widely accepted and its easier to work with now than before.)

That's my prediction.

Yeah, from what I've heard Windows 7 won't be much different from Vista, but by the time it comes out hopefully it is improved upon quite a bit and might actually be a pretty good OS. We'll have to see about that one though. It doesn't come out for over a year, so I think Microsoft can make some adjustments by then to make it something that'll take people away from XP and Vista. I just hate the fact that one company is making two different OS's that are pretty much competing. Makes decisions harder ...On the plus side, it also gives us choices if we don't like one of the two options.

Windows XP... proved, patched and "bugless" a much as possible...

(IMHO)

>

I don't know if years down the line we're be telling this to our kids, like a Modern North-American Success Story about how Microsoft took the market share on operating systems a second time with Windows 7 and how everyone who had XP switched up to Windows 7. I think XP was probably Microsoft's Magnum Opus and they only really stand to lose market share. We've reached a really stagnant point in computing and unless you really care about gaming, you're not going to build a massive computer and unless you're going to build a massive computer you're not going to run vista.

The only foreseeable way for Microsoft to reclaim its former holding over operating systems would be to release a modular windows. People with XP are people who typically do not want the pretty UI, nor do they care about desktop composition, they care about outright desktop speed. The people who like Vista and typically people who want a pretty UI with tons of desktop composition that would really bog down an older computer. Most of the market share of XP still have computers that can only run XP because all they want is a computer that can stream videos or connect to the internet. Its two completely different markets and if Microsoft appeals to one they can't appeal to the other.

Which is why Linux is becoming a popular alternative and why I got into Linux in the first place. Its modular. There are many desktop environments and many toolkits that cater to your computers specifications and your own needs... and they're all free.

OS X is also on the rise. If you buy a Mac, you're guaranteed to be able to run its very pretty operating system and it will run fairly fast. Its also UNIX based, so like Linux, you can build on it. People can actually run KDE 4.1 instead of the OS X environment. However its not nearly as customizable as Linux since its closed source.

For the first time ever, Linux has an almost perfect shot at making it into the main stream.
Over the past few years they have made huge improvements at being as user friendly as possible. And a lot of laptops and netbooks are actually shipping with linux preinstalled.

I have personally switched both my laptop and my desktop to Ubuntu and I dont miss windows at all. It runs faster, you dont have to worry about any spyware or viruses, you can hack and customize every single part of the OS, and its totally free. Not to mention that it looks and functions very similar to the OSX that people seem to love so much.

Microsoft on the other hand has been pretty much shooting themselves in the foot. They got into the console market, and actually made a lot PC gamers migrate over to the 360. Gaming was a huge benefit for windows users in the past, but now most of them dont care about that since they do all of their gaming on a console.

Then they released Vista before it was ready, and gave people a really bad first impression. Today visa works great and is a nice little OS, but when it first came out, it was bugy and almost nothing worked giving microsoft a really bad rep.

As good as windows7 might be, most people will be very skeptical about it and probably start looking into alternatives to windows for their next upgrade.