New system : XP or Vista

[DetConan]

For a new system (Phenom II for Photoshop, video editing and gaming), what would be the wiser choice for the OS ?

Buy Windows XP, and go with Windows 7 when i will have no choice
or
Buy Windows Vista, and go with Windows 7 when it will be available ?

 

[Athena]

Vista Home Premium is $110 at NewEgg. Buy now and you get a free upgrade coupon for Windows 7 in October. Personally, I think that's the least hassle option since you can do an in-place upgrade.

There's not much sense in buying a new copy of XP at this point. If you have a qualifying copy of XP and want to cling to it for a bit longer, you can order an upgrade to Windows 7 Professional for $100. Just remember that an upgrade from XP will wipe the system. Today is the last day for the pre-order discount.

 

[DetConan]

In fact, here my problem

1- I am not really interested in using an OS as soon as it becomes available on the market. I would prefer to wait until 1 or 2 updates / service pack.
So, i am not that interested in Windows 7.

2- I am not really interested in Vista, because I heard many horror stories on that OS. And as it seems very resource hungry : i do not want the OS to use the power of my new computer (phenom II) and slow down the applications (like Photoshop)

3- But will I be able to stick with XP for the few years to come, or as it is no more supported, will I have big problems with new applications ?

 

[Scotteq]

Originally posted by: DetConan
For a new system (Phenom II for Photoshop, video editing and gaming), what would be the wiser choice for the OS ?

Buy Windows XP, and go with Windows 7 when i will have no choice
or
Buy Windows Vista, and go with Windows 7 when it will be available ?

What's the problem, then? If you want to use XP, then use XP.


Would be nice to know the hardware details, though - newer systems can fairly easily exceed 32 bit address space limitations.

 

[Athena]

It really sounds like you are trying to get support for buying a new copy of XP and sticking with that. If that's what you want to do, fine but it certainly wouldn't be my recommendation to install an unsupported OS on a new system today.

The Vista "horror stories" are a year old now; the drivers are in place and current software works fine. Do you have a specific issue that you think would impact your actual use?

The point of getting the no charge technology upgrade isn't to install it right away but to have it when you are ready to upgrade. You can always put the disk aside and upgrade after SP1 becomes available.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: DetConan
In fact, here my problem

1- I am not really interested in using an OS as soon as it becomes available on the market. I would prefer to wait until 1 or 2 updates / service pack.
So, i am not that interested in Windows 7.

2- I am not really interested in Vista, because I heard many horror stories on that OS. And as it seems very resource hungry : i do not want the OS to use the power of my new computer (phenom II) and slow down the applications (like Photoshop)

The three areas you named (Photoshop, video editing, and gaming) can all benefit from 4GB+ of RAM, which means 64-bit Windows, which means Windows Vista or Windows 7. Nothing will slow down your apps like running out of RAM.

3- But will I be able to stick with XP for the few years to come, or as it is no more supported, will I have big problems with new applications ?

WinXP will continue getting security updates for several more years, if that's the kind of support we're talking about.

 

[chemwiz]

XP is oficially supported by MS until 2014. All of my business customers are still using it, a lot of their applications don't run in Vista and they don't want to learn a new OS. There's nothing wrong with sticking to what works for you!

 

[VinylxScratches]

I used Vista Business for about 3 weeks on my Mac Mini. It ran OK but I went back to Windows XP Pro. I just run Windows XP Pro in a limited user account. Works like a charm.

 

[Athena]

Originally posted by: chemwiz
XP is oficially supported by MS until 2014.

XP is on "Extended Support; i.e. security fixes only.

All of my business customers are still using it, a lot of their applications don't run in Vista and they don't want to learn a new OS. There's nothing wrong with sticking to what works for you!

The point here though is that the OP doesn't have anything to "stick to". It's not a matter of custom applications that don't run on Vista or using it on a machine that wasn't designed for it. He's talking about standard "designed for Vista" applications on a brand new machine. While he could use XP in that environment there is no good reason to do it.

 

[CrimsonWolf]

Vista is the wiser choice.

A big factor for you is x64 support. I'm guessing you'll have 4 GB or more of ram, and to fully take advantage of it, you need x64 support. An x64 version of Vista is your best bet.

And a lot of the "issues" with Vista have long been resolved. Most of the issues I had at release were from manufacturers not having their drivers up to snuff when Vista came out. Between more mature drivers and updates from MS (including two service packs by now), Vista has been solid and polished for a while now. And it'll fly on your Phenom II.

There is no reason to buy XP. If you already have a retail copy of XP that you could move to the new system, sure, it's worth considering. But don't buy it. Plus, I think if you buy Vista now, you can get a coupon for a Windows 7 upgrade. Even if you don't want to migrate to Windows 7 right away, you can hang onto it until SP1 comes out for it.

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: DetConan
In fact, here my problem

1- I am not really interested in using an OS as soon as it becomes available on the market. I would prefer to wait until 1 or 2 updates / service pack.
So, i am not that interested in Windows 7.

2- I am not really interested in Vista, because I heard many horror stories on that OS. And as it seems very resource hungry : i do not want the OS to use the power of my new computer (phenom II) and slow down the applications (like Photoshop)

3- But will I be able to stick with XP for the few years to come, or as it is no more supported, will I have big problems with new applications ?

It seems you been listening to too much FUD,my humble AMD X2 3800+ cpu is running Vista x64 just fine for 2 years plus,Vista caches a lot fo ram via superfetch(it learns what programs ,applications you use,unused ram is a waste they say).
I would go either Vista then get Win7 via upgrade program or use Win7 RC now and get Win7 later when its officially released,personally I would not go back to XP but then thats me.

 

[DetConan]

Thank you all.

After reading your answers, I think I will go with Vista, which seems better than I tought. Indeed, I want to use the 4gb of memory that i will put in this system.

Thank you again.