Torn Between Devil I know and Devil I don't

[TitleistProV1]

Hi folks,

While this might get ported to the Operating Systems Forum, my first thought is that this is a more appropriate place for the discussion.

Just finished my newest build: Q6600, 4GB of Ram, Giga P35-DS3P, pleanty of cooling, Antec 190 case, Raptor 150GB, Samsung 400 GB Drives, Samsung P202 DVD Burner, all SATA, Plus 250 IDE Caviar and external usb 400 MB IDE Seagate.

I currently use XP in my old rig, and I am finding it hard to decide to stick with XP, or move "up" to Vista. Here is my thinking:

XP is: Fast, Stable, my software runs fine on it, no $$$ to shell out for new OS.
XP is also: Dated, lots of apps will be written for Vista, Lousy Quadcore support, 64-bit XP is orphan OS with limited driver support. Will not last forever.

Vista is: Decent 32 and 64 bit OS, probably more secure than XP, more apps will be written for it, better quadcore support, as of this date, pretty reliable, not slow, a few more features.

Vista is also accused of being: Bloatware, has lots of features that limit the PC (copy protection type/driver signing garbage in Blue Ray and HDVideo stuff), amd then a laundry list of complints of dubious value.

If I had unlimited money and time, I'd probably get Vista x64 Ultimate, and if I ended up with legacy hardware or software, replace it. I don't have such $$.


I just don't know what to do, so I ask you, what would you do?

 

[mechBgon]

Vista's security enhancements alone would make it a done deal for me in today's environment. Add DirectX 10, 64-bit, support for lots of RAM, etc etc.




Also yeah, this does belong in Operating Systems more than in Computer Help Off to OS it goes.

AnandTech Moderator
mechBgon

 

[Modelworks]

I think you have to ask yourself what can you do with your pc with vista that you can't already do.
Then weigh that against the issues with vista regarding drivers, etc.

For me the answer was absolutely nothing, except dx10 games.
Its just not worth it for me.
Maybe in a year when things settle a bit.

Driver support for x64 is actually pretty good.

If you want to give winxp 64bit a try its a free download from microsoft.
the trial version last 4 months.
http://www.microsoft.com/windo...64bit/facts/trial.mspx

 

[lxskllr]

I'd dual boot XP32 and Vista64. That way you'll have the latest and future O/S, and still have a backup if you need it. I'm dual booting XP32 and Vista32, but I haven't been in my XP partition for anything important since I installed Vista. I'll be installing Vista64 this fall, and I want to keep my XP partition until I'm sure that's going to work for me. I'm expecting to uninstall XP by the end of this year though.

 

[heymrdj]

Only thing that hasn't worked on my 64 Ultimate is the VMware server, to use it I have to boot with driver signing disabled. NO biggie, just gets in the way sometimes, and the problem will be resolved when the next Windows Server is released. You got all new hardware there, you won't have issues with old drivers.

As for copy protection, I still use DVD Decrypter on here without issue .

 

[Fox5]

What video card are you using?

Anyhow, if you're purchasing a new OS, it's a no brainer to go with Vista. However, XP is just fine if you already have it. Personally, I prefer Vista, though I prefer Linux even more and wouldn't touch Windows if not for games. (because of games however, as well as the sorry state of ati video cards in linux, I stay on vista most of the time)

 

[Nothinman]

XP is also: Dated, lots of apps will be written for Vista, Lousy Quadcore support, 64-bit XP is orphan OS with limited driver support. Will not last forever.

Most apps will still run on XP for many years and the CPU scheduler is likely exactly the same in both. No doubt that XP64 was DOA so if you need 64-bit support then Vista64 is the obvious choice.

 

[crimson117]

Personally, if I were starting from scratch today, I'd dual boot Windows XP MCE 2005 and Ubuntu Linux w/Compiz Fusion installed.

That would combine the familiarity and gaming compatibility of Windows XP, with the security, newness, 64-bit-capability, and eye candy of Ubuntu/Compiz Fusion.

 

[Arkaign]

Use XP for now, you've already paid for it, may as well use it for a bit longer. When you find a great deal on Vista, and as it improves (it has, and it will improve further still) you can decide when the time is right to spend that $$.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

Originally posted by: crimson117
Personally, if I were starting from scratch today, I'd dual boot Windows XP MCE 2005 and Ubuntu Linux w/Compiz Fusion installed.

That would combine the familiarity and gaming compatibility of Windows XP, with the security, newness, 64-bit-capability, and eye candy of Ubuntu/Compiz Fusion.

Having just put ubuntu 7.04 on my laptop and fighting with it for a week now to get the video issues (had i known ATI was a red headed step child i wouldn't have done this, but in for a penny in for a pound), sound Realtek HD audio is still not working, No native support for WPA security with Wireless and a nagging issue where the OS forgets my password.

I got the video drivers installed for my ATI card finally and supposidly have 3d support, I still can't get Beryl to work.

Vista will play almost any game out there. Don't buy XP unless you like paying todays prices for 7 year old cars.
Vista is nice, and I haven't had any issues with it with any of my machines that are running it.

 

[soonerproud]

If money is the issue then XP should be perfectly fine for now. Upgrade to Vista when your wallet can take the hit especially if going with a retail copy.

 

[Nothinman]

Having just put ubuntu 7.04 on my laptop and fighting with it for a week now to get the video issues (had i known ATI was a red headed step child i wouldn't have done this, but in for a penny in for a pound), sound Realtek HD audio is still not working, No native support for WPA security with Wireless and a nagging issue where the OS forgets my password.

I just had the exact opposite experience putting Debian on a machine at work. The hardware's a lot different but everything from sound to accelerated 3D worked out of the box.

 

[HardWarrior]

If you can't easily spend the extra money for an OS right now, that's reason enough to stay with XP for a while longer Vista will be there, and probably a bit better too.

I jumped after a leak that took out 3 HD's. Dual-booting didn't make sense for me because XP would have been a crutch. I've been running Vista for about 4-months and it's rapidly turning into the devil that I do know. It was time for a change, and Vista runs fine.

 

[Fox5]

Originally posted by: JeffreyLebowski

Originally posted by: crimson117
Personally, if I were starting from scratch today, I'd dual boot Windows XP MCE 2005 and Ubuntu Linux w/Compiz Fusion installed.

That would combine the familiarity and gaming compatibility of Windows XP, with the security, newness, 64-bit-capability, and eye candy of Ubuntu/Compiz Fusion.

Having just put ubuntu 7.04 on my laptop and fighting with it for a week now to get the video issues (had i known ATI was a red headed step child i wouldn't have done this, but in for a penny in for a pound), sound Realtek HD audio is still not working, No native support for WPA security with Wireless and a nagging issue where the OS forgets my password.

I got the video drivers installed for my ATI card finally and supposidly have 3d support, I still can't get Beryl to work.

Vista will play almost any game out there. Don't buy XP unless you like paying todays prices for 7 year old cars.
Vista is nice, and I haven't had any issues with it with any of my machines that are running it.

I'm running feisty fawn and it definetely had wpa support for me. If not out of the box, then after an automatic update, since I'm using it right now and never had to go out of my way to find something.

ATI drivers are horrid on linux though.

Edit:
N/m, I lied. I definetely had to get a driver update that supported WPA and wasn't auto installing. It was simple to find though.

 

[Mem]

If I had your system I would go Vista x64 Home Premium,come to think of it I'm using Vista x64 HP as I speak .

I do have XP as my backup PC but to be honest only gets used for updates,however I did try to copy some MP3 files from my XP PC to my LG phone few days ago and got I/O error,anyway I tried the same thing with Vista x64 (lucky I had the same MP3 files on my Vista PC too)and it worked first time,so much for XP being great after 7 years of updates etc...


To be honest I really like Vista x64,plays all my games fine,is fast and very stable (especially with 4GB) and I also have all the 64 bit drivers for my hardware,no reason for me to even use XP unless I need to update it.

Btw price of Vista is not expensive,depending on what version you go with(OEM,upgrade,retail etc..).

Another thing to look at is Vista will give you a longer lifespan.

 

[Megatomic]

If you can get your new system to work with XP I'd save the money for now and use it. Just my $.02.