Upgrading PC. Which OS to use now?

[morkys]

Upgrading PC. Which OS to use now?

Upgrading PC to AMD64. I have an 80 GB HD with FAT32 partitions. The primary partition is still FAT32 and a little over 16.7 GB and is blank. My data is on the other two 28.6 GB FAT32 partitions. I have 1 GB set aside for the swapfile.

My MSI motherboard came with access to the beta of Win XP 64 bit once I register my motherboard. Not sure if this gives me special access or if its just another way to get people to try the beta.

Which route should I take?

1) RE-install WIN98SE for now?
2) Buy XP Home or Pro and upgrade? Go to 64 bit OS later?
3) 98SE and dual-boot with the beta XP 64 bit OS?

I think I'll go with XP Home or Pro. I guess its not a good idea to go with the 64 bit beta alone?

Will XP be able to read my FAT32 partitions? Can I move the data on those partitions around and convert those partitions to NTFS? without having to erase the data completely or put it on another drive first?

I also hope to run a dual-boot with Linux at some point, once I have my system settled with my MS OS. Whether this means re-installing everything, I don't know. I'm sure there's a way to do it, and thats not my primary concern.

thanx for any feedback,

Also, what is the least expensive I can find Win XP home and Pro?

 

[JetBlack69]

XP wll read the fat32 partitions and you can convert them to NTFS without losing the data, but I forget the command off the top of my head.
If you get XP now, Microsoft said it will give the 64-bit edition to XP owners forcheap or free, I forget which. I'll see if I can dig up a link.
If you want to dual boot linux, install XP first and leave some unpartitioned space for linux. I would install Ubuntu Linux, but that's just me.

EDIT: I guess you get Windows64 if you buy Windows Server 2003
http://news.com.com/Microsoft%...0999.html?tag=nefd.top

 

[stash]

The command is 'convert x: /fs:ntfs' where x: is the volume you want to convert.

 

[morkys]

Ok. I think its licenced XP Pro owners who get the free upgrade. Is that the same as Win Server 2003?

What is the difference between XP Pro and Home and why would I choose one over the other? I think the Pro has some Domain Control, although I don't know all of what that means. Pro is another $60 over Home so I don't want to pay for what I don't need. Of course the "free" upgrade to 64 bit XP OS would be nice when the time comes, but I wouldn't migrate until the 64 bit XP, hardware and software drivers and applications are much more mature.

thanx