Which OS for 3ds max

[Abe77]

My cousin is buying a new computer with plans to get into 3d modeling and animation and stuff like that. He has a choice between XP Home edition and the professional edition. Can anyone tell me which one is better for what he wants to do, or if it even matters. He'll probably end up getting 3ds max.

Thanks

 

[Nothinman]

If he ever wants to use more than one processor he'll need Pro, I'm not sure if 3DSmax is multithreaded, but even if it's not SMP will make his PC usable while he's rendering.

 

[Abe77]

Nothinman, I have a 3ds max trial version and it says it is mutithreaded. What does SMP stand for in your reply? So Much Power? Thanks for the reply.

 

[Nothinman]

Symmetricl Muliple Processing, if an app supports SMP it can run concurrently on 2 or more processors at once. Most apps are not written like this because it's a lot of work to get working properly.

 

[Need4Speed]

i'd go with win2k pro for MAX and most other rendering/modeling packages. With max particularly there have been a lot of issues with Cdilla and winxp. there are updates available, but my choice would still be win2k...IMHO

 

[Sunner]

I agree with N4S.

While Im not into Pro3D stuff myself, a friend of mine is, as well as the guy sitting next to me at work.

Both seem to think that Win2K is the way to go.

 

[boran]

win2k is definetly teh way to go, I always had Win2k and my brothers comp needed reinstall lately so I said "lets give XP a try" and I installed it on his comp, but winXP appearently is working one a somwhat different network protocol, because my rendering manager on win2k and the rendering server on his comp where not able to communicate with eachother, so now I installed win2k on his comp and network rendering goes like a breeze ...

 

[jhu]

irix

 

[Abe77]

He only has a choice between XP Home Edition and Pro. Should he get XP home edition or is the problem with both versions? Thanks for the replies.

 

[rbV5]

He should get XP pro in case he upgrades to dual CPU's. I use 3DSMax in XP, CDilla is not a problem with the updates. Your cousin should check out gMax and Maya personal Edition, both free and an excellent way to check/out learn modeling in Maya and 3Dsmax.

 

[Abe77]

Thanks for the advice rbV5. I think I'll check out gMax and Maya also.