27 replies to this topic

[coolcat50]

I'm currently saving up for a laptop for several purposes. One of these is gaming and another is graphics. I can't decide whether to go used and get XP or new with Vista. The main games I'll be playing are Guild Wars and Halo. I have heard that Vista is horrible and eats up a crapload of memory. Well what should I do.

[Spyda]

Most definitely Vista. If you ever looked through and compared Vista with Xp then you would see how much better Vista is. Vista is the counter-part of Macintosh. Microsoft specifically made it to compete with the macintosh. I think they have done a pretty good job, seeing that Vista has much better graphics, a much better interface, and just a much better look to it. Plus, I never really liked Macintosh's as my school had them, plus they cost way too much. So vista is much better i think, and is much better than Macintosh's(but thats another topic )

[coolcat50]

Macintosh?

I'm debating between two Microsoft systems.

Lol

[BuffaloHelp]

I've heard that only Vista would let you play Halo with other online players. So if games are your motivation the latest Operating System would be best. Send the extra money to purchase more RAM for your laptop. When purchasing a laptop be sure to find out the maximum RAM capacity. You don't want to be stuck with a laptop that only has 1.5GB RAM as its maximum upgrade.

Personally, I would still stick to Windows XP but the PRO version (not the HOME edition). It's still the very best for Windows networking OS without whole bunch of crap built-into it. Dell is still offering Windows XP Pro with their business lines. If a company like Dell is still offering XP Pro, there's something to be said about that particular OS.

Any Vista version to match XP Pro's administrative and networking functionally is Vista Business Premium Edition or higher, and who wants to pay all that money for something that is the copycat of XP Pro with fancy GUI? It's a scam I tell yas!

Command prompts and DOS keys all the way! (Okay, I'll stop rambling)

Okay, one more: I predict Vista would be as a failure as Windows ME. Do you remember how long that edition lasted? Only a year, at best.

[dre]

Unless you have some critical need that only Vista can relieve, then I really recommend that you stick with Windows XP. Do not get Vista just because it looks better, there are plenty of ways of making Windows XP look just like Vista. If it's because of DX10 games, I would recommend you wait longer, since there are very few of those at the moment anyways. Better yet, why not run a Windows XP and Linux dual-boot system? The two operating systems work very well hand-in-hand for me, where one can do anything the other can't.

[csp4.0]

I would need specs because if your 'going to become yours' computer has bad specs i.e. 1GB ram, single core processor etc then its XP (personally I prefer MCE) but PRO is good for networking as BuffaloHELP said. but if the computer has 2GB+ RAM duo/quad core CPU etc then its definitel Vista, Im running Vista x64 right now and I gotta be honest... its one if the BEST OSes ever made, even though I still have XP installed (I don't trust MS that much) just in case Vista didn't suit me.

[ZaM0]

If you want Vista, your system must be descent. RAM - 512 if you want to run the Starter Edition with no problems. 1024 MB+ if you want the Ultimate, couse it eats up much resources.

I recommend you to stay with Windows XP few more time, couse of the Vista software incompatibility, and couse of the bunch of use of resources.

Edited by ZaM0, 09 October 2007 - 09:18 AM.

[Soviet]

Windows Vista just isn't quite ready for a lot of business users just yet. There's a lot of industry specific software that gets broken by it. I know of a number of large format software RIP applications where that is a fact. I have even heard of issues regarding Adobe's own applications, such as problems with Acrobat.

Vista is even turning out to be problematic on home computers running a lot of different games. It seems the games run a lot faster under XP.

I'm also wondering if Windows Vista will allow the old Adobe Type Manager 4.1 program to run. I have a number of old Type 1 Multiple Master fonts that I still like to use. But you can't install them straight into Window's own font manager.

One more thing -get the standard 32-bit version of WinXP. Avoid the 64-bit version. None of Adobe's applications are compiled in 64-bit word lengths at this point. And 64-bit breaks some functions.
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[fffanatics]

Go with vista. I know it still is quite new and SP1 has not come out yet for it, but i have had no problems with it and have been using it since it came out to licenced buisness customers roughly a year ago. Therefore, that is say much. Originally, a few drivers were not available so i could not print and so forth but that did not bother me. By the spring time, all of the drivers were released and no issues there. From an end-users point of view, it is very similar to XP except a few small changes in the interface and security options. However, as an advanced user, you would notice lots of changes and I tend to think they were for the best and still are not to hard to adjust to.

[deejames]

I prefer windows XP service pack 2... I'm more comfortable with it.. and feeling more secure.. I have read and observed that the windows vista

Windows Vista proclaimed "Me II"
Could Windows Vista proof a repeat of Microsoft's Windows Millenium Edition (Me) marketing disaster?

Several people are starting to ask just that question after Microsoft released a $3 software bundle for developing nations and Dell brought back Windows XP systems.

Windows Me was released in 2000. Microsoft at the time was the laughing stock of the high tech world. It had just been convicted of abusing its monopoly and had completely missed out on the internet boom (well, it acquired Hotmail, but that was it). The Windows Me launch prompted headlines like "Windows washes even whiter", to indicate that the launch was 99 per cent marketing fluff. The market agreed. Consumers held on to their Windows 98 systems and Me sales tanked.

reference: http://www.siliconvalleysleuth.com/2007/04...ws_vista_p.html

[delivi]

I'd suggest that you Go for Windows Ultimate or else stick with Windows XP SP2.

Microsoft recently announced a scheme so that all Vista Enterprise and Ultimate users can dwongrade to Windows XP SP2 with a downgrade CD provided by Microsoft.

I'd say that Windows XP Pro SP2 is the best platform and the most stable one to develope applications and play games, even better than Windows Vista. If you go for Windows XP Pro SP2 you can use the amount saved to upgrade your system hardware.

Windows XP SP3 will be soon available so you can get more features and make Win XP more stable and secure.

[heavensounds]

I'd also say - go with Vista! I am using it for about half a year now and am positively impressed. It is the best and the most up-to-date windows system and there are many improvements since XP version. Well there are how much, five years between them! Vista also has a lot of interesting new features, which are very useful and come very handy if you work with pictures, search for any file, shortcut and all that stuff...it is good!

As for the games - Vista runs a completely seperate hm "process" for games, so windows and games are two different things and Vista only takes as much as it needs and leaves the rest of the computer to games. If anything goes bad with games, Vista is untouched and you can ctrl+alt+delete out of game, having everything you worked on earlier left just as it was on you desktop...

Of course there is also directx10, which is going to be used more and more from now on, so this is also one of the reasons to use Vista instead of XP...

You have to decide for yourself, but in my opinion you should not buy an old laptop. Invest and I'm sure it will return as long hours of happy games-playing.

Best whishes

[tats]

XP is still good for me.......

[sitesmakers]

yea of course Windows xp , for me Vista sucks , and no offence but its real .

Windows Xp it and will be the most stable microsoft product , Vista is like more entertaiment program . my opinion

[Tetraca]

Vista is simply terrible. They butchered the interface, they added an annoying security feature which can only protect the stupid, they butchered the directory structure, and worst of all added all that bloat. I'd stick with XP any day, but I'd rather even work on 2000 so I don't even have all those fancy effects but all the stability and features that I like - namely the lack of bloat and useless effects, the decent security, and the interface which I like to use.

If this is the future of Microsoft I'm going to migrate to Linux just as soon as I can get a 64-bit flash player. Of course, there's always Server Edition which they haven't messed up too bad and actually seems pretty great compared to Vista, since it seems to be a more modern 2000.

Plus, at this point Vista at this point lacks the consumer product testing. It has had serious problems, like the WGA server reset which cost Vista users several features for a day or two. When the service pack comes out it might be a good time to buy.

Edited by Tetraca, 10 October 2007 - 11:30 AM.

[rayzoredge]

BuffaloHELP, on Oct 9 2007, 12:13 AM, said:

Okay, one more: I predict Vista would be as a failure as Windows ME. Do you remember how long that edition lasted? Only a year, at best.

X2, buddy. X2. I feel the same way about the Vista/ME relation.

In my opinion, Windows XP Professional is the most stable and most functional Windows platform out there. The only problem with sticking to what works is that there is no future for it... Vista is Microsoft's flagship and they're running the show from there. You will need Vista to run Halo 2 as well as any games that have DirectX10 support, as I don't see any economic sense for Microsoft to enable Direct10 support for Windows XP.

The service pack for Vista is slowly approaching... I believe its release will be in January 2008, if I've read and heard correctly. Maybe then Vista will be viable for actual use... and only the Ultimate or Home Premium versions are worth getting. And as usual, Microsoft sucks consumers into throwing even more money into an operating system to snag the essentials and utilities that should be in every one of the variants.

If you look at the Vista variant comparison chart on the Microsoft site, you'll know what I mean.

[dre]

Quote

there are many improvements since XP version.

Do tell me about these improvements in Vista over XP.

Quote

You will need Vista to run Halo 2 as well as any games that have DirectX10 support, as I don't see any economic sense for Microsoft to enable Direct10 support for Windows XP.

Right, but 3rd parties have already started working on DX10 for non-Vista operating systems. Therefore Vista probably isn't required in the future, and I foreseen this ever since M$ was trying to convince everybody that Vista was soon to be required (for gaming).

And who's says that Wine and Cedega for Linux won't be able to support DX10 games in the future?

Edited by dre, 10 October 2007 - 10:37 PM.

[coolcat50]

Well, I need a semi-cheap laptop since I don't have a job nor could I get one. I must rely off my upcoming birthday and following Christmas to pay for the laptop. I was thinking of getting one off Ebay or a used store instead of a new one specifically because of Vista's high need for RAM and it's infamy. It used to not be able to run Guild Wars, but I do not know if currently does. My Halo playing will mostly be online, but I will be doing campaign also. Note that I have Halo 1 not 2 on PC. Well, I also plan on using graphics editing programs like GIMP and most likely a compiler for C and C++. I think I will get XP and upgrade to Vista once it is all fixed up. I know Bill Gates is trying to give himself a monopoly so Vista might become worse. I myself am not a particuraly "advanced" user, but I'm not a beginner either. Well, there is a little more background info on my OS needs.

[FLaKes]

Lol, I also agree that vista will most probably end up as windows ME. I mean, windows xp works perfectly fine in most computers, and if you really want to upgrade just because of the visual appearance then go buy yourself aston shell or windows blinds. It will be healthier for your pc since you will require less ram for the OS and it would also leave your wallet happier. All I have heard about vista are problems at the moment, it will probably take a couple of months for everything to be worked out for it. Not many programs have been upgraded to vista yet.

[saitunes]

It's all down to your preference as far as GUI goes. I prefer something basic but nice (E.G XP with a nice desktop image and maybe a skin or something)

I have heard to run games vista sort of 'unloads' alot of itself from the memory to make room for the games (provided you have enough)

[audiovia]

I'll would say i had enough of both OS, now i turned to MAC OS X, it is definitely the best OS in the world right now. They are developing their OS with true understand of user's needs (not blaming their users when something went wrong), take iphone for example how their engineer really fill all the gaps of what other mobile phones are lacking and more.

[Nico Robin]

I would have to say for me Vista has to wait few more months or up to a year till I would use it!

There are way too many bugs and not enough programs that support it, once it gets as stable as XP then I would consider it! =)

[minimcmonkey]

I think it depends on how powerful your computer is, and what you use your computer for...
But home basic (vista home basic) includes virtually no applications - as far as im aware, not even a media player!
But ultimate edition boasts many features that XP professional doesnt include.
But if you consider using vista, i would recomend that your computer is well above the recomended specifications (atlease 1.5gb of RAM) as it uses a lot of memory, just to run the opperating system itself.
I found it cane take around 10 minutes to boot vista home basic on a slow laptop!
Infact, when vista was first released. Only 20% if computers could run it without upgrade - that just proves how much memory and other specifications it requires!
Yes - i think it truly could be a market disaster equal to windows ME...
but vista is slowly becoming standard, but XP is still wayyyyy ahead of it!

[Eureka]

You should go XP for both because vista still has problems that need solving and many games cannot use vista, xp is fast versitile and supports many games, pretty much all games. The XP has many functions that can be applied to it, even vista features can be applied to an XP, the looks, the games, the components. choose what you would rather get, XP or Vista

[litchy]

My sister has a laptop with vista on it.... Its quite smooth running but thats all i can say about vista in general. I can't really comment on how well it performs on the laptop. Vista in my opinion is still developing (more things are gradually switching to support vista now) it's having a slow migration from Xp to Vista and slow could mean any long term period. Slowly applications are begging to support vista but not only software, hardware as well - such as graphics cards etc.

my opinion would be to stick with Xp for a while if some of the well used things you own aren't compatible with Vista

Edited by litchy, 25 June 2008 - 11:21 AM.