40 replies to this topic

[harshcpu]

Which do you think is better XP or Vista or Linux. I am constantly switching back and fourth and cant stick with either. vist has some pretty cool features but Xp has about twice the amount of performance.

[Thingcubed]

Well, I don't have a large amount of experience with Linux so I'll leave that part of the question out.

At the moment, I greatly prefer XP (pro) to Vista. I don't think it's even worth it to get Vista until it's been updated heavily. XP was a bit like that too, until they came out with Service Pack 2. Once they've come out with the equivalent of that for Vista I will probably upgrade.

[csp4.0]

I don't think you should get windows XP Pro, pro is only good if you are using the computer as a server or something, otherwise use windows XP media centre edition (MCE).
Get windows XP Media centre edition (MCE) only if you use the computer to play a lot of direct X9 games otherwise get windows vista get home premium for normal use, otherwise if you use some networking get business edition, if you do both get ultimate.

For linux I would keep it installed but it should do good with the other operating system. Just a question though which version of linux is it? uBuntu?

so to sum up... use windows XP media centre edition (MCE) for gaming, windows vista (home premium) for media centre computer, windows vista (business edition) for light networking etc etc.. and windows vista (ultimate) if you want to use a media centre computer as a central server for your home network...

I personally don't like linux that much, because what you can do on it you can also do on windows XP. But it is pretty fun to just play with the features every once in a while.

And a tip: don't get MAC, it just plainly isn't as good as XP or vista... only get it if you are a serious graphics designer or something...

[bredin]

vista is prtty much an upgrade from windows, and linux, lol, dont even know what it is...

[dre]

Quote

vista is prtty much an upgrade from windows, and linux, lol, dont even know what it is...

If you don't know what Linux is then why are you even saying that Vista is an upgrade from it? In my opinion, Vista should only be worth calling an upgrade from Windows 98.

[rvalkass]

Linux is miles ahead of Windows when you consider what they have achieved in a fairly short space of time for each of the major distributions. When you also consider that it is free (in both senses of the word) then it is even more appealing! My parents also agree that Linux (Kubuntu is the distro they're using) is a lot easier than Windows, a lot more stable, and a load of other great things. The only possible advantage of Windows over Linux is that game developers are obsessed with Windows for some weird reason, but Wine is making sure you can run Windows software in Linux.

Quote

In my opinion, Vista should only be worth calling an upgrade from Windows 98.

I wouldn't even call it that Bring back 3.11 For Workgroups any day!

[Amiel]

Windows XP is the greatest among of the 3. It is so simple, easy, unique, clean, fast, nice features, and affordable!

[arnz]

I'd stick with XP for now. If it's not broke and/or most programs can still operate on it, I'll keep with it. Also, waiting till the Vista bugs are found and sorted out. It wasnt too long ago about the Windows ME (aka Windows 98 Third Edition) debacle where many users downgraded back to Win98SE (Windows 98 Second Edition) within a week or two of installing Win98TE (aka Windows Me)

[rayzoredge]

Of course, each have their pros and cons.

Windows XP Professional SP2, in my opinion, would be the best pick for most users, simply because it is the most stable and worry-free version/variant/whatever of Windows yet. It still beats Vista in benchmark tests (strangely-enough), and it commands the widest audience for gaming (short of Dx10-only games), popular programs (such as PhotoShop, Microsoft Office, etc.), and it is rather easy to pick up and learn with a little bit of exploration. Apple elitists take pride in the simplicity of the Mac OS X platform because their tasks are accomplished with fewer steps, but you have to be an absolute moron to not make sense of how to do things in Windows XP. (This doesn't apply to LEARNING the OS. I say that because Apple elitists take pride in performing tasks that take a few less steps... which, to me, seems rather retarded.) It's almost weird for a geek to praise a Microsoft product, but hey, I only speak truth.

Just about any distribution of Linux would be the next best choice, considering the fact that it is a FREE operating system, it can be modified to suit your needs (if you know how to program), has many good alternative choices to Windows-based programs that work well (Blender, GIMP, OpenOffice), and if needed be, can even emulate the Windows environment or its programs anyway (Wine, etc.). Speaking as a (sadly, still) Linux newbie, I found that it's really not that hard to figure out the interface, but there's heavy use of the command-line when you want to actually do some more advanced work to actually get everything up and running. (However, most of the common Linux distributions, such as Ubuntu, automate everything and keep you from having to manually install drivers, etc.) One problem with Linux would be gaming (with the lack of DirectX, which is why game developers are pushing Windows-based games - not to mention that we live in a Windows-saturated world), although Linux is getting better (with OpenGL support).

Vista is my last recommendation. Microsoft still hasn't gotten their thumbs out of their arses and even with the beta service pack supposedly due this month, XP still blows it out of the water as far as performance goes. Everything is rather new in Vista... even the interface, and most of the common functionalities found in XP have changed around, so it's a frustrating process just to do the simpler things that I'm used to in XP. With Vista comes newer programs... which really isn't a great thing considering that Microsoft Office 2007 kills common Office file compatibility with its stupid new .***x filetypes. DirectX10 support is the only thing, in my opinion, that makes Vista shine. If you really need to play the latest games rendered in what DirectX10 has to offer (which isn't exactly something you can shake a stick at; Microsoft DID succeed in making DirectX better ), then Vista is your only option. I've heard rumors of DirectX10 support in XP, but of course, they're rumors. Plus, economically, it makes no sense to further bolster an obsolete operating system.

[Fleet]

Never used, or seen Linux. So I can't really say about that. However, I prefer XP. It's generally faster.