Vista or XP?


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Barbobot

-the Pirate King
Retired
Due to the relatively recent theft I will be buying myself a new computer soon, hopefully tonight actually. But I'm still not 100% sure on whether I should stick with XP or upgrade to Vista. I can go either way with my new dell and it doesn't really have any effect on the total price. Currently I'm leaning towards XP because of things I've heard about vista in the past. But has Vista gotten any better since then and gotten any fixes or is it still trash compared to XP? If it's still trash then that makes my decision very easy, but if it's gotten better I may have to think a bit more.

Thanks for any help.
 
I used to have Vista on my laptop, and I just didn't like it, so I wiped it out and got XP back on there. Everything in Vista just runs slower, not just because it's a fancier operating system, but it wastes all kinds of computing power on DRM shtuff. If, for example, you watch any HD fansubs from this site, your computer would likely struggle quite a bit to play it, whereas XP wouldn't go through the process of downconverting the signal because you don't have a fancy chip on your video card saying it can handle HD signals.

...and being the computer science major that I am, Vista makes it a lot harder to tweek your system components or fix any problems the computer may be having without having to jump through all it's flaming hoops. When I had Vista, it was also pretty dang buggy, but like you've said, they've worked through quite a bit of that.

...but besides prettier windows (you can actually tweak XP to look just as fancy) and the dang-fangled sidebar, Vista really doesn't offer anything over XP.

But as the facts stand, Games run at least 15% percent slower on Vista, Office runs 35-50% slower, and watching any HD content takes... I don't know exactly how much slower, but my laptop couldn't even play anything before switching to XP.
 
I'm using Vista now and it seems to work perfectly fine for me. The only real problems that Vista seems to have now is its compatibility with what you want to run. Even if you do happen to get a computer with Vista you can always dual boot it with XP and have the best of both.

Then again there are also programs out there that will give you a Vista look on an XP computer. I moved up to Vista because of the extra features and because eventually I'm going to have to use Vista anyways because XP support will have to be dropped eventually.

EDIT: My laptop with Vista can run everything about as well as it could with XP. It could very well be that your computer came with a bunch of useless programs that were eating your CPU and Memory.

The bugs are gone and there is the option of turning those 'flaming hoops' off (ie. Turn off User Account Control). Even so why are you trying to run any sort of new game on a laptop? If you want a computer for gaming then buy a desktop. Not only is it cheaper but the hardware is usually half a generation behind on laptops due to size constraints.
 
XP all the way still lol. If you do alot of playing around in your c drive like in the program file and stuff you will be constantly being ask are u sure if you want to do this.... errr I get too annoyed by that. Plus if you buying a new computer it will most likely have Vista on it and I heard a Vista made computer it made a certain way if you install xp back on it the computer will get mess up. =/
 
QUOTE (langes01x @ Dec 12 2007, 05:58 PM) EDIT: My laptop with Vista can run everything about as well as it could with XP. It could very well be that your computer came with a bunch of useless programs that were eating your CPU and Memory.
nah, I make a point of doing a complete wipe of my new computer and get rid of all the crapware. I'm not saying Vista is a total sloth, but dang, it's definitely not as fast as XP, I don't see any of its added features as justifying that cost.

If you're a performance nut like me, and/or like playing Stepmania while you're visiting home, the bleack. Just wait for the new version of windows in 2010, Vista's become Microsoft's poorest received new release.

...but realize I am a CS major, whatever bias may come into play there. I love tweaking my pc, and Vista doesn't like that at all (or at least didn't before the bugs got fixed...)

Maybe I'd like the new bug-free Vista, but I'm just fine with XP, which is still compatible with everything (except Halo 2, but hey, that's Microsoft's fault)
 
If you can still get XP, I say stick with the old. It's how I ended up with my current computer (only XP laptop still being sold at the store when they replaced my old one). I know a lot of people with Vista now, and I get divided stories. The anime fans I know all hate it because they say it doesn't run fast enough or allow for multi-tasking. My brother users his for a lot of downloading and gaming and hasn't complained at all. His computer is only a few months old, so they've probably improved it.

My biggest problem with Vista (besides all the horror stories I heard) is that it's an ugly operating system. I'm sure you can change it back to XP style, but I'm comfortable with my XP and would prefer not to change.
 
Like others have said,

Wait till they come out with the OS after Vista.
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Otherwise stick with XP. Only problem is that they will eventually stop doing new updates for XP, which could mean security issues with hackers, etc. I don't know if that is a big deal or will happen often though, but it is a possibility.

If you want XP you better buy it soon, they are going to stop selling it eventually.
 
Well there have been some increasing changes to the Vista OS, and the current version seems better than how it was half a year ago. From what I can see, though, they really need to import some things from XP into Vista.

As for deciding between the two, if you bought a computer running vista, keep using vista. Downgrading and looking for hardware drivers meant for vista is truly a Bill Gates Pain.
 
Okay, I'm just gonna throw this in; I support Vista; and like EggBeast, I also am a CS major so - take it as you will.

In my experience, Vista has run about 2-3x faster than when I used to have XP - everything from boot up time to running programs. Further, I have yet to run into a compatibility issue that at the very least didn't have a workaround.

Overall - from what I've experienced, heard, etc; Vista runs just as well as - if not better than - XP; and it does it with a more efficient use of CPU and RAM. Most of the problems people were having with Vista are done and over with.

And that aside, the GUI on vista just looks prettier IMO.


BTW, as a side note, I make a point to watch all my anime in HD, the highest quality (mkv, etc), and highest resolution whenever possible; as well as playing games that require a lot of graphics and processing power (new EVE? looks pretty
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) for both pleasure (games) and work (both 2D and 3D Graphical Engineering programs); so it's not like I'm just speaking of ignorance, I have actually run my comp through some hurdles.
 
QUOTE (dchaosblade @ Dec 13 2007, 03:01 AM) In my experience, Vista has run about 2-3x faster than when I used to have XP - everything from boot up time to running programs. Further, I have yet to run into a compatibility issue that at the very least didn't have a workaround.
Doesn't Vista require more RAM or something to run properly? Your post just reminded me of it. Because I think my parents' laptop runs the minimum requirement, and my XP laptop is a lot faster than their laptop (I get annoyed at how slow it boots up). Both machines were purchased in 2007, and both are HPs. So it could have something to do with that.
 
I've tried vista but didnt like it too much, it wasnt on my own machine however so i didnt have the option to mess around with it much. What i'd do if your going to buy a new computer is just buy one with Vista installed try it out for a little while and mess around with it, if u dont like it u most likely have a windows xp cd (or a friend with one) you can always format and go back to xp + now you'll have the windows vista cd to reinstall if u so desire just dont go like my friend and try to save 30 bucks and not get a damn OS cd with your comp lol.
 
Well I ordered my computer last night and just decided to go with the XP. It was either between a 17" screen with Vista (cause that's all it comes in) or a 15" screen (came with either vista or XP). Judging from the more XP recommendations than Vista recs I guess I made the right choice of the 15" with XP. Thanks for the input.

Now I just have to wait till the beginning of next week to finally have a computer. Using my roommates comps all the time is getting inconvenient.
 
XP or Vista? I say Mac. I've had it with Microsoft's crap, so that is what my next computer will be.

I understand the reasons others might continue with PCs, but as far as my personal usage goes, there is nothing I do on a PC that a Mac can't do better. But I'm probably going to have to suffer on another year with Bill Gates' garbage before I make the switch.
 
QUOTE (AccipiterF1 @ Dec 13 2007, 02:01 PM) XP or Vista? I say Mac. I've had it with Microsoft's crap, so that is what my next computer will be.

I understand the reasons others might continue with PCs, but as far as my personal usage goes, there is nothing I do on a PC that a Mac can't do better. But I'm probably going to have to suffer on another year with Bill Gates' garbage before I make the switch.
Personally I'm not just too much of a Mac fan. Also there's my pride to consider with all this. I've already stated my dislike for macs to my roommates, most of which either have macs or just recently/will switch to macs. If I were to switch to macs after everything then I might not hear the end of it. Good thing I'm a windows fan then.

I do have to say that I've fallen in love with macs 2 fingers scrolling on their laptops. It's just so simple and nice and I wish other laptops used this.

(I'm actually using my roommates mac to type this)
 
Gaming and video processing -- XP

Stability, safety, lots of free time to spare on working out how crap works....----- Vista...

XP is still the best and the most ultimate system for almost everyone. Games run like charm , it can cope with 3+ gb of memory (Vista refuses to read for instance 2gbx2 = dual channel), it's significantly safe and stable (provided that user knows what function to turn on to achieve certain results).

Vista, on the other hand, has some great potential yet its as incomplete as great a system. Crappy reactions at times, blue screen of death when system tries to use that fourth gig of memory that cannot be read properly, some weird protective processes running in the background, laziness!!!, exaggarrated DX10! (choppy performance in highest details even on high-end GPUs like 8800Ultra)...

If I were you I would wait for XP's SP3 and Vista's SP1 and then compare those systems. Nothing can fix buggy system better than buggy service pack
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QUOTE (Vith @ Dec 13 2007, 12:23 PM)You do know that Gates owns over 50% of Mac too right?

He keeps it going just to make it look like there is competition. He makes a heck of a lot from iPods though.
That is 100% wrong. If Gates owned over 50% of the competitions stock it would have been reported somewhere and the only thing I can find on it is a couple of old threads debating the same thing.

Yes at one point Gates did own maybe 20% or so of Apple (Which he could not use to vote with and which he got in a settlement with Apple) but he later sold those off or so I am lead to believe from other threads on other forums.
 
The only reason (for most people) to get Vista is for DirectX10, as DirectX10 will only be available for Vista but not XP. So in the future, gamers will have not choice but to upgrade to Vista whether they like it or not (Microsoft sure knows how to ripe gamers off lol).

Besides that, Vista will eat up much more resources and processing power than XP, thus slowing down your computer making you carry tasks slower (if your CPU is not fast enough).

Originally, Vista is said to be needing at least Dual Core CPU to run smoothly. But what I noticed is many laptops with single core that are sold comes with Vista installed, which is utterly pointless as it would be using almost all of its processing power just to run Vista, and leave very little processing power for the other programs...making the laptop slower than with a XP install.

So unless you have fast CPU with lots of processing power to spare, don't even bother consider about using Vista.
 
QUOTE (Marine-RX179 @ Dec 13 2007, 04:28 PM) The only reason (for most people) to get Vista is for DirectX10, as DirectX10 will only be available for Vista but not XP. So in the future, gamers will have not choice but to upgrade to Vista whether they like it or not

Wine will implement DirectX 10 in the future so Vista is not the only way to go
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QUOTE (Marine-RX179 @ Dec 13 2007, 06:28 PM) So unless you have fast CPU with lots of processing power to spare, don't even bother consider about using Vista.
Not that it matters for me anymore cause my computer is already ordered, but would a intel duo 2.0GHz processor be good enough? I would think it would be.
 
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