vista or xp?

[RoBe]

I'm needing an operating system for a new build and i'm not sure whether going for vista is worthwhile or not. It's one of those builds which will last for a while (probably about 2/3 years) and I dont want to be faffing around formatting and reinstalling and upgrading to vista after i've been using it for a while (and spending more money than i need to).

I'm thinking vista just becuase i'll definitley be upgrading in the near future to vista (as i'm sure most people will) and imo it'd be a waste of money to get xp and the vista later on.

Anyway, xp pro oem (£86.35) or vista ultimate oem (£110.44)?

q6600
p5k premium
xfx 8400gs
2gb crucial ballistix pc2-8500
logitech g11
razer copperhead
samsung 226bw

[Lucio]

Unless you have a pressing need to be part of a Domain, rather than a workgroup, neither.

Vista Home Premium is fine, I'd recomend the 64bit version so you can easily upgrade to 4GB of RAM in the near future. The only programs I had a bit of a problem with were finding an anti-virus application (settled on TrendMicro in the end) and that I can't get SMART data to be reported from my HDD.

[Blitzen]

Unless you have a pressing need to be part of a Domain, rather than a workgroup, neither.

Vista Home Premium is fine, I'd recomend the 64bit version so you can easily upgrade to 4GB of RAM in the near future. The only programs I had a bit of a problem with were finding an anti-virus application (settled on TrendMicro in the end) and that I can't get SMART data to be reported from my HDD.

Version 6 & 7 of Kaspersky work great. I have been using them with Vista Ultimate 64 bit for over a year now and all is sweet.

[RoBe]

thanks guys, i guess i'll go for vista home premium x64, dreamscene would have been nice but i guess a 40 quid difference can't really justify that. I might go buy another 2gb with my left over 40 pounds

[Lucio]

Version 6 & 7 of Kaspersky work great. I have been using them with Vista Ultimate 64 bit for over a year now and all is sweet.

Yup, this is true, however I personally, found them to be annoying products to use. I guess I prefer Trend Micro's simpler approach to warnings which only kick in the once for the most part.

[Blitzen]

Yup, this is true, however I personally, found them to be annoying products to use. I guess I prefer Trend Micro's simpler approach to warnings which only kick in the once for the most part.

Whats annoying about them that you found?
I found them very unobtrusive. No pop ups or anything and no slow downs.

THe great thing about Kaspersky is its highly configurable.

[lilcompt]

xp is great works better than vista atleast no errors. easy and not complicated like vista.

[Splash]

xp is great works better than vista atleast no errors. easy and not complicated like vista.

Install MSDOS 6.2. Much simpler and it works better.

[306maxi]

Install MSDOS 6.2. Much simpler and it works better.

You should have reccomended Windows ME

[Hunain]

Ive been using Vista 32Bit Ultimate for quite sometime, actually I usually go back and forth, making Images with Acronis true image, I have an image of my XP SP2 and my Vista 32bit Ultimate.

Vista is much better IMO, yes it lags a bit in games, but thats more of a driver issue, as for Windows dream scene, it is pretty awesome, works flawlessly, actually, like a dream. Depends on you though, it is a very well developed software.

I just cant go back to XP after using Vista, Xp just looks..ugly...

I know that Vista has an annoying UAC, but the ultimate edition allows you to turn it off, works pretty much normal then.

[RoBe]

Just a thought, will any software not be able to run on x64?

I've got licenses for vectroworks 11, nero 8 and photoshop cs2. I assume they'd all work fine?

[starbuck]

I know that Vista has an annoying UAC, but the ultimate edition allows you to turn it off, works pretty much normal then.

you can turn off UAC in any version I think. I have home premium and was able to turn it off. Once of the 1st things I did.

If you're building a system for next few years then vista is prob best bet. 1st service pack is nearly upon us and it will only get better with time.

[Splash]

You should have reccomended Windows ME

Perhaps my next recommendation will be an Etch-A-Sketch...

Q: My Etch-A-Sketch has all of these funny little lines all over the screen A: Pick it up and shake it.

Q: How do I turn my Etch-A-Sketch off? A: Pick it up and shake it.

Q: What's the shortcut for Undo? A: Pick it up and shake it.

Q: How do I create a New Document window? A: Pick it up and shake it.

Q: How do I set the background and foreground to the same color? A: Pick it up and shake it.

Q: What is the proper procedure for rebooting my Etch-A-Sketch? A: Pick it up and shake it.

Q: How do I delete a document on my Etch-A-Sketch? A: Pick it up and shake it.

Q: How do I save my Etch-A-Sketch document? A: Don't shake it.

Easy and not complicated like Vista.

Also UAC can be disabled in all versions of Vista, but I'd urge you to think twice before doing so.

[Splash]

Just a thought, will any software not be able to run on x64?

I've got licenses for vectroworks 11, nero 8 and photoshop cs2. I assume they'd all work fine?

Nero 8 works fine, as does CS2 as far as I can tell. No idea on Vectorworks - perhaps check with the vendor.

[directhex]

Wine Application DB - Viewing App: VectorWorks 11
Wine Application DB - Viewing App: Photoshop CS2
Nero – Nero Linux 3 Introduction

[bigbloke]

Vista is much better IMO, yes it lags a bit in games, but thats more of a driver issue, as for Windows dream scene, it is pretty awesome, works flawlessly, actually, like a dream. Depends on you though, it is a very well developed software.

I just cant go back to XP after using Vista, Xp just looks..ugly....

what about it is better?

personally as it is significantly slower for gaming this is a reason for me not to use it.

when i trialed it networking and file transfers were significantly slower so i'm not sure about it being well developed. the amount of post release patches in such a short space of time would also refute that claim.

looks ugly? so style over substance wins again?