which one to get...or both?

[PoppyLlama]

Ok, so I noticed from the majority of screen shots I see on the forums, that most people here seem to be using Vista. I, however, am still using XP PRO. I also plan to build a new rig soon, and I was wondering what you guys think about getting Vista or XP? I know MS is pulling support from XP and all that stuff. But I dont really care about that, I just want to know this:
1)Do you use Vista or XP?
2)Why?
3)Which one, in your opinion, is better, and what makes you think so?
4)Anything else you think is important

If anyone would take some time to do this for me, I would really appreciate it!
Thanks in advance everyone!

[dA_PhReAk]

1) Vista
2) Dx10 and got a free copy of vista in imagin cup
3) Its not and easy question but ill tell you this If it werent for the free vista copy i would have stayed with xp. Vista not worth the money upgrade imo

[PoppyLlama]

@dA_PhReAk: what version of Vista do you have?

[zanzabar]

i would say, go vista BIZ x64, and make sure that u get daniel k drivers for your sound then everything should work fine

but i wouldent upgrade from xp pro to vista unless u need a new key

[dA_PhReAk]

@dA_PhReAk: what version of Vista do you have?

Vista Business x86, i didnt go with the 64bit version due to its less videogame compatibility.

[zanzabar]

Vista Business x86, i didnt go with the 64bit version due to its less videogame compatibility.

they have the same compatibility, x64 runs x86 and x64 nativity

[dA_PhReAk]

they have the same compatibility, x64 runs x86 and x64 nativity

didnt know that. i thought the games had to be optimized for 64bit. XP 64 is also like that?

(damm now i regret chosing the x86 version over the x64 )

[zanzabar]

if bought and oem, oei or retail u just need a 64bit disk and u can reuse your key for x64


also never buy an upgrade disk

[enteon]

3)Which one, in your opinion, is better, and what makes you think so?

for doing what ?

if you plan on playing badly made dx10 games, go for vista ^^ (or wait for good ones to arrive)
if you just want to play nearly every game, keep XP.
if you want to play it faster, try XSOS 2 or 3 when it's out (3 has dx10).
if you want to do serious stuff, use a modern linux distribution of your choice
and if you are really really lazy and you don't care about money, buy a mac

i hope i covered everything

[TouGe]

1) XP x64
2) Personal preference. I used a free copy of Vista 64 for about 6-8 months and, although I found it stable and relatively easy to use, I just like XP x64.
3) I don't think one is necessarily better than the other. The only faults I can find with Vista are network problems and slow file transfers. I'm not sure if SP1 fixed these issues or not since I bailed prior to its release.
4) XP x64 just works. If you want to try Vista then dual boot both OS's and see for yourself which is better.

[PoppyLlama]

I've never used vista for more than a few minutes, but when I did I found it quite pleasing to use. Pretty much the only reason I want it is for aero and dx10..I think I will stick with xp for now though. On a side note: what is Linux like? I've never use it before so I am just curious, Ive been looking into it for a bit and am interested.
thanks for the help everyone!

**edit**
I will be doing some moderate photoshopping, serious gaming, overclocking, and schoolwork (office 2007)
just in case you wanted to know

[enteon]

On a side note: what is Linux like? I've never use it before so I am just curious, Ive been looking into it for a bit and am interested.

**edit**
I will be doing some moderate photoshopping, serious gaming, overclocking, and schoolwork (office 2007)
just in case you wanted to know

well, linux is circa 90% free, the free in freedom
and very very modular! there are thousands of distributions out there that pack different software together to build a system suitable for the needs of the user group they're aiming on.
ther're only a few but important differences to windows. but i and a lot of other "pro" people think these differences make it superior to windows. and i think all the "normal" users would basically use everything but they like some features or whatever about linux.

i found out that the hardest things for newcomers to understand are:
- software is mostely distributed via packages and maintained with a package manager. due to this a lot of software won't make your system certainly slower and unstable, like in windows.
- file endings are seldom important, the type is saved as a MIME-type
-there are no drives like C: but everything is mounted into one big tree, what makes the whole system very very flexible
- because "everything's a file" every device is, every setting is ... so, never type 'rm -rf /dev/sda1'

at last: there is no reason for normal users not to use open office, photoshop can be fully replaced by gimp or maybe run with wine. you can game on linux, but that's not the easiest thing ^^

the distribution ubuntu has a huge community with a lot of FAQs. so either you read through some of them if you should face problems, or you can ask in this or their forum

hope this was not too much of blahblah. keep on being concerned about your freedom

[ARC1450]

Don't forget Linux Questions, either. That's a good place for, well, Linux based questions.

Anyway, down to the brass tacks. . .

-XP
-No money
-N/A
-N/A

Linux is okay if you have the desire to learn something new. If not, save yourself the effort and stay on Windows.

[PoppyLlama]

hmm, i dunno, I heard that you can download Unbuntu free and run it as a program in XP? anyone know if this is true..? I cant remember where i got that from though :/

[enteon]

hmm, i dunno, I heard that you can download Unbuntu free and run it as a program in XP? anyone know if this is true..? I cant remember where i got that from though :/

3 options here
- run it in a virtual machine. you need virtual box or vm ware or any such program.

- run it from a live dvd. insert dvd, boot from it and do whatever you want without touching your hard drive.

- install it from said dvd onto a free partition or let the installer make your windows partition smaller.

anway there is an installer for ubuntu that can be started from within windows, but i never use such a thing.
and yes ubuntu is , like most linux stuff, free of charge


PS: yes, it's hard to leave something you're used to behind. took me almost 2 years to let XP die. but now, i would never want to go back

[Entity_Razer]

1)Vista
2) I find it to work a lot more confortable then XP
3) Vista for me as the new explorer is pretty good, the directory setup and overall most if not all will work "out of the box". Eventhough it had some minor kinks at the beginning/launch with SP1 these all(or most) got ironed out so... Works dam good if you have the rig for it
4) Don't do vista unless you have a good rig, on slow rigs you'll suffer, on a good rig it'll be very nice to work with.

I'm running 3DsMax9, Adobe Creative Suite 3 and I can dualaccount EVE-Online which is quite a intensive MMO (Resource wise) with premier graphics with NO PROBLEM

So all I can do is reccomend it

[it_burns_when_i_pee]

ive stuck with xp, but im quite technical and tend to use explorer alot - old school style in accessing files etc

i dislike vista for many a reason, and hearing so many complain about it is also off putting (from a technical side which i deal with). i dont like toddler style fisher price features, its intrusive nature, power sapping & resource hungry appetite. yeah it looks good but if i click something i want to start loading, not view an animation for a few seconds before. even in xp, i turn off all the desktop animation, menu sliding etc - makes a huge difference

besides with its problems and awkward advances i read that microsoft are now intending to leapfrog to the new windows 7 OS. that will leave many happy vista users.

[m^2]

1. XP
2. Vista h8ter.
3. UAC (can be turned off, but I never remember where and have to search ). DRM. .NET is everywhere. Way too slow for my PC and my expectations. Poor software compatibility. I highly dislike programming security code for Vista, so I use XP and don't care about these who use Vista. They even managed to screw up minesweeper.
4. If you want to run Vista OR x64 OS, check if you can collect all driver first. It is rarely a problem now, but it's better to know before you pay.

[PoppyLlama]

wow thanks for all the help guys! judging from what everyones said, it seems like XP is still the way to go.. at least for now, with windows 7 coming out soon, i'm hoping that it won't be so full of bugs and roaches that it'll be worth upgrading to!

as far as linux goes...I would love to give it a try, but i've been pretty busy lately, i just wanna relax and NOT have to learn anything new for a bit :P

[s1nykuL]

1)Do you use Vista or XP?... XP & Linux I have XP/Vista dual boot, I have booted vista less than 20 times in 12 months. Linux on laptops.

2)Why?... I know XP inside out, I have control. Runs everything very quick, sound quality is awesome. I use Creative Audigy and Cuebase & VSTi soft synths.

3)Which one, in your opinion, is better, and what makes you think so?... XP, everything works, rock solid stability and more efficient, But I expect if I took the time to master vista I could make it efficient. No DRM, I don't need eye candy in an OS.

4)Anything else you think is important... DX10 in games as yet to prove to be worth the downgrade/upgrade. I don't know what vista does in the background, I don't know how when or where it chats to ms behind my back or what data it sends, I don't trust ms.

I could solve all the issues I have with vista if I spend a great deal of time disabling services, removing the bloat and sniffing the packets it puts out. But I ask why should I put in all the effort to reach a point I am currently at? I have an OS I am happy with that is secure and reliable. I will boot Vista next when a DX10 only game appears that I want to play. If I boot vista I unplug my NIC.

btw I don't use microsoft software, except Word. I use Thunderbird, Firefox with NoScript and AdBlock, XNews and Media player classic. All behind a software and hardware firewall. This is why I feel my system is secure.

[nn_step]

x86_64 vista.