XP or Vista

[Krugg]

I'm looking into buying a computer. Need to know: What's more worth getting on it, Windows Vista or Windows XP? I know XP is good, and Vista is newer, but Vista can be buggy. So which is better, really?

[RS14]

XP. I've used it for the last 5 years and been satisfied with it the whole time. If nothing else, Vista is a resource hog.

[Hecore]

Vista if you've got a card capable of supporting DX10, otherwise XP.

[The Valiant Turtle]

With many of the larger retailers you can get Vista and downgrade to XP if you don't like Vista. I believe that it's a bit of a pain to do so, but it's not a bad option. I'm guessing you could later re-install the Vista the computer came with later (but perhaps not) if you decide that you want to use Vista.

I'm pretty sure this only applies if you buy a new PC with Vista, but I may be mistaken.

[The Bushranger]

Avoid Vista like the plague.

You. Have. Been. Warned. :smalleek:

That is all.

[Rex Idiotarum]

Linux. Yeah.

[Dragonrider]

I have Vista. I like it. However, I've only had it a week and a half... :smalltongue:

yeah, I'm sure it's got problems - and if you want safe, familiar, and reliable, go for XP...but....

[Samiam303]

Here's the review I give every time this discussion comes up:

Vista is pretty. Vista has a few new features, the vast majority of which are incredibly trivial. Vista uses VASTLY more system resources to run than XP. If you're buying a new computer, this likely won't seem to be a problem, but it seems rather counterproductive to buy a new computer then use so much of the system resources to run the OS that it runs like an old computer. (Not kidding, my 6+ year old machine running XP runs comparably to a machine my friend bought this summer running Vista, which I believe cost more). XP does near everything just as well, and runs smoother.

That said, if you're one of those people who really wants to run DirectX 10 games, I guess you need Vista, but what games really use DirectX 10 anyway?

[Don Julio Anejo]

Be warned that up to 40% of your stuff won't run on Vista no matter what you do.

[Lord_Butters_I]

Vista sucks. [/thread] I know it sounds fanboyish, but IT'S THE TRUTH! There's nothing Vista can do that XP can't. You can even mod "vista only" games to run on XP and don't believe the propoganda, DX10 is not significantly better than DX9. (This is comming from someone who really doesn't care about graphics though).

[Dave Rapp]

Y'know, if newer is always better, then you should, logically, wait for the next version of Windows, because it's newer, and therefor, according to logic, better.

...

Wow, comma overdose.

But anyway, yeah, get XP. You can get Vista in a few years once everybody else has it and it becomes necessary to upgrade. Or just not get Vista at all. XP was fine, and it had no major problems that needed to be dealt with. (at least not to me, the average non-computer genius user)

[TSGames]

OS 10.X>XP>Vista

[Ego Slayer]

Be warned that up to 40% of your stuff won't run on Vista no matter what you do.
Got any solid facts on this? I* haven't had a problem installing anything, as of yet.

*This doesn't mean I use, like, or endorse the buying of Vista.

[[red][/red]]

Get an iMac. They come with boot camp, so you can have Leopard, XP, and Vista

Seriously, my friend did that, and it worked out great for him.

[Rex Idiotarum]

OS 10.X>XP>Vista

Your hidden text makes it hard for me to take you seriously.

[TSGames]

Your hidden text makes it hard for me to take you seriously.

Join us. We did not bring you Vista. We are the future.
D@mmit if more people keep switching I won't be a able to be such an elitist Mac user anymore :(

[[red][/red]]

Join us. We did not bring you Vista. We are the future.
D@mmit if more people keep switching I won't be a able to be such an elitist Mac user anymore :(

Well, the major indows-user argument has been taken away, now that we can use their os.

[Rex Idiotarum]

If I wanted to sound smart because I had a certain operating system, it would be Linux, thank you very much.

Hm... I've compared the operating systems to D&D's Magic System. You have Mac as Divine Magic, Windows as Arcane, and Linux as Psionics. One requires more faith than knowledge, one will work well with you, provided that you pay the 50 GP per spell level each time you add a new spell, and the last one requires 13 hours of intense thought and focus to preform the simplest tasks.

[[red][/red]]

If I wanted to sound smart because I had a certain operating system, it would be Linux, thank you very much.


Why pick and choose when you can have 'em all?

[TSGames]

If I wanted to sound smart because I had a certain operating system, it would be Linux, thank you very much.

Hm... I've compared the operating systems to D&D's Magic System. You have Mac as Divine Magic, Windows as Arcane, and Linux as Psionics. One requires more faith than knowledge, one will work well with you, provided that you pay the 50 GP per spell level each time you add a new spell, and the last one requires 13 hours of intense thought and focus to preform the simplest tasks.

I like this analogy. Especially since Mac is now fully Unix certified. So you can have your faith to make it work, or you can go for intense knowledge and make the interwebs tremble with fear as your machine boots. Or you can have Vista.

[Rex Idiotarum]

^. So, they've combined the impracticalities of a Mac with the impracticalities of Unix. Good to know.

I don't want to bother with partitioning and formating a Laptop when really, since I'm not a big gamer, works well enough for me with Vista. Especially since I have special hardware that I don't know if Linux would be cooperative.

And for Mac OS? Why even bother? Seriously, it is not better for Graphics or Audio development. That all depends on the computer you use.

[TSGames]

^. So, they've combined the impracticalities of a Mac with the impracticalities of Unix. Good to know.

I don't want to bother with partitioning and formating a Laptop when really, since I'm not a big gamer, works well enough for me with Vista. Especially since I have special hardware that I don't know if Linux would be cooperative.

You don't have to. But for people who really what to/know how to get under and into their machines. It is really nice to have the ability to do it to the extent that Unix allows.


And for Mac OS? Why even bother? Seriously, it is not better for Graphics or Audio development. That all depends on the computer you use.
If this is true I'll bite off my own arm.

[deathron55]

apple all the way... yea right no go with xp vista is too much like apple

[TSGames]

apple all the way... yea right no go with xp vista is too much like apple

If too much like apple you mean not at all. (Assuming by 'apple' you mean 'Mac') Then yes, yes it is too much like apple.

[Rex Idiotarum]

*Nods* Mmhmm... although Apples has been really good with keeping with very good graphics and audio cards, there is really no difference between the OS you use. That's all a matter of preference.

If you want something that's stress free, use Mac.
If you want something that will steadily raise your bloodpressure over time, use Windows.
If you want something that will have you ripping your hair out on the floor in the fetal position weeping for Mommy, get Linux.

It's all up to you.

[Haruki-kun]

Supposedly (I don't know, myself) Mac is better. But if it's between Vistaand XP, go XP.

[The_Chilli_God]

I love it how it's absolutely impossible for a thread talking about Windows OS's to stay on the topic of Windows OS's. You gotta bring out the main competitors.

...
Having said that, there is nothing in Vista.* Go with XP.
*: ...That Mac OSX doesn't already have. Ooh, I'm a hypocrite!

[Bitzeralisis]

From what I've heard, Vista is a rip-off of Mac.

So I'd go XP.

[Ichneumon]

Avoid Vista like the plague.

You. Have. Been. Warned. :smalleek:

That is all.

I just wish I had heard that before I got Vista. It sucks...

[Dave Rapp]

It was a simple A/B multiple choice question. So, naturally, half the posts here chose options C, D, or E.

I wish I could be surprised that so many people just said Mac. I really do. But I can't. Because Mac users never shut the hell up about Mac!

Here's how you can tell, at a glace, why Mac suxxorz. Look at the mouse. PC gives you two buttons. At the basic level, you use one button to ask a question, and one button to give a command. With this you can mess with just about any aspect of your PC.

Mac? No. You get ONE button. One button with which to click and/or drag to manipuate what's already on the computer. No change, just manipulation. That is why Imacs aren't meant to be taken apart and upgraded with better parts. That's also why Ipods are pretty much impossible to open up. Apple doesn't want you messing with their ****. Except once I've bought it, it becomes my ****, and nobody but nobody tells me that I can't mess with my ****!

But I digress. (love saying that) The topic is about XP or Vista. NOT Mac. NOT Linux. NOT Unix. Heck, NOT Windows 95, 98, 2000, or ME either. Although I will, of course, see to it that anybody who suggests one of those is e-burned at the e-stake. :smallbiggrin:


I couldn't resist the urge to drop the S-bomb, sorry. >_>;

[Icewalker]

Well, Dave Rapp is right, but my offtopic computer comments:I've always disliked macs, but I may be biased because of how really really bad iMacs were at first. Me and my brother had one for a while, and it couldn't go a day without a crash.

I've heard Linux is excellent from several of my friends who use it, but it is for the power user. For anyone else, Linux really just makes things more complicated.

So yeah, I prefer windows, specifically XP over Vista, and if I had to go with a second, I would use Linux and use my friends as tech support.

From what I've heard, Vista has bugs and XP works fine for everything it does.

[c222]

i'm stickn' with XP for the time being. this is only because XP Professional sp2 is a fairly stable operating system. vista still has kinks that need ironing out.
as for macs: yech, sorry but thats what i think.
Linux: yay! but isn't compatible with my life.

the straightforward answer: XP

[TSGames]

Mac? No. You get ONE button. One button with which to click and/or drag to manipuate what's already on the computer. No change, just manipulation. That is why Imacs aren't meant to be taken apart and upgraded with better parts. That's also why Ipods are pretty much impossible to open up. Apple doesn't want you messing with their ****. Except once I've bought it, it becomes my ****, and nobody but nobody tells me that I can't mess with my ****!

LOL. Nub.

[no one special]

depending on how much space you have on your comp., you could actually have both XP and Vista, but, unless you are a computer expert and/or you don't have the space, get XP, mostly because it's more user-friendly

[Don Julio Anejo]

[apple button] + click = right click. Or just buy a normal mouse from Logitech, it works perfectly on Macs, with the right button working as the [apple button] click.

As for upgrades... I used to think otherwise, but now I don't see the point anymore, unless it's at most adding more ram or putting in another hard drive (which you can do just as easily with a Mac). Because if you get a great computer in say, 2005, it'll stay great for a year, be mediocre in 2006 and be average in 2007. My computer from 2005 is still good enough to play most games... But when it's not powerful enough to do stuff, upgrades don't help very much. Adding in a new graphics card won't help because you'll also have to replace the motherboard. You replace the motherboard, you have to replace the CPU. You do that and you might as well buy newer RAM. In the end you end up blowing enough money for 1/2 of a new computer.

Then why not buy a new computer and have two of them? And give away your old one to your mom/dad/sister/hobo.

As for Vista (@:Ego) - when I got Vista a lot of my stuff didn't work with it. Capture One Pro (a biggie for me), Photomatrix, some little minor programs, a lot of games, namely Neverwinter Nights (which apparently has lots of problems with Vista in general), Morrowind, Battlefield 19(21)42, Photoshop had lots of issues when it came to any batch processing. All the problems went away after I deleted Vista and put in XP.

[SDF]

OSX is fine, but MAC hardware just sucks. I want me a machine that can vector map properly. I say buy a PC and put OSX on that.

The Vista bashing is really overblown, I honestly haven't had a single problem in my experience with it.

[Eldred]

The Vista bashing is really overblown, I honestly haven't had a single problem in my experience with it.

I was just about to post saying the same thing. I have Vista, had it for nearly 3 months now, and I havent had any problems. In fact, I haven't crashed once, and everything I have installed has been 100% fine.