Can't Decide: Win2K or WinXP

[GTaudiophile]

I am currently running a PII-450/440BX system with Win98. In January, as soon as Northwood comes out, I am planning on building a P4 2.0A/i845-B system. I can't decided whether to go Win2K or WinXP. (I have the DevilsOwn "Corporate" Edition of WinXP.) It use to be a clear-cut choice to upgrade to WinXP, but since I istalled Win2K on my dad's system, I have been very impressed with it. I am especially impressed with how slim the OS is (no bloat). Other then the added Eye Candy in XP, what other major advantages are there to upgrading to that OS instead of Win2k? I mean, they do have the same core, so how different can they be?

 

[Richard98]

You may want to check compatability of win xp with your other peripherals before deciding. I chose w2k over winxp as neither my scanner or mp3 player are supported in xp.

 

[Arithorn]

Go XP, just for all the purdiness. But actually, do check to see if all your peripherals are supported (most likely will be). In my opinion, it's always worth going with the latest, unless you're running a server or something. Good luck!

 

[dcdomain]

Hmmm... go with XP if you need to do a lot of multimedia stuff (digital pics, videos etc.) I love how XP automatically recognizes all these peripherals. However, personally, XP has been pretty shoddy in reliability. It has crashed way more than Win2K. I guess after a service pack or two are out, XP should be okay. I just lost my CD-Burner the other day, just stopped recognizing it, so I'm going to have to reformat soon. This will be the third time I'm installing XP, I would go with Win2K, but I really need all the multimedia compatibility...

Yeah, and you can customize WinXP a lot more too...

 

[rondeemc]

I prefer 2000 over xp if you can live with some of the restrictions and don't need the few unique features that XP provides. Less of a resource hog. Of the several reviews I looked at performance wise they are compariable. One issue I have with 2000 is that it is not compatiable with as many games as XP will be. But I will take the established track record of 2000. I just did an install for a friend an I found XP "to helpful" in how it was trying to make assumptions on my behalf. Also I tend to switch out hardware frequently (3 motherboard in 3 months, etc ) and am concerned about the authetication process. A plus is that the directx is integrated better in XP.

Good luck

 

[Om]

Try dual booting them and if you're like me you'll end up taking XP off your drive.

 

[bjc112]

the main reason i like XP is becasue its ablility, to pick up newhardware install the drivers and have it working no porblem, especially nice for someone your building one for or,someone who doens't know as much..

i know your not in this situtation but, i say XP.. stable, looks nice, and will have a Service Pack by then... you should be all set

 

[SnowPunk98]

2k

 

[Colt45]

<< 2k >>

 

[Saltin]

For me, it comes down to gaming. I like 2k in a pure computing (networking/production) environment. For gaming and the like, XP is the MS OS of choice. Decide what you want to do, and go from there.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Does anyone know of a "Beginners' Tweaking Guide for WinXP?" Like for those who install XP for the first time and want to eliminate the bloat?

 

[SharkB8]

After experimenting with XP I still prefer Windows 2000. For every window in 2K there are 2-4 wizard windows before you get to the same window in XP. And after all that, the wizard hasn't even done what I wanted to do anyway. XP does have some cool aspects but it needs to a service pack or two to work out the kinks and to get to the level of stability of 2K. Just my opinion.

 

[gwlam12]

use xp. it comes with unziping software and cd burning software. makes it so that u dont have to install so much stuff. it also organizes ur screen better. like on ur taskbar in the bottom right, the programs u dont use are hidden.

 

[AtomClock]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Win 2k !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[mastertech01]

Ive been using XP Pro for a couple months, and there are various reasons, mainly software compatibility and some hardware that has poor or no support with XP as of yet. I have to say it was a lot easier to initially install, but overall I like 2k Pro better. If I hadnt sold my 2k Pro I would likely go back to it and store XP till it matures better. Just my humble opinion.

 

[dakata24]

<<

<< 2k >>

>>

 

[JohnnyPC]

<< Try dual booting them and if you're like me you'll end up taking XP off your drive. >>



...or like me who took Win2K off my drive. XP has everything that Win2K has plu s abunch of neat features that are useful for a everyday workhorse system...system restore, driver rollback and wizards galore. I just about used up the neat picture printing feature that takes any jpg and asks you if you want 8x10, 4x6, 5x7 or wallets...formats them and prints them all from "my computer". Heck you can even turn off the cartoon look and make it appear like Win2K all over again. WinXP all the way baby!!!!

 

[Athlon4all]

XP. The only disadvantage to it is the cost and WPA but both don't matter in your case because you don't need to deal with WPA and you allready have it. If u like the "speed" of 2000, then just disable all the visual effects

 

[MrBond]

<< Does anyone know of a "Beginners' Tweaking Guide for WinXP?" Like for those who install XP for the first time and want to eliminate the bloat? >>

Thats a great idea, maybe I'll take the time and write one up. I know a lot of the XP Fansites have articles on getting rid of the user interface, switching to classic logon, etc.

I had a rock solid Win2k box (except for one thing, more on that later). The biggest problem I had was in games, I'd get random lockups, requiring a forced reboot. It was an annoyance, but that was all it was. Everything else was solid.

XP came out and one night I was bored, so I stopped by the library and took out WinXP (my university is part of MS's licensing program for schools). It installed without a hitch. I had one problem, black ice defender wouldn't run. I contacted Network Ice, and they told me that a patch was forthcoming and to wait for it. I enabled the XP Firewall and was on my way. To my surprise, games now ran without crashing, so it must have been a driver issue (even though no matter what nvidia driver I tried in Win2k, it still crashed). That alone made the upgrade worth it.

It still crashes from time to time, but it's always due to something I did. Otherwise, rock solid.

One of the nicest features I've found is the ability to lock the pc whenever the screen saver comes up. That's something that's really handy.

 

[Muse]

<< XP. The only disadvantage to it is the cost and WPA but both don't matter in your case because you don't need to deal with WPA and you allready have it. If u like the "speed" of 2000, then just disable all the visual effects >>

Uh, the only WPA I know about is FDR's Works Progress Administration. I'm sure you are talking about something else.

 

[zsouthboy]

WPA is windoze product activation.....the thing that makes you register w/ microsoft when you install, and when you change more than a few hardware components

zs

BTW: go w/ w2k if you are an advanced user(like me), or xp if you are a beginner/intermediate

 

[Fattz]

If you don't mind the product activation of WinXP and your moving from Say a Win9x Operating System go for it. But if you have Win2k in my opinion I'd stay with it. WinXP is not that big a upgrade from Win2k in alot of ways.

Some of the reasons I wouldn't go to WinXP...ok 2 reasons.

1. Security issues with WinXP. Yep, I know they makes patches to fix em, but I don't enjoy patching every other week for a OS.

2. My Win2k is already paid for lol. Its not broke and does what I want it to do and WinXP is not a substantial enough upgrade in My opinion to change.

 

[Mem]

Go for WinXP .

 

[Muse]

<< If you don't mind the product activation of WinXP and your moving from Say a Win9x Operating System go for it. But if you have Win2k in my opinion I'd stay with it. WinXP is not that big a upgrade from Win2k in alot of ways.

Some of the reasons I wouldn't go to WinXP...ok 2 reasons.

1. Security issues with WinXP. Yep, I know they makes patches to fix em, but I don't enjoy patching every other week for a OS.

2. My Win2k is already paid for lol. Its not broke and does what I want it to do and WinXP is not a substantial enough upgrade in My opinion to change. >>

I like this reasoning. I asked the guys on a tech committee I'm part of back around May whether I should get Win2k or XP for my new system and it was unanimous - Win2k. Reasons cited: XP won't have any service packs for a while, Win2k has 2. Therefore, it'll be more stable, have far less issues. Aside from that, the weird system they've devised to combat piracy and/or sharing (or whatever they're thinking) would seem to interfere with my own natural tendencies to try this and that, reinstall if I want or need to, play around... it's just a hassle to deal with their registration/activation process, about which I know little, not having messed with XP. Someday, maybe, not now.

 

[Mucker]

I've used both, and....no question about it...XP all the way!