I have not used windows for a couple years and have been exclusively using linux... except at work. For those past two years my thirst for gaming has been quenched by console gaming exclusively (mostly Xbox 360). Console gaming has been good to me and has kept me from feeling like I need to jump back into the PC Gaming scene... but two years is too long. I recently got the strategy itch and there is really no solution for it on the console. I want to play Supreme Commander, Sim City 4, Sim City Societies (when it comes out)... and I want to play around with mods for games like Half-Life 2 and Oblivion. The time has come to get back into PC Gaming.
So what is a linux guy to do? WINE is an option, but so far I haven't seen anybody successfully get Supreme Commander working under WINE, and to get most WINE solutions to work you need to use the libraries from a legitimate windows copy, so I'd have to buy windows anyways. I've pretty much come to the conclusion that I'll have to go back to dual-booting windows and linux... which is fine... but I've been out of the scene so long that I have a few questions.
Windows Vista or Windows XP? I'm building a new computer and the OEM software pricing is fairly similar. I hear lots of bad things about gaming on Vista... but sometimes people make things out to be worse than they are and its hard to distinguish between whats FUD and whats not. I'd rather have an OS that will have long term support (Vista). I don't mind dealing with a few bugs here and there (like I have a choice) and expect to do regular driver and software updates. If gaming on Vista is doable I'd prefer to go that route, but if it really isn't please let me know.
If Vista is an option... Home Basic, Home Premium, or Ultimate? Is there anything crucial I'm missing out on with any of the Home versions? Since this will be my first time paying for an OS in a very long time I want to make sure I can take full advantage of the Vista/Xbox360 integration. I want to be able to stream movies to my 360. Is this feature limited in any of the versions? I don't need eye candy... just ability to play games and stream to my 360... my linux set up has more than enough eye candy for me and is what I will mostly be using when I'm not gaming.
This is not flame bait. I am not trying to start a war here. I'm just a confused linux guru slash console gamer slash ex-windows gamer looking for some helpful advice, and the Anandtech community is one of the most knowledgeable communities I know (frequent lurker, first time poster). Sorry about the long post
So what is a linux guy to do? WINE is an option, but so far I haven't seen anybody successfully get Supreme Commander working under WINE, and to get most WINE solutions to work you need to use the libraries from a legitimate windows copy, so I'd have to buy windows anyways. I've pretty much come to the conclusion that I'll have to go back to dual-booting windows and linux... which is fine... but I've been out of the scene so long that I have a few questions.
Windows Vista or Windows XP? I'm building a new computer and the OEM software pricing is fairly similar. I hear lots of bad things about gaming on Vista... but sometimes people make things out to be worse than they are and its hard to distinguish between whats FUD and whats not. I'd rather have an OS that will have long term support (Vista). I don't mind dealing with a few bugs here and there (like I have a choice) and expect to do regular driver and software updates. If gaming on Vista is doable I'd prefer to go that route, but if it really isn't please let me know.
If Vista is an option... Home Basic, Home Premium, or Ultimate? Is there anything crucial I'm missing out on with any of the Home versions? Since this will be my first time paying for an OS in a very long time I want to make sure I can take full advantage of the Vista/Xbox360 integration. I want to be able to stream movies to my 360. Is this feature limited in any of the versions? I don't need eye candy... just ability to play games and stream to my 360... my linux set up has more than enough eye candy for me and is what I will mostly be using when I'm not gaming.
This is not flame bait. I am not trying to start a war here. I'm just a confused linux guru slash console gamer slash ex-windows gamer looking for some helpful advice, and the Anandtech community is one of the most knowledgeable communities I know (frequent lurker, first time poster). Sorry about the long post