Vista versus XP

[Cr0nJ0b]

I haven't built a new system in a while and I'm about ready to start buying. The one thing that I want to get worked out first is the OS.

I still love my XP Pro system, but I'm noticing more people moving to Vista for their builds. I was under the impression that Vista was still sluggish and didn't play well with drivers and such...my info is probably old.

The other thing is Vista 32 or 64. When I tried XP 64 I gave up since it didn't support many of my old devices and just didn't seem to work all that well. so now I'm a little gunshy about going to 64-bit.

I'll be using this for 30% Internet, office general, 50% gaming, 20% other.

For the rest of the build I'll start another thread.

I'm just thinking about the OS right now to start.

thanks

 

[schneiderguy]

I would go with Vista. The issues you are hearing about were valid issues when Vista released, but have been ironed out by now. Vista actually feels faster if you have a decent system than XP since it loads frequently used programs into the RAM so applications start up faster, and it uses the video card to render the desktop so that feels smoother as well.

 

[Slugbait]

Your info is still current, for the most part. Drivers are still coming, it's basically the same thing we saw with NT5.x: it takes time. Also, some people only see a 15% perf loss with Vista as compared to XP, other see more of a loss depending on their configs.

In the end, it's just an operating system. It's primary function is to allow you to accomplish tasks with software that runs on the OS. Your current machine has more RAM than a 32-bit OS can take advantage of. I'm surprised that you have a CPU that can beat a stock-speed FX-60, but you don't. In other words, your system can run Vista quite well, although you might wanna upgrade the video card for the newer games.

 

[fierydemise]

Originally posted by: Slugbait
Your info is still current, for the most part. Drivers are still coming, it's basically the same thing we saw with NT5.x: it takes time. Also, some people only see a 15% perf loss with Vista as compared to XP, other see more of a loss depending on their configs.

I'm not sure where you got this 15% performance loss with Vista, Vista today is as fast as XP in every area and unless you have something really old or from a company that no longer exists you shouldn't have any driver problems with Vista.

OP I would suggest you go with Vista, it offers advantages over XP with search, security and some other areas that I haven't used so I can't vouch for (WMC for example if you use it). On the 64 vs 32 bit question, if you have 4+GB of RAM go with 64bit.

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: schneiderguy
I would go with Vista.
...it uses the video card to render the desktop so that feels smoother as well.

Wow...
What does XP use to render the desktop... the sound card? :shocked:

 

[nerp]

Originally posted by: Blain

Originally posted by: schneiderguy
I would go with Vista.
...it uses the video card to render the desktop so that feels smoother as well.

Wow...
What does XP use to render the desktop... the sound card? :shocked:

The CPU.

 

[tcsenter]

Originally posted by: Blain
Wow...
What does XP use to render the desktop... the sound card? :shocked:

GDI+

 

[Cr0nJ0b]

OK, so Vista 32 or 64?

I'm worried that the compatability thing gets even worse with vista 64 over vista 32....but I'm also looking at 4GB of RAM, which makes me think that I have to have a 64 Bit OS...right?

 

[JackMDS]

I treat it on two levels.

1. Functional - I.e you get some thing that can do what you need to do (as oppose what ever every one else does).

2. The personal feel and visual pleasing of using the computer. It is personal and Up to you, I like the Feel of Visat much more than XP).

The one thing that you should do is ignore the Negative none sense every time something new comes up it is Deja Vu all over again.
If it was up to the comments about new stuff we would all be on DOS1.0

One thing technically to take into consideration id Drivers for WinXP x64 a lot of hardware does not have drivers for x64 and it does bot seem hat after so many years it would be written.

Vista 64 is much better in this regard.

 

[Twsmit]

I would recommend going with 4 or 8GB of ram, and definitely Vista x64 over XP x64. XP x64 is not terrible and has decent driver support, however it is probably the weakest supported version of Windows and even simple programs such as iTunes do not have official support. Not to mention Vista exclusive improvements such as DX10 and DX11 will be Vista only going into the future, it probably makes more sense to get Vista x64.

 

[TDiddy]

Originally posted by: Twsmit
I would recommend going with 4 or 8GB of ram, and definitely Vista x64 over XP x64. XP x64 is not terrible and has decent driver support, however it is probably the weakest supported version of Windows and even simple programs such as iTunes do not have official support. .

itunes 64 bit has been out for a while....

http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/

 

[deamer44]

I would recommend getting Vista; because of direct x10 support, and the fact that it learns your habits and the programs you run most frequently and stores them within the ram, making it faster.And 64 bit; due to more ram being available for the use of storage of programs. IMO I like vista and with a decent pc it will run completly fine .

Hope this helped

 

[nerp]

There are tons of drivers out for 64 bit, so I wouldn't be overly worried about compatibility unless you really need to use some old peripheral like an older scanner or non PCL printer or something. Vista 64 is nice and can run 32 bit apps perfectly so there is no need to avoid it unless you have a specific 64 bit compatiblity issue which is unlikely.

 

[Zap]

I'd just use what I already own. If I needed to purchase a new OS, I'd probably get Vista at this point.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I don't know of any current games that really benefit from DX10, but in another year or two that probably will change.

One idea is to just upgrade your video card now, then do the system build next year once Nehalem is out. You CPU is a little slow for a 4870 or GTX 260 / 280 but they'd still run twice as fast as your 7800GTX.

 

[bobsmith1492]

I've been going on Vista Business x64 on my desktop with XP Pro on my laptop for a year or so now.

Everything has run on Vista that I have needed to run and it is fast, too. The only program that is slow is Eagle (which is a 16-bit circuit board schematic/board layout program in a 32-bit wrapper running on a 64-bit system rendering graphics via the CPU...)

There are some quirks when installing things like GNU ARM (C compiler), Apache, and PHP but you just Google it and someone has a fix; most people don't use them anyway so it shouldn't matter. As has been said, it's usually really old software (made for '98 or earlier) that has issues or command-line-type programs that rely on the system path and custom DLLs.

Regarding RAM:
I just put 4GB more in it (6GB, yeah!) and it is smoking. While playing Oblivion, everything gets loaded into RAM so you can walk in and out of areas with no loading once you've been there. Then, flipping back to the desktop, your other apps are all still ready to go. If I were to build a new system, I'd get 8GB... RAM is now your best friend thanks to Vista.

Oh, and if you're worried about an older device: Google <device name> Vista 64 and you should find something about it.

 

[schneiderguy]

Originally posted by: Blain

Originally posted by: schneiderguy
I would go with Vista.
...it uses the video card to render the desktop so that feels smoother as well.

Wow...
What does XP use to render the desktop... the sound card? :shocked:

The DVD drive, of course.:roll:

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: fierydemise

Originally posted by: Slugbait
Your info is still current, for the most part. Drivers are still coming, it's basically the same thing we saw with NT5.x: it takes time. Also, some people only see a 15% perf loss with Vista as compared to XP, other see more of a loss depending on their configs.

I'm not sure where you got this 15% performance loss with Vista, Vista today is as fast as XP in every area and unless you have something really old or from a company that no longer exists you shouldn't have any driver problems with Vista.

OP I would suggest you go with Vista, it offers advantages over XP with search, security and some other areas that I haven't used so I can't vouch for (WMC for example if you use it). On the 64 vs 32 bit question, if you have 4+GB of RAM go with 64bit.

I find Vista x64 as fast as XP if not faster,drivers are solid IMHO(last count was 82 games installed all worknig fine) also Vista x64 will run most 32 bit software with no issues.


Bottomline I find it rock stable and drivers very mature(I have been using XP for 7 years and Vista x64 for 1.5 years).


4GB you should go with Vista x64 IMHO,unless you really need 16 bit software support then go with 32 bit OS like Vista x86.

There are some real benefits in Vista,DX support,memory handling,security,life span etc..

 

[RallyMaster]

You should definitely get a LOT (and I mean...4GB is a MUST) of RAM for Vista. According to my friend who's got 4GB, 2GB feels like XP did with 1GB and 4GB feels like XP did with 2GB. Looks like I just need to get with the times then...

 

[Synomenon]

Vista 64 is getting alot more support than XP 64. You shouldn't have any troubles finding Vista 64 drivers for your peripherals unless they're really old and the manufacturer no longer supports it.

The only problem I have with Vista is that it never remembers any of my folder views / customizations (I do have all of the latest updates and SP1).

 

[Cr0nJ0b]

OK, sold. I'm on to getting Vista 64. Probably business edition or something like that.

thanks for the input.

 

[TheKub]

Originally posted by: Mem
4GB you should go with Vista x64 IMHO,unless you really need 16 bit software support then go with 32 bit OS like Vista x86.

If you really have old software that you NEED it would probably be better to just make a virtual 9x\DOS\whatever PC and run it in that environment. No sense in installing a 6 year old operating system on your BRAND NEW system.