Windows 2000 or XP?

[Journeyman]

I'm planning on dumping Windows 98 in the next week in favor of a better OS... Mostly I need the improved memory use (I run a LOT of stuff in my system tray), but the increased stability of 2000 or XP will be nice, too.

My computer is primarily used for getting on the internet, web and graphic design (Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash, Photoshop), some video editing, lots of video watching and music listening, but not too much for games (though if I could fire up things like Starcraft once in awhile, that'd be peachy). A bit of my software is non-current (still using Photoshop 4 and Office 97, for example).

My system specs can be found at the link in my sig, but the short of it is: Duron @900, 384mb PC133, IWill KK266, Radeon VE (dual display + TV out).

Oh, and this is going to be networked with a Win98 machine on my home LAN.

I've got 2000 Professional, and should have XP RC1 next week... I'd welcome opinions on which would be a better bet.

 

[igiveup]

Hardware wise it sounds like you could run either one very comfortably. Program compatiblity is my only concern for you. Check out NTCompatible.com as well as going to each individual manafactures web site for info on whether or not it will work for you. I love windows 2000 Pro. One vote for Pro!

If worse comes to worse you could always install XP to find out what its all about. 2000 has been out a while though so it should be more compatible. XP is still in development.

 

[Lost Pup]

I used Photoshop with W2k with no problems.

 

[ST4RCUTTER]

Yeah, since you haven't already shelled out the money for a new OS, why don't you try the trial version of XP for like $10. Then you would know how well it works.

 

[Journeyman]

Lost Pup: what version of Photoshop? NTCompatible shows 5.0 as compatible, but 4.0 as not...

igiveup: thanks for the link. Although their lists seem far from comprehensive...

ST4RCUTTER: I'm already signed up for the XP trial, and plan to check it out one way or another... Just trying to feel out whether or not it would be a good choice for my primary OS at this point.

As far as software compatibility, I thought I'd read that WinXP has a Win98 compatibility mode where it can run Win98 applications and use Win98 drivers if necessary... That would be a pretty nice feature if it works, as I really don't want to spend big money upgrading some of these Apps when they already do everything I want them to...

Thanks for the input, guys! Any more opinions - especially from people who've used both?

 

[Doh!]

I've used both, and I've selected XP as my primary OS for my laptop. I'm currently running build 2495 and it has been very stable (stability is similar to win2k) but much quicker in startup/shutdown & appears to be quicker with apps as well.

 

[mschell]

Win2K has a compatibility mode option - enter "regsvr32 %systemroot%\apppatch\slayerui.dll" (without the quotes) at the "run" prompt, make a shortcut to the problem app and right click on the shortcut and choose the compatibility tab. You can then have the OS emulate the OS that the app in question runs well on.

 

[RTSgod]

My vote is for Win2K Pro.

 

[konichiwa]

2k

 

[PliotronX]

My vote is for Win2k.



<< NTCompatible shows 5.0 as compatible, but 4.0 as not... >>


It seems there are conflicting reports at NTCompatible on PS4 under Win2k. There are seperate entries for Photoshop 4 under the A section and the P section. The P section shows that it doesn't run, while the one under the A section shows it does run &quot;with an occasional crash due to third party filters&quot;. The only way you will know that it runs is by running it, I guess. Good luck

 

[AncientPC]

2000 . . .

 

[nsxdemon]

I've used Photoshop 6 with no probs at all in 2000...another vote for win2k pro (if you really have the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ you could go for advanced server too so you could get some wacky 6- or 8-way server board, but i'm pretty sure pro will do just great for your graphics n stuff)

 

[heffe734]

2k...all the way...

 

[nsxdemon]

ahhh, didn't see that you're still using photoshop 4...office 97 should still work, but i'm not sure that photoshop 4 will. NTcompatible.com should tell you if there's some way to circumvent any incompatibilities with 2000. I know a few old small utilities had trouble but could be patched without too much trouble.