Vista or XP

[My Name is URL]

Evening gents...

My desktop PC has finally tipped me over the edge and before it goes out of the window, i've decided i'm going to format the HD and reinstall the OS.

Question is, should I stick with XP or use my free upgrade to Vista?

I know originally Vista was supposed to be a dog, but I use it at work and it seems ok... so should I go for it at home too or does it still give problems?

Cheers in advance.

 

[MyCult]

Unless you're machine is packing about 3GB RAM I’d stick with XP. I'm sure many will disagree here but I had a machine with 2GB RAM running vista home premium and it was slower than a dog with no legs.

However there are others on here who can offer more/better advice.

 

[Toble]

Ubuntu?

 

[shoes]

Vista is fine now, ever since SP1. I have been using it for ages now and have had no problems other than incompatibility with super old software. If your machine has the punch required then go for it, I was running Vista on my old VAIO 1.73 Pentium M / 2GB Ram / crappy intel graphics and it ran beautifully.

Ubuntu is alright until you actually want to use your computer to do anything, and then you're buggered. IMO of course

 

[My Name is URL]

Cheers guys, one vote for XP, one vote for Vista and one vote for Ubuntu?!?!?!

 

[Wookie]

I can't believe I'm the first to ask the system spec.
What's the system spec, gk141054?

 

[My Name is URL]

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5000+ 2.61 GHz

2GB RAM

NVIDIA GeForce 7300LE

Think that covers everything.....?

 

[Wookie]

Hngh; based on that, I would say stick with XP unless you have a definite need to change to Vista.
If you want to try Ubuntu, google Wubi: it's a Windows installer for Ubuntu that lets you install it from Windows.
Very handy, but the Ubuntu install doesn't take kindly to having its power cut off; a 'proper' Ubuntu install is apparently much more forgiving.

 

[tek-monkey]

Isn't ubuntu a live disk? So you could run from CD to get a feel for it.

 

[Wookie]

You could, but it wouldn't save any settings or update any software.
I think.

 

[db]

Unless you're machine is packing about 3GB RAM I’d stick with XP. I'm sure many will disagree

really? i wouldn't expect anyone to disagree with that, tbh.. i thought it was still generally accepted that vista is a dog that is going to go the way of windows ME? certainly, i don't know anyone in the corporate sector who would dream of rolling it out.. as shoes says, it's not actually too bad these days since the arrival of the first major SP, but "not too bad" is hardly a reason to use it lol.. XP is solid as a rock nowadays (has been for years imo) and everything just works on it.. windows 7 looks nice, and an official release isn't too far off, so i really can't see any reason not to stick with XP until windows 7 becomes de rigeur..

Ubuntu?

argh, why is it in every "what version of windows?" thread on every forum on the internet someone chimes in with "hurr linux "??? usually within the first 5 posts as well lol.. linux wasn't an option!!

i'm sure your ubuntu box works brilliantly and has an uptime of 5 trillion hours but it is useless for anything except a hobbyist.. i know linux has come a long way in the last few years, but it is still not a consumer platform.. it's great for a corporate infrastructure, where you want it to underpin a very specific system, but if little Jimmy wants to do his homework in Office 2007 then play The Sims 2 he's got no chance..

windows XP just works, standard..

 

[shoes]

I can't believe I'm the first to ask the system spec.
What's the system spec, gk141054?

Well it has been mentioned:

Unless you're machine is packing about 3GB RAM I’d stick with XP

If your machine has the punch required then go for it

It makes almost no difference anyway, you can run vista fine on crap machines if you just turn off all the shiny aero stuffs. Fortunately gk's machine is pretty good so I'd recommend Vista. Nothing wrong with XP, but then again why stunt progress?

Vista will run sweet on that mate, ignore the hype, when you turn off lots of unecccessary visual elements vista uses 10% more ram than xp and manages it much much more efficiently. Until recently I ran vista on a 3200+ system / 2GB RAM / 6800GT (all c/o Tek) and it flew.

 

[My Name is URL]

By way of comparison my work computer is Intel Pentium Dual CPU E2180 @ 2 GHz with 2GB RAM and runs Vista...

That works very well indeed and zips along with the Aero interface installed... from pressing the power button to the login screen is VERY quick... in fact i'm just about to test it now....

 

[shoes]

windows 7 looks nice, and an official release isn't too far off, so i really can't see any reason not to stick with XP until windows 7 becomes de rigeur..

I'm looking forward to this release, the beta looks very shiny and some of the proposed function sets look v good indeed!

Basically if anyone says anything bad about vista ask them if they use it. If not then discount their opinion immediately, they don't know what they're talking about and are repeating hearsay from the first release which like any new OS was gash.

I use it at work and home for fairly intense applications (photoshop, premiere, a whole host of games, DVD ripping (backup purposes only ) etc. and vista is incredibly stable, but as DB says so is XP.

 

[wmrcomputers]

Definately Vista. I've ran Vista Ultimate on much lower spec PC's without problems at all, and like Shoes has already mentioned it's been very stable since SP1.

I run it now on this netbook (an aspire one with 1.6GHz Atom processor) and still can't fault it!

 

[My Name is URL]

You took your time getting here Was waiting for your advice.....

Have just started the XP reinstall 20 mins ago....

 

[wmrcomputers]

You took your time getting here Was waiting for your advice.....

Have just started the XP reinstall 20 mins ago....

Have you stuck with XP now then?

 

[My Name is URL]

Well my Vista disc is an "upgrade" from XP anyway....

I got my PC from Dell and it was just before Vista came out so they were doing a free upgrade to Vista when it arrived....

So I had to put XP back on whatever then upgrade or leave as is.....

I really am in two minds though which to go for as everyone you speak to has a different opinion and it always seems 50/50....

 

[db]

Well my Vista disc is an "upgrade" from XP anyway....

I got my PC from Dell and it was just before Vista came out so they were doing a free upgrade to Vista when it arrived....

So I had to put XP back on whatever then upgrade or leave as is.....

I really am in two minds though which to go for as everyone you speak to has a different opinion and it always seems 50/50....

the way to look at it, imo, is this:

do you need vista for anything? is there anything in vista that will make your life easier, or that you will make use of in any way? if not, stick with XP..

what's the point of turning off "lots of unecccessary visual elements" and still being left with an OS that "uses 10% more ram than xp" - if you're going to turn everything off, why not just stick with XP?

if microsoft was behind vista for the long-haul and it was going to be the dominant OS for the next few years then naturally i would say go with vista.. but XP is still on the vast majority of machines out there, and it is obvious that microsoft is going to brush vista under the carpet in favour of windows 7..

 

[wmrcomputers]

IMO it's better to go Vista so that people are more prepared for WINDOWS 7 and keeping up with the latest technology.

The opinion of 50/50 isn't strictly true, as the 50% who say stick to XP are usually a majority of people who have never truly tried the vista experience and go off the bad rumours provided by similar folk. Ask the Vista users and you'd probably get an 80% vote based on them having known and used BOTH operating systems for some time, and the 20% saying XP of those are probably running Vista on incapable systems in the first place.

As I always say - it's only my opinion and of course consider what others have to say.