XP Pro or Vista Business for a new system?

I am building a new system, and I am wondering weather I should go ahead and install Vista Business, or stick with XP Pro for now. I can get either one for free (legally), so cost is not an issue.

Depends on the hardware and software.

XP would be easier.

I prefer Vista though. I like having the latest thing

Ubuntu!







Debian is good too, but not quite as n00b friendly.





XP Pro....well again depends on hardware, and are you going to want to play DX10 games as they are released?

Dx10 isn't going to be an issue for quite some time, so I wouldn't even worry about that. Because dx10 is not backwards compatible like previous versions of dx, any game that is dx10 based will require Vista, and hence will have very high hardware requirements. You won't see those for years.

Personally, I don't like Vista because of all the DRM, HDCP, and bloat.

In terms of performance though, don't touch vista unless you have at the very least, a modern dual core processor, 2 gb of RAM, an HDCP compliant dx10 geforce 8800+ series graphics card with 256mb+ of ram, and an HDCP compliant monitor. Anything less than that and definitely go XP.

If you don't care about eye candy and prefer compatibility and reliability, go with XP anyways. If you have the hardware, are willing to put up with a somewhat slower system and are willing to fight through the incompatibilities and bugs as an early adopter, then you can go with Vista.

She'll have a C2D E6600 and an 8800 vid card.

Personally, if I had a DX10 video card (like you do) I would go ahead and go with Vista, provided all your software and hardware is compatible. If you decide to go with XP for now, keep an eye out for the DX10 games coming out later this year, you don't want to miss Crysis and others.

XP until Vista gets a little more grown up.

I keep hearing hdcp mentioned... I thought it was hardware based DRM... so Vista/ XP Linux wont matter?

HDCP is not limited to your computer either

Its going to be in everything including your video/satelliette streams..

I agree to avoid it at all costs.. .but after 2010 you are not going to be able too

"IMO" I would go with XP only because for one its not an "extreme" resource hog, less buggy, and more user friendly.

In otherwords...cheaper.

*EDIT* Didnt realize both were free....yea just as Oroka said...its free and your gonna have to get it sometime....

Go with Vista. It isnt as buggy as all the nay-sayers lead you to belive. You wont beable to avoid DRM forever. If you are building a system that can handle the demands of Vista, go for it. Yeah, there are a few very minor issues with Vista, very minor. They will be resolved in time, no biggie. You will buy a copy of Vista eventually, so you might as well take the free copy now. Since it is all new hardware, you shouldnt have a problem finding drivers and such.

Now, on the videocard side, so far nVidia's drivers for Vista are even worse than they are for XP. They work, but need alot of refinement.

For a new build, there is absolutely no reason not to go Vista. It takes a bit more power, but it is a far superior OS in terms of stability, security, and features. Don't believe everything the nay sayers say. They are just bashing Vista because they think it is cool to be a rebel and hate the big companies. Vista is a solid product and is definitely worth trying out.

Hi... I'm new but not new to computers!

I'm staying with my WinXP Pro because it is a sound reliable OS.
Most all the bugs/glitches are worked out of it.

I will consider dual booting to Visa in a year or so AFTER the early bugs are fixed. All new OS have bugs/glitches.

XP still has bugs and glitches. You're gonna be waiting a long time before M$ works all the bugs out of any OS.

The new features and improvements far outweigh any birthing pains Vista has.

Stick with XP! I can't say that enough. Vista makes the most simple jobs nearly impossible.

Oroka Sempai said:

The new features and improvements far outweigh any birthing pains Vista has.

Click to expand...

No, I don't think so.

Vista... Hands down. Much easier to install, nearly everything works under it (printer drivers might be an issue but they are working on it check your venders). It does use a bit more resources yes, but its not like you can't turn them off either or remove them from being installed period.

This is a guide I made to strip Vista's DVD down to size for what features you need and not what it automatically installs for you.
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=499177

Out of Vista the most annoying thing is UAC, disable it and it you won't have alot of issues. DRM, I personally haven't seen any sort of DRM in here. Only thing that would be refering to currently is Blu-Ray or HD-DVD drives.

Sure there will be issues with any new OS but for free purpose, eventually you'll upgrade. For a normal user its more then fine to use, for a power user theres some issues with some things but its not happering doing it. Yes it uses a bit more resources and a little more CPU power but then again it does look slick doing it If you go XP it will eventually be upgraded and at ~$100-260 for the upgrade its money saved.

Note: MyVista Ultimate 64-bit mode install I use nearly 1gig when i boot, give or take a few hours and alot of different programs opened/closed im up to 2-2.2Gig used. Mind you this is all superfetch at work there. Out of all the memory in use 75% of it is superfetch on my PC.

HDCP is irrelevant if the software doesn't support it. So, say you want to play an HDDVD in linux at 1080 and your monitor is or is not HDCP, it'll play high res. In vista, the monitor has to be hdcp and so does the vid card, or the whole thing gets downsampled to crappy resolution.

So it's not just the vid card, it's the monitor too.

jack54 said:

I'm staying with my WinXP Pro because it is a sound reliable OS.
Most all the bugs/glitches are worked out of it.

I will consider dual booting to Visa in a year or so AFTER the early bugs are fixed. All new OS have bugs/glitches.

Click to expand...

Welcome jack54!

I'm debating this same issue, I have my copy of XP but very tempted to purchase Vista Ultimate. choices...

Does Vista have separate 32 and 64 bit versions like XP? If the version I can get doesn't say anything, should I assume it's the 32 bit version? I can get either version of XP Pro.

Yes Vista has both versions and if it doesn't say, I would assume its the 32-bit version.

Are you getting these OSes through an MSDN (or MSDNAA) subscription? I got Vista Business for free through my university with MSDNAA and it was the 32-bit version. (it didn't specify on the download page)

Leviathan41 said:

Yes Vista has both versions and if it doesn't say, I would assume its the 32-bit version.

Are you getting these OSes through an MSDN (or MSDNAA) subscription? I got Vista Business for free through my university with MSDNAA and it was the 32-bit version. (it didn't specify on the download page)

Click to expand...

Yeah, MSDNAA.

So, Vista Business 32-bit, or XP Pro 64-bit? Do the arguments change?