Vista or not?

Author: omnimors
Date: Fri 04/01/2008 07:59 AM

So I got a basic laptop for Christmas.  I'm primarily going to be using it for writing, and maybe a little data analysis.  Nothing spectacular. 

It came with Vista, which I think is pretty, but also annoying.  The question is, should I keep it, or go through the process of formatting, installing XP, installing all the correct drivers, reinstalling all the programs (Office, Visual Studio, etc.)? 

The reason that I'm hesitant is that sooner or later Micro$oft is going to stop supporting XP (like they've done with everything before), and they are going to start makeing programs that are incompatible with XP, which they've already started, e.g. DirectX 10.

So, thoughts?

Replies: 3

 

Reply: 1

Author: jawapro
Date: Fri 04/01/2008 08:08 AM




First - a question for you.

How much RAM does your laptop have?

If it's under 1G - I'd either whack in some more - or downgrade to XP tomorrow.

If it's under 2G than Vista still wont be overly happy - but you can stuggle on if you feel so inclined.

Last time I used Vista, it used over 700mb of RAM just idling - not even doing anything important. So if you only have 1G, then you're asking for trouble.

But RAM aside, I'm not sure what to say. Personally I still use XP, but that's due to the fact that my PC is a little old in the tooth. My new PC will have both installed.

Lots of people hate Vista - including a number of my friends. I've used it briefly, and I dont hate it. And, as you say, in the future you'll be more and more required to run Vista for the latest stuff.

If you computer is up to the challenge, and you dont know of anything you want to run that isnt Vista capable, I'd say stick with Vista. At least long enough to give it a whirl. If you dont like it, find someone with a USB harddrive or something to back-up your files and then reinstall XP.

On the other side of the coin - currently there isnt really anything that Vista can do that XP can't. But that state of affairs isn't going to continue - so swapping to Vista now if you can would be my advice.

But if your machine is under 2G of RAM then I'd question it. If it's under 1G, then I'd recommend XP whole-heartedly.

 

Reply: 2

Author: Nifen
Date: Mon 03/03/2008 08:17 PM




NoT!
windows xp 3.5 times faster then Vista,

Most Games run on both vista and XP
XP service pack 3 gives you an extra 10% speed increase with out doing anything.
HALO 2 is cracked now to work on XP as well as vista.

XP will soon to release Directx 10.

So the question you should be asking is.... WHY would you want vista?

Maybe the pretty looks?

XP Experience CD, downloadable on torrent or through me has full vista theme, you can hardly tell the difference.

Whats there to think about?

 

Reply: 3

Author: omnimors
Date: Fri 14/03/2008 12:04 PM




Well, I've decided to stick with Vista.  I primarily use this for work and at this point I just don't feel like going through the hassel of reformatting, reinstalling, etc. Plus, with SP1 coming out soon, I'm hoping that most of the issues will be resolved. 

I am taking your advice and buy more RAM--pushing it up to 2GB.  The computer really couldn't handle multiple applications running with the OEM 1GB in it, so I spent ~$40 tonight.  Hopefully that will allow me to run both Word and Excel without any hiccups.