To Vista or Not To Vista, That is the Question...

[brianc2112]

I will be building a new computer this weekend and was wondering if I should install Vista Ultimate 64 Bit Edition or Windows XP Pro.

Here are the spec's of the machine I am building:

Case:
SILVERSTONE SST-LC17-B Black
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811163055

MB:
ASUS M2N32-SLI Premium Vista Edition
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16813131163

Memory:
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16820145034

CPU:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Windsor 2.6GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16819103030

Heatsink/Fan:
ZALMAN 9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16835118019

Power Supply:
SILVERSTONE ST75F ATX12V / EPS12V 750W Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16817256009

Video Card
EVGA 512-P2-N635-AR GeForce 7950GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 KO Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16814130061

Tuners:
1 - WinTV-PVR-500 MCE
1 - WinTV-PVR-250


LMK,

Thanks,
Brian

[cfaslave]

Originally Posted by brianc2112

I will be building a new computer this weekend and was wondering if I should install Vista Ultimate 64 Bit Edition or Windows XP Pro.

That my friend is a very loaded question. My opinion is this: Stay with XP if you can. The only - ONLY reason to go to Vista would be to get cablecard support which you couldn't get anyhow if you are building your own PC. Vista right now has its issues - especially with various driver problems that happen with a young OS. Vista also uses more PC resources so I don't personally see a reason to load down an HTPC with a shiny new Vista OS when XP works just fine.

As I said, this is only my opinion. I'm sure you'll get differing ones from others.

[rugby]

Especially the 64-bit version. Do you WANT a big freaking headache setting this up, or do you want it to work?

[dj_netboy]

I run vista and it does have it problems, most of which come from driver support. I have my setup up and running and thats about it, it is not 100% stable and sometimes ill get the bsod. I deal with it. I would recommend getting the wintv 1600 if you dont have any cards yet. It works great in vista and cheap too. The 64-bit is a nightmare, stay away from that, no real need to go 64bit unless you running a ton of ram and using your box as a server.

[Khris]

Stay away from Vista for an HTPC at all costs!!!

[nanook105]

NOT. I installed/used vista on one of my servers and one of my links during 4.6 beta testing, and it was not pretty. Driver issues for almost every device (I never got my promise SATA raid working on the server). The drivers for my video card (nvidia 6600) were crap (picture was fuzzy with horrible skips and it wasn't the recording because it played back fine on XP). That idiotic UAC implementation and permission issues. As soon as the beta was over, vista was over for both PCs. For me, XP may be the last windows OS that I own.

[frantid]

For the specs you've posted that's either a really fast machine under xp plenty of head room, but it just meets the minimum specs for a vista server to run without a lot of pagefile delays.

[tscales]

Originally Posted by frantid

For the specs you've posted that's either a really fast machine under xp plenty of head room, but it just meets the minimum specs for a vista server to run without a lot of pagefile delays.

How the heck do you figure that? A dual-core with 2GB and a 7850GT? MORE than powerful enough for Vista.

That said, I wouldn't use Vista. I use it on my main desktop, but every other machine is XP. Vista is still to unstable.

[frantid]

Originally Posted by tscales

How the heck do you figure that? A dual-core with 2GB and a 7850GT? MORE than powerful enough for Vista.

That said, I wouldn't use Vista. I use it on my main desktop, but every other machine is XP. Vista is still to unstable.

Vista has a different memory management approach. It tries to fill as much as possible, preloading everything in memory. If I was using vista, 4 GB would be the sweet spot. Will it run smooth with 2GB, sure - but it's not the same as running xp with 2GB.

[fmharr]

I use Vista 64 Ultimate on my work computer:

Intel Core 2 6400
nVidia GF 7900 GT
2 gig memory
4 internal SATA HD's
1 ext USB2 HD
1 int DVD
1 ext DVD/RW DL
Dual Samsung 930B monitors

Installing OS was easy.
Insatlling programs was a pain in the ass, several programs that I needed for my job would not install because they either were not vista compatable or the installers checked windows versions and would not install on vista.

I have Windows Virtual PC 2007 with copies of XP, 2000 and 98 installed for running incompatible software and testing purposes.

As far as stability is concerned, my Vista has be very stable (OS) without any BSODS or lockups.

I have had some problems with 3rd party software such as Paint Shop Pro which crashes at times during cropping operations (not always).

As far as memory usage is conserned right now I am at 48%, using Paint Shop with lots of stuff in the buffers it will be at 80%.

Speed is faster than any computer I have ever had (including this same hardware with XP pro installed).

I have had few driver issues but have installed every new beta version of video driver that has appeared (have not noticed any difference in performance). Only issues are with older HP printer drivers (not available).

The permisson issues about drove me insane during software installion.

Mike

[mrlumpy]

I would stay away from Vista for as long as you can. Vista is the only MS OS I've ever uninstalled and formatted over with a copy of the older OS. XP is much more stable.

[Khris]

Originally Posted by mrlumpy

I would stay away from Vista for as long as you can. Vista is the only MS OS I've ever uninstalled and formatted over with a copy of the older OS. XP is much more stable.

You never tried Windows ME did you?

As far as Vista goes.....I'm using it on my work Laptop (Dell XPS M1210) as well as my main desktop at home (Dell Inspiron 8150). Generally speaking, they both work well and Vista is fine. There are little quirks however which continue to grate on my nerves however I'm trying to persevere and stay with it.

My HTPC runs XP however and I will not be switching it at any point.

[DonK]

I think Win98SE and WinME versus XPSp2 and Vista is actually a pretty good analogy, there's some similarities that have cropped up in my mind:

1) program/driver incompatibilities when the underlying tech was very similar and shouldn't have caused problems
2) UI reorganization was unneccessary in many instances
3) stability problems with newer os
4) public acceptance of the new os's was not shining

I won't be touching Vista for my "primary" OS for my machines for a long time. XP SP2 is a very very functional OS, and I haven't felt as confident in the longevity of my decision since 98SE came out.

I too tried Vista for a while and just could not stomach it, and reverted back. Like Nanook, I had a similar experience and feel the same way he does.

What is wierd is that back in '01, going from 98SE to XP was a no brainer decision for me, I had a multi processor P3 machine at that time and loved that it supported multimedia much better than Win2K, which I was limping along on at the time. I couldn't get XP installed and running fast enough! But this transition to Vista will be fought with tooth and nail, just like WinME. I think I would rather wait for the next generation after Vista or switch to Linux/Mac than move away from XP.

[DonK]

http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=378

Heh... seems I'm not alone in comparing them....

[ZetaVu]

Ditto here, I loved 98se (hated 95, realistically jumped over that because of driver issues) and skipped 2000 (tried me, it is the worst m$ has ever made) and only after much pain did I finally sort the bugs out of xp. It was a massive learning curve, having mastered 98, and now I feel I've mastered xp and can do anything I would want to do under vista with xp. I don't see ever going to vista I get a machine with it preinstalled (I build my own) or if work forces me to upgrade.

Contrast that to installing Ubuntu on my other desktop, and even though I'm learnign a new system I have done more in a few days than I was able to do in months going from 98 to xp. That's where m$ really screws things up, they change so much crap that 3rd party apps struggle for months to catch up, and they release so many bugs that you really have to wait a year for the system to get stable (and by stable that means running my non-m$ software, which is the vast majority of what I use a computer for).

Anyway, I didn't even try XP until sp1, and I wouldn't recommend going to vista until then either (although its replacement should be coming soon after that). Main question, what does it offer that xp does not already have? Only thing I can think of is cablecard, but that is so crippled by DRM why would you want it (plus you can't put it on a DIY machine)

BTW, anyone catch the PR release about vista profitability? I love how they sneak in al presales figures from the previous quarter to bloat their sales. Also notice how they only talk about sales with new pc's (most new pc's are only available with vista now). Must be nice to have a captive customer base.