Vista or XP?

cepheus

I am looking for an easy to use, mid range laptop for around £400, but which operating system should I use? As far as I can see the pros and cons are as follows, perhaps you can comment

Advantages for XP

XP is still available on some Laptops

The latest version of XP is more stable, bugproof and generally faster than Vista for most applications according to numerous reports

I hate learning new operating systems

Will all my old software run on Vista, or will I have to buy versions that were previously free?

Windows 7 will come out soon anyway so why not upgrade when a decent operating system is proven

Advantages for Vista

Most new computers are equipped with Vista so you get more choice

Computers equipped with Vista are more numerous, and therefore you get more choice (hence probably cheaper)

Downgrading to XP will cost more and perhaps introduce technical problems

Vista service will be around longer, although XP will be around probably longer than the life of the computer from what I hear

thomas01155

Xp's updates will be discontinued before vistas. Windows 7 comes out this year could wait till then I find vista lot faster for opening applications or you can go for Ubuntu I'm using at the moment got bored of Xp xD.

[Deleted User]

cepheus wrote: »

Advantages for XP
The latest version of XP is more stable, bug proof and generally faster than Vista for most applications according to numerous reports

Infact, quite the opposite..

I hate learning new operating systems

It still has a button in the left, a taskbar and not a lot else has changed.

Will all my old software run on Vista, or will I have to buy versions that were previously free?

What software is it? Have you checked compatibility on the vendors website, checked for updated versions etc?

Windows 7 will come out soon anyway so why not upgrade when a decent operating system is proven

Interesting that you'd favour a new operating system and the issues that will come with that over an operating system that has fully matured into a solid product.

There's an awful lot of negativity that surrounds Vista that's perpetrated by those who have not even bothered using it and recycle the same outdated rubbish that's been around since the very first day you could buy it. Vista is a fine operating system to use.

gjchester

You may find it hard to buy XP.

You can buy Vista Business or ultimate and downgrade to XP, but may places will not sell customer (as opposed to business level) laptops with XP. Dell for example don't sell any customer level laptops with XP. It may also be a significant cost (Dell's upgrade to Ultimate is £90) to go from Home basic or Premium to Business

You may not get as many nice to haves on a business laptop and they tend to be more as they are more desktop replacements than 2nd machines so have more power and feature, but usually smaller hard drives as they are assumed to be on networks a lot of there life.

And you may find the support may be better (ie next day .and on site) but limited to business hours only

In either case this will be broke before you run out of support for XP, but I suspect the Vista option will be a lot cheaper, as you can buy a lower spec consumer level machine with it on.

BargainGalore

I find Vista much more stable than XP. I was a little wary of Vista having tried betas before, but I gave it another try when sp1 came out and its never crashed on me in 6 months. I used to have a dual boot but found I never used XP since having Vista sp1

I found no problems with Vista accept teh software for my creative labs zen vision doesnt quite work with Vista so I use other software now

GunJack

personally I don't like vista much and would prefer to stick with XP...but I am curious as to what W7 will turn out like...

thomas01155

Windows 7 looks good from what i have seen and heard so far. I fought the downloads for the beta were meant to stop yesterday? http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/beta-download.aspx

Little_John

Yep Windows 7 is pretty solid, Ive been useing it for a week or so now on my testing PC so its getting all sorts of hardware changes thrown at it especialyl hard drives as I am testing them at the moment.

thomas01155

Little_John wrote: »

Yep Windows 7 is pretty solid, Ive been useing it for a week or so now on my testing PC so its getting all sorts of hardware changes thrown at it especialyl hard drives as I am testing them at the moment.

But if you swaped the hard drive there would be no windows 7

save-a-lot

Vista doesn't run all my programs that I need reliably, whilst XP works perfectly, very annoying, I have even tried installing XP as a virtual operating system but this does work either as the virtual operating system does not recognise USB... I need XP for remote camera operation. Anyone know any wizardry to get this working.. I have exhausted my lines of remedy

Colin_London

Vista SP1 (fully patched) is actually pretty stable now, particularly with a clean install (as you get with a new PC). Most of the Vista bad press was generated at the initial release and, as they say, mud sticks.

That said, Windows 7 is even better. Shortly the PC manufacturers should be starting a 'free future upgrade' program where if you buy a Vista PC you will get a free upgrade to Windows 7 when it becomes available.

Windows 7 builds on top of the Vista kernel, so is a relatively straightforward upgrade. Upgrading from XP to Windows 7 however (as for XP to Vista) is a very messy upgrade with significant low level changes that mean the resulting upgraded OS is pretty messy.

So, assuming you can't wait for the release of Windows 7 towards the end of this year, I would certainly recommend you go with Vista SP1, and maybe wait a bit longer to find a Win7 upgrade offer.

The UI of Vista is quite similar to Win7, so you'll also be training yourself to get used to it whilst you are waiting for 7.....