Widows XP or Vista

shazrazmataz

Title says it all, we're going to buy a new pc, the one we've got now is XP & we were just wodering what to have in the new pc. What are the pros & cons or is it better the devil you know?

Any recommendations much appreciated. Thanks in advance:D

superscaper

Impossible to say. You're only going to get subjective answers really. The only important thing really is do you have any previous hardware that you'll be using with your new pc, eg printer, scanner, etc. If so you'll want to make sure there are vista drivers available for them first. If it was me and I'd checked the compatibility of my peripherals I'd get Vista if it was a new PC.

j1mgg

i personally would use xp.
I have vista also on my machine but with 1gb i find it not to be the best, as mentioned above definetly check microsofts(http://winqual.microsoft.com/hcl/Default.aspx) you will have to use internet explorer 6 or above.

As you mention if you get a new computer and you dont like vista you can always use the xp off your old machine(as long as you dont sell it)

superscaper

j1mgg wrote: »

As you mention if you get a new computer and you dont like vista you can always use the xp off your old machine(as long as you dont sell it)

That's only true if it is a retail version of XP. Any OEM version you aren't allowed to transfer to different PCs.

BillScarab

Try searching this forum, this has been asked many times and there are lots of replies which may be useful.

Personally if any existing hardware you have is compatible I would get Vista.

angelatgraceland

Id wait a while until Vista is a little more established and some of the initial problems are sorted out. some broadband isnt even compatible with it yet. Doubt you will be able to buy a new pc with XP on it anyway!

Lord_Gardener

angelatgraceland wrote: »

Id wait a while until Vista is a little more established and some of the initial problems are sorted out. some broadband isnt even compatible with it yet. Doubt you will be able to buy a new pc with XP on it anyway!

Plenty of PC's available with Win XP - just check out the Dell site!

Cerro

superscaper wrote: »

That's only true if it is a retail version of XP. Any OEM version you aren't allowed to transfer to different PCs.

Not 100% certain that is true for XP or earlier - definately nothing stopping you from installing an OEM version on different PCs, might be against its agreement - but I don't think anyone would complain.

With Vista it is different, OEM versions are locked to the motherboard you first install on. Switch motherboard and Vista will no longer activate and receive updates. Retail versions do not suffer from this problem, just OEM versions.

superscaper

Cerro wrote: »

Not 100% certain that is true for XP or earlier - definately nothing stopping you from installing an OEM version on different PCs, might be against its agreement - but I don't think anyone would complain.

That is true for XP. There was someone on the board not so long ago who'd tried exactly that and the activation failed, they spoke with Microsoft who told her she was breaking the law and had to buy a new licence. This website isn't about what you can get away with, it's about what you can do within the bounds of the law (that's the ethos of the forum rules anyway).

Cerro

I wasn't sure if it was breaking the law, although OEM licenses (for software) tend to be non-transferable. Although I did do this in the past with company licenses for XP (OEM) and they activated no bother, possibly because the key had never actually been used before.

Not that I would condone an action like breaking an MS license agreement - truly disgraceful. :rolleyes: Almost as disgraceful as the prices MS charges for retail versions of windows (who would pay that much for a half finished piece of work, full of problems, needing constant updates and with more security holes that a slice of swiss cheese?).

So if given the choice, I'd stick with XP, at least until Vista is nearly complete (XP is complete after several years, a thousand patches and 2 service packs) or until driver support for XP ceases and it reaches the end of its useful life - which ever happens sooner, though i'm willing to bet XP will die before vista is anywhere near a finished product. All I can say about vista right now, is that it installs and runs (an achievement for MS).

superscaper

Cerro wrote: »

I wasn't sure if it was breaking the law, although OEM licenses (for software) tend to be non-transferable. Although I did do this in the past with company licenses for XP (OEM) and they activated no bother, possibly because the key had never actually been used before.

Not that I would condone an action like breaking an MS license agreement - truly disgraceful. :rolleyes: Almost as disgraceful as the prices MS charges for retail versions of windows (who would pay that much for a half finished piece of work, full of problems, needing constant updates and with more security holes that a slice of swiss cheese?).

So if given the choice, I'd stick with XP, at least until Vista is nearly complete (XP is complete after several years, a thousand patches and 2 service packs) or until driver support for XP ceases and it reaches the end of its useful life - which ever happens sooner, though i'm willing to bet XP will die before vista is anywhere near a finished product. All I can say about vista right now, is that it installs and runs (an achievement for MS).

Corporate licenses/keys are different, they don't normally need activation at all and can be transferred. I've tried it myself installing (XP Pro OEM) on a second pc when I needed one temporarily and it refused to activate. And of course you can only use XP for 30 days before it locks down unless you get a successful activation.