XP or Vista?

aardvarkuk

robt wrote: »

If you have old programs that don't run you must be extremely unlucky - I have DOS programs running on Vista, all the way through to new release software!

PSP8 wont run at all nor will save flash.

BigBouncyBall

if everything was fixed after one service pack, why would they bother to release a second and a third??

It's clear that we have about a 50:50 split, so i guess it really comes down to personal choice. I wouldn't say one was better than the other, they kind of do different things for different people.

I avoid both and use Mac OS X

isofa

There are some solid older apps that won't install on Vista (e.g. PageMaker 6.5, and many other similar aged apps), whereas running them isn't such a problem.

There is an excellent list of apps tested here: http://www.iexbeta.com/wiki/index.php/Windows_Vista_Software_Compatibility_List

and MS official line here and with compatibility checkers: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/933305

aardvarkuk

Well thats surprising that PCWizard 2008 has issues

GreenNotM

Your son will be using Vista eventually and changing OS's for the rest of his life - give him a head start ... like speaking another language the sooner you start ...

Now does anybody know if I can pickup digital radio on a crystal set ?

wakandem

GreenNotM wrote: »

.

Now does anybody know if I can pickup digital radio on a crystal set ?

No you can not. Crystal sets only work with MW, LW, SW . You won't even get FM.
Digital radio needs a DAC (dig 2 analogue converter) . A dab radio uses nearly 3x the amkout of power as say an FM radio which in turn uses twice the power as a radio on MW.

Just to stay on thread.
Vista is great if you like DRM, DRM embedded tech for HD content, hardware lock in. Software lock in (DX10) & little packets of data being sent to MS every few mins . Best of all is the user experience, as a user you are you are very much 2ndry to the system & system constintantly reminds you of this.
Great for home use and games.

unrich

GreenNotM wrote: »

Your son will be using Vista eventually and changing OS's for the rest of his life - give him a head start ... like speaking another language the sooner you start ...

Now does anybody know if I can pickup digital radio on a crystal set ?

By giving your son a crystal radio you may give him a bigger head start. He'll be able to wind the inductor coil. He can see how a capacitor works. He'll be able to look at a diode (and understand what its got to do with a cats whisker). He'll set up an aerial and perhaps deal with why it is 1/4 wavelength. He might learn about earthing, modulation, the ionosphere etc etc.. Anyway after using a crystal radio he may well have a better understanding of radio and go on to design the next generation of radio to be less power hungry and less flaky than DAB, rather than just listening to the content. You could see if your daughter may like a crystal radio too.

If you just want to use the applications then get a Mac. If you might want to understand things use Linux. If you wan't to sit on Bill's lap use windows.

isofa

I think GreenNotM was being sarcastic (at least I hope he was...) about picking up digital radio on a crystal set... a reference to how technology is moving on.

rcssmb

I would go with Vista Home Premium. Not sure how old your son is but know that my daughters both use Vista at school (and home now). With Vista premium you get Media Center to manage video, audio and pictures. My seven year old loves her media center computer - wanted a tv and DVD player, now she has that plus video recorder and computer.

One thing to note Vista is slower to boot up and shut down than XP but does go to sleep very nicely which XP never quite managed properly.

NB do need a digital tv tuner card and aerial - remote is nice to have too.

Coveredinbees!!!!

If you like hitting you head off a brick wall trying to do things that were easy to do with XP get vista but I'm sure it will make sense eventually (well I'm hoping anyway).

I'm sure Vista is a bit of a stop gap before a proper working version comes out (like win2000)