Vista Business or XP pro

[Deleted User]

I would recommend having XP on the laptops. You don't want end users frustrating with some of the nuances that an XP/Vista/SBS 2003 network can throw up.

TonyLisaP

isofa wrote: »

Depends on the user requirements.

Of laptop systems I've used, set-up and personally run, all have better performance running XP than Vista, and seeing as Applications are key to work not OSes, I really can't see the issue.

If you have to retrain an office of staff to use a new OS, and find some apps don't function correctly, Vista can also not be a wise decision.

None of my large clients have taken up Vista because of numerous issues, many are still in the processes of rolling out XP! And many others will skip Vista completely and wait for the next iteration of Windows.

I remain open minded, and recommend on a case by case basis.

This is why I enquired about Bespoke applications. I have setup numerous laptops with Vista and all of them run just as fast, if not faster than XP. It is just a matter of tweaking the OS. It all comes down to personal preference 99% of the time and the fact that most people get one little problem and brand the OS as rubbish or not as good as XP. Let me ask you something, if your client demanded to run Vista would you find reason to moan about it or would you take your well trained mind and fix the issues and find solutions? I have had to do the latter as my clients decide what they want to run I just have to make it work, I make recommendations of course but at the end of the day it is their company.
IT is about stability and I know a few IT pro's who prefer XP because it keeps them in a job, afterall if everything was stable and doing what it should be doing then why pay someone eh?

isofa

TonyLisaP wrote: »

This is why I enquired about Bespoke applications. I have setup numerous laptops with Vista and all of them run just as fast, if not faster than XP. It is just a matter of tweaking the OS. It all comes down to personal preference 99% of the time and the fact that most people get one little problem and brand the OS as rubbish or not as good as XP. Let me ask you something, if your client demanded to run Vista would you find reason to moan about it or would you take your well trained mind and fix the issues and find solutions? I have had to do the latter as my clients decide what they want to run I just have to make it work, I make recommendations of course but at the end of the day it is their company.
IT is about stability and I know a few IT pro's who prefer XP because it keeps them in a job, afterall if everything was stable and doing what it should be doing then why pay someone eh?

You opinions and mine, and everyone else's are just that: opinions - you are like a dog with a bone :rolleyes:

I'm not moaning about Vista, I'm offering an accurate opinion based on experience.

It does come down to personal preference I agree.

I don't deal with low end rolling out OSes, but of course if a client wanted Vista, for a specific reason, just as if they wanted XP or anything else, then of course we'd work with them and provide the optimum solution.

However, back to the OP - it's a fact that XP is a faster operating system than Vista. XP uses less resources, and this is very well documented. Setup an optimised Vista laptop running say a 2Ghz processor with 2Gb of RAM, and an XP laptop of the same spec, and without a doubt the XP system will run faster. Just like if you setup another laptop running W2K it'd run faster.

It is advising what is appropriate for the job - that's what we do. Bad consultants give bad advice, usually because they swallow the guff that companies like MS, Apple and all sorts wheel out to sell the next iteration of their OSes to make them money.

The OP has other machines all running XP, and to be fair, for smoothness and easy of use, connections and training, adding further XP machines will be less problematic than adding new Vista ones.

Just because a new OS is available, doesn't mean everyone must run it immediately, as I said before, Applications are the key not OSes, that's why I use XP, Vista, Mac OS and flavours of Linux.

TonyLisaP

You are right about one thing. Win2K is the fastest operating system of this lot.

Bongedone

Thanks for the help everybody.

russ_gillespie

If it's SBS2003, and other machines are XP, then stick with XP, it'll make life simpler.

If you were setting up a brand new network with sbs2003, i'd still say XP. Wait for Server 2008 if you want to go with Vista on the workstations is my opinion.

isofa

russ_gillespie wrote: »

If it's SBS2003, and other machines are XP, then stick with XP, it'll make life simpler.

If you were setting up a brand new network with sbs2003, i'd still say XP. Wait for Server 2008 if you want to go with Vista on the workstations is my opinion.

Exactly my reasoning too! :beer:

[Deleted User]

There are a number of hotfixes that would need to be installed on both the SBS 2003 machine and the Vista machines for them to integrate correctly. For an easy life for you and your users it would be much better to stay on XP until you were ready to do fully deploy Vista to all machines.

Bongedone

I think we will stay with XP for the moment. I am going to get myself a laptop with Vista on for home.

I can play with it and make sure I know enough before deploying it. Don't fancy the support nightmare yet.

foreversomeday

Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Ultimate both carry free downgrade licences for anything from Win95 to XP. If you choose to downgrade, you can then re-upgrade to Vista again at any point in the future.

So getting them on Vista gives you the option of choosing XP if you do run into problems, at least for the time being, or putting them on XP for the time being with the guarunteed upgrade whenever you wanted it. Choosing XP means you are restricted to Dell machines and also means that if you did want to upgrade in the future, perhaps if you decided to upgrade the server to 2008, you would then have to buy copies of Vista for each machine.

If you do get Vista, and you get Office 2007, familiarise yourself and your staff with the differences between .doc files and .docx files, it will save you a lot of headaches!