Building a new system. XP or Vista?

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Ninjabass

Weaksauce
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May 28, 2007
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I am building a new rig. The parts are listed in this thread. I have access to XP 32-bit already, but I am wondering if i should buy a copy of Vista 64-bit. I know Vista was pretty terrible at launch, but I have heard it isn't so bad now. I don't have any experience with Vista, so I can't make any judgements. What do you guys think about Vista? Which should I load onto my new rig?

I will dual boot with Ubuntu 8.04, not that it matters. Just FYI.
 
Go with Vista Home Premium x64 SP1

It's a performance beast with dual or quad core CPUs, 4GB or more RAM, and a good GPU.
 
I shouldn't get Vista Ultimate? I heard that Ultimate was the only one worth getting.
 
CrimsonKnight13 said:
Go with Vista Home Premium x64 SP1

It's a performance beast with dual or quad core CPUs, 4GB or more RAM, and a good GPU.
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QFT. Vista Ultimate isn't worth the extra costs since all of the security and backup features can be substituted by free or better paid-for apps. In addition, the "Ultimate Extras" are too few and not good enough to warrant the extra costs.

Look through the features set for the Vista Home Premium and Vista Ultimate and more than likely you won't need 90% of the features offered by Ultimate.
 
With 4gb ram and that video card it's pretty much mandatory that you go to Vista64 or all that shiny new ram will go to waste. If you can be a little patient and give a new OS a fair trial then you'll grow to love Vista.
 
If you attend a university then check the local bookstore or the CSC department as they may have discounted or free versions of Vista. Business/Ultimate.
 
food for thought - i purchased an oem version of vista home premium 32bit for cheap and upgraded to 64bit.
 
rapperwith1p said:
If you attend a university then check the local bookstore or the CSC department as they may have discounted or free versions of Vista. Business/Ultimate.
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^^^ this is true, i cleaned up on cheap software back when i was in college.
 
I actually am a CSCI student at a university, and we run Fedora 9 in our labs instead of Windows. We do have several copies of XP, which is what I used to use. I haven't checked our bookstore, I'll have to try there.
 
Ninjabass said:
I actually am a CSCI student at a university, and we run Fedora 9 in our labs instead of Windows. We do have several copies of XP, which is what I used to use. I haven't checked our bookstore, I'll have to try there.
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Also check to see if your unversity/college or major/college is part of the MSDNAA. You can get free copies of XP and Vista that way
 
You should get what fits your needs best...nothing more, nothing less. Vista x64 is a great OS, so if your reasons for avoiding it are form what you've "heard", then you can rest assured it is a good OS. You also are the only one who knows your budget, so you are the only one who can determine if it is worth it or not. As for which version of Vista, once again, that is something you and only you can decide. If you need all the features in Ultimate, then you need to get that. If you can do with Business or Home Premium, then you can save a few bucks and got one of those.
 
rapperwith1p said:
With 4gb ram and that video card it's pretty much mandatory that you go to Vista64 or all that shiny new ram will go to waste. If you can be a little patient and give a new OS a fair trial then you'll grow to love Vista.
Click to expand...

Exactly what I was going to add. Once you turn off all of the annoying crap in Vista, especially the constant "Do you really want to do this?!?" it isn't bad. I am running a Q6700 on an EVGA 780i with an EVGA 8800 and 4gb of ram. I dual boot XP Pro and Vista Ultimate x64. Vista, after getting it to a classic state run circles around my XP install. The 4GB of ram is useless on XP 32 bit. For a while I ran the 64bit XP and it had too many issues with drivers and program interfacing for me.
 
Get Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit OEM from Newegg. They have it for $99 right now. If you change motherboards or want to put it on another PC within a couple years, call Microsoft and ask them to clear the activation. If they refuse, just buy another OEM copy; it'll still be cheaper than buying one retail copy of Home Premium. Most likely you'll still be using the first OEM copy you bought when Windows 7 arrives.

Also, if you buy Home Premium retail, you won't get a 64-bit disc. You'll have to order one from Microsoft's website at the cost of a shipping fee. There really isn't a good reason to buy a retail copy of Vista.
 
Rehevkor said:
Get Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit OEM from Newegg. They have it for $99 right now. If you change motherboards or want to put it on another PC within a couple years, call Microsoft and ask them to clear the activation. If they refuse, just buy another OEM copy; it'll still be cheaper than buying one retail copy of Home Premium. Most likely you'll still be using the first OEM copy you bought when Windows 7 arrives.

Also, if you buy Home Premium retail, you won't get a 64-bit disc. You'll have to order one from Microsoft's website at the cost of a shipping fee. There really isn't a good reason to buy a retail copy of Vista.
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If I need to reformat my hard drive for some reason, will it let me reinstall again?
 
Yes. I have an OEM copy of Vista Ultimate x64 & contacting MS by phone always fixes the issue with activation. I don't think you'll have any issues beyond that.
 
I would try to live with UAC before disabling it. After the initial install and set up you just won't get that many UAC prompts. It's not as bad as some claim.
 
griffinhart said:
I would try to live with UAC before disabling it. After the initial install and set up you just won't get that many UAC prompts. It's not as bad as some claim.
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i'll echo this. i have UAC enabled and it's really not a big deal.
 
griffinhart said:
I would try to live with UAC before disabling it. After the initial install and set up you just won't get that many UAC prompts. It's not as bad as some claim.
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And I will also Co-Sign this. As long as you have quality software UAC is not big deal. It's a little annoying with the initial setup, but once everything is setup/installed you should never see a UAC prompt unless it's something malicious. . . UAC is a very valuable component of Vista. . .
 
You could also get a 2nd HDD and do both. I do that as I use DX10 in some games and DX9 in others. I appreciate the stability of XP but some of the benefit of DX10 in some games. I used the vista hdd for storage and games only :)
 
DeaconFrost said:
You should get what fits your needs best...nothing more, nothing less. Vista x64 is a great OS, so if your reasons for avoiding it are form what you've "heard", then you can rest assured it is a good OS. You also are the only one who knows your budget, so you are the only one who can determine if it is worth it or not. As for which version of Vista, once again, that is something you and only you can decide. If you need all the features in Ultimate, then you need to get that. If you can do with Business or Home Premium, then you can save a few bucks and got one of those.
Click to expand...


True that. I wrote, un detail, about the differences between Home Premium and Ulktumate here, recently. Read that, to decide.

If you have access to a cheap academic or other deal, and Vista Ultimate is your most economic option available, then that's the one which "fits your needs best" perhaps. Otherwise.....


Regarding the Upgrade package, there's a considerably more detailed discussion and guide linked amongst the FAQ sticky at top of page:

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1202605

I wrote that'n too, ages back now. I used to have a 'single install clean install' guide for it elsewhere on the web, but that's no longer available. Too many readers were failing to have success with it. The dual install method is better, and foolproof as claimed. Forget the rubbish you hear about it 'taking too long'. People who sit at the monitor and watch Windows being installed are kinda retarded. The Vista 'dual install' trick is an extra few minutes of user interaction, in comparison to a single Windows install.



I personally like to avoid the potential minefield that OEM Windows represents, if there's any chance that I'm gonna want to be substantially upgrading the machine, or moving the installation/license to a new machine. Sure, Microsoft has publically indicated increased tolerance for the circumstances of owner/builders, but that legally only extends to the circumstance of motherboard replacement where the original motherboard has proved to be defective, and then only replacement with same or equivalent technology. Legally, it doesn't extend to cover 'upgrade' to a newer/better mobo/chipset/CPU platform. So it's a scenario where a careless word during telephone activation can cause alarm bells to ring. A situation best avoided, IMO.


On machines at home I'm running retail 'Vista Home Premium Academic Upgrade'. Here in Australia eligibility to purchase is pretty much open slather, since legalities here prohibit 'home schooled' from being classified as 'enrolled in a formal course of study', as I understand things. It's an over-the-counter item with no proof of eligibility required. That's a tad different in the US, as I understand things. But anybody with a child or adult household member in education (from kindergarten onwards) is eligible, and once purchased there's no legal usage restriction other than 'non-commercial use only'. Great purchase choice. Migratable license. And 'Upgrade' is no problem considering I have about a dozen XP licenses. Two remain in use. Two have been declared (by me, after I clkean-installed Vista Upgrades) 'void' to make the Vista installs completely legal in every respect. The rests are the reasons I wouldn't go near the extra cost of a 'full' Vista purchase. Won't need to during Vista's lifetime of usefulness, I don't imagine.



I'm led to believe that, in the US, there's a 'Retail Academic' Vista Ultimate Upgrade product available, to qualifying purchasers, for around the same price as the Retail Academic Home Premium one. If so, then that'd be the purchase of choice there. The "whgich feature set do I need?" question doesn't come into play if the price is the same, because Ultimate has all the features.
 
Bleh. Single install ftw... 1 shot, done it over 2,500 times, not once has it not worked. I don't know what some people are smokin' out there, but... ;)
 
/OT

heh heh...

I got sick of the "please help me because it didn't work" letters. Then I got sick of maintaining the website on shitty Siteground hosting which was slow as buggery and didn't even allow PayPal renewal, when I hate credit cards don't own one and had to borrow my son's one whenever I came across a 'Credit Card Only' faciltiy I needed to use.

I'll get a new'n up in the new year, when I have timne. Got a fellow here in Oz who's happy to provide me with adequate free and unfettered hosting for nix. :D
 
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