Which OS Should I Choose ???

O

ofield

n00b
Joined
Dec 10, 2007
Messages
5
Hey Guys,
I'm buying a new Desktop and I have the choice of Getting Xp Home,
XP Professional, or Vista Home Basic.

I have Windows Xp Home on my old Desktop and was wondering if
you could give me any Advice on which OS System to Choose. The
Specs of the Desktop are below.

I really Need Advice On this One, Thanks

GeForce 7300GS 256MB PCI-Express (1DVI / 1VGA) Card/

3GB DDR2 PC5400 Memory

Intel Core2 Duo E4500 2.2GHz 2M 800Mhz Processor

80GB 7200RPM 3G SATA II Hard Drive with a External 320GB Hard Drive

500 Watt Power Supply
 
It's a DX9 card, so Vista isn't necessary for DX10 as you couldn't use it anyway. You can also get away with a 32bit OS without issue because you're running less than 4gb of RAM, so running Vista 64bit (which is a major improvement over XP 64bit) isn't a deciding factor either. With all that in mind, probably XP Pro for you..
 
Is there a reason why you want XP Pro? Why not just XP Home? (Other than inferiority issues :D)
 
Vista Home Basic, simple. No sense continuing to stick with the old if you're building a "brand new machine" more or less. Home Basic will work just fine, but if you can do it, try to get Home Premium so you do get the extra things included in Home Premium, like Media Center, the ability to use Aero, and other things. The price difference should be relatively negligible between the two editions, but I don't know your budget or how this is happening anyway.

XP Pro would be preferred over XP Home - realistically they are the same damned OS and always have been but XP Pro offers a few networking goodies and some admin tools that Home doesn't. Home is about 98% of what Pro is, the 2% or so are the networking/admin tools. Same OS by and large.

I say go with Vista Home Basic, and Home Premium if you can swing it.

Good luck...

ps
Just as a suggestion, use the 320GB drive as the primary. Yank it out of that external case and put it inside the PC; it's just a 3.5" hard drive just like the 80GB is, and I guarantee you it'll be WAY WAY WAY faster as a system drive than that 80GB will. The 80 has to be a few years old, and even if the 320GB is ATA, it'll run circles around the 80's performance.
 
bbz_Ghost said:
XP Pro would be preferred over XP Home - realistically they are the same damned OS and always have been but XP Pro offers a few networking goodies and some admin tools that Home doesn't. Home is about 98% of what Pro is, the 2% or so are the networking/admin tools. Same OS by and large.
Click to expand...

I guess that was my question. OP mentioned he had a copy of Home anyway and didn't specify a need for the other 2% XP Pro would give.
 
exactly, I was going to ask this, but what precisely is the other 2%?

I specifically want to be able to connect to my wireless router without problems. I do NO other home networking. I just connect wirelessly to the router out to the net. If I can do that for $50 less, and most everything else is the same, I'll just buy home.

I'm downgrading from Vista home premium btw. Its really pissing me off. Nothing like putting a dvd that I *OWN* into my dvd drive and not being able to watch a movie because the dvd is "protected". What stupid shit all around from Hollywood and MS both.
 
I agree with bbz: if you're going to build a new computer and buy an OS, there's no reason to stick with the old at this point. Go Vista. And if you're going Vista, you might as well go x64.
 
XP Pro is connectable to domains, has some command line utilities that Home doesn't (like systeminfo and a bunch of others), but is generally the same OS as Home where Joe Average, consumer that happens to own a computer, is concerned. If you really needed Pro at this point, you'd more than likely know it.

But XP is getting long in the tooth, even if it's a great OS. Get started on Vista and learn the ins and outs. There are some stickied threads in the "FAQ Links - This is where the forum FAQs are" thread located here:

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=937835

I'll toot my own horn and say read these because I wrote 'em and they have good info (stand back, my head is swelling!):

Vista, Admin rights, UAC, and You

and...

The best Vista tip I can offer and one that is sorely needed

And yeah, I didn't cross over into the x64 recommendation because I didn't get the impression the OP would really want to get that involved since that's an entirely different can of worms and I wasn't sure if he'd "get it." We'll see what happens... but yes I'd say the same thing overall: go the 64 bit route and never look back.

Good luck, and if you have questions, that's basically what this forum is for... exchanging info. :)
 
Screw vista. you want to see irritation? Stick in a damn dvd thats "protected" and just try to play it. In my case, Talladega Nights. That pissed me off to such a degree I want to hit vista with a damn hammer and send it to MS.
 
Ethug said:
Screw vista. you want to see irritation? Stick in a damn dvd thats "protected" and just try to play it. In my case, Talladega Nights. That pissed me off to such a degree I want to hit vista with a damn hammer and send it to MS.
Click to expand...

Why dont you just remove that POS "protection" ?
 
Well, the operating system that i have is Vista home Premium and that suffices me good becuase i have alot of media applications, and etc.... However ,i must tell you one thing, windows Vista home Basic is good but "Basic" is really all it is. I was looking at a laptop with Vista Basic and it did not have any features at all, and the color scheme, for me, was not appealing.

On the flip side, going with XP Home is a good choice becuase its a nice operating system and tis cheap, too, and XP Pro would be even better becuase of the improved security features that you have with it and all the other nice features that you get.

My Verdict:
Get either Windows Vista Home Basic, or, Windows XP Professional Edition.
 
Rebel44 said:
Why dont you just remove that POS "protection" ?
Click to expand...

I have 500 dvds, I'm not going to go thru some damn ripping process for everything that doesnt work. This pisses me off more than anything has in a very long time.
 
Ethug said:
Screw vista. you want to see irritation? Stick in a damn dvd thats "protected" and just try to play it. In my case, Talladega Nights. That pissed me off to such a degree I want to hit vista with a damn hammer and send it to MS.
Click to expand...
What format of DVD wouldn't you be able to play on Vista? If it was a regular DVD, you shouldn't have any issues playing it on Vista. As with XP, you'd need a standard DVD decoder, unless you are running Ultimate or Home Premium, which include one.

I'm hoping that this isn't another incorrect rant about DRM and Vista, when the problem lies elsewhere than with the OS. Regular DVDs play absolutely fine on Vista, exactly as they did on XP. HDCP doesn't come into play unless you are dealing with high definiton content. Given that you said you had over 500 DVDs, I'm guessing they are regular ones. In that case, the problem likely lies with your decoder, and not Vista.
 
Ethug said:
deleted. irritated.
Click to expand...

I'd very much like to know what you had to say to DeaconFrost's post. As far as I know, what he posted should be accurate, however, if it isn't, I'd also like to know how your situation differs. If you could, please, at least tell us whether or not you agree with his last post or if there is something wrong that DRM-hating users should care about.
 
Cyrilix said:
I'd very much like to know what you had to say to DeaconFrost's post. As far as I know, what he posted should be accurate, however, if it isn't, I'd also like to know how your situation differs. If you could, please, at least tell us whether or not you agree with his last post or if there is something wrong that DRM-hating users should care about.
Click to expand...

Its pretty simple: This disc plays fine in an XP machine with videolan. It plays fine in a standalone player.

Sony is behind this shit, simple enough. I don't know what kind of protection its using, but whatever it is, is shit, and is undoubtedly tied to Vista.

Here after about 15 tries, it started to run, ran for a few minutes, stopped. Now it won't even load again after that single fluke.

This does NOT happen with movies from other studios. I have a brand new copy of Stardust from Paramount which starts appropriately and plays wonderfully (and is a great movie to boot).
 
Ethug said:
Its pretty simple: This disc plays fine in an XP machine with videolan. It plays fine in a standalone player.

Sony is behind this shit, simple enough. I don't know what kind of protection its using, but whatever it is, is shit, and is undoubtedly tied to Vista.

Here after about 15 tries, it started to run, ran for a few minutes, stopped. Now it won't even load again after that single fluke.

This does NOT happen with movies from other studios. I have a brand new copy of Stardust from Paramount which starts appropriately and plays wonderfully (and is a great movie to boot).
Click to expand...

Hmm.. interesting. Thanks for the heads up.
 
Cyrilix said:
Hmm.. interesting. Thanks for the heads up.
Click to expand...

Granted this is not the most wonderful movie, but I find it funny enough. The obvious problem here is if I'm going to have this kind of trouble playing regular dvds why even bother with vista? Granted I don't believe I've used any other Sony pictures movies recently so I don't know if this is isolated or not (I know this dvd release is a year old).

edit: looking at this thread http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/432571 reveals that this title is protected with all manner of complete crap:
RCE protection not found.
DVD structure appears to be correct.
Found & removed structural copy protection (Arccos, Puppetlock)!
Found & removed ALPHA-DVD copy protection!
Found & removed bogus title set!
Found & removed invalid VOBUs!
Found & removed Autorun from Video DVD!
Found & removed 4 bad sector protections!

This is a big 'Fuck You' out to Sony then, and a partial FU to Microsoft for enforcing this crap. I have a retail dvd, with an oem Vista from newegg, a completely capable computer, and can't even run a dvd.
 
Blame Sony in full then, and not Vista. If Microsoft didn't agree to follow the demands of each studio, none of us would be watching any DVDs on our computers without some sort of hacking.

I'll agree completely that it must be frustrating as hell. However, do something productive about it. Find an e-mail address for Sony, and send them a message detailing your complaint and how you are a legitimate, paying customer, but would consider boycotting any and all Sony Studio movies in the future. Complaining and venting on a message board may be theraputic, but the only real way to get something done is to continue to complain to the proper places. When enough customers threaten to become ex-customers, things happen.
 
DeaconFrost said:
Blame Sony in full then, and not Vista. If Microsoft didn't agree to follow the demands of each studio, none of us would be watching any DVDs on our computers without some sort of hacking.

I'll agree completely that it must be frustrating as hell. However, do something productive about it. Find an e-mail address for Sony, and send them a message detailing your complaint and how you are a legitimate, paying customer, but would consider boycotting any and all Sony Studio movies in the future. Complaining and venting on a message board may be theraputic, but the only real way to get something done is to continue to complain to the proper places. When enough customers threaten to become ex-customers, things happen.
Click to expand...

This is an appropriate forum as it decreases the usefulness of Vista for a large number of people. Simple enough. DRM was supposed to be related to HD content only, and its bleeding into SD playback, which is completely unacceptable.
 
DeaconFrost said:
If I may, what's the DVD in question from Sony?
Click to expand...

Talladega Nights. As I stated in a previous post, its carrying a LOAD of anti-piracy crap:
looking at this thread http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/432571 reveals that this title is protected with all manner of complete crap:
RCE protection not found.
DVD structure appears to be correct.
Found & removed structural copy protection (Arccos, Puppetlock)!
Found & removed ALPHA-DVD copy protection!
Found & removed bogus title set!
Found & removed invalid VOBUs!
Found & removed Autorun from Video DVD!
Found & removed 4 bad sector protections!
 
Just popped my copy of Talladega Nights, full screen standard DVD9, into my sig rig and my Vista tablet PC, never actually played it in a computer before, and it works fine on both machines.

Most of the negative stuff about Vista from performance to DRM simply isn’t true; at least I’ve not seen it. In fact, I use a program called 1Click DVD Copy to backup my standard DVD9’s and it works like a charm on Vista; I’ve never had a movie that I couldn’t back up with it on Vista.

Happy New Year!:D
 
heatlesssun said:
Just popped my copy of Talladega Nights, full screen standard DVD9, into my sig rig and my Vista tablet PC, never actually played it in a computer before, and it works fine on both machines.

Most of the negative stuff about Vista from performance to DRM simply isn’t true; at least I’ve not seen it. In fact, I use a program called 1Click DVD Copy to backup my standard DVD9’s and it works like a charm on Vista; I’ve never had a movie that I couldn’t back up with it on Vista.

Happy New Year!:D
Click to expand...

Using a "backup" is not using a retail dvd, if you're making a copy and removing all those protections...why even post? This is not a thread about "backing up" aka stealing movies. I would be suprised if you can produce a retail box for the movie, as I can.
http://aycu14.webshots.com/image/38333/2000321267089798779_rs.jpg
 
I popped my Casino Royale (Sony Produced) DVD into my Vista computer, just now. It works.

Just my 0.02 CAD.

BTW, Home Premium is worth it. Home Basic isn't.
 
http://img.engadget.com/2007/04/16/sony-copy-protection-taking-heat-again-now-dvds-wont-play/
"Sony copy protection taking heat again: now DVDs won't play"

scrolling down the page reveals this post:

LikeICare
@ Apr 16th 2007 11:42PM

I rented 'Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby' recently and It wouldn't play on my computer, which is the only way I watch movies.

So I was forced to de'DRM the disc and essentialy copy it in order to watch it. Now I'm not an expert or anything but forcing consumers to copy your Movies just to watch them?? Is this what you really want SONY??

**************
Now I have my answer. Thanks to those of you who answered without implying it was somehow my own fault when I made all attempts for assurances that I was not an idiot to start with. It is indeed Sony's fault. I'm assuming some other movies, and even some pressings of the same movie from different time periods won't have this problem.
 
Plays fine here, "Talladega Nights" retail DVD I bought last summer at Wal-Mart for $5, in:

- XP Home (with WinDVD 5)
- XP Pro (with WinDVD 5)
- XP x64 (with WinDVD 5)
- 2K3 Enterprise (with WinDVD 5)
- Vista Home Basic (with WinDVD 5)
- Vista Home Premium (Media Center and WinDVD 5)
- Vista Business (with WinDVD 5)
- Vista Ultimate (Media Center and WinDVD 5)

I have several Sony DVDs that are supposedly loaded down with DRM and other things that make them unplayable - every one of them works fine and has never given me any issues and I don't even own a standalone set-top DVD player. I have a Plextor 18x DVD+RW drive in my machine; my Wife has a Pioneer 18x DVD+RW in hers, no issues unless a disc is scratched beyond playback which happens sometimes with movies we borrow from the libraries here in Vegas because people are lazy and don't take care of the damned things.

Not sure what the problem is supposed to be, but now that this thread has gone sufficiently - hell, entirely too much off-topic, perhaps it's best to just move on. It's not a "Vista bashing" thread or anything of the sort, at least I'm sure that's not what the OP had in mind.

Enforcer254 said:
On the flip side, going with XP Home is a good choice becuase its a nice operating system and tis cheap, too, and XP Pro would be even better becuase of the improved security features that you have with it and all the other nice features that you get.
Click to expand...

They're the same OS in that respect. XP Pro doesn't have anything "special" as far as security features goes over XP Home, so that's just inaccurate information.
 
It could be that WinDVD 5 and VLC do something different, although I can't say for sure. I haven't used VLC in quite a long time -- use Media Player Classic for everything.
 
Ethug said:
Its pretty simple: This disc plays fine in an XP machine with videolan. It plays fine in a standalone player.

Sony is behind this shit, simple enough. I don't know what kind of protection its using, but whatever it is, is shit, and is undoubtedly tied to Vista.

Here after about 15 tries, it started to run, ran for a few minutes, stopped. Now it won't even load again after that single fluke.

This does NOT happen with movies from other studios. I have a brand new copy of Stardust from Paramount which starts appropriately and plays wonderfully (and is a great movie to boot).
Click to expand...

You can thank Sony for that. That same DVD wont play in many physical DVD Players either.
 
Ethug said:
Using a "backup" is not using a retail dvd, if you're making a copy and removing all those protections...why even post? This is not a thread about "backing up" aka stealing movies. I would be suprised if you can produce a retail box for the movie, as I can.
http://aycu14.webshots.com/image/38333/2000321267089798779_rs.jpg
Click to expand...

ORLY!

dscn0943cx5.jpg


Read before bashing, I said I use 1Click DVD Copy for making BACKUPS! Yes, I bought the movie dude, like many others. I feel I have the right to make backups of content I pay for. My point about 1Click DVD Copy is that people are complaining that that can't play the movie in Vista, not only can I play the retail movie in Vista, I can make a copy! I simply can't understand how people can't play the movie in Vista, while I can play it and make a copy.

I simply don’t get what’s up with people so often complaining about Vista and DRM. It’s hogwash as far as any personal system I have is concerned.

I’m not a pirate, I simply demand that any content I purchase can be backed up. Period. I bet EVERYONE on forums like these expect the same.

Oh, and by the way, you said you rented it, then made a "copy" because it was the only way you could play it. Wow, you need to run for President. I have the full screen edition, I'd be more than happy to buy the widescreen edition and test it.

Happy New Year!:D
 
Ethug said:
http://img.engadget.com/2007/04/16/sony-copy-protection-taking-heat-again-now-dvds-wont-play/
"Sony copy protection taking heat again: now DVDs won't play"

scrolling down the page reveals this post:

LikeICare
@ Apr 16th 2007 11:42PM

I rented 'Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby' recently and It wouldn't play on my computer, which is the only way I watch movies.

So I was forced to de'DRM the disc and essentialy copy it in order to watch it. Now I'm not an expert or anything but forcing consumers to copy your Movies just to watch them?? Is this what you really want SONY??

**************
Now I have my answer. Thanks to those of you who answered without implying it was somehow my own fault when I made all attempts for assurances that I was not an idiot to start with. It is indeed Sony's fault. I'm assuming some other movies, and even some pressings of the same movie from different time periods won't have this problem.
Click to expand...

I misread your quote, you had quoted someone else, my bad.

I bought 'Talladega Nights' when it came out on DVD at the end of 2006, so I don't still have the receipt. I’d be happy to buy the widescreen edition from Walmart down the street and produce the receipt.

However, you implied that I stole the movie, which I did not, and I’ve played at least 100 RETAIL NOT STOLEN DVD’s on my Vista machines with not one problem.
 
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