WinXP or WinVista

[Flawed]

XP 4 year extended support doesn't mean jack

It means a lot to people who want piece of mind.

you would cripple perfectly fine DirectX class card

Huh? XP has access to the exact same hardware resources as Vista/7. Sorry buddy.

then you would loss anything above 3GB of ram

Ever heard of XP 64 bit? You know it's kinda like Vista/7 64 except it's for XP...

not mentioning increasingly more application/games dropped XP support now and that would only accelerate in the upcoming year

Cool story bro. Please name one game/app which has dropped support for XP that isn't made by Microsoft. Game/App developers go where the users are, and at present, XP has all the users. Sorry to rain on your parade (or should it be tirade?).

you might as well stick with floppy drive and serial port!

I have both thanks :D

off topic;

i wander what Neowin OS/browser marketshare are like ?

Probably about the same as the rest of the world. IE in decline, and others browsers eating its marketshare.

[WindowsFanatic]

Huh? XP has access to the exact same hardware resources as Vista/7. Sorry buddy.

LOl, XP doesn't support DirectX 11. Ha ha.

Ever heard of XP 64 bit? You know it's kinda like Vista/7 64 except it's for XP

Lol, XP 64 bit is not officially supported. Plus its hardware support has always been a nightmare.

Cool story bro. Please name one game/app which has dropped support for XP that isn't made by Microsoft. Game/App developers go where the users are, and at present, XP has all the users. Sorry to rain on your parade (or should it be tirade?).

Lolllllllllll, XP has only 45% market share according to Wikipedia. Ha ha, Windows 7 is the fastest selling OS in the history of computing. People are abandoning XP like rats deserting a sinking ship. LOlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll.

But most importantly, XP is a fugly, pathetic, insecure, ancient and completely unusable OS just like Ubuntu. On the other hand, Windows 7 is the most beautiful, productive, secure and greatest OS of all time.

[hdood]

Ever heard of XP 64 bit? You know it's kinda like Vista/7 64 except it's for XP...

It's not the same. XP x64 is not a 64-bit version of XP. It's a separate product based on Server 2003. Since he says he has copy of XP or Vista to choose from, I don't think paying $100-200 for XP x64 is an option -- if he could even find one. Same with 7.

Lol, XP 64 bit is not officially supported.

Uh, of course it is. XP x64 SP2 is on extended support until 2014.

[De.Bug]

LOl, XP doesn't support DirectX 11. Ha ha.

Lol, XP 64 bit is not officially supported. Plus its hardware support has always been a nightmare.

Lolllllllllll, XP has only 45% market share according to Wikipedia. Ha ha, Windows 7 is the fastest selling OS in the history of computing. People are abandoning XP like rats deserting a sinking ship. LOlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll.

But most importantly, XP is a fugly, pathetic, insecure, ancient and completely unusable OS just like Ubuntu. On the other hand, Windows 7 is the most beautiful, productive, secure and greatest OS of all time.

wow you really live up to your name.

Flawed did not say it supported DX 11 he said it had the same hardware resources.

Also Wikipedia says that XP has an average of about 52% market share, and Flawed is right, only the newest games (and some still do) do not support XP.

Edit: Also if being ugly makes an OS unusable how is windows where it is today?

[WindowsFanatic]

Also Wikipedia says that XP has an average of about 52% market share, and Flawed is right, only the newest games (and some still do) do not support XP.

Edit: Also if being ugly makes an OS unusable how is windows where it is today?

Are you looking at the same Wikipedia article? It says the pathetic XP has only 45.47% market share.

Windows XP is unusable not only because it's fugly, but because it has no Start Menu search. XP's search system sucks balls compared to Windows 7/Vista. XP has no breadcrumbs bar, no stacks, no libraries, no SuperBar, no Aero Snap, no Aero Peek, no UAC, no Protected Mode in IE. All of these things combine to make XP completely unusable in 2010.

[hdood]

WindowsFanatic, I'm sure the original poster would be happy to accept a $200 donation so he can buy Windows 7. Either give him the money or stop ranting.

[WindowsFanatic]

WindowsFanatic, I'm sure the original poster would be happy to accept a $200 donation so he can buy Windows 7. Either give him the money or stop ranting.

I'm not ranting. I am just giving him good advice and trying to explain why upgrading to Windows 7 is a *must* for every XP Luddite. However, he is free to ignore my advice. Why should I pay him to improve his own experience?

[De.Bug]

Are you looking at the same Wikipedia article? It says the pathetic XP has only 45.47% market share.

Windows XP is unusable not only because it's fugly, but because it has no Start Menu search. XP's search system sucks balls compared to Windows 7/Vista. XP has no breadcrumbs bar, no stacks, no libraries, no SuperBar, no Aero Snap, no Aero Peek, no UAC, no Protected Mode in IE. All of these things combine to make XP completely unusable in 2010.

Key Words: "in 2010"

Before Windows 7 almost everyone was happy with XP. Especially compared to Vista.

Edit: Heres the wiki article

[hdood]

I'm not ranting. I am just giving him good advice and trying to explain why upgrading to Windows 7 is a *must* for every XP Luddite.

The thread starter's question was whether he should keep XP or use his Vista upgrade (my vote), not if he should buy Windows 7 or a new car or a space shuttle.

[WindowsFanatic]

The thread starter's question was whether he should keep XP or use his Vista upgrade (my vote), not if he should buy Windows 7 or a new car or a space shuttle.

I don't think advising him to upgrade to Windows 7 is really off-topic. Just because you don't find it worthwhile to spend around $200 to upgrade to Windows 7 doesn't mean the OP will think the same. Many people like me thinks it's worthwhile to even spend $1000 to upgrade to the greatest OS in the history of mankind.

[hdood]

Many people like me thinks it's worthwhile to even spend $1000 to upgrade to the greatest OS in the history of mankind.

What does OS X have to do with this thread? Please stay on topic.

[Nebula2020]

November 2010, and the great XP, Vista debate continues.................

[Matchmuchach]

I would go for Vista, it's a stable OS at this point. XP Is just to old, time to move one :)

The pc would also be able to run it without problems, looking at the specs.

[Flawed]

LOl, XP doesn't support DirectX 11. Ha ha.

That's a software API, it has nothing to do with hardware capability.

Lol, XP 64 bit is not officially supported. Plus its hardware support has always been a nightmare.

It has better support than Vista/7 64bit. More users = Better support from manufacturers.

Lolllllllllll, XP has only 45% market share according to Wikipedia. Ha ha, Windows 7 is the fastest selling OS in the history of computing. People are abandoning XP like rats deserting a sinking ship. LOlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll.

XP has more than 50% share. More than Vista and 7 combined. Developers go where the users are fact. Your dreams of abandonment are just that dreams. I repeat again, please name one game/app that is exclusive to vista/7. Not including those made by Microsoft, for we all know that is just a ploy to force people to upgrade.

But most importantly, XP is a fugly, pathetic, insecure, ancient and completely unusable OS just like Ubuntu. On the other hand, Windows 7 is the most beautiful, productive, secure and greatest OS of all time.

Cool story bro.

[Flawed]

why upgrading to Windows 7 is a *must* for every XP Luddite.

As the saying goes, if it aint broke don't fix it. XP works perfectly fine for many windows users, so why downgrade to an unproven, resource hogging, disk thrashing mess? If an upgrade is on the cards, Ubuntu makes far more sense.

[DKAngel]

That's a software API, it has nothing to do with hardware capability.

It has better support than Vista/7 64bit. More users = Better support from manufacturers.

XP has more than 50% share. More than Vista and 7 combined. Developers go where the users are fact. Your dreams of abandonment are just that dreams. I repeat again, please name one game/app that is exclusive to vista/7. Not including those made by Microsoft, for we all know that is just a ploy to force people to upgrade.

Cool story bro.

Just cause 2 doesnt work on xp as its a directx10 game only =]

was the only one i could find

[treemonster]

wow you really live up to your name.

Flawed did not say it supported DX 11 he said it had the same hardware resources.

Also Wikipedia says that XP has an average of about 52% market share, and Flawed is right, only the newest games (and some still do) do not support XP.

Edit: Also if being ugly makes an OS unusable how is windows where it is today?

what do you mean by hardware resources?

so win xp can use a dx10/11 video card fully in dx10/11 games?

so win xp has superfetch to use ram better?(win7)

so win xp is designed to to use multicore CPUs better than win xp ever did like vista and 7 are?

so win xp can install normally to non IDE hdd's without extra steps?

i'm sure i'm missing a few things on this list.

vista is fine especially if he already has the discs. upgrade to 7 or even 8 when he gets anew PC down the road. vista a fast secure stable OS that has been quite a bit better in every way that matters than xp for quite some time now. 7 is a bit better than vista, but only a bit imho.

OP try to get a x64 install, as already said your key will work in it as well, and it will open up use of your system resources you already have for programs you already use, with no extra work required. the major change as far as work involved goes is downloading the x64 version of drivers for stuff like your video card, which is about on par as far as changes go as downloading the vista version of the same driver.

another great thing about vista? no more routine manual defrags to avoid a clean reinstall sooner than later when the system slows to a crawl as is inevitable in xp. no matter how regularly you do your maintenance or how lean you keep your start up and and system tweaks.

oh and very little tweaking needed in vista. personally all i did was disable aero(aesthetic reasons) and change the "shutdown" button to shut down instead of sleep mode for one click shutdowns(it's an annoying tweak to do imho, and really the most annoying thing about vista, but you only have to do it once per install). as opposed to xp which would take me 15 minutes per install to tweak, to use things like ram well, knowing which programs to use to do it and what settings to change right off the bat. although don't disable aero because it makes your desktop run better with less resource consumption/better use of resources(like your idle GPU)

[WindowsFanatic]

As the saying goes, if it aint broke don't fix it. XP works perfectly fine for many windows users, so why downgrade to an unproven, resource hogging, disk thrashing mess? If an upgrade is on the cards, Ubuntu makes far more sense.

Lol, Ubuntu is a pathetic OS just like XP. It has less than 1% market share. Lolllll. XP has only 45% market share and it's going down at the speed of light. LOllllllll. Just check out the Wikipedia article. On the other hand Windows 7 is the fastest selling OS in history. In the first 12 months 240 million Windows 7 copies were sold. People are switching to Windows 7 like crazy. Lolllllllllllllll.

[WindowsFanatic]

It has better support than Vista/7 64bit. More users = Better support from manufacturers.

Lollllllll. I have never seen anyone use XP 64 bit. ON the other hand about half the Windows 7 users are on 64 bit. It has incredible hardware support. XP 64 bit has pathetic hardware support. Lollllllll.

XP has more than 50% share. More than Vista and 7 combined. Developers go where the users are fact. Your dreams of abandonment are just that dreams. I repeat again, please name one game/app that is exclusive to vista/7. Not including those made by Microsoft, for we all know that is just a ploy to force people to upgrade.

Lollllllll. NO one but Luddites use XP any more. XP market share has dropped about 20% in the last 12 months. Lolllllll.

As for games/apps exclusive to Windows 7/Vista: Shattered Horizon. Lollllllll.

[Calum Veteran]

Windows Vista is so much better than Windows XP. Windows Explorer is enough of a reason to upgrade, in my opinion; however, other benefits include more support for some applications and a much better operating system design.

[Udedenkz]

64-bit = access to 4GB RAM

7/Vista = uses ~500 MB more RAM than XP (newer OS = more resources)

64-bit + 4GB RAM = ~500MB more RAM than 32-bit OS

[djnv2010]

as if anyone is considering "upgrading to Vista...get Win 7 and join the present!!

[Lazure]

Some people just completely ignore key facts about Vista/7's advantages over XP, and look at stuff that doesn't even matter. And some people are saying things that aren't even factual.

XP64 is NOT NOT NOT used by more people than Vista/7. XP32 is. XP64 does in-fact have hardware support troubles. There's PLENTY of devices that have x64 drivers for vista/7, but NOT for XP64. XP and Vista/7 use COMPLETELY different driver models.

XP does NOT by any means have the same hardware resources as Vista/7. Let's see...

- Windows Vista/7 has a completely rewritten graphics driver model, known as WDDM. This not only improves performance in gaming and other apps that utilize 3D resources (such as modern Photoshop versions), but it also integrates 3D acceleration into the desktop itself, allowing things like Aero and DirectWrite to exist. Nevermind the fact that DirectX 10/11 require WDDM, as well. Now, tell me Flawed, when did you see DirectX10/11, Directwrite, or Aero working in XP?

- Windows Vista/7 has a rewritten Audio system. Unlike in XP, different programs can have different levels of volume, and can output to different devices. You can change audio system settings on the fly between applications with little trouble.

- Windows Vista/7 has far superior RAM management over XP. In XP, even with having ~3GB of usable RAM available, and you only using 10% of that RAM, it often overused the swap file and switching tasks (alt-tabbing between software) sometimes presented you with a delay while the disk thrashed a bit. In vista/7, this behavior is non-existent unless you actually manage to max out your RAM/CPU usage. Yes, Windows Vista/7 use more RAM than XP does, but XP was designed for systems that had 256~512mb of RAM total, back in 2001; 9 years ago. Vista came out in 2007, where systems regularly had 2GB~4GB of RAM, not including netbooks. Windows 7 came out last year, where systems almost always have 4GB of RAM, sometimes even more. The negative of extra use of RAM by Vista/7 is far outweighed by the many memory management advantages there are, allowing multitasking to be far more seamless. Tell me, did you ever use Windows Vista/7 and have 100% of your RAM used?

- Windows Vista/7 has superfetch, speaking of RAM, which preloads your most commonly used data into RAM when the system is idle. This dramatically reduces loading time for these software and files. In Windows XP, every time I loaded photoshop, it took 15-25 seconds every single time. In Windows 7, It's up in 6 for the most part.

- Windows Vista/7 has far superior multicore-CPU threading across the system. This means with dual and quad core CPUs, your system will run smoother and more reliably than in XP because the modern optimizations allow for a much more efficient load balance between cores. Windows XP cannot even use all 8 threads presented by a core i7 cpu, making XP on an i7 system the STUPIDEST MOVE ANYONE CAN EVER MAKE.

- Windows Vista/7 installations do not degrade over time in the way XP does. After a year of usage, XP becomes slower than it was fresh. After a year of usage with Windows 7 especially, I have yet to notice performance degredation across my system. I have not felt the NEED to reinstall Windows 7 since RTM. I have plenty of times, however, felt this need in Windows XP. Of course, this is more of a software thing than hardware, but this is extremely important when you DO use windows 7 on subpar hardware.

- Windows Vista/7 have more flexible power management features than XP ever did. If preserving battery power or reducing electric costs is extremely important to you, you can easily pick and choose what parts of your system can be throttled to save power under whichever conditions you see fit.

- Windows 7 has a feature known as TRIM. This feature is massively important for owners of SSD (solid state drives). Installing XP on an SSD would up there with the STUPIDEST MOVES ANYONE CAN MAKE.

- Windows 7 also supports SATA and AHCI by default without any special slipstreaming or driver steps. No irritating headaches trying to install it on modern systems using modern technology. In XP, if you used the original disc and tried to install it on a SATA/AHCI system, you'd find yourself in a heap of trouble. Windows 7 just quite simply supports the modern technologies better, built-in, without any extra help. Nevermind the fact that Windows Vista/7 install much quicker than a normal, attended XP install does.

This is just all hardware-related advantages. I didn't even touched the surface yet on purely software/UI advantages, which the users will REALLY notice. People who actually sit in this thread and arrogantly spout that XP is better than Vista/7 simply cuz it 'uses less RAM' or it 'just works' are fully ignorant to many facts and many advantages there are, and just want to flex their fanboy muscles for a 9-year-old OS. Using XP today on even semi-modern machines is like someone using an intel-based Mac (2006+) with the very first version of MACOSX on it (which btw is completely impossible anyways.) If you're going to froth at the mouth and zealously defend XP until the bitter end, at least get your facts straight about Vista/7 instead of blindly bashing it without knowing what you're talking about.

[Duffydemon]

What does OS X have to do with this thread? Please stay on topic.

offtopic : @ windowsFanatic , stop using "lollll" in every line, plz for the holy love of Lulz

[Arkaic]

offtopic : @ windowsFanatic , stop using "lollll" in every line, plz for the holy love of Lulz

Surprisingly that is funny :)

windowsfanatic, yep you live up to your name :(

anyways stop the OS Hate, its not just XP! and get out of bed with 7 she doesnt like you!

back on topic: XP but vista as long as the hardware is capable go vista until you can afford 7