What OS for Bootcamp should I use?

[emperoruriel]

I know Vista has come out with SP1. Because of that I wonder if I should buy vista and install it under a bootcamp partition or should I still use Windows XP? As this is my first mac computer :D, I do wonder what my new fellow mac users use for their mac computers.

PS. If you like to know what will the Windows OS be used for, the answer is the OS will be used for gaming purposes.

[TEG]

XP. Stay as far away from Vista as Possible.

TEG

[psychofreak]

While XP will give you better performance, Vista is more expensive and some games are Vista-only.

[riscy]

I think most people will repeat what TEG says - I'm one of them : XP SP2 is pretty solid on BootCamp.

XP. Stay as far away from Vista as Possible.

TEG

[steveza]

Windows Server 2008 is probably the best MS OS I've ever used (since DOS 6.22 anyway :) ) I'm only running it in VMWare fusion at the moment but I'll see how things go in boot camp over the weekend.

[Link00seven]

I haven't tried Vista (too expensive considering i'll rarely use it) so I installed my copy of XP Pro SP2 via boot camp and so far it works great on my MBP.

[CallsignBaron]

...I do wonder what my new fellow mac users use for their mac computers.

I use OSX Leopard v.10.5.2! :D

(sorry, smart @ss I know, I couldn't resist. I switched to Mac so I wouldn't ever have to use Windows again. As for gaming, Sony handles that quite nicely)

[BigHungry04]

I use Vista. It runs smoothly. I've never had any problems with it. It ran slowly on my Dell XPS laptop I had, but that was because the computer was two years old when I put Vista on it. It does run a lot faster on my macbook pro though. I use it mostly for games.

[alleycat]

Wait until you start moving or copying files with 32-bit Vista. It moves slower than a tortoise.

I'd have to say the best option is Windows XP 32-bit, however I am tempted to try Windows Vista 64-bit to see if the bloatware gets any better. :o

[yoppie]

I use XP. I tried Vista earlier but I didn't like it much.

[The Flashing Fi]

If you have XP, then just stick with it. If you're looking to buy a new MS OS, then I think it's a bit dumb to buy an outdated OS, unless you know that Vista won't work with a certain program.

P.S. Comparable versions of Vista to XP are the same price for OEM copies, and MS just lowered the price of retail copies of Vista, which would make it cheaper than XP.

[SVT Amateur]

I use Vista Ultimate, and it runs fine on 2 GB of ram. I haven't had any issues with it other than I much prefer Mac OS X.

[tsice19]

I vote XP




Vista's interface is great, and I love how aero looks. However, once you start having to actually use Vista (ex: copy a file to an external HDD, make a *.zip file, etc;) it becomes incredibly slow and freezes. Not to mention, the user account control will treat you like you are 200 years old and have never ran a program on a computer before.

Like I said, Vista=Pretty
But XP gets the job done

[The Menacer]

I would go with whatever you prefer! If you don't have a lot of experience in Vista, go down to BestBuy and see if it's worth the extra cost. I like Vista a lot, personally. But make sure you stay away from Home Basic. Go with at least Home Premium, and try to go for Ultimate.

NewEgg has some good prices on OEM versions of Vista; you might want to check it out.

[Radio Monk33]

I tried vista but didn't care for it much. The UAC is just too awful. I was more comfortable with XP, a very refined product late in it's lifecycle. I'll be happy using it for another 2-3 years while my computer can handle the games and the next windows OS comes out. :) I think I can skip Vista altogether.

[steveza]

The UAC is just too awful.You can disable UAC by running msconfig -> on the Tools tab click on "Disable UAC" -> click "Launch" -> Reboot.

[BigHungry04]

You can disable UAC by running msconfig -> on the Tools tab click on "Disable UAC" -> click "Launch" -> Reboot.

But that would defeat the purpose of that feature. There is nothing more entertaining than having to click Allow when you're trying to play WoW.

[allbrokeup]

I use Vista Ultimate on Boot Camp with Leopard. Tiger 10.4.11 is also on another Partition just in case an app won't work with Leo.

allbrokeup.

P.S. Vista is awful, the UI is terrible (Aero's OK but only just OK), and the 'Cancel or Allow?' dialogue boxes annoy the hell outta me, but its stable.

P.P.S. Mac OS X is better.

[sushi]

My vote would be for WinXP. WinXP with SR2 and all updates is very stable, works well, and IMHO, seems faster/more responsive.

If you already have WinXP, it also will save you $.

[katejones]

I use xp pro for gaming, after a quick google halo2 is vista only, and halo3 will be vista only, but thats just MS being retarded. I don't think any big game company would destroy there own sales by making a game vista only, unless MS was putting some serious cash in there pocket.

[sushi]

I use xp pro for gaming, after a quick google halo2 is vista only, and halo3 will be vista only, but thats just MS being retarded. I don't think any big game company would destroy there own sales by making a game vista only, unless MS was putting some serious cash in there pocket.
Good point reference some games. If you choose of these games, then there is no choice, you have to run Vista.

[The Flashing Fi]

Good point reference some games. If you choose of these games, then there is no choice, you have to run Vista.

Halo 2 has been cracked to run on XP, but I don't know if you can go online and play, which kind of defeats the purpose of playing Halo 2.

[Father Jack]

xP seems to be the best of a crap lot.

If I had to install one M.S. os it would be xP. (but I'd much prefer not to) .. :cool:

[steveza]

But that would defeat the purpose of that feature. There is nothing more entertaining than having to click Allow when you're trying to play WoW.I don't play wow but I'm sure you are kidding :) . If UAC is the only reason why someone doesn't want to use Vista then turning it off is OK.

[intoxicated662]

If you're going to be gaming, then Vista would be the choice as most games nowadays are only Vista compatible. If it's for anything else, i'd recommend Windows Xp Media Center Edition or even Professional Edition would be good.

[OnePumpChump]

First of all, if you have more than 4GB of RAM and you want it all to show up, Vista Ultimate 64 (which I use), or XP 64-bit edition are your only options. The only reason I chose Vista over XP is because I have 10GB of RAM and I wanted to get the Windows OS of the future, which there are more and more games popping up that are solely compatible with Vista. I know most people say XP is more stable, and that may be; however, I have not had any problems whatsoever with Vista 64 other than the annoying UAC. As of right now, most games are Vista compatible, but not 64-bit compatible.

If you don't have over 4GB of RAM or do not plan on it, I would recommend the Vista 32 Premium. If more and more games are coming out Vista only, then why buy an OS twice? I have yet to spend much time since service pack one, but if what they claim is true, performance of gaming is almost side by side with Vista and XP. I am not a Vista fanboy, I just picked the one I felt would last in the long run.

[lloyd709]

Sorry to ask questions on a thread I didn't start but I'm also trying to decide what PC operating system to run on my Mac Pro under boot camp for games and other general non business applications.

Can anyone explain the practical differences between XP Home and Professional - specifically is there any reason I might need 'professional' over 'home'? Would XP 64 bit make games run faster?

If I decided to go Vista, why would should I go for Premium or Ultimate rather than Basic.

Thanks

[lloyd709]

Another question - is there any reason why Vista should run worse (slower) on a MP than on a regular PC?

I'm asking this because I've just spoken to my brother who's been running Vista on his laptop (PC) virtually since it came out and he loves it and says he's never felt it being sluggish. He recommends I get a 32 bit version of Vista (he says not to get 64 bit because there are some 'compatibility' issues).

[steveza]

Sorry to ask questions on a thread I didn't start but I'm also trying to decide what PC operating system to run on my Mac Pro under boot camp for games and other general non business applications.

Can anyone explain the practical differences between XP Home and Professional - specifically is there any reason I might need 'professional' over 'home'? Would XP 64 bit make games run faster?

If I decided to go Vista, why would should I go for Premium or Ultimate rather than Basic.

ThanksThe only reason why you would go for a different version of an OS is if you wanted the features it offers. Vista Basic is very basic and probably not recommended for anything. The Pro version of XP allows for things like connecting to an active directory domain so if you need to do that then get the Pro otherwise Home is fine.

[steveza]

Another question - is there any reason why Vista should run worse (slower) on a MP than on a regular PC?Nope - in fact many test have proved that it runs better on a Mac than a similar spec PC

I'm asking this because I've just spoken to my brother who's been running Vista on his laptop (PC) virtually since it came out and he loves it and says he's never felt it being sluggish. He recommends I get a 32 bit version of Vista (he says not to get 64 bit because there are some 'compatibility' issues).If you have more than 4GB of RAM or are likel to get the x64 otherwise the 32bit is fine. There are very few compatibility differences between the 32bit and x4 versions of Vista.

[lloyd709]

Wait until you start moving or copying files with 32-bit Vista. It moves slower than a tortoise.

I'd have to say the best option is Windows XP 32-bit, however I am tempted to try Windows Vista 64-bit to see if the bloatware gets any better. :o

This is the quote that is at the moment making me hesitate going Vista - combined with lots of other quotes basically just saying 'go XP' but not really saying why.

I don't really see the point of buying an operating system that is only going to become less and less supported, so I'd really like to go vista if I can but obviously I don't want it to run like a 'tortoise'. So, sorry to labour the point, but how real is this speed problem? As I said on a previous reply, my brother hasn't noticed it being slow at all - but there again I'm not sure how many large files he moves around!

Also, is Vista significantly slower, faster or the same speed at running games over XP?