To Vista or Not to Vista that is the Question

[Fonzijr1964]

What is the preferred windows OS to run with Boot Camp when:
1. Gaming
2. Light CAD

[TEG]

XP. The answer is always XP.

TEG

[Djmckee]

Defiantly XP, for stability and less errors and annoyances, Vista is only if you want eye candy and loads of futures you will never use.

[testinz]

Vista = loads of crap... I don't know why I have Vista on 3 computers at home.... I so want to downgrade them.

[fivepoint]

Not that I want to be the one jumping on the 'get vista' bandwagon... because I don't. But I wanted to make sure you knew that Vista would be a better choice if you were connected to the internet. Vista is far more secure than XP. As far as everything else goes, being "pretty" is Vista's only other benefit I can see. It is significantly slower, and compatibility problems with hardware persist endlessly.

If you're going to be logged onto the web, get Vista. If not, don't consider anything other than XP.

If I was held at gunpoint and asked whether I wanted a modern Vista 64 bit system or a 10 year old XP system, which may run a bit faster... I'd choose the Vista system in a heartbeat. But then again, I have an "issue" (as my wife so gently puts it) with new technology.

[nick9191]

XP is obsolete and pathetic. Vista is crap. It's not a good time to be a Windows user.

If I had to choose I would choose Vista, especially 64bit which is far more stable than XP can ever dream of being.

[gehrbox]

What is the preferred windows OS to run with Boot Camp when:
1. Gaming
2. Light CAD

XP

[synth3tik]

Windows me all the way.

[KRS]

Yeah I'd go with XP I'm stuck with Vista, but Xp is just right for gaming

[goinskiing]

Vista 64 for sure. Updates for most programs these days are geared specifically for Vista and support (not all though). You probably wouldn't go too wrong with XP either because I'm sure there are plenty of stable versions out there. Of all the Vista "Flavors" I've tried I have had the least problems with Vista Ultimate 64 and Business 32. I'd like to try Vista Business 64 sometime.

[CWallace]

I use Windows XP 32 because I both want to be able to read my Windows HDD from the Mac-side without needing any extra software (so I keep the drive as FAT32 which Vista does not support) and I like Parallels, which currently does not support Windows Vista x64.

Once Parallels adds Vista x64 support, I will replace XP with Vista.

[fivepoint]

I use Windows XP 32 because I both want to be able to read my Windows HDD from the Mac-side without needing any extra software (so I keep the drive as FAT32 which Vista does not support) and I like Parallels, which currently does not support Windows Vista x64.

Once Parallels adds Vista x64 support, I will replace XP with Vista.

This would not be a concern if he is just running BootCamp, correct?

[Dobbs2]

I use Windows XP 32 because I both want to be able to read my Windows HDD from the Mac-side without needing any extra software (so I keep the drive as FAT32 which Vista does not support) and I like Parallels, which currently does not support Windows Vista x64.

Once Parallels adds Vista x64 support, I will replace XP with Vista.

Ok, I don't know if I'm understanding this or not... I'm not that technical on fat vs ntfs. My external hdd is in fat 32 so my ps3 can read it and my friends macbook, and also my windows desktop which is home premium 64 bit. I can add files, music, videos and pictures between all 3 just fine. Forgive me if I'm not understanding.

[cherry su]

If your games require DX10 then get Vista. The port for XP is not quite there yet (only in alpha).

See here: http://www.techmixer.com/download-directx-10-for-windows-xp/

[Diseal3]

Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bit all the way, SP1 and constant updates really advanced the OS from what it was. I'm Currently running that on my mac AND my main windows desktop and have no regrets. Games run wonderful, can Install more then 4 Gig of RAM and windows will utilize it! FPS rates remain high and games never lag. Hope I helped!

-Diseal3

[BlackMax]

XP is the way to go without a doubt and this is coming from someone who works with XP and Vista on a daily basis at the office. Save yourself a lot of headaches and go with XP.

[SnowLeopard2008]

Vista = loads of crap... I don't know why I have Vista on 3 computers at home.... I so want to downgrade them.

you can downgrade, heres the article (http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9040318).

anyway, XP as TEG said, the answer is always XP for the terms compatibility, lower-end system, faster, not a rip off, etc. I'm not trying to bash Vista, but these are facts. XP has more games, and I'm not sure if CAD programs have gone to Vista, they might, I'm just not sure.

[na1577]

Windows XP, definitely. Vista adds a lot of features which are nice for normal use, but for gaming, Windows XP wins hands down.

[testinz]

I don't know why you would claim that vista is better for web than XP.

Vista added a layer of user-unfriendly pop up on every action.

XP can use IE 7 so it has the security protection that Ms. has been advertising about. But who use IE nowaday anyway? Firefox is the way to go.

Just put a router between the XP machine and the internet and you are safe.

Go you with the user-friend XP and it will save you a lot of headache.

I can downgrade to XP but I don't have that much time reinstalling everything :)

[jpmittins]

Not that I want to be the one jumping on the 'get vista' bandwagon... because I don't. But I wanted to make sure you knew that Vista would be a better choice if you were connected to the internet. Vista is far more secure than XP. As far as everything else goes, being "pretty" is Vista's only other benefit I can see. It is significantly slower, and compatibility problems with hardware persist endlessly.

If you're going to be logged onto the web, get Vista. If not, don't consider anything other than XP.

If I was held at gunpoint and asked whether I wanted a modern Vista 64 bit system or a 10 year old XP system, which may run a bit faster... I'd choose the Vista system in a heartbeat. But then again, I have an "issue" (as my wife so gently puts it) with new technology.

How could someone ask you to use a 10 year old XP system? Microsoft released XP on October 25, 2001. XP is not even 7 years old.

[SnowLeopard2008]

yea ^ i have no problems connecting to the web using XP. And Vista is less secure...

[m1stake]

I use Vista 32 on a relatively fany PC that's about a year old. The compatibility issues no longer exist, it doesn't crash, and I turned off the ACCEPT? DECLINE? windows. Drivers aren't a problem. I have all the eye candy turned off, performs very well. All of my old games work, obviously all new games work. Perfectly stable. I'd go with 64 though.

[na1577]

Vista added a layer of user-unfriendly pop up on every action.

Have you used Vista? The pop-ups only come up when you are adding or removing a program.

[tjohanne]

I don't understand all the complaints about Vista. I run Vista 64 bit, and I have never been so happy with any other version of Windows before. In half a year I have hardly had a system crash at all - just the ones I've asked for by overclocking. It's fast, it looks good, and I have had almost no compatibility issues.
It runs on an Intel 2.5 Quad Core 45nm 1300MHz processor, 8 GB RAM.

Compare it to OS X, I will not, but until you run Vista 64 bit on proper hardware, please don't disrespect it!

[nick9191]

Sorry to say but the majority of the people who hate it have been swept up in the vista sux crowd.

The facts:

Vista 64 SP1 is far more stable than XP
XP cannot use more than 1 core if its life depended on it. The home edition doesn't even have SMP (symmetric multi processing).
Vista 64 SP1 is much faster than XP if you have a fast system.

Yes most of the time Vista is slower, so what. XP and Ubuntu are faster than OS X, does that make OS X worse? ***** no.

[testinz]

The architecture behinds Vista and future hardware supports for it is nice. I'm not complaining about that.

The problem I have with it is the User Interface. Why do we have to go modifying around the OS to make it an user-friendly OS?

XP, out of the box, has a very easy to use interface. For Vista, you have to switch to classic mode (more efficient), disable security pop up, hack around with the network for other computers to connect to it successfully (changing from NLM2 to nlm 1 & 2 compatiblity), etc...

Nice features such as creating folder to the favorite on the left works but doesn't work proper. The OS's UI seems sluggish and not as smooth as XP.

[Smithy566]

I'm starting to get a little bit annoyed. Now I've been reading this site for many months because I enjoy reading about the apple community - what with studying computing at university.

Now I've been using the Windows OS for many many years, infact, the first incarnation I used was prob 3.1 - anyway, I'm getting side tracked. In my home, I have two xp pro machines, and one that runs Vista Ultimate 64bit. I would choose Vista over XP for most tasks. The 64bit version is very secure, I've never even had a spyware problem and the machine is online most of the day.

Ok, I'll admit, having to find the odd 64bit driver many months ago was a bit of a pain, but nowadays (and especially with SP1) most of these drivers exist and are automatically installed.

When it comes to gaming, you'll find that most publishers have 64bit patches for their games (EA I find to be especially good for this).

I've not had too much experience with CAD, but with the features of the latest Direct X, I would just have to choose Vista! make sure if you do choose vista that you use the 64bit version (No point running a 32bit OS on a 64bit machine)

So stop putting the Windows OS down, unless you know what you're talking about and have had years of experience on the platform

p.s. I want my new MacBook Pro =[

[minik]

I have been using Vista for almost a year now at work and on my Mac at home. Let's say I found Windows XP troublesome. :p

[Fonzijr1964]

Ok wow lots of responses

very split

I just wanna do light Gaming and light CAD

Thats it

I know XP is old and no multi core but i have had XP for a long time. it is Good for non mac
Vista i got when i came out and i hated it slowed my Alienware down an AlienWare come on how is that possible. Thats y I don't wanna put on Vista