Vista vs XP for bootcamp/gaming

[emikshe]

I know I can find this debate raging all over the internet since (and even before) Vista came out, but I want the mac community's opinion:

For bootcamp windows use including some gaming, should I put XP Pro or Vista Ultimate on the bootcamp of my SR Macbook Pro?

For some background, my favorite game of all time is Supreme Commander (DX9) but I also want to be able to play newer cool games like World In Conflict (DX10 or 9). However, I've heard DX10/Vista is actually *slower* than gaming in XP/DX9 in many of these new games - LoTR, GoW PC, World in Conflict, etc. Also for background I do all my day-to-day work - email, Adobe CS3, Office, etc - in OSX Leopard and will only be using the windows side for gaming and niche programs.

Vote in the poll, and tell me your opinions and any personal comparison experiences you may have in replies - thanks!!!

 

[shoulin333]

put XP.... you wont need DX 10 because DX 10 games will run at so low fps it wont be worth it anyways.

just use XP and the games will run in DX 9 mode which will run alot smoother (you can make games run DX 9 in vista also, but why install vista if you dont have to i always say, heh)

 

[CRAZYBUBBA]

vista is the way of the future, embrace it. Plus it has alot of tigeresque features that xp doesn't

 

[emikshe]

vista is the way of the future, embrace it. Plus it has alot of tigeresque features that xp doesn't

But can games play just as well in Vista DX9 mode as in XP DX9 mode? I read on HardOCP and FiringSquad that XP DX9 is definitely faster than Vista DX10 for certain games (for now), but can I just switch to Vista "DX9 mode" or something and play games just as fast as they would be in XP?


EDIT: Just went from a "newbie" to a "member" - woo hoo!

 

[Stridder44]

Bump on this thread because I have been pondering this as well. Vista Ultimate SP1 (64-bit) or XP Pro SP3 (32-bit)? Primary use is for gaming.

 

[Sesshi]

Unless you depend on the features of Vista, I'd say XP for gaming-heavy use right now - both for compatibility reasons (Apple has no interest in providing totally stable BC operation for Vista for starters) and also because Macs are basically basic-to-midrange PC's in their general fitout, so things will zip along quicker in XP. For gaming, almost definitely XP for the above reasons plus the graphics adapters available are once again basic to midrange DX10 cards which wouldn't really give you that much benefit for truly playable gaming under games which actually use DX10. The Pro may be the exception but even low-end gaming PC's these days come with SLI 8800GT's.

If your uses are more general-purpose I'd say Vista because it's now a more mature OS which offers you better features than XP. It also has a few Leopardesque-and-beyond features that you might find useful, especially given the hoo-ha over Time Machine.

 

[Stridder44]

Unless you depend on the features of Vista, I'd say XP for gaming-heavy use right now - both for compatibility reasons (Apple has no interest in providing totally stable BC operation for Vista for starters) and also because Macs are basically basic-to-midrange PC's in their general fitout, so things will zip along quicker in XP. For gaming, almost definitely XP for the above reasons plus the graphics adapters available are once again basic to midrange DX10 cards which wouldn't really give you that much benefit for truly playable gaming under games which actually use DX10. The Pro may be the exception but even low-end gaming PC's these days come with SLI 8800GT's.

If your uses are more general-purpose I'd say Vista because it's now a more mature OS which offers you better features than XP. It also has a few Leopardesque-and-beyond features that you might find useful, especially given the hoo-ha over Time Machine.

Anyone else have tried both and can add some input/personal experience?

 

[stainlessliquid]

Vista 64 is pretty much just as fast as XP now. NEW benchmarks have proven that, there are a ton of old benchmarks that compared the 2 when Vista first came out and XP kicked its ass, but there are a couple sites with new benchmarks using todays drivers and it is now neck and neck.

Theres no reason to get XP. DX10 will get better at some point. Until real DX10 features start popping up then you can easily run "dx10" games in dx9 mode under Vista and get the same speeds that XP gets. By the end of the year DX10 should kill DX9.

Also XP Pro doesnt make any sense to get. If you dont have a dual processor mac pro then you arent going to use any of the "pro" features which only include advanced networking administration. Its a waste of money over Home since Home supports dual cores just fine but not 2 actual processors like in a MP.

 

[hankolerd]

i realize this is dead, but unless you have a dx10 compatible vc in your macbook pro, arguing about dx10 or dx9 isn't even a valid argument. if you don't have a dx10 card dx10 games will just run using dx9. I have been running vista business for a while now(about 6 months). But I am thinking of going back to xp, just because it uses less hard drive space in general, and less ram, leaving more for other tasks, such as gaming. And since all i use it for is gaming and the occasional programming with programs that don't run under OS X, it is kinda important. I am thinking of making my 65Gb Vista partition a 75Gb XP partition....but that will only leave me 25Gb free in OSX...i still can't quite decide what to do.
But back to the subject, you don't state which card is in your lappie, so you will have to look up to see if yours is dx10 compatible or not. I know mine is not.

 

[Stridder44]

vista is the way of the future, embrace it. Plus it has alot of tigeresque features that xp doesn't

This is very true. However, the numbers don't lie, and right now XP will still be better for high FPS and better compatibility (older games).

Vista is very much closing the gap though. SP1 helped a lot. I'd say by SP2, it would be a good time for everyone who isn't on board to make the switch.

Remember, all this "hate" people have was the same for XP when it first came out too. "XP is just Win. 2000 with better looks" "XP is so slow on my system! I'll stick with 98 thanks ". People will still argue that there's no difference between XP and Vista, but there is a TON of changes (good ones):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Features_new_to_Windows_Vista

Note that that page is only showing an overview of the changes. Look at the box on the right of the page to go into details (security, I/O, management & admin., etc.). Anyone who says Vista is just a new look compared to XP is very ignorant and probably a fanboy spewing more FUD.

But again, some developers still haven't released amazing drivers yet (which is hardly Microsoft's fault) and there are some bugs to be worked out. All in due time though. On that note, I've tried em all on my MBP (Vista x64 and x86 both with and without SP1, XP Pro x86 SP2 and SP3) and I loved Vista but XP still showed better FPS in certain games (newer ones too, like F.E.A.R.).

 

[BigHungry04]

I voted for Vista Ultimate because, it is what I use and I haven't had any issues with it at all, except when I had it on my Dell Inspirion XPS Gen 2 laptop. But it was 2 years old when vista came out, and wasn't really made for it. Now vista on my macbook pro is perfect. I too remember when XP came out and everyone complained about it as well. I still have a gamepad that will not work with XP. Didn't have that issue when I went to Vista.

 

[MPBMAMA]

vista sp1 or xp sp3?

I've got basically the same problem. Which is better, I've heard that you won't be able to use xp for anything in the future. I will use it basically for gaming and netflix watch now feature. I don't want to use a ton of space, what should I use vista or xp? I've looked everywhere but can't seem to get an answer, Please HELP!

 

[Eraserhead]

Vista is apparently as fast as Windows XP now (source). But get Home Premium not Ultimate it seems expensive for something you're only going to use for gaming...

 

[The Flashing Fi]

I agree. Go for Home Premium. Ultimate really doesn't offer much of anything over Home Premium. You get Dreamscene, Texas Hold'em game, and a few new sounds (which you can use them on any OS to be honest). I really don't think it's worth the premium.

If you have XP, use that. I don't think go out and buying Vista if you have XP is worth the money. If you have neither, I really don't see much of a reason to go XP over Vista, unless you have old software that doesn't work in Vista.

If you play CS:S, performance is nearly identical. In the video stress test, I got the same frame rate in XP as I did in Vista at the same settings.

 

[Dmac77]

Same Issue

Bump:

Hi,

I figured I would restart this thread, instead of making a new one. So I'm debating between installing XP Pro or Vista Home Premium on my iMac (2.4 Ghz, 256mb Radeon HD Pro, 2 GB RAM). My main use will be MS Flight Simulator X Deluxe edition. I have an unused copy of XP, and an unused copy of Vista Home Premium (from my days as a Windows fanboy) so cost really isn't an issue for me. I'm not sure if my video card has Direct X 10 support, and I can't find anything anywhere? I'm reluctant to install Vista (again) because of problems that I had with it before SP1. Vista is actually what made me switch. Has stability improved any since SP1 was released?

Thanks!

Don

 

[Keleko]

I put on XP because that's what I had. I got a Mac to get away from Vista, too. I'm hoping I never need Vista outside of work.

 

[rosalindavenue]

I'm running Vista home premium on my bootcamp partition on my late 2007 imac. No trouble at all. I only use it for netflix streaming and Bioshock-- but it runs both great. I bought the OEM edition from Amazon; I think the price has been cut since I bought mine.