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Old 02-01-2007, 11:59 AM
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PC question, XP or Vista . . .?

Five year old dell is starting to occasionally forget that it has hard drives in it. Looking at a new one with 2.4GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 1066FSB & 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHZ. So, do I become a early adopter of Vista or play safe and stick with th OS that I have used for five years?
Old 02-01-2007, 12:03 PM
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If your getting a new one, go with Vista. The new one will tuned for it. And it won't be like going from 98SE to ME.
Old 02-01-2007, 12:05 PM
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Tough call. I just bought a new PC for the office, and stuck with XP. Luckily I did, because I got an email from Quickbooks shortly after I ordered the PC, saying that our version won't be compatible with Vista. I think you may find that some programs are not compatible right off the bat with Vista. Not to mention I don't think I'd want to be a guinea pig for a new OS anyway. It does look kinda cool, though.
Old 02-01-2007, 12:06 PM
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It will really depend on the graphics card you are getting in the new one. I belive the minimum is a 128meg card. But to take full affect of the vista aero desktop you will need a DX10 compatible card with at least 256meg of memory. Also as stated above most apps are not compatible, i know all of symantecs products will not work in vista as of yet.
Old 02-01-2007, 12:07 PM
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XP > Vista at the moment. Vista is too new... it runs games slower and it doesn't have the support XP does.


I dunno WTF you guys are talking about...

Here's one of many articles...

http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid...e=expert&pid=2

I'll hit the highlights for ya...

I think we all expected there to be some initial growing pains with the Vista operating system and PC gaming simply because of the dramatic shift in driver technology that had to take place; I just don't think we expected it to be this bad.

...

For now, gamers that were interested in running off to get a copy of Windows Vista, I'd caution you to take a minute and contemplate. Gaming under Vista is definitely possible and if you're comfortable with some slight performance drops for now while taking advantage of Vista's other new features, then a move to Vista sooner rather than later should be considered.
I suppose owning a copy of Vista would be good, as everyone should upgrade at some point. But I wouldn't do it now...
Old 02-01-2007, 12:15 PM
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Originally Posted by c0v3rr1d3
It will really depend on the graphics card you are getting in the new one. I belive the minimum is a 128meg card. But to take full affect of the vista aero desktop you will need a DX10 compatible card with at least 256meg of memory. Also as stated above most apps are not compatible, i know all of symantecs products will not work in vista as of yet.
Nonsense. You don't need a DX10 card to get the most out of Aero. Any decently recent discrete video card will run Aero just fine. Even the X3000 onboard video will run Aero. And Symantec has quite a few Vista compatible products, although you have to download them since they just recently were released.
Old 02-01-2007, 12:18 PM
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Originally Posted by Dan
Five year old dell is starting to occasionally forget that it has hard drives in it. Looking at a new one with 2.4GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 1066FSB & 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHZ. So, do I become a early adopter of Vista or play safe and stick with th OS that I have used for five years?

It does really depend on the apps you're going to run. If they're not compatible with Vista than get XP. You'll get an upgrade coupon for a nearly free copy of Vista anyway.

If you don't have any apps that you depend on that aren't Vista compatible I'd get Vista. Sure there will be growing pains and it's not perfect, but it won't take long for the industry to catch up.
Old 02-01-2007, 12:19 PM
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Originally Posted by c0v3rr1d3
But to take full affect of the vista aero desktop you will need a DX10 compatible card with at least 256meg of memory.
Vista comes with DX10 but, I think that's pretty much just for the future of gaming and media stuff. I don't believe you need a DX10 card to get all of the Aero effects. I thought a moderately fast DX9 card with 256MB should do it. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
Old 02-01-2007, 12:22 PM
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if you want an efficient PC that helps you get what you want done, XP

if you want 3D application-switching, an analog clock with adjustable transparency, and cooler looking icons, Vista.

btw if you get Vista be sure to get 2GB of RAM, at the minimum. 4GB is recommend if you want to open any apps. ;p

i may consider Vista... after 2010, when everyone has realized what a bloated sac of protoplasm it is and Microsoft has released new "skimmer" versions for people that want to get some work done.
Old 02-01-2007, 12:25 PM
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Vista RC2 runs way slower on my laptop than XP did.
Old 02-01-2007, 12:47 PM
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I just ordered a new HP, I wasn't really sure if I wanted vista... but it was the only OS that was offered... the same thing went for dell when I was pricing one out... didn't see xp as an option. Hopefully this runs pretty smooth for me....I don't do any gaming. Specs of my HP:

Old 02-01-2007, 12:53 PM
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Originally Posted by studville
Vista RC2 runs way slower on my laptop than XP did.
shocking
Old 02-01-2007, 12:56 PM
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Originally Posted by srika
i may consider Vista... after 2010, when everyone has realized what a bloated sac of protoplasm it is and Microsoft has released new "skimmer" versions for people that want to get some work done.
actually Im gonna go ahead and predict that this will happen much sooner than 2010...
Old 02-01-2007, 12:57 PM
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anyone here actually have vista here on their home or work computer? thoughts and specs? I would love to hear some real world experiences...
Old 02-01-2007, 12:57 PM
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Originally Posted by srika
if you want an efficient PC that helps you get what you want done, XP

if you want 3D application-switching, an analog clock with adjustable transparency, and cooler looking icons, Vista.

btw if you get Vista be sure to get 2GB of RAM, at the minimum. 4GB is recommend if you want to open any apps. ;p

i may consider Vista... after 2010, when everyone has realized what a bloated sac of protoplasm it is and Microsoft has released new "skimmer" versions for people that want to get some work done.
You sound really bitter... like Vista kidnapped your girlfriend and insulted your mother...

A friend of mine is running Vista on an older AMD laptop with 1 gig or RAM without any problems at all.
Old 02-01-2007, 12:59 PM
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Windows XP Professional, please.
Old 02-01-2007, 01:01 PM
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I personally would go Vista to learn and play with it...Plus I don't play games.
Old 02-01-2007, 01:03 PM
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Originally Posted by Whiskers
I personally would go Vista to learn and play with it...Plus I don't play games.
I hate that there is a OS out there that I havn't tried/played with
Old 02-01-2007, 01:03 PM
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Originally Posted by synth19
anyone here actually have vista here on their home or work computer? thoughts and specs? I would love to hear some real world experiences...


personally i'd stick with xp pro...dont wanna be the guinea pig and would rather have any application 'bugs' and whatever else fixed before i chomp into the new OS. plus i just got a new laptop, so no need right now.
Old 02-01-2007, 01:04 PM
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Originally Posted by SiGGy
XP > Vista at the moment. Vista is too new... it runs games slower and it doesn't have the support XP does.


I dunno WTF you guys are talking about...

Here's one of many articles...

http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid...e=expert&pid=2

I'll hit the highlights for ya...



I suppose owning a copy of Vista would be good, as everyone should upgrade at some point. But I wouldn't do it now...
Microsoft is spending $500 MILLION dollars on marketing for the LAUNCH of Vista. So it should be no surprise that the reality distortion field is in full effect.
Old 02-01-2007, 01:05 PM
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Originally Posted by whynot
A friend of mine is running Vista on an older AMD laptop with 1 gig or RAM without any problems at all.
subjective.
Old 02-01-2007, 01:05 PM
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Originally Posted by synth19
anyone here actually have vista here on their home or work computer? thoughts and specs? I would love to hear some real world experiences...
I just ordered a new laptop with Vista pre-installed on it, should get it tomorrow so I'll let ya know how it goes.
Old 02-01-2007, 01:06 PM
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Originally Posted by Whiskers
I personally would go Vista to learn and play with it...Plus I don't play games.
You might wanna rethink that, I hear Vista censors all your pron clips by blocking all the X-rated material with the Windows logo... all part of DX10...
Old 02-01-2007, 01:09 PM
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Originally Posted by soopa
Microsoft is spending $500 MILLION dollars on marketing for the LAUNCH of Vista. So it should be no surprise that the reality distortion field is in full effect.
To quote Bill Gates when asked in regards to Vista "Were you going after a specific look there, the Mac look?"

"No, no, no... We're ahead on a lot... There's whole areas where we've innovated like Media Center and tablet..."

So apparently even Billy himself is confused. Can't say I blame him.

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/NQmOmdYPKJQ"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/NQmOmdYPKJQ" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>
Old 02-01-2007, 01:10 PM
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Agreed. they are marketing it heavily, but as we all know.... the vast majority of PC's will be equipped I think I read that 90% or more of PC's in 2007 will be running vista. So hopefully they got it right. with vista.
Old 02-01-2007, 01:10 PM
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Originally Posted by whynot
You might wanna rethink that, I hear Vista censors all your pron clips by blocking all the X-rated material with the Windows logo... all part of DX10...
I don't watch porn....
Old 02-01-2007, 01:10 PM
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I'd love to see an analysis of that video from a body language coach
Old 02-01-2007, 01:10 PM
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Originally Posted by synth19
anyone here actually have vista here on their home or work computer? thoughts and specs? I would love to hear some real world experiences...


I have it. I like it, it was free courtesy of MSDN. I wouldnt buy it though until I had to. It runs just as fast as XP in most cases. Networking seems to be better than XP's. Gaming? No difference that I can see. I DID have to tweak with Vista a lot, though. I basically had to shut off a lot of WORTHLESS services that are on by default. It feels unfinished and quite frankly, should have been XP's Service Pack 3.

Stick with XP Pro
Old 02-01-2007, 01:11 PM
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Originally Posted by synth19
Agreed. they are marketing it heavily, but as we all know.... the vast majority of PC's will be equipped I think I read that 90% or more of PC's in 2007 will be running vista. So hopefully they got it right. with vista.
Judging by how royally they fucked everyone on the planet with IE7, I somehow doubt they did.
Old 02-01-2007, 01:14 PM
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How's the learning curve? Pretty easy transition from XP to vista?

Originally Posted by Ken1997TL


I have it. I like it, it was free courtesy of MSDN. I wouldnt buy it though until I had to. It runs just as fast as XP in most cases. Networking seems to be better than XP's. Gaming? No difference that I can see. I DID have to tweak with Vista a lot, though. I basically had to shut off a lot of WORTHLESS services that are on by default. It feels unfinished and quite frankly, should have been XP's Service Pack 3.

Stick with XP Pro
Old 02-01-2007, 01:15 PM
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Originally Posted by synth19
How's the learning curve? Pretty easy transition from XP to vista?
Very. Probably 10 minutes at most.
Old 02-01-2007, 01:17 PM
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Originally Posted by soopa
To quote Bill Gates when asked in regards to Vista "Were you going after a specific look there, the Mac look?"

"No, no, no... We're ahead on a lot... There's whole areas where we've innovated like Media Center and tablet..."

So apparently even Billy himself is confused. Can't say I blame him.
good sheit...

editing HD movies on Vista... yeah.. hope you have a quad-core with 8GB of ram (at the very least) along with around 1GB of video ram... yeah thats the ticket.

now, understand, this is what mainstream PC's will be, in 2010.
Old 02-01-2007, 01:22 PM
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkNDVDtMFQU
Old 02-01-2007, 01:24 PM
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Originally Posted by synth19
anyone here actually have vista here on their home or work computer? thoughts and specs? I would love to hear some real world experiences...
I've been running Enterpris edition in the office for a little over two weeks now. The machine is an E6300 dual core, 2GB RAM, and a 256MB Radeon 1300. My overall user experience in doing run of the mill stuff surfing & document shuffling in Office 2007 feels slightly slower than using XP and Office 2003 on my four year old P4 machine with 1 GB or ram and a 128 MB Quadro card.

The negative feelings I personally have for Vista stem from the fact that most all of the changes seem completely pointless to me. Overall, here are the notable things that occurred to me as I've been playing with it.

Some Pluses for Joe Idiot user
--------------------------------
UAC + IE 7 protected mode are annoying but will probably work in protecting idiots from themselves

Included help content vastly improved over previous versions of Windows

Desktop search finally gives Windows users the rough equivalent of Spotlight on OS X


Some Pluses for the corporate world
---------------------------------------
Fewer policy customizations and/or 3rd party stuff required to protect users from themselves

Built in disk imaging for deployment (anyone try this yet?)

(Supposedly) much better/flexible drive encryption for machines that need it


Some Minuses for the corporate world
-------------------------------------
OS activation is a major PIA

Active Directory management tools (adminpak.msi) have certain issues. No Exchange management tools work at all.

Desktop search only indexes Exchange mail if running Outlook in cached Exchange mode

Small but extremely irritating hoops you need to jump through to change between domain & local logins

Last edited by Billiam; 02-01-2007 at 01:26 PM.
Old 02-01-2007, 01:27 PM
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Originally Posted by Billiam
The negative feelings I personally have for Vista stem from the fact that most all of the changes seem completely pointless to me.
damn, you hit the nail on the head. I mean, you hit it so hard, that would be a fatality in MK.
Old 02-01-2007, 01:29 PM
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Originally Posted by srika
Old 02-01-2007, 01:34 PM
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Originally Posted by srika


And on topic, Vista seems just as stable as XP pro, and in my experience that means reliable.
Old 02-01-2007, 01:35 PM
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Originally Posted by Billiam
I've been running Enterpris edition in the office for a little over two weeks now. The machine is an E6300 dual core, 2GB RAM, and a 256MB Radeon 1300. My overall user experience in doing run of the mill stuff surfing & document shuffling in Office 2007 feels slightly slower than using XP and Office 2003 on my four year old P4 machine with 1 GB or ram and a 128 MB Quadro card.
that is pathetic.
Old 02-01-2007, 01:37 PM
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lol... it was also pretty funny when they tried to get Bill's password by asking what his pet name was.

Originally Posted by srika
Old 02-01-2007, 01:38 PM
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For the record:

On my Vista machine, I do everything from burning DVD's to playing games like WoW, Medieval Total War 2. I browse online, do Bittorrents, play movies and do a lot of Office applications. It runs just as fast as XP in almost every case. Bittorrents DO run better on Vista IMO


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