Vista or XP?

[zeusfaber]

Looks like I'm going to get to buy a new laptop to add to our existing home network (two elderly 98SE boxes, plus one running XP Home SP2). New machine likely to be used for browsing, occasional office work (including the odd bit of engineering spreadsheeting) and lightweight gaming (at the sort of Sims 2 level, or just a little busier). I'll almost certainly put Office Pro 2003 on it.

Although the laptops I'm looking at come loaded by default with Vista Home Premium, it looks like there are one or two where by paying a bit extra I can get XP Pro instead.

I know a few months ago (when I wasn't looking at buying new hardware) people advised me to avoid Vista at all costs. Has the general view softened at all since then?

If I buy Vista, will I see any problems running my mixed network? If I buy XP Pro, will I be pursuing a dead end? Is having to learn a third OS likely to confuse the wife and kids?

What do people think?

A.

 

[wolluf]

You might be better off in forum779 or forum1583 - but a lot of those users frequent this forum too.

Personal opinion - go for XP. Its going to be around for years yet. Vista gives you no vital new functionality, and uses lots more resources (RAM especially). And there are ongoing compatibility issues with hardware and software. And I don't know what networking requirements you have, but you won't be able to access the vista machine from the 98 machines (ie, if shares on Vista, can't read them from 98 - be ok from XP Home).

I have reluctantly moved to a Vista machine as i need to support it, but am not happy with it at all - have had too many issues.

 

[xwb]

What does the wife use at work and what do the kids use at school. If they all use XP, you may as well get XP. Schools and workplaces are normally the slowest to change.

 

[BadBigBen]

I have to agree with my two colleagues here... for the purposes that you plan on using the machine, XP will keep you going for years yet...

I do use VISTA, but like Wullof, only because I have to for work and school, so that I am prepared for the support questions our customers have...

Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."

 

[roland63]

I'm going to put my 2 cents in and also vote for XP.

I have supported a number of systems with Vista and basically the owners are ready to throw them out the window.

I have actually rolled back a few back to XP where the owner would pay just about anything to put them out of their misery.

And like Wolluf mentioned, you will have compatibility issues mixing Vista and W98.

Serenity Now!....

 

[kmcferrin]

Well, I would probably so go with XP as well. The networking issues for your Windows 98 machines could be an issue, and you might as well use what you know.

But I did get Vista on my new laptop last March/April, and I haven't had any real issues with it since then. In fact, when I rebuilt my desktop this past fall I went to Vista on it as well. I haven't seen any real issues there either.

The only problem that I have with my laptop (and I'm not sure if this is a Vista thing, a wireless thing, or what) is that if I'm using the wireless card to connect at work, then go into hibernate mode and come home, when I return from hibernation I have trouble connecting to my home wireless LAN. I have to disable/re-enable the NIC usually to get it to switch. Obviously there could be issues in that the network that I was connected to when I hibernated is no longer there when I resume, and my home wireless doesn't advertise it's SSID which makes it more difficult to connect to, but overall I can live with that one issue.

 

[ArizonaGeek]

I would disagree with all of you and go with Vista then downgrade to XP only if you need it since that is allowed per the Microsoft license. At least then A) you can use Vista if you have no problems and B) you can go back to Vista in the future if you like, since you've already paid for it.

If you buy a machine with XP Pro you are going to pay $100 for that license then if you decide to buy Vista you are going to pay another $100-something for Vista when you can just pay the one fee and downgrade for free.

When you do buy Vista there are only two that you need to consider, forget every other version. Get either Home Premium or Ultimate (I'd suggest Ultimate) other than that you should be good.

Personally I've been running Vista Ultimate for more than a year with no problems. I have been running Vista on my corporate machine for the last 2 months with no problems either and I connect to both 2k and 2003 servers.

Use Vista for a month or two, figure out all the "features" and how to disable the one that suck, THEN decide if you hate it. If you hate you have the option to downgrade to XP.

Cheers
Rob

The answer is always "PEBKAC!

 

[kmcferrin]

I would disagree with all of you and go with Vista then downgrade to XP only if you need it since that is allowed per the Microsoft license. At least then A) you can use Vista if you have no problems and B) you can go back to Vista in the future if you like, since you've already paid for it.

Not saying that this isn't true, but I've never heard of downgrade rights being available for OEM licenses. I'm not even sure I've ever seen it on retail licenses. In fact, the only time that know I've ever seen downgrade rights bundled with a Microsoft license was when you were buying on one of the volume plans (Open, Select or Enterprise). So I would looking into this very carefully before I based a decision on it.

 

[zeusfaber]

I knew it wouldn't be unanimous, but that feels like a good collection of thoughtful and useful advice.

I understand what you mean about downgrade being cheaper than upgrade Rob, but to be honest, I think I'm going to be in trouble with the family if this isn't more or less right first time. Differences between our priorities don't devalue your basic point though.

The key thing for me is probably going to be access to shares on the new machine from 98SE boxes - so the signature has gone on the dotted line under "XP Pro".

Thanks to all for taking the time to help me understand.

A.

 

[PRPhx]

Well, doing a google search turns up lots of info on how to access vista from a Win98 box. Here is one for example:

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/forums/index.cfm?action=showthread&threadid=291635&forumid=18

Seems one of the bigggest hurdles is having identical creds on both pc's.

I have to vote for Vista. I have it on a new Gateway laptop and have had very good results. I really Vista. Tho, I would recommend at least 1.5-2GB of Ram.

One problem with downgrading to XP is make sure you have or can obtain the device drivers. This can be a real problem.

 

[gbaughma]

IMHO:

Vista: All the functionality and bugs of Windows ME, but now with pre-installed spyware and DRM!



Just my 2¢
-Cole's Law: Shredded cabbage

--Greg

http://parallel.tzo.com

 

[vanka25]

If you buy a machine with XP Pro you are going to pay $100 for that license then if you decide to buy Vista you are going to pay another $100-something for Vista when you can just pay the one fee and downgrade for free.

Not saying that this isn't true, but I've never heard of downgrade rights being available for OEM licenses. I'm not even sure I've ever seen it on retail licenses.

There actually is a downgrade option for Vista; but there are a few catches. You must have a valid license for OEM Vista Business or Ultimate (I'm not sure about Retail versions) and you can downgrade to XP Pro. You will need to have the install media (some OEMs like Gateway are starting to offer this to there customers) and a valid product key for any version of XP Pro (Retail, OEM, or Volume/Corporate); it doesn't matter if it's been installed/activated on another machine.

To downgrade, install XP Pro using either the media/product key provided by the OEM or one of your own. When asked to activate, choose the telephone option. Jump through the hoops to get an actual person on the line. Explain to them that you are downgrading from Vista Business/Ultimate and need an activation number. You may be asked for your Vista key, but in my experience they won't ask.

 

[ArizonaGeek]

Not saying that this isn't true, but I've never heard of downgrade rights being available for OEM licenses. I'm not even sure I've ever seen it on retail licenses. In fact, the only time that know I've ever seen downgrade rights bundled with a Microsoft license was when you were buying on one of the volume plans (Open, Select or Enterprise). So I would looking into this very carefully before I based a decision on it.

Actually you're somewhat correct, from what I've read you can downgrade OEM versions of Vista Business editions and Vista Ultimate only.

Here is a PDF article about the whole process

Cheers
Rob

The answer is always "PEBKAC!

 

[artyk]

I would stick with the more proven option at this point. If they ever get Vista working properly, you may be ready for an upgrade by then anyway. It just seems like there are too many things for users to tweak and work around at this point to make it practical. I know a few people who are using it successfully, but it just doesn't seem quite worth the hassle at this point IMHO.

 

[kmcferrin]

Well, Vista SP1 is supposed to be out this month. Maybe that will improve things.

 

[artyk]

Well, Vista SP1 is supposed to be out this month. Maybe that will improve things.

I hope so, but if I was buying a new machine I wouldn't hang my hat on it without a 3rd party testing it and giving it a thumbs up.

 

[artyk]

Well, Vista SP1 is supposed to be out this month. Maybe that will improve things.

I hope so, but if I was buying a new machine I wouldn't hang my hat on it without a 3rd party organization giving their blessing on it.

 

[ATLMatt]

I can't think of one reason to go to Vista over XP Pro. Even the fact that Vista is a little prettier, because with a few skins XP can be spruced up similarly.

For me, XP Pro is stable, easy to navigate, easy to maintain, and runs all the software I throw at it. Vista is none of those things. In my opinion, if you are an average user, XP Pro is much easier to navigate and use, especially for administrative and system tasks. For someone in a systems administration role such as myself, it is annoying but not terrible difficult to learn where everything is located in Vista due to it being non-intuitive, but I see no reason to switch when it offers no benefit.

 

[kmcferrin]

As far as technical reasons go, if you're going to use 4GB or more of memory and driver support is an issue then I can see choosing Vista x64 over XP x64.

Then there's an improved security model.

There are a number of reasons, but most people don't see the benefits outweighing the perceived negatives.

 

[ArizonaGeek]

but most people don't see the benefits outweighing the perceived negatives

Thats just it. Perceived. As I said above, I have been running Vista since November '06 with not one problem. I run some server software that was built in 1996, I run many video and music editing software suites plus I have been getting into photography so I have added a few graphics programs and have not run into a single problem.

When I first started using it, I had a few annoyances and all of one piece of hardware that wouldn't work (a SCSI card from 1997) but since I figured out Microsoft's quirks, it runs great. It is stable, I don't find it to be a memory hog, I mean, I have 3 gigs of ram and a 2.4 ghz Core 2 and a 512mb ATI video card running two 19" monitors. I usually have it running for days on end with not one problem.

My perception is that the loudest people against Vista have never used it. Or used it for a very short term a year ago when there was a few driver problems (hardly Microsoft's fault when the OS had been available for developers for 2+ years) I don't see what the big deal is, it works perfect for me and prefer it over XP. Telling people to go backwards when they don't have it isn't going to help solve any of the very few problems that exist.

Just as crazy as saying "don't buy this years model car, buy one 8 years old at new prices because you're more comfortable with it."

If you need to use XP fine, get it, but if not get Vista.

Cheers
Rob

The answer is always "PEBKAC!