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Looking at a new computer and XP is still available.

I am loading XP on mom's new box because she is familiar with it and I think VISTA would make her head explode.

But for me...?

Pros...Cons...?

I do have a crapload of software I will load onto it and I am concerned about compatibility.

A valid concern. I'm waiting for awhile, myself. I've got a lot of cash tied up in software and most of it didn't run well on Vista. It maybe better, now, but, I'm gonna give it another year. Plus I didn't like Vista RC2, anyway.

OS10.5

Not when you have major cash wrapped up in PC software.

You caught that... I'm a PC user myself, but I'm buying a Mac for recording.

I love OS 10.4...and 10.5 is even better...but I digress.

Yeah, with Vista, you really need to check hardware and software compatibility before you go that route right now. You could lose a lot of functioning tools.

You also need to make sure you have a schload of RAM. We bought a new laptop from Dell a few months ago, preinstalled with Vista, and the thing ran like crap. Granted, we only bought it with 512MB of RAM, but for just websurfing, email and basic productivity, you really don't need more than that. We stuck with it for a week and a half and then went back to XP.

My biggest question, with any OS upgrade really, is why are you doing it? Is your current OS not doing something you need it to do? For me (and I would think, most people right now), Vista is not needed. There is nothing my XP machine is lacking right now, so there is no reason to go to Vista besides saying I have a new OS. I figure there are a bunch of new features in it, but off the top of my head, I can't name anything that I NEED right now...

Plus, I have two macs and a couple linux boxes, and all have better quality OS than Vista would bring me:)

A few months ago I bought a new notebook with Vista. Compatibility is a real problem. I had to upgrade Quickbooks to run on it and my printer drivers are still screwy. Frontpage also does some weird things.

Overall Vista's not real bad, but be prepared for some surprises. If you have the option to get XP and especially if the PC is going to running business critical applications, I'd pass on Vista at this point.

Anyway, that's my $.02's worth.

I hate Vista

I would stick with XP and don't get HOM...go with PRO...shouldn't be a price difference at all...

Vista is for when you are READY for it...I love it...BUT...yes compatibility is a concern so I wouldn't recommend it from that standpoint.

I have a lot of the fixes and work arounds, but I also have a little more access to things than most regular users might have...

Get XPPro and you can upgrade to vista after the first of the year for $79. Or whenever you wish... After they get the first service pack(s) out...which I still have no solid answer to a date on that one...

Chris

Yeah, I'm running XP Pro on my desktop PC. Love it. Stable as a rock.

For what it's worth...

Since I own a mac I can't say first hand, but... several of my friends who use pc complain about vista running noticably slower than XP and have retrograded. They're pretty savy so I'm sure they have hardware up to spec enough to handle it.

Of course Vista will run slower than XP on the same machine... However, I have a P4 (2.4GHz) with 2GB of RAM and the thing zips along nicely with Vista Business.

Chris

I bought my rig and it was pre-loaded with Vista Home Basic. It had 512 Gb of RAM and ran sllloooowwww. So I through an extra Gig in and it runs just fine now. The only major issue I've had with Vista is some software incompatibility, and some trouble using security stuff. Most of the time a quick Google search will give the answers I need. I do have a lot of trouble using secured sites my Internet will crash constantly, paypal is the worse, but I don't know if this is a Vista issue.

Krieves wrote:A Frontpage also does some weird things.
.

Doesnt matter what OS, thats gonna happen !

I still haven't heard an example of what Vista offers to make it a reason to upgrade...

So far I have heard:
1) It runs slow, until I add more RAM, then it zips along
2) Its "pretty" compatible with my existing software
3) It only costs $79 to upgrade from XP PRO, but wait until after the first SP
4) Security is better, once I apply some fixes and mess around with it for a while
5) It looks cooler than XP

Not too intriguing of an argument...