Operating System Question

Could anyone explain to me the differences pros/cons between
windows xp - windows vista - windows 7 - ubuntu. Which ones the newest, which one would you prefer, which ones the future?

Also, my computer came with a 8x slot load cd/dvd drive. If my screen is already 1280x800 I don't understand the benefit of blu-ray drive. Isn't my resolution already considered hi-def when I play a DVD?

Just some things that have been bugging me for awhile. Thanks for your help guys.

 

By age, oldest first: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7. Depending on your version of Ubuntu, it could go between XP and Vista or between Vista and 7. I still prefer XP, but Vista has improved a lot over the past two years and 7 is looking pretty good too.

DVD resolution is either 720 x 480 or 720 x 576, though you can upscale it to 1280 x 800. This is NOT officially HD quality. Official HD quality starts at a native 1280 x 800, and at the moment, goes up through 1920 x 1200.

 

Windows XP
- fast
- familiar
- low overhead

- security liability

Windows Vista
- greatly improved UI
- greatly improved security
- generally slower performance; slow boot times, although gaming performance is equivalent to XP

Windows 7
- Vista + improved general performance
- still in beta, due for release in 2011

Ubuntu
- very flexible; can have pretty much any advantage you want it to have
- fast
- reliable
- very secure
- sports Compiz Fusion, for those who make practical use of it

However, all is not rosy with Linux:
- presumes that you have a certain level of technical knowledge
- can drop you to a command line, unlike Windows
- compatibility can be an issue, and various drivers can compromise system reliability (ex, installing ATI fglrx drivers for 3D acceleration and enabling Compiz can make your computer more prone to crashing)
- research is required

 

I run both Vista and Ubuntu, on separate notebooks. I have not run XP since late 2006 or early 2007. I will wait for Windows 7 to go GA before installing it.

Vista changed a number of the "standard" data locations from the willy-nilly and seemingly random locations of XP. And enforces these locations, too. This makes for a much easier time of configuring roaming profiles and also of backing up/restoring user data.

 

my version is original Dell Vista SP 1 (with SP 2 Beta from MS web) X64 - and I'm happy because it has equivalent to Windows XP SP 3 (with Nlite) boot time speed!
It all depends on OS version (modification)
I had HP Compaq 6730s with original HP Vista SP 1 - a tons of pain. 5-10 minutes boot time....Horrible
Now my Dell Studio loads whole Vista from first start to work screen for under 1 minutes!
May be 30-40 seconds!

I had the same situation with XP!
Original XP was pretty fast, but HP XP was horrible with their totally no-need stuffs and s!