Downgrading to XP or not?

I'm doubting whether I should buy my new FZ-model with Windows Vista or XP...

The major reason for me would be that running XP would apparently result in longer battery life and much less heat production (and hence also less fan noise!). Additionally, Vista isn't said to be very great anyway, and its successor is planned to show up in 2009 already.

HOWEVER, a friend of mine told me that he -with windows XP- only gets 1.2 ghz if he's working on his battery. Are more people having this problem? Are there more known flaws/disadvantages to downgrading to XP?

 

No. Vista will be closer to "Vienna" than XP is so you might as well get on board. Plus its not scheduled to be released until AT LEAST 2010, so you have some time. Plus Vista is actually 98% Windows Server 2008 anyway. My guess is Windows 7 won't take on as many early adopters as XP and Vista took.

Do you have any proof that your particular laptop will guarantee better battery life and less heat production with XP than Vista? Did you know you can turn all of the features that would cause these issues?

I have been running Vista since the middle of last year and I have had 0 problems with it. Its new technology for new technology.

Also, the 1.2Ghz isn't a problem. It is your CPU scaling back to save battery life.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/lifecycle/default.mspx

 

So you advise to stick with Vista (because Vista doesn't run 'hotter' and doesn't shorten batterly life, and because you can adjust those aspects manually in Vista anyway)?

In other words, if you like the XP and Vista interfaces equally, then there are no (technical) (dis)advantages at all to taking one or the other?

 

There's nothing wrong with Vista. People are just stuck on what they're used to (like why does Vista appear to hog all of my memory). Its newer technology for newer systems.

You can turn off all of Vista's bells and whistles to make it look like server and probably be able to extend the battery life. There is also a small program that runs in the background that will turn off Aero, the sidebar and switch to a different power profile when you switch to a battery called Vista Battery Saver.

 

First you have no choice when you buy it. It comes with Vista. XP is not an option when you purchase the machine.

Second, while there are drivers available to you to allow you to downgrade, you have to provide a legal license to XP. But more important NONE of the auxiliary applications for XP on an FZ have been made available from Sony. These auxiliary apps are needed for function keys to work and to enable power management. Without the latter, there is no way you will get less heat or longer battery life from XP on an FZ.

Gary

 

In my opinion, unless you have a specific compatibility-related reason to run XP, you should stick with Vista. My new VAIO FZ with Vista SP1 runs faster and has better battery life than any of my XP machines ever had. It's the hardware that determines these things, not the OS. I imagine my FZ would run Windows 98SE like a dream -- but why would I want it to?

 

Actually I do have a specific compatibility related reason to run XP, my development environment. But, I still use Vista and run XP in a virtual machine, using Microsoft Virtual PC. It works great! I can network with it. I even have an instance of SQL Server 2005 running on Vista and the development environment (.Net) on XP under Virtual PC can see the SQL server!

Gary

 

Unless you are a serious gamer, I too see no reason not to have Vista. XP is nice but tired, IMHO. I am looking forward to it myself. Our HP desktop has it (primarily my wife's computer) and I am always on it tweaking and looking around. And with the power of today's laptops, you can do as Gary does and run XP in a virtual machine (yes Gary, 'tis cool!) or dual boot and have the best of both worlds as needed.

Go ahead and imbrace it - it will only get better, IMHO.

 

Laptops with CPUs that have virtualization make Virtual Machine even better.

 

Where did you see FZ model with XP? I thought they all come with Vista.

 

My local notebook shop offers to 'upgrade' the Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit that standardly comes with the model to Vista Business, Ultimate or Windows XP, all either 32- or 64-bit.

Apparently quite some people prefer XP over Vista home premium.

 

As ScuderiaConchiglia said...there are no controls for a number of functions in XP...the biggest being power management, without that forget about better battery life, it will probably be 1/2 in XP what it is in Vista...better bet get the extended battery, also my FZ470 running Vista and simply uninstalling a bunch of bloatware doesn't get hot at all and runs quieter than any notebook I've tried including my wife's MBP.

 

Too bad that in their infinite wisdom, some manufacturers (hello Sony?) disable the virtualization mode in the Bios. ...sigh...

BTW I know VMWare takes advantage of the hardware virtualization. DO you happen to know if Microsoft's Virtual PC does as also?

Gary

 

If the local shop is offering to downgrade to XP on an FZ model, I would question if these folks REALLY know what they are doing. Any such downgraded FZ model will suffer from extremely poor battery performance and lack of function key support.

Such an offering from a local shop, without a disclaimer about battery life and non-working function keys, would really make me rethink anything that they told me. It calls their judgment into question.

I used to own a computer store, and if any of my folks had ever offered such a thing without clearly warning the customer, they'd have been out on the street in minutes.

Gary

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X86_virtualization

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