XPP vs. Vista on a Z-Series

Hey all,

I'm having a hard time deciding between running XPP or Vista on my future purchase of the Z. I preferably would run XPP on the laptop, but don't know where to find the XP downgrade drivers needed to smoothly run XPP after the downgrade. Can someone please post a link to these drivers (2 zip files)?

To future Z owners, please post why you will be running XPP or Vista! (I know I asked this question in the other thread, I just wanted to create this thread to organize this particular discussion)

 

Why do you keep saying XPP.

 

XP Professional

 

Would it be better for me to purchase a fresh copy of XPP and do a clean install after having erased Vista?

 

i am getting a vaio Z and will downgrade to XP because it will be faster and lighter

 

I'm going to give Vista a try before I bother downgrading. I may be able to use VMware or VirtualPC to run my XP dependent apps.

If it seems sluggish though, I'll be downgrading...

 

I heard about Vista could be better then XP perfomancewise. I will also give it a try and then downgrade if better...

 

Well my sister has Vista on her Medion NB and its just horrible, when you right click the whole explorer freezes for 5 minutes....
Well I installed Ubuntu for her and she only boots in vista to play games that don't run under Ubuntu with wine...

I guess since I need Visual studio, I have to go with a Windows version, and I will definitely go with XP!

But for people that are only interested in doing some web surfing and don't want to install a printer or anything more complicated Vista would probably be fine...

 

I am a big fan of XP SP3. I gave Vista a chance a couple of times (before SP1) and it could never impress me.

But Vista got a lot better after SP1, so I would give it a chance again. If it fails again I'll uses XP SP3.

 

My thoughts exactly, PhilFlow.

(And congrats on the new mod status, too... well deserved!)

Now I just need suggestions on how to think of something else until late August when my Z arrives.

 

Which is better? A XP downgrade from Vista, or a clean install after Vista is completely erased?


Furthermore, those planning a downgrade to XP, do you have a link to the drivers needed after the downgrade is performed? I want to downgrade as well but I fear I won't be able to find these damn drivers! Pleassse!

 

Clean install is better I expect. I doubt a downgrade from Vista is possible.

 

I read somewhere on here that an XP downgrade disc is provided to customers who purchase a Z with Vista Business?

 

When sony ships the Vaios with Vista Business with XP downgrade discs they will supply the drivers...
There wouldn't be a point if they would not supply the drivers...

In this case a downgrade means a complete format and reinstall I think...

 

If this is the case, then hallelujah! Can anyone confirm this? I've just been reading in some threads you have to download and install the drivers yourself from sony's support site. =(

 

You still need to download the drivers if you're going to do a clean install using your own standard OS media, e.g. a Windows XP Retail disc...

However the 'downgrade' disc from Sony includes everything you need. (It might also include some stuff you don't need, so arguably if you want a *really* clean system you'd do it all yourself, assuming all the drivers and useful utilities are available for download.)