Considering buying Vista, but need some questions answered.

So I'm buying a new laptop soon, and the biggest issue I have come across is compatibility issues with Vista. I can get past the stupid useless apps it comes with and everything else, but I play a lot of old games that I'm not sure Vista would support such as Worms, Warcraft 3, Alien vs. Predator, Half Life 1 a long with steam games and a lot of 3rd party games and programs.

I guess my essential question is: Is Vista worth buying right now?

Any advice would help.

 

my advice would be to buy it, it is compatible with all steam games and the ones listed above
You will like it.

 

http://www.iexbeta.com/wiki/index.php/Windows_Vista_RTM_Software_Compatibility_List

Essential answer: Yes.

Why?

Vista is here to stay. Despite failing to meet expectations in several areas, including sales, Microsoft has invested too much money and time into it to let it flop like Windows ME. It will last at least well...until the time you purchase your next laptop (2 years? 3?). It's doubtful Microsoft has any new ideas for a new OS right now anyway.

XP might still get support but, I am frankly not a believer in the saying, "if it's not broken, don't fix it." Regardless of what shortcomings Vista has, it IS an improvement in many areas, and it IS "progress" of a sort. There's no sense investing in something that's nearing the end of its shelf-life (relatively) unless you have a very compelling reason to do so (i.e. you absolutely MUST use XP or something).

 

I did not have any real noticeable problems playing older games under Vista over XP. There might have been some minor framerate drop with the new drivers, but nothing alarming.

Since you are buying a new lappy and it will probably come with Vista anyway, I would give it a try. There are mixed reviews on NBR about this, but I think some machines play better with Vista than others.

My old Compaq R4000 flew under Vista Ultimate, while my aunt's new dv2000t that I bought her is a dog with Vista Business in comparison (and her unit crushes mine in synthetic benches). Go figure.

 

The service pack is coming out soon right?
To fix most of the bugs and compatibility issues

 

SP1 (code-named "Fiji"), has been estimated to be out anywhere between now and the end of '07 (although Microsoft confirms nothing about the availability date).