Should I go for XP or Vista?

I'll be purchasing a Vostro pretty soon and I was wondering which OS should I go for keeping compatability issues of drivers mind.

 

Keeping compatibility in mind, go with XP. Keep in mind, however, that XP vs. Vista seems to be the Pepsi vs. Coke du jour. Some people will tell you Vista is the most horrible OS in the planet and that XP is Jesus, Buddha, and Moses rolled into one, while others will tell you that Vista cures cancer and XP kills baby seals.

Ultimately, it depends on your needs, and it sounds like you're looking for something that will run older software reliably. For that, I'd go with XP every time.

 

If it is gams from Red alert starcraft to bioshock oblivion than definitely XP.

If it is however for autocad 2008, photoshop 2007 and new games/applications only than a 64 bit Vista OS would be much more suitable.

I dont really see a point in 32 bit vista except dx10.

 

XP gives better performance and battery life.

 

Well I've gone ahead with Vista, I hope shifting to Xp from there won't be a big issue.

 

dual boot it!
best way to self learning in drivers/apps/peripheral hardware compatibility

cheers ...

 

You Don't see the point of a 32 bit OS?
64 bit(sometimes) has compadibility issues, driver issues etc.
Don't think the newest tech(not really new but you see) is the best.

 

What's wrong with you? Let's not get personal over people's OS preferences, okay?

64-bit Windows does not work with every piece of hardware in existence, that is correct. But many people don't encounter any problems, because most hardware does work with 64-bit (and almost all common hardware works fine)

I ran 64-bit Windows XP two years ago, and didn't encounter any compatibility or driver issues. And that was years ago, before Vista was even released. I have no reason to believe that the situation has gotten worse since then.

 

I didnt mean it like that i meant as in it's not the best for everyone.

 

No matter what we are going to soon all change to 64-bit so why not choose it with vista.
Maybe some old stuff doesnt work on 64 bit but it is neither sure that it will work on vista. Therefore it is in everyones interest(at least that's what i think) to have switch the OS only once. Plus unless you buy a retail Ultimate many shops dont offer 64-bit basic/premium so you have to buy twice same OS...

 

I've been on record as a Vista hater and now i'm eating crow. I finally took the Vista plunge after a major upgrade like an Intel E6750, 4GB of G-Skill RAM, 400GB SATA3 drive and used my old 7900GTO 512meg video ram(waiting for the DX10 dust to settle first).

Based on FPS tests i'd say that Vista runs my games (racing sims) at least the same maybe a little quicker (only applies to 1 or 2 games) than in XP. But the point is it doesn't run it any worse. I compared the same hardware running XP SP2 vs Vista Ultimate updated. That was a pleasant surprise to say the least.

So there you have it a Vista hater that has now warmed up to Vista. Memory is cheap today. Heck I bought 4GB of G-Skill ram for like $150. My current upgrade cost me around $550 and that was like 6 weeks ago. The same upgrade today would have saved me $100.

 

Is it 64bit you are running with or 32-bit?