Windows Xp Home vs. Vista Basic

Ok Windows Xp machines are comming down to some very attractive prices and I am in a bit of a pickle over this question... What is better, Windows XP Home or Windows Vista Basic?

I ask this question because I can either buy a new Windows XP laptop with good specs at a very good price or I can buy a Vista Basic laptop with OK specs at an OK price.

So what would you do? Stick with XP and get a better computer at a better price because of it or go with Vista Basic and pay a little more but get a little less.

 

Vista Basic very limited in many capacities, and if I were you, I'd get XP Home.

 

I may be a little bias on this answer, but although vista is nice, the basic version sucks compared to the premium. U don't get the aero glass look along with a lot of other features (eg. Windows Media). I would say xp home would be better because of fewer bugs. U can get the same look as vista basic and more with a simple transformation pack. If you're gonna get vista, you got to get at least vista premium. If you're thinking about vista basic, you might as well stick to xp home.

 

Given that choice, I would go with the better computer and XP home.

However, I'm not convinced that's all the choice you have. If you have a lower-end processor and 2GB RAM, you can run Vista Home Premium.

For instance, look at http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/HP-Pavilion-15-4-Widescreen-Notebook-PC-DV6226US/sem/rpsm/oid/169875/catOid/-12963/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do. Take out one of the 512MB RAM modules and replace it with a 1GB for $80 from newegg.com and you can easily run Vista Home Premium for under $800. Is that out of your budget?

Bil

 

don't get the XP home or the vista basic

GET THE XP PRO

i don't know why they created vista basic that does not have the aero feature. that sucks. what's the purpose of having an OS that's very much basic.

or if you want, go for xp HOME and download xpstyle and find some cool vista-wannabe themes in the internet. then find a nice mac-cursor so that you get rid of that basic white arrow

 

That is a nice laptop for a great price but I am in New Zealand and over here computers like that just do not exist for that kind of price. But I am tossing up between a Compaq v3000 with a Turion64 MK-36 (XP Home) and a Toshiba with an Intel Core Duo (Vista Basic).

I do not care at all for Dual Core capabilities as the laptop will only be used for typing in Office 07. Plus I own an Athlon X2 desktop and I don't see any real differences in performance from single core. At least not anything like the 80% gain that AMD claims you will see.

 

Sorry--I did not notice your location. Looks like we're back to square one. I would go with XP Home.

Bill

 

So why do people think Vista Basic is so bad?

 

It's a stripped-down version which really negates having Vista, IMO. I don't even know why it is sold except for people who want to say they have Vista but have an older machine which doesn't have the capability to handle Vista requirements. I'm sure it's a marketing thing.

Bill

 

It lacks many of the features advertised in Vista and has its share of Vista's problems. XP Home is more stable and can be even tweaked to look like Home Premium (Win Blinds)

 

^ my point exactly! XP all the way until vista gets its first service pack

 

Omg teh prettyness!

Unless your purpose of buying a pc is to STARE AT PRETTY IMAGES ALL DAY, Vista Basic is worlds better then Xp. Vista is not just Aero Glass people.

 

If I were concerned about Vista, I would not have just ordered a notebook with it installed. I see no reason to wait till SP1.

However, the OP is concerned with getting a better computer with XP Home or a lesser computer with Vista Basic. In that case, I would go with the better computer.

On the other hand, if the computers were equal, I would go with Vista Basic.

Bill

 

I dont know how the Express upgrade program works in NZ. But even if you buy the XP Home based system you should still qualify for the free upgrade to Vista Basic.

 

I would vote for the better computer with WIndows XP. Vista basic is recommended if all you do is some email, limited web surfing, and only running an app or two at a time.

If you play games, run several apps at once (word processor, spreadsheet, browser, email client), don't do any video (your own, YouTube, etc.), or music then Vista Basic would be OK. It's mainly for a very, very basic computer user.

If you get the XP computer before March, you get the free Vista upgrade. And you can choose to upgrade to Premium, Business, Ultimate, or whatever. Which, I believe is cheaper than upgrading from Vista basic to one of those levels. Check with the seller to see what their cut-off date is for the upgrade.

 

I would suggest bypassing any XP Home machine and getting one with XP Media Center Edition... not for the Media Center itself (which is pretty much a useless piece of bloatware that doesn't really add anything), but because you're really getting XP Pro along with it.

I don't think anyone really needs Vista for anything except to have the latest thing. XP is very mature, very stable (I would even say that today, it's more stable than Linux), and quite nice on its own. You can download tons of terrific open source and/or free software that work well, including lots of free stuff from MS itself, like all the XP Powertoys which add some nice utilities, such as Virtual Desktop Manager, Image Resizer, Tweak UI, etc. As long as you can upgrade the laptop to more memory, and you make sure it's labeled as Vista Capable, you can still upgrade to Vista at some later time when the early adopters have worked out all the bugs (like 3 years from now - but by then, you will probably be thinking about a new computer anyway). I mean, it's just an operating system. As long as the computer "operates" with it, who cares which version it is? You want some transparent windows so you can't see them as well? Ok, there are already many utilities that will make anything on XP transparent, and you can program your own transparent windows with Visual BASIC 2005 Express (which is a free download from MS). Walk through some government and corporate offices anywhere, and if you glance at the desktops, you will see that many are still using Windows 2000, and those who are using XP will continue using it for years to come. Frankly, with everything MS being increasingly based on the .NET Framework, it won't matter much if you're using XP or Vista.

I'm not saying we won't all go Vista eventually, but I don't see what the big rush is. On the other hand, if I were buying a computer today, it better represent a big savings over buying the same thing with Vista already on it. I'm not against progress. In fact, I've got the latest of everything on my current XP, and I even prefer to use IE7 rather than Firefox (so I'm not anti-MS either), but I don't feel the need to upgrade into what is essentially one big public release beta test for 3 years.

 

Thanks everyone (and starling) you have all really helped me lean my decision toward Xp.

I understand that Xp to Vista is nothing even remotely like a leap for 98 to Xp. So really since Xp has proven itself to be such a great OS why turn my back on it now? There is simply no real NEED to.

 

Just want to comment : I dont think Vista is like 98 to XP. XP to Vista is like Windows 3.1 to Windows 95. The change is quite big.

 

I would choose XP Home if I were you. I would normally recommend XP Pro, but for the price, you'll probably never use the extra features. As of right now, I wouldn't recommend any Vista version, so I'm not just hating on the Home Basic. But if I were to recommend any Vista version, it would not be Home Basic. It lacks a lot of the features that make other Vista versions good.

Refer to this article to see how XP can still be a viable Operating System.

 

Omg teh prettyness!

Unless your purpose of buying a pc is to STARE AT PRETTY IMAGES ALL DAY, Vista Basic is worlds better then Xp. Vista is not just Aero Glass people.

Finally someone with 2 brain cells.. basic is just like premium with out the unnecessary eye candy.. i also hear it runs games better since its more stripped.. think of it like a stripped out race car, theres less gunk the cpu is handling so its going to perform your tasks better.. this isnt like a different proc family debate like celeron and core duo.. its the same ****.. heck you can get areo free with window blinds..

 

Personally, I'd just go with the XP computer that is higher spec'd. You can always upgrade to Vista later, at least the unit itself will be more advanced.

 

I have some (ahem) basic advice. Do not purchase or use Vista Home Basic.
If you have the cash, boycott that edition. Get something better i.e Home Premium.