XP SP3 or vista ultimate 64x - which is right for me

Hi again...

the basic question is.., should i go for XP SP3 (optimized edition*) or vista ultimate 64x???

Let enlighten you with my situation and my use.

Im using this XPS 1330 with vista ultimate 64x for 8 months now.. and im pretty happy with it.although as any Windows after a while of use installing ans unistalling things you need eventually for a better performance a clean format.
with that said thats the deal.

------General Usage-------

1- Reliable and stable platform. it because i left my laptop almost 24/7 so i dont wanna bother restarting over and over again. which i know XP is fantastic and vista is great specially my actual config (64x)

2- University stuffs means, basically Internet and Office 2007 things (i dont need vpn to access the intranet nor any XP only software)

3- Lite game(s)- basically i just play warcraft3 ft which i love. The plural refers to occasionally when i install something else, play for 2 hours and delete straight way. until i get something more warcraft 3 ft ish

4- network setups - I do mess up a lot with it- my home is based in Vista which is not the best hulked up with XP. and im also network noob i need easy network setups

5- media - i watch a bunch of movies (DVDs, 1080p, 720 and more). music also.

6- just some basic audio/video/image edit

7- one special thing is that i use a dual screen almost all the time - i need a great drive for it.

8- Eyecandy Windows setup, including Rainmeter, objectdock and google desktop gadgets.

---------------------------Dilemma------------------

btw XP 64 is not an option so when i use 64x im referring to vista

So thats the thing.

64 is the future, and all softwares that i use that have the 32 and 64 version i use the 64 one. and after all even with drivers i have not issue at all including stability and performance. so as far i have the both versions i installed the vista 64 and moreover this os uses 1gb by itself. so the 500mbs extra that i get just by using the 64 version goes out when comparing with XP that uses much less resources.

to be honest with you, im happy with my vista 64x now. could be better though. the booting process, boot to full operational system usage takes ~2min(even though not restarting much, its a pain for me). btw ive checked and its all right nothing to improve now other than clean install).

And the thing i miss the most is that when i open the programs they were snappy, the system was stable and the performance was great.

Ive never used this config (vide sig) running XP so i believe it would be much better than ever for me, faster and also more stable.

but moving out from the vista 64 I will sacrifice the security which i have to say that MS did a great job, so far i have not a single problem with virus/malwares or whateverwares, and many of this "security" happen just because those crap are developed for 32bits.

Im using right now many eyecandy things which i know hulk some resources but for me is must have it. ( all eyecandys that i use runs on vista and XP)

id like to keep this next clean format for at least more 8 to 12 months until the next windows release, the windows 7, which will be a vista-ish so keeping using vista will make me more used to the "way vista works".


So that's the question XP sp3 or vista 64 bits? which one would you go for if you had time enough to make it working your way, shining and polished?


fyi- Ubuntu is not ready for my personal use yet so, linux still not a good alternative for me

 

I don't know why you'd expect XP to be more stable. It could be either more or less stable, depending on drivers. Are you having stability problems? Do you get BSODs or system freezes? (I got my first system freeze on Vista x64 today... I suspect the Bluetooth driver but that's just a hunch... I'm not really sure.) Do you get app crashes? Which apps?

Vista is kind of slow to start up, but I rarely start it up, I just sleep or hibernate instead. XP requires rebooting a lot more often... so you end up spending at least as much time booting on XP, IMO.

Some with 4 gb have said boot is faster if they turn off Superfetch... I haven't tested that (and I don't have 4 gb) so I don't know.

What kind of computer were you using XP on, when you ran that? Desktop or laptop?

How fast is your hard drive in practice? Have you run HD Tune? My boot times and other things improved dramatically when I upgraded my hard drive. (Not all 7200's are created equal, you know... or even close....)

Anyway, you'll probably get a slight overall performance boost with XP... you'll lose security and features though... stability could go either way, depending on drivers... Win 7, as you mentioned, will be a lot more like Vista... battery life is usually a little better on Vista than XP, but again it could go either way depending on drivers.

 

Windows Vista Ultimate x64 is better that Windows XP SP3 by a mile and a half!

 

HEY. x64.

 

Go Vista 64.

Its stable, more secure and alot less hassle. One thing, dont knock vista for slow boot times until you have used it for a week, you will be shocked how much faster it gets with time.

 

Im facing no problem since ive installed the 64x 8 months ago...

and the boot time still a crap... but all with thumbs up for vista 64x so i might retire xp for good them

anyone else have another point that could make me go back for xp?

cheers....

 

I don't understand why you would want to change your OS to XP when Vista is working perfectly fine.

 

Why not just dual boot instead?

 

Go XP SP3. Much more stable and more resource efficient than Vista.