XP vs. Vista?

[ChiroJPo]

I am planning on building a new computer this summer over break. I understand that there are problems with drivers for Vista. I also understand that people are having a hard time finding XP with a Vista upgrade coupon.

Newegg has Vista Home Premium for $112 and has XP Home Basic SP2 for $90. Only thinking about the price (and the lack of coupon), is it a better idea to just buy Vista and deal with the driver problems?

I understand that by using an OEM product, you forfeit Microsoft tech support, what exactly does that mean?

I am sure that everybody has their own preference, but for a student, price matters...but when I graduate (Chiropractic College...as if you couldn't tell by my name)...price will not matter as much.

Just trying to see what people have to say. Thanks!

[stealthsniper96]

i think it would depend on what ur gona be using the computer for and what software ur gona run

[ChiroJPo]

Ahh, good thinking. Does anyone know if Vista will be backwards compatible for games that have come out in the past, I don't know, 5 years? I won't be doing anything super crazy with the computer, the typical build that is suggested to most through the "Build Your Own PC" forums. Will use it for basic applications (e.g. music, photos, videos and gaming). Nothing too much. I was going to install Ubuntu and run that until SP1 came out for Vista...maybe do a dual boot...who knows. That is why I was searching for ideas/answers/hints/etc.

[matthews]

I have vista and I can run games like Halo and BF 1942 and BF 2 and they run just fine. So you should be able to run anything you could on XP, on Vista.

[malvolio]

XP works just fine for my present needs, so I have pitched my tent in the "wait for vista's first service pack" camp before even thinking about a switch. I think there are some threads on this topic in the OS forum.

[ChiroJPo]

Great, glad for the info. Just wasn't sure which would be the smarter choice.

With Dell reselling some of their computers with XP, I wonder if Vista will be like Millenium Edition...nah...nothing could be that bad!

[minsonngo]

Originally Posted by ChiroJPo I wonder if Vista will be like Millenium Edition...nah...nothing could be that bad!

Thats what a few people are saying. Microsoft is already planning on releasing a new OS in a few years. So by the time Vista is "fixed" there will be a new OS to use. Sort of like Windows ME.

[Hi Ho]

Thats what a few people are saying. Microsoft is already planning on releasing a new OS in a few years. So by the time Vista is "fixed" there will be a new OS to use. Sort of like Windows ME.

Sorry but I think the people that are saying that either don't know what they are talking about or have some sort of grudge against Microsoft.

I am running Vista Premium on my PC and it has been 100% stable I have had no driver issues and all of my games have run 100% perfect. Even Need For Speed III works! I never got it to work in XP.

Comparing Vista to ME is like comparing a Yugo to a Lexus. Vista is leaps and bounds better than ME ever was and it has proven to be much less buggy than XP was when it came out.

[ChiroJPo]

My sister's computer has ME installed on it still, she never upgraded to XP or anything else and her computer runs fine. I will install Vista on my computer without much hesitation. I was just trying to get an opinion on whether the best time to upgrade was now since I don't have an XP cd. I was looking at XP vs Vista on my new computer and was thinking about which one was the most financially smart. I doubt that I will have many problems with driver issues etc since a ton of people have built new computers with Vista or at least bought a new computer with Vista and havent had many problems. Plus my new build will look similar to yours Hi Ho. Thanks for your help.