Now this thread isnt about weather you like vista or not. Not to be rude, just avoiding an XP/Vista flame war. My concern with Vista is that some of the apps I use wont function. For example Auto GK, a DVD to Xvid tool i use some of the time, hasnt been updated since December 2005. Which in reality is fine with me. The app works great and I havent experienced any major bugs with it. However with the code being so out of date I have heard atleast one report the app did not function on Vista. There are other similar apps i have found that are similar. There small free applications(usually open source) that function great despite a lack of updates. Now I am also looking for opinions on weather to go 32 bit or 64 bit when it comes to the OS I choose. I was thinking 32 would be better as it would leave more system resources available, and I think both XP and Vista can look great in 32 bit. Sicne I am sure I will be asked, most likley my rig will be something along the lines of: CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo GPU: EVGA 320-P2-N811-AR GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail RAM: 2GB-4GB(not sure yet)
I don't openly yell 'vista is crap' at everyone, but it's my personal choice, and the choice of many others I know, to stick to XP. As far as program compatibility goes, Vista is relatively good, but not perfect. 64-bit has its advantages for raw processing power, if you have a 64-bit compatible program that munches CPU usage for hours on end, then 64-bit Vista could prove very useful (don't use 64-bit XP, it's awful). Howeever, unless that's the case, or you emulate games consoles, I can't think of many advantages to a 64-bit OS. (and no, for the moment I don't consider being able to use 8GB of RAM an advantage - I have 4GB (well, 3.5 as far as windows is concerned) and the most i've used is 2.7GB, and I'm not subtle with opening programs, games etc. 4GB should be ample. As for 32-bit Vista or 32-bit XP - the latter is certainly quicker off the mark, and whilst it doesn't have some of the latest features Vista offers, many regard that as a good thing. Some of the 'features' aren't really that welcome. As for your video card, don't do it. For several reasons. Firstly, it's EVGA, they've had a bit of a dodgy track record recently. Secondly, it's the old 8800GTS, which aren't on the market any more, and as such weren't subjected to price drops - it's slower and older than the 8800GT which is probably going to be cheaper - an XFX 8800GT is usually what I recommend people use.
Whats wrong with XP-64 bit? I was planning on upping to it, so i was curious. What are some of the more noticable differences in performance/visuals with 32/64? Will i notice any fall or increase in gaming performance depending on the former or latter?
Oh sorry, and to stay on topic, i think now with some of the bug fixes, picking an OS is more of an opinion matter now than it was in the past, because vista was definitely crap before, and now its ok. I perfer XP due to less resources/better for games currently, but will soon become dated and could possibly have compatibility issues (as far as i know). Vista is definitely more flashy and gives an air of "new" if you like that feel =) If you wanna stay with the times, that might be the way to go.
There are hardly any drivers that work for XP 64-bit, program compatibility for it is overall very poor. I haven't yet experienced any compatibility issues with XP being old other than DirectX10 features and only for Vista games. The former are thoroughly unimpressive, and the latter have always been hacked to run on XP anyway, if they're popular.
64-bit has been known to cause a great deal of issues with games. I'd stick to 32-bit especially if you go with Vista. One thing to remember: Microsoft plans on dropping support for XP very soon. They want to have it done by next year. That way they can focus on Vista and the new Vienna. If you are trying to build a legit computer and not use a hacked OS you probably want to go with Vista so you don't have to upgrade in the near future. I've been using 32-bit Vista for several months now and I just loaded it on my g/f's computer. Neither of us have experienced any problems that weren't easily fixed.
Use XP for all its worth - hopefully by the time it's actually problematic, windows 7 will be near out.
