Advice: Vista or XP on new laptop?

I am probably going to buy a new laptop in the next few days. All merchants in my area that sell laptops only offer Windows Vista and not XP. However, I can still find XP in the Small Business section of some manufacturers' websites. I have also found XP in the Home/Home Office section at Dell but only on two computers; one is out of my budget and the other is not to my liking.

My question is should I buy a business laptop (which will have a subpar graphics board, 3 in 1 card readers instead of 5 in 1, etc) so that I can stick with XP or am I better off getting more of what I want in a computer and dealing with Vista. I have not heard Vista spoken of to highly so I am reluctant to go that direction, but I know XP will not be supported as far into the future as Vista will be.

Any input is welcome. Thanks.

 

If you dont plan on getting Vista later on, then get XP. It should still be good for several years.

But if do want to get Vista, might as well get it now.

 

My thoughts on the matter...

1. Vista is more demanding of PC resources than XP, so it will not run as fast on any given PC.

2. Be aware that a large number of applications are still not Vista-compatible, so before opting for Vista I would check the apps you are using to determine that.

3. You may want to checkout Dell's Outlet (online) for very good deals on PCs. Most of these were ordered, configured and then cancelled before shipping. Some have been returned and refurbished if necessary. Many of them should have WinXP and they all come with the Dell warranty.

 

Yeah last time i checked dell still offers xp with some of its home user systems.

 

Thanks for all the advice.

I definitely do prefer XP but as I said it's getting alot more difficult to find on new systems. I will look into Dell's Outlet. I didn't see the option for returned/refurbished/configured & cancelled models when I was on the Dell site before. Might be worth a look if I could find one configured close to what I want that had just been cancelled by whoever ordered it. Not sure I would trust a refurb or return though.

 

Without know what you plan on doing with the laptop, or knowing what your desired system specifications, it is hard to answer this question.

While Vista does use more resources than XP, it can be trimmed down without losing any functionality. After Vista 64 Ultimate finishes loading, I have 35 processes running. On my XP system I have 25 processes. I know that I can trim more off of the Vista system, but I am busy doing other things with it at the moment.

To save money in the long run, you may want to consider getting Vista with the laptop and purchase a separate XP license. If you are going to get more than 3 gigs of RAM, and you want to use that extra RAM, then you will want the 64 bit versions of XP and Vista.

Personally I would go with the 64 bit Vista and bite the bullet. Sure, there will be a learning curve. But once you have learned how to shut off all of the security features and trimmed off all the fat, it is a pleasure to use.

If you have a lot of experience with systems, I would certainly go the with Vista. If you don't want to spend time tinkering with your system, then go with XP.

My main reason for choosing Vista 64 on my latest system was mostly for gaming. After reading documentation from game developers, it became obvious that two gigs of RAM will be the minimum and 4 gigs will be preferred. Especially if you want to run at 2560x1600 resolution with the highest quality settings. I certainly found this to be true with Company of Heroes. It will not run cranked up on a 32 bit system.

On last thing. I am purchasing a laptop this week as well. I am going to buy a 17" Mac Book Pro and dual boot it OS X/Vista 64. I really like the hardware specs on that and I especially want the backlit keyboard. It should be a fun experience seeing how that thing runs.

 

The question isn't which one to choose. The question is "Why Vista?" Does it do anything you can not do with XP? If you're not gonna buy DX10 games and play them on this laptop, then would you want to spend more resources to run Vista?

Here's solid proof that Vista on a non-gaming laptop is a waste of your resources:
1. Vista sucks.
2. It follows from 1 that Vista sucks.
3. Therefore, Vista on a non-gaming laptop is wasteful.

Q.E.D

 

@Close_Hauled - excellent choice on the MBP; with 4GB RAM, you'd do fine just running the hogware inside VMware Fusion unless you're gaming.

@ the OP - if you're a Windows user, by all means grab XP Pro while you can. Vista will still be around when its SP1 will be released; by then, there will probably be enough DX10 games available to make the install a factor. Until then, you'd be a masochist to punish a laptop with it. In previous versions of M$ OSes, you could get them to run better by adding RAM. With Vista on a laptop, adding RAM doesn't do much except watching it get eat up with no noticeable performance benefit (assuming you have at least 1GB to start with), but definitely still add RAM, because it helps for everything else. Disabling services and processes to lower the security to gain performance just makes Vista even more of a swiss-cheesed install than XP. More code, more holes.
Vista is by all accounts still a beta OS - I say this in regards that the whole release/implementation of the API's suck, networking is buggy and it's no mystery that vendors are beginning to charge for their drivers. Hey, if M$ wants to make money from the lemmings, then the companies/developers that have to jump through hoops and eat company time/resources to work with their APIs it should see some fair compensation. After all, they have to write for code that's far more bloated than anything previously coming out of Redmond. I wouldn't be surprised if 3rd-party Vista compatible software prices also rise.
That said, I don't know of any sizeable companies rolling out Vista; there's just no real benefit, and the Admins/techs I know would only do it at gunpoint. XP will still be supported for years.
What I do see are smaller companies rolling out more Linux and Mac desktops. If you're new to Linux, check out Kubuntu/Ubuntu, PCLinuxOS, SimplyMEPIS, etc. which are noob-friendly versions. Besides being free, user friendly and having excellent support forums, it's time well spent on a learning curve for a new OS.
Plus it brings back the excitement of discovering new software, and you still would be able use Windows dual-booted or virtualized.

 

A month ago, wanting a laptop (but not with Vista), I went through a similar shopping experience. Bottom-line is that I did exactly what Jo Ann suggested. I bought a 'Certified Refurbished' Inspiron laptop (with WinXP) from Dell Outlet (at the time there were quite a few available with XP).

I was somewhat apprehensive about buying a refurb, but after receiving and inspecting it 'from every angle', it appeared to be brand spanking new and it runs absolutely great (but I did remove all of the trial software crap that came with it)!

 

Well, at least a couple of years more--Jan. 31, 2009--which is when MS stops supporting XP.

Thanks for providing cold hard facts for why Vista sucks. Funny how it echos sentiments made back in 2001 when XP came out.

If my 3 1/2 year old Dimension 8300 can handle it certainly the newer dual core processors shouldn't have no problems (Vista was written to take advantage of dual cores anyway). The only 'tweak' I have done so far was to turn off windows animation. The speed of the animation is too slow which makes it appear the the OS is sluggish. Once that was done, it feels just like XP.

But back on topic, my SysAdmin at work ordered a Dell E320 (I think this was the model number) for an employee which was on the Dell business part of the website that came with XP. I do not know if just anyone can purchase off the business side since he ordered it under our company's name.

 

iirc, XP will have "extended support" that ends 2014.

 

I stand corrected. The MS webpage I saw was an older one (2002) which I based my original post on. My apologies

EDIT: This page refers Home and Media Center only but does mention both having the same extended support as Pro which must have been announced on another webpage.

 

After tried Vista on a new notebook, with the latest technology, I think that I will not use it for sure...

The only positive is the new GUI, but the rest I can find on XP, with much less resources...

 

Posts like this are why I do not post on Wilders much anymore. It seems like there has been a brain drain on this forum in the last couple years. It used to be the best place on the web to get real answers to your problems. Now you get people like this who stomp all over threads and never add any real, usable content.

Some people spend more energy bashing operating system and hardware choices than they do trying to help. The person who started this thread asked a simple question. We owe that person a respectful answer. A post like the one from eniqmah does not have a place on this forum and is dragging it down.

I can't wait to get another Apple. It has been a while since I had a new one in the house. My first was a 128k Mac, which I still have and it still runs as an upgraded Mac Plus. I am going to order this one with 2 gigs and 5400 rpm drive. I will order a larger, faster drive and more RAM separately. Apple charges way too much for the upgrades ($900 vs ~$550).

I really like the Macs. Everyone whom I have specified a Mac for has fallen in love with them. Sadly I cannot say that for the Windows and Linux users. The general population seems not up to the technical challenges that Windows and Linux offer.

In my case, I want the Mac because it has been way too long since I have used the latest Mac hardware and OS. I want to explore the Mac OS and see what it can do. I can dual boot it to Windows and do some gaming when I am on the road, so that is a big plus. My work laptop is getting too old to do this.

 

In the spirit of remaining concisely OT I say...

XP

...because it fits a laptop better & duz whatever is needed.

 

What about Media Center XP?

I have it and it runs smoothly.It's perfect for games and working. From the telling of PC shop sales man and from his experience of installing OS, this is far more better that XP pro or Home, and much more better that Vista.

In what i have seen on the net this is truth.

You should also have in mind that laptop has not the same performance as desktop.

 

Um, no.
I DID provide a legit answer. If no DX10, then no Vista. This is because in my experience, Vista laptops are much more sluggish then the XP ones EVEN if the laptop is powerful. Just a matter of fact that Vista is a resource hog. The rest of my other post was just meant to be humorous. That's just what this forum needs: humor. Dealing with security isn't FUN, that's why I'm here. I don't consider bashing MS applications a bad thing. I have to frequent this forum BECAUSE of MS applications in the first place, so I'll give my opinion when I get the chance.

 

This part was supposed to be humorous?

It appeared to me to be the old Vista bashing which seems to be in vogue in this forum of late. Of course this has been going on in some form or another for eons--hatred of things that are not understood or just plain different. I do not "hate" Linux. I do not "hate" Macs. I do not "hate" XP. All of these OS's are different strokes for different folks.

If you don't like Vista you don't have to use it. There are alot of people out there (including yours truly) that loves it and wouldn't dream of going back to XP.

Of course there is more "bloat" in Vista. Just like XP was more "bloated" than Win98, etc. etc. etc.

 

my vote is for vista. what can i say i like living in the furture not the past. although i still have XP on my laptop. i find myself more attached to vista. i have no issues with it whatsoever

 

If I were you, I would first make a list of the programs that I would have to use on the new laptop. And then, I would check if they are compatible with Vista by visiting various compatibility lists or different forums. If all of the programs run fine on Vista, I would go with Vista. Otherwise, I would have to stay with Windows XP.

To me, Vista is the future and XP is the past. Why insist on staying with the past if you do not have to? From my experience, Vista does look much better than XP, and Vista does load much faster than XP at startup, Vista is more secure, and so on. It is not that bad at all. Some people say that XP takes much less RAM. But if you have 2GB or more RAM, I do not think it makes much sense to only use 300~400MB of them and leave the rest unused all the time. It is a waste of money!

Well, Vista is new. If you have headache in learning new thing, you'd better stay with XP.

 

go Whit vista believe me it work great i use since day one and i have 0 problem plus is the future

you always can get a cheap xp license and setup a dual boot system

 

Have you seen the prices for XP Pro lately?
At newegg.com it went from $144 to $288 in the past 4 months.
Ya think demand has anything to do with it?
So much for "cheap" XP, and Vista being the "future".

 

WinXP Pro SP2 (Full Retail) for $286.99 seems normal (maybe a lil cheaper) price to me. It was $299.99 when it came out no?

Maybe youre looking for the OEM which is $139.99.

 

Nope - the retail was $144-$169 just 4 months ago (the OEM was only around $20 cheaper).

 

[If you don't like Vista you don't have to use it.]: quote

thats the problem ,in mine area you can't get any Xp machines anymore.