I am ordering a new dell laptop. I decided on the Vostro 1500, good value, good specs. I am undecided on which OS to get, XP or Vista. The computer will be for my parents, and I am thinking XP may have less problems. Is this something I will regret two years from now when I have to pay to upgrade them to Vista?
Thanks,
Depends on what they're doing with it. If they're going to be running a lot of programs with a lot of peripherals, XP is better. Vista still has compatibility issues in some areas.
If they're more into the word processing and internet basic computing stuff, then Vista will mean more security without having to buy anything extra (all they have to do is download the updates).
I was in a similar situation this past summer and most everyone I talked to recommended Vista. I got it and haven't had any problems, but I don't do a whole lot with my computer.
I think Vista would be the better bet as XP will most likely be old news in two years or so like you said.
Leopard
leopard FTW
my day job is manager of information systems
go with xp
given 2 computers with the exact same hardware one with vista, one with xp - the vista computer will run ~50% slower than xp.
shortly xp will have sp3 which will give xp an additional 10% performance boost.
at my company, we will not be spending more money for better hardware to run the same jobs ... slower, simply for the "privilege" of running vista.
vista is the new windows me (Millennium Edition)
dell, hp, lenovo, etc have all begun offering the option to "downgrade" to xp.
sorry guys, just because it is newer, doesn't make it better. if you want windows, stay with xp, if you want cool go with a mac.
there is no compelling reason to switch to vista. i don't care one way or the other about mac, windows or linux - as far as i'm concerned all three are nothing more than hammers to me - just a tool for doing my job. sometimes one feels better than the other for doing a particular job ... but ultimately, they're just tools.
1g of ram in the laptop - go with XP, 2g - go with Vista.
Vista runs best with 2gig. If you still want Vista and the best deal comes with 1gig, shop Newegg or someplace online and get more ram for cheap and install it yourself - don't pay the huge Dell increase for ram. It's very easy to find more ram now for around $30 per gig.
XP. It's for your parents, you want it to work for at least an hour. Leopard's a good choice, but if you've already decided on a Dell that will turn into a hot toadstool in about 6 month,you've already decided you don't want anything reliable anyway.
What if I already have a new HP laptop with Vista? Would you recommend switching to XP? I have an XP disk but I worry about having all the correct drivers. People tell me to switch to Linux but for the average guy thats just not feasible, I have at least switched to Firefox thus thus no misspelled words.
How much ram does the desktop have? If you have 2gig you should be fine.
I have an HP laptop w/Vista, 2gig ram, no problems.
Alan
that is what I was thinking..I have 2 gig of ram and it runs fine but everyone tells me Vista is so slow....the porn is streaming fine, how much faster does it need to be?
XP Absolutely. Vista needs about 2 or 3 service packs more before it becomes as good. When it does, you save your date, reformat and install that if you want to.
XP gets the job done fast and the latest service pack gave it a serious performance boost over what was already a lot faster than Vista.
why would you invest in an operating system made by a company who can't come up with a decent upgrade after 6 years of issues?
microsoft = incompetent
heyo wrote:
why would you invest in an operating system made by a company who can't come up with a decent upgrade after 6 years of issues?
microsoft = incompetent
what kind of car do you drive?....unless it's the greatest car ever made then I guess that's incompetent too. you are the most incompetent person, runner, troll on earth
don't be a fool. Vista. You are going to have to transfer over eventually, with Microsoft now making things less and less compatible for XP. So why waste all the money on an XP OS.
crisis much? wrote:
don't be a fool. Vista. You are going to have to transfer over eventually, with Microsoft now making things less and less compatible for XP. So why waste all the money on an XP OS.
Not really, corporate customers (the real money-makers for MS) are forcing MS to keep XP viable for some time now. It's going to be prolonged for quite some time.
Go with Vista. At this point, Vista is improving rapidly, and if you buy it preinstalled on your Dell Vostro you won't have to worry about driver issues. Just make sure to get 2 gigs of RAM (you can buy + install the extra gig yourself) and consider it done. The Vostro is a nice computer at a nice price.
While XP is fairly stable, it's OLD. Go with the next generation stuff because that is where Microsoft will be focusing its efforts. Service Pack 1 for Vista is coming out in only a couple months and that will pretty much elimate any residual Vista issues. Vista is a better OS than XP. It is more resource heavy, but more intuitive, good-looking, secure, and (if you have good computer specs) faster.
If for some reason you do really want XP, be aware that Microsoft is going to stop selling it altogether in June 2008. Get it while it's still out there.
One other thing, make sure to get at least Vista HOME PREMIUM, because it includes the updated Aero user interface and media center features (both of which work well and are very cool--better than Mac OS Leopard IMO)
Last week I used a computer with windows 98 and it was the fastest, most reliable machine I have used in a long time.
police suck wrote:
heyo wrote:why would you invest in an operating system made by a company who can't come up with a decent upgrade after 6 years of issues?
microsoft = incompetent
what kind of car do you drive?....unless it's the greatest car ever made then I guess that's incompetent too. you are the most incompetent person, runner, troll on earth
....
i don't drive a car. let's stay on topic.