New Laptop - Vista or XP ....... ?

[Nolan Emmett]

Hello to ALL .......

I know that this subject has been approached before ....... BUT ! ....... things change so rapidly and I cannot afford the incorrect choice.

My question:

Am about to invest in a new laptop and have a choice between VISTA & XP.

What do I do ....... ?

Thanks in advance for your 'opinions'.

Nolan Emmett

[AdarshN]

Hello, I'm a new member here :)

I recommend that you go for XP first and then install Vista as a secondary OS(this is called dual-booting).
I'm using this currently and this enables me to use applications which are not compatible with Vista to be used in XP.
If you are ready to continue with the above, make sure that you install XP first, and then install Vista.

[starfireone]

Hi,

I suggest that unless you are dead against Vista than go with Vista. It is here to stay and XP is going. MS recently did a end of life on XP. You can not buy it anymore. Vista is Ok once you get use to it. I do preferr XP but I know that it is best to learn the latest, get use to it and than move on.
For me I dual booted for a while with 2000 and XP but than learned XP and ended up liking it better than 2000. Same for XP and Vista. Just remember that it does take an effort and some time to keep track of all your files on two OS's if you dual boot. Plus it all takes a lot of time and effort to install your applications on both OS's and to maintain than with updates. Life is a lot easier sometimes when just working and learning one OS. With all that said...I do dual boot between XP and Vista but find myself using Vista more and more.

[ferret_90]

first you have to make sure that the hardware in your laptop has compatible drivers for both systems. i would go with vista, its not that bad if you turn off user acct. control. thats the most annoying part

[Nolan Emmett]

Thank you for your help. Appreciate it.

Nolan Emmett

[ferret_90]

No Problem. Glad to help someone out.

[nsindian]

Go with XP. Vista has so many issues with device drivers for all sorts of hardware. Vista is just Windows ME on steroids. Once XP is installed you can update to SP3 and not worry about anything not working out of the box. Dual boot XP and Vista? Why? Once you use XP for it's money's worth Windows 7 will be out and you can skip Vista and upgrade to 7 or Whistler or whatever they're gonna call it. Just for the record I use Ubuntu 8.04 and it works just as well if not better than Vista.

[earpe70]

xp. i recently decided to go back to college to advance my education and found out that the major courses require xp not vista.... what a surprise!! i like vista but until programs get caught up with vista it's a headache!!!

[skatamatic]

use vista. but if you find compatibility issues, then install a virtual machine (i use VMware) of windows xp. the only issue that i get with a VM is booting from USB, because the bios on the vm doesn't support it. Vista really isn't that bad...just a little buggier than most end users would like. It is much more secure, about as reliable, and makes new technologies (dual and triple monitors, dual/tri/quad-core processors, 4+GB of RAM) much easier to integrate.

[Vilice]

XP I suggest ! I am noe using the vista .And I really hate it .I am a programmer and I want to install softwares on the vista .But always have problem !

[Jammerx2]

I use vista... I HATE IT!!!
Either dual boot or i would just use XP. Also if your going to play games get xp vista isnt compatible with a lot of them.

[RickyRiddles]

I just got a new laptop about a month ago, and i got Vista home premium and i don't see why everyone is so against it. I like the layout and i haven't had any issues.
Also i agree with starfireone who said XP is on the way out. I think eventually Vista will be the main OS for Windows.
The only thing that took me a moment to work out when i got Vista, was how to transfer my Outlook emails from my XP laptop to my Vista laptop. This confused me at first because Vista uses a new thing called Windows Mail. But it was only a small bump in the road, because i got all emails transferred to my Vista PC quite quickly.

[Talonis]

Depends on what you are using your laptop for. For usual stuff, like Office, business applications, and such, use Vista. For massive gaming and such, XP is the best.