jeff_burror Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 Bad timing on my part, but I need a new computer. I tried to set up a Dell machine with Vista, only to learn that they don't yet have Vista-compatible drivers for second hard drives, etc., yet. Do you think it would be a mistake to buy a computer with XP instead? How long before I start to run into problems when upgrading my other software? Any other recommendations for a new computer? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d_gillespie Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 Stick with XP, Vista has a few months, er many months before the application software can catch up. What apps are you planning, a quick visit to their site should reveal their plans for Vista upgrades - if any. Most folks stay away from OS releases with any 1.x extensions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emre Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 I always wait for the first service pack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_dube Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 When Vista does finally come out, you could set up a second HD with Vista or partition a HD for a double boot config. That way, you'll have the best of both worlds (unless you do Linux). You'd be able to just use applications that are ready or test their functionality. There will be a good number of power users that will do the double boot config (and already practice this with other OS's).<P>Regards, Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dean.wette Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 Windows XP will be supported by many applications for years to come. Unless Vista has a compelling feature you need, I not convinced there is any good reason to upgrade for a while. It requires more memory and resources, and higher end hardware than XP, and the jury is still out about whether it will be more stable or less stable. Vista is really in geek mode right now, so to speak. Anyone seen the new "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" commercial with Vista? It's great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_dunn2 Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 <p>You don't want to be among the first to install the latest major OS release if you can avoid it. It will be buggy, pretty much guaranteed, and you will likely have software compatibility issues (like someone posted yesterday about none of the calibration/gamma tools working on Vista yet) in addition to the hardware compatibility issues you mentioned.</p> <p>Prior to Vista's release, lots of vendors were selling systems that came with XP and an offer of a free (plus shipping and handling) upgrade to Vista when it was released. That would be a good way to handle it, but I don't know if those deals went away when Vista was released.</p> <p>It will likely be a while yet before you run into problems with software that won't run on anything as old as XP. Consider Photoshop Elements: the latest version finally dropped support for Windows 2000. 2000 was replaced by XP five years ago. Major software vendors will do the same sort of thing here - they'll continue to support XP for several years. Particularly since probably the majority of the installed base of XP users have PCs which really aren't powerful enough to be upgraded to Vista anyway, so until those users buy new computers, a big chunk of the market will still be running XP.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Kahn Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 Never buy the first release of any software. It always takes months, sometimes years for all the bugs to be eliminated. Sometimes, they never are (as in Windows ME). As Emre said, at least wait for the first service pack. Stick with XP for the time being. It will be a long time before Microsoft stops supporting it..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ted_marcus1 Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 XP is a "no brainer" unless you really want to pay for the privilege of volunteering as a tester for Microsoft. Apparently many people are willing, and even eager, to do just that. Your best bet would be to buy a computer that meets Vista requirements, but with XP installed. When those volunteer testers have done their unpaid work for Bill Gates, and Microsoft issues Service Pack 1, you can think about an upgrade. But there's really nothing revolutionary or compelling about Vista if you're an XP user, despite what Microsoft's marketeers would have you believe. I'd also be suspicious of any statement about the lack of Vista-compatible drivers for second hard drives. As far as I know, hard drives are all very standard commodity items that don't require special drivers beyond what's built in to Windows. And most hard drive controllers (whether the new Serial ATA or the "legacy" parallel ATA) support two drives with connectors built in to the motherboard. I could possibly believe that there's no driver for a second hardware controller (e.g., my computer's motherboard has a Promise RAID/IDE controller that's separate from the native chipset's "southbridge" controller and needs its own driver). But that shouldn't keep you from installing a second hard drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_dunn2 Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 <cite>It will be a long time before Microsoft stops supporting [XP].....</cite> <p><a href="http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?p1=3223" target="_blank">Microsoft will continue mainstream support for XP until April 2009, and extended support until April 2014</a> (the link is specifically for XP Professional, but the dates for XP Home are the same). Long enough for you? If not, it's possible that they may decide to offer support beyond one or both of these dates; they've extended support before in the face of unhappy customers. At a minimum, they've committed to offer support until at least those dates.</p> <p>Now, that doesn't mean application software vendors will necessarily support it for that long, but most will for at least the next few years.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter_mounier Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 Here's an answer with a twist. If you have an iPod you may want to wait awhile before getting Vista. As it is now, Vista doesn't work well with iPods. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter_mounier Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 Here's alink to the problems Vista has with iPods. I meant to put the link on my previous post. http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/003681.html Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graybrick Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 Frankly, I have to think the jury is still out on Vista... think back to the myriad of issues that arose after the introduction of XP, many of which they are still wrangling with. I just bought a new Dell, but I'm waiting to switch until there's been plenty of time for MS to work out all the bugs... and have you seen the new Mac commercial with the security guard? Yeah... XP works just fine, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travis_johnson2 Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 Better option, if still available (could do this in early January), buy a computer with XP that contains an offer for a free upgrade to Vista. Then put off the upgrade as long as possible under the offer until hardware companies get their act together and release new drivers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_henderson Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 Last week I bought a notebook for my wife, and after a bit of a struggle managed to persuade the supplier to ship with XP rather than Vista for all the reasons given here, with the addition of the following. Three of us here have XP machines already which means that we can help out on "should it look like this/be doing that" sort of issues which might be important given its my wife's first computer. Then we aren't particularly concerned about the pace that software moves along at on this machine. So long as it will run a basic "Works" package, connect to the Internet, run Elements and the software that came with her digital camera its going to do what she wants, and I think that unless you need to be at the cutting edge of software developments she ( and we) will be just fine with XP for a few years yet. Business doesn't rush to change Operating Systems these days so I think its going to be a while before Microsoft and major software businesses cease to support XP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beauh44 Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 Looks like there's plenty of consensus out there! I have a 1 year old dual-core HP PC running XP. From everything I've read about Vista, if and when my PC dies and/or I need to replace it, I do believe I'll be buying my first Mac. Maybe I'll be proved wrong (I often am!) but with Microsoft's copy protection, its "Digital Rights Management" - where it smacks of Big Brother looking over your shoulder - its bloated size, hardware requirements, multiple versions, lack of driver support, etc, etc, make me want to run and not walk away from Vista. You might take a gander at this piece by the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6286245.stm Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugene_scherba Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 What is Vista? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelly_flanigan1 Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 Microsoft "Vista" is Longhorn with several years worth of beta testing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwebster Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 Imagine a car that needs a huge gas tank because it guzzles gas like a Boeing 747. Now imagine that in spite of its hefty consumption, this car isn't actually any more powerful than a regular car - it just burns a lot of extra gas running a huge host of extras that you don't really need - power-assisted ashtrays, heated door handles, vibrating massage seats, air-conditioned trunk .... you get the idea. Lots of gas burned, but alas, most of it just to power the host of superfluous features on your car rather than actually getting you from A to B. That's Vista! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugene_scherba Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 Kelly, thanks, but you just don't get sarcasm, do you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_dube Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 Eugene, I didn't get it either. I do think this was a very good string without the addition of sarcasm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fxdonny Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 Ha, I'm with Beau, might look into my first Mac if my PC needs to be replaced in a couple of years. Afterall, Mac dual boot abilities will shine if my prediction is correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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