Windows Vista vs. Windows XP

[MasterOfPuppets]

Originally Posted by Hammer67

Startup time depends on lots of variables, like partition fragmentation, drive speed, registry bloat, number of apps and services loading during boot, etc. But I have found that Vista boots a bit faster then XP when everything is optimized the same...but I am running Vista x64 and XP x86.

Ubuntu boots quickly as well, but I don't have much in terms of apps installed on that partition...it's mostly a default install. Linux is still fidgity to me in terms of updates, drivers and wireless support so I use it mostly as a Test & QA platform. My XP partition is getting removed shortly to free up more space for Vista.

I would not recommend Vista if you are happy with XP...unless you are a gamer and want DX10 capabilities. It is aesthetically nicer and has more robust security features built in, but no real killer app that requires upgrade.

as you said before, you need lots of ram....i had no idea that was such a factor before....when i bought the pc it only had 1 gb of ram, and it took forever to boot up, even after purging all the junk software that came with it. xp pro with the same ram and software boots up in probably 1/4 the time that vista did.

[Hammer67]

Originally Posted by MasterOfPuppets

as you said before, you need lots of ram....i had no idea that was such a factor before....when i bought the pc it only had 1 gb of ram, and it took forever to boot up, even after purging all the junk software that came with it. xp pro with the same ram and software boots up in probably 1/4 the time that vista did.

Sounds about right. Of course, first thing I would do if I bought a Dell/HP/Viao etc, would be to totally uninstall windows, format and install a fresh copy. They dump SO much garbage on their systems that I have seen systems crawl out of the box. PC's are sold at cost in most cases which is why they are so cheap. Vendors make up for this by taking "advertising" type space from software vendors by preloading their crap on their systems.

For Vista, speed depends on things like your graphics card, processor and amount of RAM. There are a lot of things going on under the hood in Vista that aren't in XP. If you had 2gb for Vista it would probably boot in roughly the same time, providing your processor and GPU aren't ancient.

Expecting a new operating system (there were six years between the release of XP and VIsta) to run the same as an older one on the the same hardware is just unrealistic.

[MasterOfPuppets]

Originally Posted by Hammer67

Sounds about right. Of course, first thing I would do if I bought a Dell/HP/Viao etc, would be to totally uninstall windows, format and install a fresh copy. They dump SO much garbage on their systems that I have seen .

your dead on with the garbage...they fill it up with "trial" software that spams the hell out of you, everytime you boot up...the reinstallation would be a great idea, except they DON'T give you a copy of the OS or drivers anymore. but they are more than willing to sell them to you upon request. fortunately , i have a "corperate " edition of xp pro , that i can install on as many computers as i want.

[steelreserve]

Originally Posted by MasterOfPuppets

your dead on with the garbage...they fill it up with "trial" software that spams the hell out of you, everytime you boot up...the reinstallation would be a great idea, except they DON'T give you a copy of the OS or drivers anymore. but they are more than willing to sell them to you upon request. fortunately , i have a "corperate " edition of xp pro , that i can install on as many computers as i want.

Ahh, not enough RAM and the spread of pre-installed crapware: Yet another reason to build your machine yourself. I put together a new machine a few months ago, and it takes 17 seconds from the time you hit the power button until the time Vista is ready and finished loading everything. Again, get 4GB of RAM or more if you can help it at all. It's getting a lot cheaper these days.

[Hammer67]

Originally Posted by steelreserve

Ahh, not enough RAM and the spread of pre-installed crapware: Yet another reason to build your machine yourself. I put together a new machine a few months ago, and it takes 17 seconds from the time you hit the power button until the time Vista is ready and finished loading everything. Again, get 4GB of RAM or more if you can help it at all. It's getting a lot cheaper these days.

My PC has been an evolving and changing great great grandchild of the first PC I put together in 1994. Makes life cheaper and easier...instead of upgrading everything at once, I add a component here and another there...

[X-Terminator]

Originally Posted by steelreserve

Ahh, not enough RAM and the spread of pre-installed crapware: Yet another reason to build your machine yourself. I put together a new machine a few months ago, and it takes 17 seconds from the time you hit the power button until the time Vista is ready and finished loading everything. Again, get 4GB of RAM or more if you can help it at all. It's getting a lot cheaper these days.

Originally Posted by Hammer67

My PC has been an evolving and changing great great grandchild of the first PC I put together in 1994. Makes life cheaper and easier...instead of upgrading everything at once, I add a component here and another there...

That's the way I've been doing it since 1998. Just upgraded the MB, processor and RAM, in fact. The only name-brand PCs I've ever owned were laptops.