Please enlighten me on Windows Vista

[rasmusp123]

What windows is ideal to use for a new gaming pc??

I currently have windowx xp pro 32bit installed, but i see many people are using/recommending Vista
home premium 64bit, why is that?

Do you recommend XP or Vista for gaming, and why?

What does home premium have that home basic doesnt have (for example)?

Why 64 instead of 32, is there any reason except for the ability to see more than 3.5gb ram ?


Im really confused as to what version of Vista i should get, or just stick to XP.


I have read many other posts, like the stickied one, but theyre like over a year old, so i dont think
the arguments are valid, so i do think that its about time to switch to vista.


TLDR:

XP or Vista, which version is best overall? 32 bit or 64 bit? Home basic/premium/ultimate?

 

[notherdude]

64 will let you use 4 or more gig of ram. That is the main advantage. There is really no disadvantage for gamers at this time. Vista 64 is stable and the driver support is very good. Almost all software runs. There a re a few exceptions here and there but by and large this will apply only to very old and/or obscure programs. 32 bit software simply runs in 32 bit mode just as it does on a native 32 bit os. There is a wave of Vista 64 popularity right now so it looks like support for it is going to be very strong going forward. XP 64 is fine too but it never got this kind of popularity or support.

As far as XP vs. Vista: most all of the early Vista issues are fixed, despite what the Apple ads and the MS haters say, gaming benchmarks have equalized (+/-, depending on the benchmarking) and if there is any 'slowness' on Vista compared to XP it is not apparent on the kind of machines that gamers typically use.

XP wins out on absolute compatibility but Vista isn't far behind. With Vista you get native dx-10 and you are buying into the future.

My advice is to get Vista 64 and load up on ram. It's not that Vista needs so much ram, two gig is plenty, but Vista 64 can still put a lot of ram to good use with superfetch. I run 8 gig myself.

Get either home premium or ultimate.

 

[rasmusp123]

Thanks, thats just the information i was looking for.

What btw is the difference between vista 64 home basic/premium/ultimate?

 

[notherdude]

I know basic lacks the beautiful Aero interface with the transparent screens and all that which make Vista very pretty to look at. These Aero capabilities run from the graphics card and thus do not place a burden on general system performance. Basic also lacks some other things but the details escape me.. Nobody gets basic, except on very low end, bargain machines.

The real choice is between ultimate and home premium or even business. If you don't need Media Center then business is a very good choice as it has most of what Ultimate has otherwise over home premium. Ultimate has a few luxuries such as the animated desktop wallpaper that only ultimate has.

I'm not an expert on the differences but you can't go wrong with home premium really. If you don't mind the extra $$ than ultimate is nice but it really has no major functional advantage - just a few extras.

 

[Scotteq]

Basic is for low powered computers and provides only basic functionality. Home Premium adds the new interface, more efficient power management, the ability to use a second screen, media center and movie maker, file backup...etc...


http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/compare-editions/default.aspx


If you use 3rd party apps for media content and DVD burning, then it may be worth your while to look at Vista Business instead of Home Premium - That has Remote Desktop Access, Full Backup and Restore functionality, and Fax capability instead of the media stuff. By going that route, you can achieve most of the functionality of Ultimate.

 

[rasmusp123]

I guess ill get the business one, we have some msdn license thing because of my education, so i can download most microsoft products.

 

[pinaplex]

I guess ill get the business one, we have some msdn license thing because of my education, so i can download most microsoft products.

just be aware that the vista business edition lacks the windows media center. if you don't plan on using it, then i guess you're fine.

 

[rasmusp123]

What is the media center except for media player??

 

[4Ryan6]

I would like to add that its pretty important that hardware wise your computer is Vista ready, it will make all the difference in your Vista experience.

Personally I reccommend Vista Home Premium 64, and my gaming experience has been fantastic, its hard to explain the visual difference that you see with DX10, but its more crisp and clear to the eye, but thats just a personal opinion OK!

However benchmark wise in my tests, Vista has out performed XP Pro on every test I've run, and I was dual booting Vista and XP on the same machine to run the tests, but now I'm just running Vista period because my questions have been answered.

I debated long and hard over the differences between Vista Ultimate and Home Premium and just couldn't see spending the extra money for Ultimate seeing as how motherboard wise you're limited to how much memory you can run anyway, and the small extras didn't validate the price difference to me, but thats my personal opinion too!

I don't know the type of games you play but Crysis is awesome in Vista.

My 2 Cents.

 

[rasmusp123]

FOLLOWUP:

I got the 64bit Vista Business, and i just want to say it works perfectly!

I had no issues with install or drivers, and even tho i only have 2gb ram, it only uses 1.2-1.3 when i play cod4! And it might be me, but i have a feeling the games runs more smooth now.

Btw, business does have media player.

Just want to say im happy i finally made the switch. Even tho my computer is like 2 years old.