Operating System Question

[Imconfused1234]

Hey guys, I am in the process of making a gaming computer. And was wondering what you guys think about an OS. Currently I have Windows XP 32 bit, but I would eventually like to upgrade to Windows 7. I see on newegg that I can get windwos vista 64 bit with a free upgrade to Windows 7 ($110) and I was kind of confused with the offer. I am sure windows 7 will come out for ~$200 at least, why are they offering such a good deal? Is there something I am missing?

O btw, important system specs:
CPU: AMD Phenom II 955
GPU: ATI 4890
4 gigs of ddr3 ram

 

[r_manic]

It's part of Microsoft's campaign to push 7. Basically anyone who buys a copy of Vista from now until the launch of 7 will get a free upgrade to Windows 7.

 

[rakoth]

They want consumers to continue to buy PCs until the official release of Windows 7. If they didn't offer the free upgrade, a large chunk of people would hold off their purchase until Oct.

 

[Outlander_04]

part of the price difference is retail vs OEM copies too .

the licenses are different , even if the OS is identical

 

[VinnyChase]

So for someone like me who has XP Pro 32 bit, the best path for gaming with 4GB of memory is buy Vista 64 bit w/ free Windows 7 upgrade? I've read so many conflicting opinions about which OS is best for gaming - XP 64, Vista 64, WIndows 7 - my head is spinning.

 

[rakoth]

I use Vista 64 Home Premium for gaming. Works well but I've never benchmarked it against anything else. A couple of things to keep in mind:
- Upgrading from Vista to Windows 7 will be an incremental upgrade while XP to Windows 7 is reported to be a full re-install.
- There is a family pack of 3 licenses for Windows 7 coming out in Oct which is attractive if you have more than one PC. The price will be around $150. You can download Windows 7 in the interim (until Aug 20).