Feature: Windows XP vs Vista

Len Norris said on Friday, 21 March 2008

From what I have read so far , Vista is just a resource
hungry upgrade with gimmicky graphics .
Apart from which you need at least 2 GB of ram which is not always easy to get for older , slower machines.

Alan Kennedy said on Friday, 21 March 2008

We can live without Vista. Microsoft tried to sell us a OS which was not , in spite of the hype, really a major step forward from XP. Bad enough but they really lost the potential customer base when we saw the retail costs in the UK. Hope they don't try that again with Windows 7

florus said on Friday, 21 March 2008

After using XP happily for years, I bought a new laptop which came with Vista installed. I so disliked the degree of interference from the operating system that I installed Ubuntu instead. After a short learning curve I quickly came to really like Ubuntu and will never go back to Windows.

Me said on Sunday, 23 March 2008

that was the worst one sided review i have ever read i use vista and find it a fine os and much more stable than xp especially at only just over a year old, and no im not a vista fanboy i also duel boot ubuntu though it is being a pain in the butt but it was free so cant complain

Jay Bloggs said on Sunday, 23 March 2008

I'm using vista right now and to sum it up, it's an operating system designed for people new to computing/internet - pure eye candy and over the top security features. All of this comes at the cost of performance.

If you know what you are doing and want an efficient, lean, raw and a faster windows OS then stick with xp pro.

For serious gaming you would be nuts to use vista.

Edd said on Sunday, 23 March 2008

I'm a little disappointed in this on sided review as well. Steer away from gaming, I'm a graphic designer and pre-press specialist. I use vista on my laptop for image editing, DTP, web design and also some gaming. I find vista very stable, does not suffer the slow down that XP gets after extended use. Yes its resource hungry but it still manages those resources better. I get sick of all those people who tell me vista has compatibility issues ( i had a few at the very beginning) that its only used for the flashy interface. I think that the interface has some genuinely useful upgrades. And finally if you care to take a look at some old comments pages or magazine reviews just about every criticism that is given of vista also could be applied to XP when it was first released. Don't knock it until you've tried it.

Leon Wolfeson said on Sunday, 23 March 2008

I think you'll find most of the "DX10 exclusive" games such as Shadowrun are actually Vista-exclusive and there are wrappers allowing them to be run quite easily under XP.

Unless they ditch their entire approach and start over from XP, Windows 7 will be a compatable disaster.

Tim Moore said on Sunday, 23 March 2008

I used Vista 64 Home edition for about 5 months but switched back to Suse 64 10.2 Linux, because it was FASTER. Also more stable.

I hated the inbuilt CD/DVD burner on Vista.

Lee said on Sunday, 23 March 2008

I switched to Kubuntu (Linux) several months ago. Much happier with than with XP. Bit of a learning curve but well worth it. Much easier to fix problems with it when you know how. Also, Linux is free, the community is fantastic and quick with replies.

James said on Monday, 24 March 2008

I still have not received the free upgrades promised by MS because MODUSSTINK. Personally I feel MS stole my money and will never upgrade to another MS system if I can help it.

CMT said on Tuesday, 25 March 2008

One of my friend is a keen early technology adopter and bought a new PC as Vista came out. However so far I had the 'joy' of constantly repairing his computer from mysterious crashes and annoying software compatibilty issues. And his computer is no slouch either, for some reason his desktop AMD Athlon X2 4200+ with 4GB RAM stills runs slowly compared to my Intel Core 1.6Ghz laptop with 2GB RAM running XP.

Anthony O'Brien said on Tuesday, 25 March 2008

Unbelieavable,one sided review. I am a heavy PC user for years and upgraded to VISTA 32 bit machine when the MB in my previous PC packed up. I have not had a single issue with VISTA that could not be resolved. The very same type of issues I had when I first migrated to XP. It's a fine operating system,very stable and in my opinion very secure. O.K so UAC is annoying but so is XP's frustrating tendency to dramatically slow down over time, something that is not a problem for me with VISTA. I know it is resource hungry but lets be honest, if you are buying a VISTA based PC those resources will be available to you for a lot less cash than a new XP based machine back in the early 2000's. I recently upgraded a laptop from XP to VISTA Basic with no hardware upgrade and it runs perfectly,no problems whatsoever. Come on PC Advisor I have never seen you to be so 'Stuck in the Past'.

Alfred John Benson said on Tuesday, 25 March 2008

It just so happens that I wanted to re-install my OS (too many programs on) but I could not find my installation disk!
Having tried the Vista as a tester, and seen it on other machines since, I opted to buy an OEM XP instead. The costs as against Vista were not too far apart!
It took some time to find the right drivers for Monitor and Sound but, once installed the new system works perfectly!
I used 4 drives to manage it all. I kept the old XP on an external drive, so I still have all the information available. I also kept a copy of the OEM XP plus drivers with no additional programs installed as a precaution.
So, now, I have two 200Gb hard drives installed with everything I need and none of the clutter!
I am sure that XP OEM disks will be around a long time, however much Microsoft would like to replace it.
At the least, it might be worth putting an XP OEM in reserve in case the Vista doesn't suit on your new machine.
But, don't forget the drivers!

Tabvla said on Tuesday, 25 March 2008

An XP-biased review, that sadly (very sadly) is absolutely accurate. Would it not have been welcomed by all if MS, after all those years of waiting, had delivered an OS that did what OS's are supposed to do, and do it better than Mac or Linux. The unfortunate truth is that Vista does not deliver the operating environment that users (both corporate and home) were entitled to expect after such a prolonged wait. Like it or not, the fact is that MS have got it wrong. Very wrong. The next 2 years are going to be a nervous time as we wait for W7. If MS get it wrong again in W7, we could well see the begining of the end of the Windows era.
T.

andy said on Tuesday, 25 March 2008

i love xp

belfix said on Tuesday, 25 March 2008

got vista on my laptop and since the sp1 upgrade, startup and shutdown are visibly slower. Apart from that no other problems with vista - must have been lucky?
got xp on my desktop and, just a personal feeling, I don't mind either.

George A Dangerfield said on Tuesday, 25 March 2008

As an old 'Silver Surfer' I shall probably die happy in the knowledge that I will never have to upgrade to the dreaded 'Vista' so that I will be able to leave a few extra 'bob' to my kids

Neil Franklin said on Tuesday, 25 March 2008

I bought a new laptop with Vista but am absolutely staggered to hear that it might be replaced next year - I would have sought out one with XP had I known. Microsoft are taking a huge, brazen liberty - they're basically treating us like mugs; it's absolutely disgraceful. If Vista was such a poor OS, why didn't they just beef up XP until something better was ready? Don't answer that - it's obvious isn't it?!

Tony S said on Tuesday, 25 March 2008

I have been using Vista since it was launched back in February 07 and I cannot understand why some folks can't come to terms with this OS. It's far more reliable and stable than XP. Come on world, please try to keep up!

Tony S said on Tuesday, 25 March 2008

I have been using Vista since it was launched back in February 07 and I cannot understand why some folks can't come to terms with this OS. It's far more reliable and stable than XP. Come on world, please try to keep up!

Compter Ltd said on Tuesday, 25 March 2008

As I still use windows 2000 prof on desk top mostly and have one new lap top computer with XP, I will not be a happy book keeper, if XP is not supported. I have been told countless times by my IT plumber, do not fix what is not broken. 2000 and XP operate the majority of what the majority of us want. Please, please do not go with VISTA - Microsoft just went too far, too quickly - pride comes before a fall.

Compter Ltd said on Tuesday, 25 March 2008

As I still use windows 2000 prof on desk top mostly and have one new lap top computer with XP, I will not be a happy book keeper, if XP is not supported. I have been told countless times by my IT plumber, do not fix what is not broken. 2000 and XP operate the majority of what the majority of us want. Please, please do not go with VISTA - Microsoft just went too far, too quickly - pride comes before a fall.

Kate Phinn said on Tuesday, 25 March 2008

That's all very well, but try buying a new PC without Vista, impossible and I don't have enough savvy to try to run XP on a computer already with Vista, and even if I could, could I then later use my authentic copy of Vista?

Carol said on Tuesday, 25 March 2008

Why must we update. I am happy with WindowsXP

Alfred John Benson said on Tuesday, 25 March 2008

Kate Phinn:
See my post above!
Providing you have not activated your Vista operating system, you could re-install it later.
If you have Vista pre-installed AND have the Vista Installation disk, there is no problem.
The XP Instalation disk would allow you to overwrite the Vista operating system.

Peter Jones said on Tuesday, 25 March 2008

I think I will examine the Apple OS before I decide to (up?)grade to Vista!

Robert Badger said on Tuesday, 25 March 2008

I don't intend upgrading to Vista unless I have a new computer, but, were'nt we all saying very similar things about Win 98 SP2 and XP?

Robert Badger said on Tuesday, 25 March 2008

I don't intend upgrading to Vista unless I have a new computer, but, were'nt we all saying very similar things about Win 98 SP2 and XP?

Ray Woods said on Tuesday, 25 March 2008

May be this is now the time to go over to something like openSUSE Linux like I did. Within a few days I was doing everything I did on Xp/Vista but a lot more quickly and 64 bit too.

Many of the Linux distributions are becoming very polished and all you need to do is download a few distributions, find which one looks best for you (using a Live version), then buy a book or possibly two.

Do I miss Microsoft? Not in the slightest!

John Cavanagh said on Tuesday, 25 March 2008

How come Microsoft made such a hash of it? The people who work there are not idiots. They are very clever indeed.
So what is the real reason behind it?
Win95, Win98, Win XP All winners in their own way and now Vista which is so bad. I am not and expert at all but there is surely something wrong here. And it's not just an OS.

Brian Walters said on Wednesday, 26 March 2008

Just purchased a new laptop with Vista on it. I have no Vista operating disc so tried to install XP only to find XP does nor recognise a SATA Drive. So I am stuck with it and no Vista software, except a Backup, to return to original situation, probably loosing all upgrades, etc.

Compter Ltd said on Wednesday, 26 March 2008

It is possible to buy computers with XP on now. Go to PC Business World online. Scan down all of their computers until you find one with the right spec that also says XP Pro and also may be upraded to Vista at a later date. Best of both worlds if necessary.

Compter Ltd said on Wednesday, 26 March 2008

even upgraded!

JohnnyRock said on Wednesday, 26 March 2008

Like many PC users my main reason for owning a computer is so I can access the Internet. From what I have seen I can’t see how upgrading to Vista would improve my on-line experience much, if at all. I certainly won’t be tempted to do this just by a few flashy graphics. If I really feel the need for a bit of technological eye candy then I can easily scratch that itch with increasingly powerful broadband-fuelled web content. For me the OS is simply the device which gets me from A to B, from off-line to on-line and since XP already allows me to do this in a reasonably secure and stable fashion then I see no reason to upgrade.

Dennis Treeby said on Thursday, 27 March 2008

What about all the hardware & software recently purchased that is now useless as it is not compatible with vista.?.

Roderick Moodley said on Thursday, 27 March 2008

I bought a Dual core 64 bit PC 1 and a half years ago because I thought that Vista would be able to use the 64 bit technology to take my computing experience to the next level, but I have since found out that 64-bit Vista is so fussy when it comes to drivers and certain applications, it's just not worth the hassle. LONG LIVE XP !

frankc said on Friday, 28 March 2008

I recently went on a neighbours PC. His computer seemed slow compared to mine..... until I 'upgraded' to vista. His now seems to be lighning fast compard to mine. I am getting used to vista now but if I had my time over I would definately NOT downgrade to Vista. Yes thats what i think it is a downgrade. Think about it. Slower, harder to use, certainly more irritataing. You can keep vista for me. When I get my new computer I am putting good old xp on it.

frankc said on Friday, 28 March 2008

I recently went on a neighbours PC. His computer seemed slow compared to mine..... until I 'upgraded' to vista. His now seems to be lighning fast compard to mine. I am getting used to vista now but if I had my time over I would definately NOT downgrade to Vista. Yes thats what i think it is a downgrade. Think about it. Slower, harder to use, certainly more irritataing. You can keep vista for me. When I get my new computer I am putting good old xp on it.

Nicholas Tindall said on Friday, 28 March 2008

Never liked Xp, but after some software was getting harder to, or missing out on w2k I decided to upgrade. I'm impressed, and I like it, but I wouldn't have bothered if W2k had continued to offer what I needed. I also find 64bit works better, probably just me though.:)

Muhammed CANBAY said on Saturday, 29 March 2008

Ben Onu Bunu Bilmem
Vista Görsel Efek Olarak Basarili Olsa Bile Performans Bakimindan Çok Zayif :(
XP Derseniz Görsel Efektleri Gelistirilebilir ve Performans Olarak Çok Basarili Bir Sistemdir.
Herkese Tavsiyem Win XP SP2 (:

Old MacDonald said on Saturday, 05 April 2008

When my W98 machine finally died this year, my wife took over our W2K laptop. It was time for me to get a new box. Firefox 3 wasn't going to support W98 anyway, so the timing was right. I got my moneys worth on that old beast. I shopped and shopped. Mac, Vista, Linux?? I needed to run Quicken and some other software that won't run on a Mac or Linux, so MS it had to be. My final conclusion, I spent $200 on a refurbished P4 HT 3ghz IBM with XP pro and still use my monitor, mouse and keyboard. The rest of the money that I would have spent is now happily invested in a deepwater oil driller!