Why I chose XP

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Hi Leo, I agree with your sentiment that Vista is fine for most users. However I've still heard of some issues with it..most of them have involved pre-installed copies of Vista and the NVIDIA video drivers. Two tech-savvy colleagues of mine bought new computers with Vista preinstalled and experienced problems, but they reported success when they simply reinstalled Vista on the machine. Both had newer-model Dell laptops with NVIDIA drivers.

I'm running Vista on a work-issued HP laptop, and so far haven't had any major issues. I know it was purchased with Vista, but I don't know whether it was reinstalled before I got it.

So when people ask me about Vista, I usually tell them it's fine, but if they buy it, do a reinstall before you transfer any of your files onto it, especially if it's a Dell. It's a pain, but it seems to avoid a lot of the common issues.

Leo - it sounds like you've made a wise decision. The hardware manufacturers have had a halting start to their Vista support which has made life frustrating for those who push their machines in the hardware arena. Given your desire to do video editing, I bet the XP drivers are more mature and stable.

Although I run Vista on my home-built boxes (at home), I'm not doing anything that would begin to push the OS and its drivers very hard. Mostly I'm doing simple stuff, with an occasional MP3 rip or low-brow video game, but nothing that should cause my hardware to sweat. Hopefully the Vista support should become satisfactory for most users in the next few months.

XP is a wise choice. Too many people have complained about basic problems with their pre-installed Vista. Too bad the work around is to re-install Vista over the top of the pre-installed version before using the machine. I recommend XP while it is still available pending the 2009 release of Windows 7. Let's hope 7 will resolve the Vista issues much like the transition from Windows ME to XP did. If you have to have Vista, purchase the cheaper SP1 upgrade. SP1 will install the full Vista version on a clean drive complete with all the bug fixes without having to prove prior Windows OS ownership.

I work at a hospital that has more than 75,000 desktops and laptops in use. Most run 24/7 and they all use XP Pro. Our IT department has been experimenting with Vista for several months and they've decided to keep XP Pro for as long as they can. It's my understanding that Vista will not work with many of the hospital software programs needed in operating rooms, reading x-rays, etc. A quick check of other hospitals and private doctors' offices in the immediate area showed they aren't switching any time, either. Guess that says something about the Vista / XP controversy.

Thanks for the great website; I've learned a lot by browsing through it.
I upgraded a Vista-capable Gateway from XP to Vista - after taking the time to upgrade the BIOS and being sure that I had all the Vista drivers for my hardware and Vista versions of my software. The upgrade was easy and my machine is faster and smoother than before. Yes, it takes a *little* longer to boot - but not nearly as long as some of the horror stories I've read.
While an upgrade may be riskier than buying a new machine with Vista alread installed, it can be accomplished nicely on a machine with the proper hardware, as long as one is smart and does the research beforehand.
While I respect the quality and stability of WinXP, I shall never go back.

My laptop has xp home, but I too will be purchasing a new desktop for my young kids.I do a lot of text docs, letters, excel charts, and intend to use the new desktop as well. Should I get the desktop with vista or xp?

I must be the ONLY person in the World that likes Vista! Maybe it is because I own REAL peripherals (Canon printer, W/D Hard drives, etc.), on a REAL computer (H/P desktop & Dell laptop). I've never had problems. Maybe part of the problem is all these cheap knock-offs that people buy to try to save a buck, and why should Microsoft even BOTHER to make compatible drivers for them?

Leo, for me, despite the initial problems, XP is the best Windows I have ever seen. Generally, it runs more applications faster with less problems.
I hated moving from DOS to Windows because the big "W" was so SLOOOOOW, but eventually went to 3.0 (horrible); 3.1 (worse) 3.11 (Great!) Let's run with that one...
but, noooo, here comes 95. I beta tested it until release date then reverted to 3.11 until the application world made me upgrade.
OK, so we'll fix 95 with 98.... ARRRGGGHHHH, revert back to 95.... then 98SE comes! YEAH! Let's stay with this one. (short trip in between for NT; 2000; and VERY short to ME), then back to 98SE (with 2000 for networking).
When XP came out, I watched it for a couple years and then grabbed it and have been happier with every rev.
My PET PEEVE is probably what new users love; all the gooey gui. My XP looks as close to 98 as possible. All that mush just makes it harder to navigate. I would love for all new releases to have a "Look Like" button... Select "95," "98," "2000," "ME [not!].. but hey, I'm easy.
- Thanks for all the GREAT work and patience* you expend on your following!
{*the guy with the REAL peripherals :-)}

I totally agree with Leo. Vista preloaded is the best but if one opts to buy an OS separately to install on an assembled machine or on older machine XP would be better. I believe that Vista preloaded should not have major driver issues because the manufacturer would have got them thoroughly tested before shipping the machine to you.

I have worked with two Vista Laptops of HP and Toshiba without any major issues. But if you want to go for a downgrade to XP, I think being with XP would be better because the manufacturers are reluctant to provide XP drivers for Vista shipped machines.

Yes, I had any issue while installing XP (using Dual boot on a separate partition) on a vista installed machine because basic XP drivers were unable to identify the Hard Disk which used some advanced reading techinque (which should have been first been disabled in the Bios). Moreover to take advantage of the newer hardware, you should be able to provide XP with 3rd party Drivers during install.

Ravi.

Leo I agree but probably for other reasons than those you listed. I like Windows XP and I also beta tested that program when it was part of the long wait for its release. And it was really the program I became to like. To me it is easy. I also prefer to use keyboard short cuts. I found Vista an economic waste for a lazy person like me. It takes to many keystrokes to get something very simple done. It is the same thing as with Microsoft office 2007 versus M.O. 2003. I even uninstaled MO 2007 Word and reinstalled Word 2003. And are thinking about doing the same thing with Excel. I think that Microsoft tried to make everything simple and achieved the opposite.

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