Which OS to purchase?

[Barrister73]

I know that it has been asked and answered, but the information is a couple months old and I would like a fresh opinion.

I'm going to be building a computer soon and will have to purchase a new OS. Should I go with XP or is Vista good enough now to just go with it? I do not want to have any problems building my computer, but I also don't want to buy a new OS in a year or two.

Thanks
MRR

[Jamie Nixx]

Go with Vista mate, its running sweet now the drivers are up and running, and it will only get better with time.

Make sure you buy OEM and NOT Retail.

[Barrister73]

The difference is just price and the need to send in some receipts, correct?

MRR

[Barrister73]

One last thing; 32 or 64?

[Jamie Nixx]

If your using 2GB of ram or less, 32bit, if your using 4GB, 64bit.

[drewcarr1]

So as of March 15, 08' is it safe for me to buy Windows Vista over Windows Xp service pack 2...I will be building a system and was just wondering if the kinks have been worked out with Vista...??

[chunkylover53]

Yup. Especially on a new system with newer components. I have an old external DVD that LG won't upgrade the drivers for, but that's their problem not vista. Vista is good to go.

[Sailavie]

One of my concerns in considering a pc build is exactly what has been brought up in this thread.

What are the general thoughts out there as to what peripherals will be affected by the change in OS. I have Epson scanner, NEC lcd monitors, Brother wireless laser printer, Netgear router, and a variety of other plug and play type devices such as cameras, disc readers, webcams, etc...

Am I looking at scrapping a bunch of perfectly operational devices or will most, if not all, of them work fine? Will new drivers need to be installed? When plug and play devices from 2-3 years ago were designed I have to believe they plug and play based on XP drivers.

How do all these items survive the change?

Any thoughts?

[chunkylover53]

I only had one device that didn't survive, and I blame that on LG for being to lazy to post it on their site. Canon printer, Canon scanner, Kodak camera, ipods, wireless keyboard, 2 different brands of external hard drives... all worked plug and play or simply needed an updated driver, which takes all of a few minutes to download. If your going to build your own, you'll already be downloading a dozen or more updated drivers. What's a few more? :)

My guess is that most of what you have will have a Vista driver by now, but I wouldn't leave that to our advice. Go to the device manufacturers website, look for your model number, and double check if it's Vista compatible.

[Sailavie]

That's a good idea! I'll start checking my devices.

Thanks!

[RickyTick]

Chunky is exactly right. Go to the manufactures website and check compatibility.

One more thing to consider. Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is due out any day now. One of the big attributes of SP1 is the increase in compatibility.