Windows XP vs Windows Vista? Are We Really Still Talking About This?
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I recently received a couple of emails asking my opinion about Windows XP vs Windows Vista. I was surprised to see this question for a couple of reasons. First that it has been debated and talked about at length by many people on TV and online. I appreciate the gesture that you want my opinion on the matter *wink*. The second reason is the fact that Vista has been out so long and the chance for most people to play with it is as easy as a trip to Best Buy.
When it comes down to the comparison, Windows XP and Windows Vista really are meant for different systems. I think the reason that this became such a controversy was due to the lack of legacy support in Windows Vista on it’s release. Most computers when released with Windows Vista worked very well out of the box. People ran into problems with Vista when they either tried to install it on a new computer or tried to install a legacy peripheral on their new Windows Vista machine.
Today if you buy a machine the chance of having a problem due to compatibility with the OEM hardware is very slim. Mistakes happen but no more than they ever did with Windows XP after 2 years out on the market.
Now you really have to make decisions based on what type of machine you have. My machine that supports the live.thesleepygeek.com stream is about 3 years old and I have need to run Vista on it. If there is a feature that you really need in Vista and you have an older machine, I would still recommend an upgrade. Honestly the price of a new system today is so much lower than it used to be and it would be a much better user experience.
2 Comments
the oracle
October 10th, 2008
at 8:21am
Obviously you aren’t taking into the equation the fact that once again, Microsoft has extended the downgrade rights so that, well into 2009, people will be able to get XP legally and without problems.
At this point in time, most will accede to having Vista foisted upon them, but those who wish to get things done with as little fuss as possible will still overwhelmingly choose XP. In nearly every case, on identical hardware, XP will allow more to get done with greater ease, and less grief - for those who don’t stare at the screen, gushing about ‘all the pretty colors’ that is the point.
Also, I am interested to hear what feature Vista has that would make anyone need to run it in preference to XP - if your devices are supported by both OSs, there is nothing to recommend Vista.
Tom Challis
October 19th, 2008
at 9:01pm
Have been a computer user over 35 years - first computers required me to write machine language into them and they had no storage!! Have used every version of Windows. Still use WinMe on older machines, but on present computers can run either Xp or Vista. Love Xp as I can modify it to run everything, including all my old programs. Some of Vista features I find excellent, particularly hardware recognition etc, but there is too much of the ‘Father knows best” attitude in the setup and its a pain having to change settings.