Vista vs Xp on Mac Pro - Suggestions?

[-Noodles]

So my new mac pro is on order and while it will complete my switch over to apple I will still need to have windows for a couple of things. I will need to use Autocad and sketchup mainly but also some games like half-life 2, ffxi online, and maybe anything new that catches my eye.

My difficulty is in deciding which OS to go with xp or vista ultimate (and then out of this the 32 or 64 version? -God damn I hate microsoft). I feel a bit like people did when xp first came out, where there were a lot of complaints but in the long run everyone had to get on board. Here I'm unsure as we approach the first full year of vista. People seem to be more willing to wait indefinitely, and microsoft seems slow to put out the fires. Reading reviews I'm not too happy about hearing things like the operating system records whether you've backed up a disc so that you won't be able to make more than one copy of it or that people have had issues with settings changed on them by the os etc.

However, my main concern is the outlook for say the next 3-5 years. While I do not wish to have a lot of troubles with installs or programs not working I'd rather have something that I won't need to buy an upgrade for over the next couple of years. Its just unclear to me how long microsoft will continue to support xp in the way of patches, updates, or added features. Input and experiences would be greatly appreciated, thx.

 

[Neil321]

Me id go wth xp as i dont like vista(not that i like xp that much) but thats a personel thing.If you decide vista go with 32bit otherwise you will spend most of you time hunting around for drivers.

 

[hob]

I have Vista on my iMac, and really didn't like it.

Then I got a new MacBook and put XP on it, and did quite a lot of work on it.

Then I went back to Vista and found that I did quite like it, it wasn't vista I was disliking on my iMac - it was Windows in general.

I'm going to swap my Vista and XP installs over, because I think my new MacBook will run Vista better.

 

[mission75]

re: Windows

I've been trying to decide the same question. I've also been running Vista 32 and 64bit for a while after running xp before that and I'm seriously thinking about going back to xp 32 bit. The reason isn't a deep one but based on the fact that there is more freedom on xp and 32bit isn't really any slower than 64bit and you get Apple drivers to go with it. I had Vista running on a sata controller showing all the ram with 64bit and sp1 thinking it would be faster but WINDOWS IS JUST PLAIN SLOW no matter what you do. God I wish I knew why. Anyway, It's a tough one. I just want to play games, watch movies and run some burning software and a few fun apps on it. So I guess it depends on you really good luck!!!.

 

[apfhex]

If you aren't going to want to buy another version of Windows within the next 5 years (and really, who in their right mind would? ), get Vista. Vista runs good on a Mac Pro!

Unless you specifically need the 64-bit version, I'd say get the 32-bit version. I've witnessed driver issues with the 64-bit version on other PCs and I don't think Apple's BootCamp drivers include 64-bit support at this time either.

Turn UAC off though, it makes using Vista an absolute nightmare.

 

[junior77]

Turn UAC off though, it makes using Vista an absolute nightmare.

What is UAC?

 

[-Noodles]

think i'm going to go with the vista 32 ultimate version - seems like the least headaches on the front end and the most rewarding on the long. thanks for all the input

 

[LOZER]

I just put Vista Home Premium on a second 250Gb hard drive on my Mac Pro(a 2.66 quad core with 7300gt and 1Gb of ram) I have not had any problems with it being slow or anything. I plan on upgrading in the next week or so to 9Gb of ram and the 8800gt when it comes out. So from that its working great, but have really haven't had much experience with it to find any problems yet.

 

[northy124]

Right haven't read the thread but here's my answer.

Get Vista if you have any games that require DX10 or you can't play them. I have Vista Ultimate very good for what i want to do that requires windows. If you don't have anything that requires DX10(And don't plan on buying any though you prob will in 2 months time) get XP. Now if you can wait until early next year you can get a stable OS called Windows 7.

Depending on what OS you get Always get 32bit as very few programs work with 64Bit (From own experience).

I'd go with Vista Ultimate my self.

 

[snickelfritz]

XP Pro.
Drivers are going to be easier to find, and more reliable.
Fewer software compatibility issues.
Lower RAM requirements.

 

[neilhart]

I would go with XP. That said, I have Vista Home Priem 32 bit verson on one PC and found that it was a pain in the "..." and had to spend a lot of time dumbing it down so that it could co-exist on my home network that is mixed XP pcs and MACs. Needless to say I am more comfortable with XP because of the years of experience with it.

I have a MBP with Leopard and BootCamp XP SP2 on NTFS. Then installed VMware Fusion and run the BootCamp XP as a virtual machin is a full OSX Spaces window. My MS Office applications including Outlook run just fine on the virtual machine. I hardly ever shutdown the machine, just close the cover when I change locations. Open the machine and OSX wakes up, VMware BootCamp XP wakes up and if I am in the same network environment I am connected to the internet. If the machine wakes up in a different network environment, OSX usually reconfiures the network connection without intervention. Not so with VMware BootCamp XP, I have to ipconfig release and renew the ipaddress (click a batch file and done).

Neil

 

[JeffTL]

I run Vista Ultimate 32-bit on my MacBook Pro without any issues. The Financial Accounting Research System, Firefox, Lotus Notes, and Baldur's Gate II work, so I am good to go.

 

[webgoat]

i installed xp pro with boot camp and ran the boot camp partition with fusion with no problems... then i got a copy of vista ultimate 32 for $34 through my university and wiped my xp boot camp and installed vista which i also use the partition with fusion... i since installed xp pro as a virtual machine only and rarely use it as vista has given me no problems and i actually prefer it to xp (with the desktop widget crap turned off of course) sp1 is right around the corner too for vista as is sp3 for xp... personally i'm glad i have vista as my primary windows os

 

[retrofraction]

I am in the same posstion, I would get Vista Ultimate because xp is going to loose support in 3 year or so.

Vista may be glichy now ,but so was xp before sp 2.

It may take microsoft time but they will get vista working as good or better than xp.

I just wait for the updates.

if windows seven comes out it will be good cause then it will pull all of microsoft attiontion away from xp and nt and 2000 ( cause by then all those pc's should be obsubleate.)

vista should last for a good 7-8 years

get 32bit don't even consider 64bit if you have little to no exsperences in fixing dills or operating bios ( will void warnty) And offically boot camp does not support it, so they won't help you at all.

also it is still very new tech for pc's and microsoft is not very good at making everything work right ( but you know that )

if you want to get 64bit I would wait 2 years from now, so they can update it.

 

[Cromulent]

get 32bit don't even consider 64bit if you have little to no exsperences in fixing dills or operating bios ( will void warnty) And offically boot camp does not support it, so they won't help you at all.

Nonsense. Vista 64bit works perfectly. Just make sure you download the 64bit drivers and away you go. I don't worry at all about what applications I install and they have all worked perfectly with 64bit Vista for me.

 

[Stridder44]

Nonsense. Vista 64bit works perfectly. Just make sure you download the 64bit drivers and away you go. I don't worry at all about what applications I install and they have all worked perfectly with 64bit Vista for me.

x2.

Been running Vista x64 since SP1 came out and it's been nothing but awesome. Granted I mainly run games on it but they have all worked fine for me (even Oregon Trail worked!). The improved memory management alone is worth getting Vista. One cool thing to keep in mind is the more you use it/run programs/restart the faster it gets (thanks to Superfetch).

Plus, if you ever on using more than 3 GB of RAM, which I'm assuming you will seeing as how RAM is dirt cheap, 64-bit is the way to go (and everyone knows XP 64 is a joke). Let me know if you have any more questions.

 

[RRutter]

I absolutely love the Vista theme, but Vista sucks. I'm sorry - it does. Some people say it doesn't but yeah.. It does. XP is so much better, so on my MB, I have VMWare Fusion Running XP with a Vista theme

 

[dimme]

I say XP but if you do go down the Vista road go with 64bit.

 

[cohibadad]

If you have more than 4GB on your MP Vista 64 is the way to go. 4GB or less and I'd use XP just for personal preference.