What OS for Bootcamp should I use?

[OnePumpChump]

First of all, if you have more than 4GB of RAM and you want it all to show up, Vista Ultimate 64 (which I use), or XP 64-bit edition are your only options. The only reason I chose Vista over XP is because I have 10GB of RAM and I wanted to get the Windows OS of the future, which there are more and more games popping up that are solely compatible with Vista. I know most people say XP is more stable, and that may be; however, I have not had any problems whatsoever with Vista 64 other than the annoying UAC. As of right now, most games are Vista compatible, but not 64-bit compatible.

If you don't have over 4GB of RAM or do not plan on it, I would recommend the Vista 32 Premium. If more and more games are coming out Vista only, then why buy an OS twice? I have yet to spend much time since service pack one, but if what they claim is true, performance of gaming is almost side by side with Vista and XP. I am not a Vista fanboy, I just picked the one I felt would last in the long run.

 

[lloyd709]

Sorry to ask questions on a thread I didn't start but I'm also trying to decide what PC operating system to run on my Mac Pro under boot camp for games and other general non business applications.

Can anyone explain the practical differences between XP Home and Professional - specifically is there any reason I might need 'professional' over 'home'? Would XP 64 bit make games run faster?

If I decided to go Vista, why would should I go for Premium or Ultimate rather than Basic.

Thanks

 

[lloyd709]

Another question - is there any reason why Vista should run worse (slower) on a MP than on a regular PC?

I'm asking this because I've just spoken to my brother who's been running Vista on his laptop (PC) virtually since it came out and he loves it and says he's never felt it being sluggish. He recommends I get a 32 bit version of Vista (he says not to get 64 bit because there are some 'compatibility' issues).

 

[steveza]

Sorry to ask questions on a thread I didn't start but I'm also trying to decide what PC operating system to run on my Mac Pro under boot camp for games and other general non business applications.

Can anyone explain the practical differences between XP Home and Professional - specifically is there any reason I might need 'professional' over 'home'? Would XP 64 bit make games run faster?

If I decided to go Vista, why would should I go for Premium or Ultimate rather than Basic.

Thanks

The only reason why you would go for a different version of an OS is if you wanted the features it offers. Vista Basic is very basic and probably not recommended for anything. The Pro version of XP allows for things like connecting to an active directory domain so if you need to do that then get the Pro otherwise Home is fine.

 

[steveza]

Another question - is there any reason why Vista should run worse (slower) on a MP than on a regular PC?

Nope - in fact many test have proved that it runs better on a Mac than a similar spec PC

I'm asking this because I've just spoken to my brother who's been running Vista on his laptop (PC) virtually since it came out and he loves it and says he's never felt it being sluggish. He recommends I get a 32 bit version of Vista (he says not to get 64 bit because there are some 'compatibility' issues).

If you have more than 4GB of RAM or are likel to get the x64 otherwise the 32bit is fine. There are very few compatibility differences between the 32bit and x4 versions of Vista.

 

[lloyd709]

Wait until you start moving or copying files with 32-bit Vista. It moves slower than a tortoise.

I'd have to say the best option is Windows XP 32-bit, however I am tempted to try Windows Vista 64-bit to see if the bloatware gets any better.

This is the quote that is at the moment making me hesitate going Vista - combined with lots of other quotes basically just saying 'go XP' but not really saying why.

I don't really see the point of buying an operating system that is only going to become less and less supported, so I'd really like to go vista if I can but obviously I don't want it to run like a 'tortoise'. So, sorry to labour the point, but how real is this speed problem? As I said on a previous reply, my brother hasn't noticed it being slow at all - but there again I'm not sure how many large files he moves around!

Also, is Vista significantly slower, faster or the same speed at running games over XP?