radar69 (imported) wrote: Tue Oct 07, 2008 9:11 pm
With a 1000$+ Vista approved machine you get decent results but many peoples can't afford changing computer every 2 years.
I think the best quality price right now is a recycled corporate Pentium 3.2Ghz 1Gb ram and 80Gb hdd running XP pro you can get for max 300$. Theses will outlast most of the 600$ all included kits.
Regards
Radar69
I have gone the new/kit built route when I moved to XP initially (too early on the hardware curve). It turned out to be a very poor choice. Much happier with my Dell that I bought for $250 that is 3.2 G, 2G RAM ex-corporate running XP-SP3, far more satisfied with this choice than my proir choice. and second-hand corporate "cast-offs" are an excellent choice unless you have very demanding criterion that you know that will require a more capable system.
What MS and Intel fail to be willing to recognize is that many users can't afford/aren't willing to spend the amount of money every 2 years to buy new hardware, new OS, go through the HUGE hassle of re-installing EVERY software package that they own (remember, MS says to start with a FRESH install, or, even worse, FORMAT your hard drive), with NO guarantee that the software that they presently own will even work on the new OS. And yes, I had to update, at my expense, in addition to the cost of the hardware and OS, some of my software when I migrated to XP.
The other nicety is that with corporate systems, is that they are tagged for XP-Pro in nearly all cases. I bought my Dell OptiPlex 280 3.2G/2 G RAM/80G HD pre-loaded on the drive off of eBay. the OptiPlex has a number of outstanding features that make it very easy to work on. Dell does not use that design anymore, which I consider a poor choice on their part. But...
Until I see companies adopt Vista (or whatever), I don't consider it usable in a home environment. Corporations usually have benchmarks that ALL software must be met before it can be used, and they have an IT staff to support the desktop system. If corporations that have an IT staff refuse to use it, why should the average home user consider it safe to do so, when they don't have an in-house IT staff (unless that is their profession).
Avoid the expense for both the new hardware, Vista, and updating your other software software, and reinstalling it, unless you have a clear need to do so.
64-bit - Read MS's own position, when I see "MAY," "MIGHT," SHOULD," "HOWEVER," etc... and any other such phrasing/caveats, that should raise serious caution flags BEFORE moving in that direction. Wording like that means that at least one software package will NOT work on 64-bit. If I'd hazard a guess, it would be a 32-bit program, your favorite, that is not the 64-bit one you chose 64-bit for, that is the one that won't run on 64-bit. (See the section from "calm
calmeilles (imported) wrote: Thu Oct 09, 2008 5:22 am
eilles" quoting MS [in blue] that uses those words.)
"Many programs designed for a computer running a 32-bit version of Windows will work on a computer running 64-bit versions of Windows without any changes. However, in some cases there might be differences in performance. If a 32-bit program uses embedded drivers, the drivers might not work in the 64-bit environment. If you have a 64-bit computer, it's bes
t to run programs designed to run on a 64-bit computer."
But what if YOUR favorite program is not/will not be written in 64-bit?
Be forewarned on 64-bit.
Vista overall - when corporations wholeheartedly embrace it, they have determined that has become a valid OS. Before they do it, don't you. Let them be the beta testers. If you NEED it, pull out your existing XP boot drive, put it on the shelf, buy a new drive for Vista. This will allow you to revert to your copy of XP in three minutes with no hassles. Big SATA drives are cheap enough nowadays.
Linux still runs fine on far older hardware than the specs outlined here, and 64-bit in nothing new in that realm. MS just keep turning the OS into bloatware further and further. I'm just glad my weight doesn't go up every 2 years the way each new OS from MS does in it hardware demands. I like Linux, but this not an endorsement of Linus for a novice. XP-Pro SP3 is what I advocate for the novice for the stability and smoothness of function that it presently has. That is far more important to a novice than any bells & whistles/ fancy(er) GUI's or anything else that detracts from the user sitting down at a computer and get done what they need to get done. Then the rest can be considered.
How many of those here that have used both a fair amount would recommend Vista over XP-Pro SP3 to a novice. (And YES, new, unopened, fully licensed, with CD included, packages of XP, and XP-Pro can be purchased on-line from several reputable retailers. [no endorsements for any single retailer].)
Format the disk and do a clean install of XP-Pro and go in the right direction. Use MS's instructions, but for 32-bit XP-Pro, and get rid of the "MAY," "MIGHT," SHOULD," "HOWEVER," etc... that MS includes about 64-bit. There will be a very limited set of packages that will require 64-bit Vista, Like maybe Matlab, but none likely to be in the typical home-users' realm.
If you you are looking to make your decision if, when to, at all, move to Vista, stay, revert back to, XP, talk to colleagues, at work, and in particular the IT PC support staff. See what common/daily issues they experience, especially if you are in the rare company that has already made the transition to Vista.
Another reason to use what work uses, colleagues and the IT PC support staff will answer the odd question if you have a problem with the OS at home. (DON'T abuse this, or you'll get on IT's wrong side very quickly, the staff is there to help you get your company's work done, not non-work things you do at home. If you work remotely, then you can expect a reasonable degree of support for that.)
I hope, from what I and others have said, in favor of, or opposed to Vista (32 or 64-bit) and in favor of, or opposed to XP, you will be able to develop some understanding of each. My observation is that few here oppose using XP and XP-Pro. The question seems resolve around migrating to Vista or replacing Vista with XP on a system preloaded with Vista. No one seems to be saying that XP is not a capable OS.
(Slammr, actually, I'm glad you have 64-bit Vista running well on your system. How much did your system costs, monetarily and effort to set and have it to this point? What I paid is about what I can afford. Can you provide support to others that follow in your footsteps? [Just kidding
.] The spec's you list are far beyond what most people [I think} have. I guess, that's a major part of the issue, associated costs.)
One final note that I have not seen mentioned much, if at all, is OS support tools, some are free, such as Belarc Advisor, some are low-cost, such as tools to keep the registry in a stable state (I use Registry Cleaner) whether you use XP or Vista. Make sure the tools you use support your OS. In particular, the one most important tool is one that you can use to insure that the registry is "clean" BEFORE there is any danger of corruption. Use it routinely. Also, get a inexpensive external-USB hard drive and use a program that can do "hot copy" partition copying (i.e. Paragon Hard Disk Manager Suite) from your active (normal) drive to the USB drive. If you try to do it yourself to drag the files over, you run into permission errors. This will give you a good way to have a periodic backup of your partition(s).
-YC