Windows Vista

[Andrew]

And that's assuming it is a clean install of Vista. Not a bundled vista with crapware (norton lol!) or 6 months after using vista with programs installed etc.

I can imagine people who buy a computer with vista/xp have no idea to uninstall all the crap that comes installed with it. They just try to make it by with what was given to them, even though their computer probably runs 1/2 as fast as it could. And they would still end up with viruses/spyware :P

[Nuvollari]

Hiya!So my comp specs are 1024 ram, AMD 64BIT 3200+ and nVidia Ge-Force(yes i have a genuine copy of XP pro).Btw the real reason I am installing it its because i just play rarely on te computer,and i play like CS source and starcraft.

Windows Vista Ultimate.

[Andrew]

If all you do is play a couple games, then you'd be best off using XP as they would probably be more compatible in xp than vista. And also run faster (depending on game). At least the startup time for computer should be faster :P

[Megashrap]

Hiya!So my comp specs are 1024 ram, AMD 64BIT 3200+ and nVidia Ge-Force(yes i have a genuine copy of XP pro).Btw the real reason I am installing it its because i just play rarely on te computer,and i play like CS source and starcraft.

Windows Vista Ultimate.

Well,anyway you roll the dice,Vista is much more of a sys.hog than XP. Games or no games. Personally, I liked Win 2k-Pro. the best...out of the 4 years of using it I never ever had a single glitch or a screen o death.

[Nuvollari]

Hiya,yea guess I'll try it,and I'll tell you guys my experience with it.Hah scar I still have win2kpro on my old computer =P

[Nuvollari]

I have Vista Ultimate.I tested on a 512ram and its smooth(loaded with over 1000 songs,1000 pictures,and some games,Aero ENABLED).then tried it on 1024 ram..and it works perfecly,its kinda stable.some small bugs though.So,get Vista even if you have 512 ram.

[Cyborg]

Vista with only 512MB RAM is not recommendable at least... I've tested for more than half a year now, and 1GB is the very least you want to run this system with. The reason being usually the system itself uses a little over 600MB RAM with no user started applications running, and an empty tray.

If you surf the web with Firefox, you'll find yourself using >800MB after a little while.

If you plan on running Media Center, do not settle for anything less than 2GB. With a tv card recording on one or two channels while watching a movie your system will be on its knees with 1GB. With 512 MB... I don't wanna know...

[Nuvollari]

One year ago=means crappy BETA version.ive tested it too and and i know its crap even on 1024 ram.but the vista ultimate final version its smooth.i tested it on a 512 ram while media player was playing,windows messenger live,internet explorer opened,gadgets on,aero on,my picture and my music folder.

Note:If you run games,there you will need at least 1gb.at least atm.

[Cyborg]

I have Ultimate (gaming pc), Business (work laptop) and Home Premium (HTPC), and it's exactly the same with all of them. If you think it runs well with 512MB RAM, it's probably because you're  used to working with virtual memory, which sucks if you have to rely on it (just a guess, of course). But I can't see why Vista should work on crappy 512MB machines.

[erjin999]

But I can't see why Vista should work on crappy 512MB machines.

Becuase they are not crappy and this relentless march forward in min specs is stupid, when marching for the sake of it (areo, anyone ?).

It makes me sick that to play the newest games I will HAVE to upgrade to vista. All part of the plan, no doubt.

[gryphon]

My Vista Ultimate runs on a HP desktop with a P3 1,8 and 1gb of RAM. It's an old desktop model which has been replaced and now serves as my test computer. With Aero disabled it works ok for my office and management applications.

( and if you replace FireFox for Opera you won't be troubled by memory eating Internet browsers ;) )

A full boot took about 2 minutes and the system has been stable ever sinds. It's not that fast I have to admit but it works.

I doubt any one ( Including myself) will need the Ultimate version. And with all the (open source lovers ;) here I boubt any one of you will have the need to.

Ofcourse if I'd run it on my own computer or laptop it whould be faster. And the one it sits on now is just an old test computer. But if you know what you are doing. Vista will be able to run on an 2 year old computer without problems.

About the need to upgrade in order to run certain applications. . . I thought we already got used to that ever sinds Win 3.11 has hit the shops.

[erjin999]

But so far I see most of the upgrades as worthwhile, I can see the reason, this seems somewhat more forced.  ???

[Cyborg]

In fact, gryphon, Opera has big memory problems on my Vista computers.

Where Firefox can use a whooping 250-300 MB, Opera blows my mind with often using 400-450 MB. This is before I close down the browsers and reopen them, upon when they use about 50 MB each (and growing until it reaches the aforementioned number). The reason why they hit such high usage might be because I put my laptop into hibernation every day with FF and Opera still open (as I'm a web programmer, I like to keep a lot of sessions open from day to day), and only do a real reboot once a week.

Hmm, I've been investigating these browser problems for a time now without finding a good solution.

Also, FF has a tendency to make my computer freeze for a second or two every minute when at top memory usage...

[erjin999]

Save the session then close the browser every now and again, to make the memory leaks or whatever they are go away (for a bit, at least).

[Andrew]

I thought I read an article at slashdot that MS was not allowing XP to be sold starting in December at dell etc. They want to force people to purchase Vista. Sad if true. I guess it would only give people more reason to pirate xp if they are not willing to sell it.

EDIT:

Slashdot article

Slashdot discussion

Hmm, I guess MS wouldn't care if people pirate XP, since they made the sale of Vista that is forced upon consumers when they make a purchase from computer manufacturers.

[gryphon]

Microsoft is discontinuing the sales of Windows XP as of December.. guys. Don't jump on anything you read on the Internet like little rabbits :P

Every Windows license is downgradable. With every software it's the same, a new version comes out replacing the old one. You can't by Adobe CS2 after 3 has been released. Or buy Mac OS 10.1 at present from the Apple store. Microsoft licneses are and have always been downgradable. So buy your Vista version, and use it to run XP if you like.

(before you say anything, quote me the price for Windows XP and Vista)

Opera uses 12MB with me. 36MB was peak usage. And leaving any Internet browser open for more then a few hours is asking for trouble. Complain all you want but applications come with a how-to-use guide. Follow it or don't complain ;)

Don't expect applications to do what you think they should do. They have been programmed to behave a certain way. Learn that way then learn to work with it.

[Cyborg]

I refuse to accept that just because the how-to-use guide states that you must close the browser once per hour, I shouldn't complain. If an application doesn't manage its memory correct even over long sessions, it's flawed. It's not like the memory leaks are a feature...

I will moan and complain about this until they've fixed it. It's a bug, and a nasty one. For every memory leak, a person should be shot.

[gryphon]

I refuse to accept that just because the how-to-use guide states that you must close the browser once per hour, I shouldn't complain. If an application doesn't manage its memory correct even over long sessions, it's flawed. It's not like the memory leaks are a feature...

Please post that in the FireFox topic to ;)

I will moan and complain about this until they've fixed it. It's a bug, and a nasty one. For every memory leak, a person should be shot.

I agree that applications should be written correctly. So be careull who to blame if Opera or FireFox doesn't work on Vista. It can be Vista's fault. Or the Applications fault as you have just pointed out. If it's a badly written application don't blame Vista for that.

With caching disabled Opera hardly uses more then 45 MB with me. But that must just be me...

[Cyborg]

Thanks for the tip. I'll turn off caching.

And yep, I know very well that it might be Microsoft's problem.

[gryphon]

On another new note from Microsoft. [tt]gryphon[/tt] has just dowloaded Windows Home Server Beta.

Let's see how this works compared to my personall Novell FSF and the current Windows 2003 server family. What can I say. If it can connect to my XboX I like it already. :) ;) :P

[Andrew]

Hurray!

Dell is once again selling XP for certain PCs.

Dell relents, offers Windows XP as consumer option

Although going to dell.ca, I could not find the option to change to XP. Still has 3 different Vista versions.