Which OS?

GearSecond

Ok so I'm building a gamign computer, by the time I save up, get the parts(it's expensive, and I haven't written everything down yet) and such, windows Vista will be out for sale. So rather than a painful process of isntalling my old Dell CD's(to avoid the tracking programs for ads and such, and also to have a nice clean version with nothing extra, and prevent errors of sometihng not working once updated) and then "upgrading" it on the windows site, I'll ask, what should I do:

1: Get Windows Vista PREMIUM version, which if I get Vista I will.

2: Just install the CDs that came with my Dell and use Windows XP, it's better.

I am assuming the kinks will be out by the time I need it too, if I decide to use VIsta.

Mostly I am looking for:

Ease of program use. I already have Windows Media Player 11 which I use for music since VLC can't make a playlist and run one after the other. Also, is IE 7 any good compared to IE 6? I basically don't want to listen to the reviews with confirmation because they all say "all of them are more scure and improved" but I can't toally believe that.

Ability to install whatever program I want. I don't want nagging boxes and little things that say it's not microsoft approved,which I heard MS was doing with security systems, making companies pay for the source code to design security systems.

Also, it is a gamign computer. so a major question, what, if at all, is the RAM limit? I'm going to get premium if at all, not business or basic. I realize the RAM maximum for windows XP is, I think, 3,000 RAM, which if Vista is higher that's a major point for Vista.

Anyways, the point is VIsta or XP, I basically want uninterrupted gametime when I'm playing, so no nagging boxes,s owhatever has the least. I also do not want a smaller RAM limit but if they're the same I'll forget about it.

So if someone could give me a few of those Specs, and let me know their opinion, I'd be grateful.

Onigumo

first of all, you need to know that gaming ends with ing, not ign. Now, if you are going to go for Vista, it would be a very expensive upgrade.

(actually, the price of computer you would need to run Vista resonably well would be on par with a Macintosh computer…Espcially if you are using premium.)

Anyway, you should look at the recommended specs for your computer, not the minimum requirements. It should be on the side of the Vista box, or even on Microsofts web site. Also, your RAM is 3000 what?

But right now, the only advice I can really give is one concerning security.... Set up an Admin account, and only use it to upgrade system items. Then set up a user account and use that for your day to day activities. That way, any virus you do get can't do a thing to your system files anyway.

igalsfy

@GearSecond:

Ability to install whatever program I want. I don't want nagging boxes and little things that say it's not microsoft approved,which I heard MS was doing with security systems, making companies pay for the source code to design security systems.

this sentence alone is screaming: "don't install vista!"

CosmicDebris

The way I see it, since Vista is JUST coming out, there's bound to be bugs in the system, so you're probably better off sticking with Windows XP professional with all the new service packs and patches. Then you can see what the general consensus about Vista is from the bulk of the general public.

oceanizer

I recommend you to install XP first if you already have an installer, then upgrade to Vista later when other applications have become more stable. If you have extra space, you could even install Vista on new partition so you can run XP and Vista concurrently. That's what I do, at least :x I took extra 30G to install Vista. So far it's taking up about 10G for Vista + Office + one more application. (Though, you should check about your license; My license is network license, so maybe that's why it let me run two OSes concurrently.)

And… never use IE, period. Just stick with FireFox ;)

GearSecond

Yeah I totally forgot I was switching to Firefox when I built my new computer…

I think at this point I have to ask: What's the RAM limit? That's the deciding factor. If anyone doesn't know Widnows XP has a limit on how much RAM it'll use, so installing more isn't worth it. I was just wondering if VIsta had a limit, and if so, what that limit is?

Also I don't like the idea of the Start menu not being called Start, so that's another ponit for XP right there.

CosmicDebris

Depends: http://www.aarnet.edu.au/~gdt/stories/winmem2006/
According to this, XP professional supports up to 4GB. Media edition supports 3GB, and x64 supports 16GB. But I've heard that it's not really good to get the 64 bit version of Windows yet, not enough software supports it.

GearSecond

I have XP Home Edition and last I checked the RAM limit was 3 GB.

Onigumo

Well, if you are going to get Vista premium, you should have…

1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
1 GB of system memory
A graphics processor that runs Windows Aero (DirectX 9 class graphics processor that supports WDDM Driver, Pixel Shader 2.0 in hardware and 32 bits per pixel with big enough graphics memory)
128 MB of graphics memory
40 GB of hard drive capacity with 15 GB free space
DVD-ROM Drive
Audio output capability
Internet access capability

So make sure you meet ALL the requirements before you go for it.

GearSecond

My current comp probably does. I was gonna ge tit until I saw windows ultimate. If I'm gonna get VIsta might as well do it in style.

Anyways here's the next question that is the new detirmining factor(since I might just buy a new version of XP to support more RAM) of this debate:

Can Windows XP run DirectX 10? Or eventually 11?

Throes

It's kind of funny that I happened to stumble across this topic considering I just shelled out almost a thousand buckaroos to completely build myself a new computer. Bought the parts online, of course, because I can end up finding good deals and whatnot.

My computer will have (haven't gotten the parts yet):

1 Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 2.13 GHz processor (Which at Newegg I got a free copy of GRAW for the PC :D)
2 1GB DDR2 667 memory cards (Could actually get two of these, Kingston, for cheaper than buying a 2GB memory kit)
An ASUS P5N-E 650i motherboard, which I got at zipzoomfly with Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit.
1 ZOGIS GeForce 7950GT with 512MB memory video card, SLI ready (as with my mobo)
1 250GB SATA 3.0Gb/s hard drive to install Vista on, and to be my main drive, along with the three IDE drives I currently have.
A 575W power supply for around $30, and a nice case to go along with it.

Certain things I was able to leave out were things like an audio card, keyboard, mouse, monitors, since I'm currently running dual monitor and have a 5.1 Sound Blaster Live! audio card. But eventually I would like to upgrade my 19" CRT to a 22" Widescreen LCD monitor. Also built into my computer is an ATI Catalyst HDTV tuner, which isn't really necessary but I do use it, since it can capture in HD.

Basically you want to shop around online to try and find the best deals on things, weighing certain things on how much shipping will cost, are there any rebates, sales promotions on the items, etc. to find the best deal for yourself. But as for the OS, I would suggest going for what's in your budget, and based on how well you are building your computer. Since you say you're building a gaming computer I might suggest getting a 64 bit processor and buying the 64 bit Vista, seeing as both versions are the same. Only downside of 64 bit is that it won't run old 16 bit programs.

XP also has it's upsides seeing as it has been available for several years and many of it's problems have been fixed, where as Vista is just being released. I would recommend you stay away from buying an upgrade version of Vista though, since then if you ever wanted to reformat your system to clear out your hard drive of anything that may be a problem, you will have to go back and install XP before you can install Vista again. (If Vista allows it, I heard Vista was kind of like a one shot deal and you can't reinstall, but then I read an article on Microsoft's web page that said they kind of dropped that idea.)