Migrating from XP to Vista worth US$ 500?

A very concrete question that I would like to have opinions. The only Win Vista future proof is Vista Ultimate (64 bits), which cost around $400. To make it run as good as my Win XP runs, I would need to upgrade my RAM at least, which will be around $100. I think many people is in similar situation, so opinions will be appreciated.

 

You do not need Ultimate in order to be future proof...at worst you would want Home Premium, as there are few features in Ultimate worth any real extra money. If you get a Home Premium Upgrade, you are looking at around $150 plus the cost of ram.

Anyway, Vista (as of right now) is a horrible pile of code that has many problems. Some people have issues with the new OS, others do not...I was one of the ones that had so many problems with Vista I went back to XP for now. There are many others that have done this as well, and just as many who have stayed with Vista.

But, I would highly recommend you stay with XP for as long as possible. Upgrade only when there is some application that you have to have in order to continue on with your life...

But no OS (not Vista, not XP, not Linux) is bound to be future proof forever...and XP is still a very good, very stable, operating system.

 

By the time Vista works as well as XP does for the majority of people who might use it, Vienna will be on the verge of release. There isn't a single critical application (I don't consider games to be critical, or applications) released exclusively for V and not XP, and this will remain as such for at least a year or more.

 

Home Premium is fine for the majority of people. Hell, many people can get away with Business edition too (I know I do).

What you can do is get Home Premium and enter no serial number during install. It will allow you to do a 30-day trial of Ultimate. If you really like it that much, you'll be given the option to upgrade once you enter your Home Premium serial.

 

I have Vista Home Premium because I bought a new HP in February. However, I would not upgrade from XP, especially with the necessary RAM increase. I like Vista well enough, but it's the applications I'm most concerned about. The ones I use don't really run any differently than on XP.

 

Honestly, the only reason to get Vista is because you buy a new PC, while there are definitely advocates, and at some point it might work well, right now it's just not worth the money, especially not that much.

 

I agree with Arla. I just don't see any reason to get Retail Vista. Wait until you get a new laptop.

 

Agreed. Then, wouldn't Vienna face the same problems Vista faces now?

 

Depends on whether Vienna goes strictly 64-bit or not, I'd guess.

 

And when is Vienna projected to be out? Would that affect one's decision concerning Vista?

 

I think the projected release date is 2009.

 

And if MS keeps to that schedule, it'll simply show how much *they* acknowledge Vista is/was a sub-par operating system. Much like WinMe was soon replaced by XP (within two years), Vienna will render Vista obsolete.

 

Here's to hoping that Vienna doesn't take another 5 to 6 years.

 

I really don't see that Vista is the WinMe all over again. Still, I doubt MS will have Vienna out by '09. Having said that, if I had a computer which performed adequately and if I could get another couple of years out of it, I wouldn't shell out money for Vista and the extra memory required. XP would work just fine until I needed a new computer.

Bill

 

I do think MS will have Vienna out around '09 -'10.

 

I thought Vienna was like a boost for MAC OS computers?

 

So, is Vista professional a 64 bits version? that's what I mean by Future proof.

 

If you mean Vista Business, there are both 32bit & 64 bit editions.

 

god no.. I have only been dealing with Vista for 24 hours, and already hate the thing. Specs for the machine are in my sig. It isnt a lightweight machine, but its still HORRIBLY slow compared to my under powered, XP running laptop.

Boot up time alone is around 3 minutes. I wish their was a way to get the Vista CD and start with a fresh install, rather then dealing with this BS 'recovery partition' that is actually just a clone of the hard drive, after its been loaded to the brim with bloat-ware.

 

HP is not giving the Anytime Upgrade dvd with desktops? A shame, as Vista *should* be moving on that rig (at least after all of the indexing is done).

 

Nope... All i got in the box with the tower, were ad's for AOL, a book on the warranty, and a big piece of paper explaining how to hook the thing up... Frankly, if you need that to figure out where the colour coordinated cables go, you prob. wont fare to well in the actual operating system

 

Hmm. Maybe you should pick up an upgrade disc from Amazon or somewhere, as it could come in handy sometime (I've already used mine once, and may have to use it again in the next few days).

 

I think i'm just gonna pester the folks at hp.com until they mail me one... I shouldnt have to go buy an upgrade license just cause they wanted to save 20 cents woth of plastic by not giving me a proper install disc. They also gave me a ball mouse, so i'm pretty bitter towards them right now anyways.(seriously, who the hell uses a ball mouse? The Dell i bought 5 years ago had an optical mouse!)

 

That is a better idea (although it will just be the disc, not a license key).

lol, I didn't even know HP sold those things anymore. Yikes.

 

Go XP SP3 if it arrives.

Cost is XP on ebay + Free. Leftovers can be used to upgrade hardware.

Don't install Vista. I've finally ran into my limit of the fifth compatibilty problem, which will warrant a review of wether to return to XP or stick with ^%* Vista.

 

I have and use Vista Home Premium; however, it came with a new notebook. I do not believe I would pay (anything) for a copy of Vista just to get Vista at this time. But then, I have a copy of Vista at this time, and I have a full copy of XP/SP2 as well.

 

First, I don't see Vista as necessary. With more than half the market on XP for quite a long time out, only Microsoft will release Vista-exclusive programs. And second, why get Ultimate unless you plan to use all its features? Just get Home Premium; it comes with both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.