[Joshatdot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wafflesomd /img/forum/go_quote.gif If it came with vista pre-installed, use it. Chances are XP won't work.

I re-did my uncles toshiba laptop that came with Vista, and installed XP Pro.

 

[shigzeo]

surely xp will work. if you have any of the trouble that some have had with vista, you might just re-install xp and then when vista turns the corner, backup, and install that os. naturally, all new technology will be made for vista so it would be good to keep that in mind as you continue your computing

 

[wafflesomd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joshatdot /img/forum/go_quote.gif I re-did my uncles toshiba laptop that came with Vista, and installed XP Pro.

Every laptop from dell that I've dealt with doesn't like any other OS, other than the one it comes with.

But you know, congrats?

 

[Squeek]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AuroraProject /img/forum/go_quote.gif Buy an enclosure for it and have a pocket drive!

x2

 

[sghound]

upgrade to XP Pro! no more bug & lag.

 

[DocHamm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wafflesomd /img/forum/go_quote.gif If it came with vista pre-installed, use it. Chances are XP won't work.

If Vista was pre-installed I'd suggest sticking with it. It's on your warranty and support. If you really hate Vista, XP will work. I personally have not gone to Vista due to the serious lack of driver support. I simply cannot afford to buy all the new hardware I would need. One associate of mine upgraded and was forced to purchase new mobo, video card, scanner, web cam and microphone. None of those models were going to get updated drivers or firmware to be supported under Vista. Needless to say, he was seriously pissed-off.

 

[PhilS]

I just bought a new laptop with Vista for my daughter to take to college, and it sure does seem "buggy." Sometimes the computer will not shut down. Other times, it's just, well, "buggy." But I think I need to keep Vista, as I'm assuming everything in the next four years is going to be that generation or later, and XP will be outmoded eventually.

Am I sure I want to send this message? Yes. I hereby give myself permission to do so.

 

[Seaside]

If I were the OP, I will back up Vista in my notebook in case I need it later, and install XP.

Vista is nice but buggy. It has a lot of issues that are need to be fixed. I will wait till the bugs fixed. And I could easily go back to Vista using the backup I made, when Service Pack comes out.

 

[DarkAngel]

Am I missing something.........isn't it a royal pain to install an older operating system than the one that comes with your computer try to get drivers for all your hardware to properly work?

 

[AlanY]

Since you're using a laptop, I would go with Windows XP, mainly because Vista causes laptops to have reduced battery life. Google "vista battery life" for various links. It's not just one Vista feature that causes this, either, it seems to be a combination of increased hard drive usage (bigger programs, more VM usage, continuous prefetching, etc.), greater dependence on the GPU, and a variety of other things. In a lot of mobile situations, having a shorter battery life can impact your productivity. That, combined with the reality that Vista is still really "beta-quality" software and has issues with a lot of mainstream applications means your productivity is likely to be higher on XP.

 

[Seaside]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkAngel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Am I missing something.........isn't it a royal pain to install an older operating system than the one that comes with your computer try to get drivers for all your hardware to properly work?

No you didn't miss anything.
The point is.... Spend couple of hours to find drivers, and find out they are not working due to the issues of OS is a royal pain. Most vista drivers are not completely stable or functional, at least not yet. Something like creative soundcard with no EAX support is what you are likely get with Vista driver. Installing XP is pain too, but you know XP will works flawlessly when you done install it.

This Vista issue will be fixed in near future, hopefully. I think incomming service pack could fix some major issues like driver crashing or power comsumption bug. Then I may feel like to use vista again. That's why I recommend him made a backup, and install XP, so that he can go back to vista any time he wants.

 

[DJShadow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AuroraProject /img/forum/go_quote.gif Buy an enclosure for it and have a pocket drive!

X3. Its what I did. I got something like this: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2-5-External-S...QQcmdZViewItem

off-topic: could someone tell me how to make links that can be replaced by whatever you want? So instead of the long string of characters above I can have 'this' as the link?

 

[Edwood]

Vista is a must for Tablet PC's. Otherwise, I'd probably stick with Win XP.

Unless I really needed to be able to use more than 4GB of RAM easily.

-Ed

 

[Michgelsen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJShadow /img/forum/go_quote.gif off-topic: could someone tell me how to make links that can be replaced by whatever you want? So instead of the long string of characters above I can have 'this' as the link?

See here

Anyway, I like XP and I don't think it will disappear in the near future. Almost all companies are using Windows 2000 or XP and I don't see them switching to Vista soon, because that would mean they would have to replace every computer.

 

[FallenAngel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wafflesomd /img/forum/go_quote.gif Every laptop from dell that I've dealt with doesn't like any other OS, other than the one it comes with. But you know, congrats?

I've had a Dell laptop before, installed XP on it, originally it was 98SE. Just got another one - Inspiron 1501 with Vista. Oh, the utter crap that thing is. Installed XP, runs smoother and isn't as much of a memory pig. After turning off all of the useless services, installing some manufacturer (ATI) drivers vs the ones that Dell provided and and turning off PowerNow! in BIOS, it runs A LOT smoother than before.