New Build: XP or Vista

[mikeh49]

I'm getting ready for a new build and debating between XP and Vista. I can't use EVR as I need the remove letterbox aspect ratio for some of my analog channels, so deduct one for Vista. But, Sub is developing in Vista, so add one. I have no Vista machines at the moment, so a new OS to learn, -1. I capture from FW using Graphrecorder, so if the Directshow filters (like the MPEG demux) in Vista are improved, that would be +1.

And so it goes. What's the opinion of the community? I have only Vista Business available, if that makes a difference. No MCE, that's for sure. So, chime in.

P.S. It will be a 780G MB, so standby for questions on that!

[pcostanza]

Depending on when you order your OS, if you purchase Vista, you would be eligible for a free upgrade to W7. Not much has been said about upgrades but I've found W7 to be much better than Vista though I've had very few problems with Vista myself.

[Ranger One]

I'm assuming here that you're building a HTPC. If so are you going to run video out to a tv? I have both XP & Vista installed on my HTPC. The reason I asked is that with Vista my component video out to my DLP tv gets blocked by it's drm features. With XP, whether I'm using GBPVR, Power DVD etc, I have no problem running any video to my tv.

Food for thought!

Good Luck.

[Elmo Putney]

Well the only reason I'd go vista is to have EVR + hardware accel, and you already said you dont want EVR........

[soccerdad]

FWIW, Vista was not too big of a deal to move to. I figure much of this is a hobby and hobby = learning, so Vista was a new challenge and an easy decision. (I also got it cheap). I am using it with a 780g and it works fine. See sig below for my client.

[johnsonx42]

I can't use EVR as I need the remove letterbox aspect ratio for some of my analog channels, so deduct one for Vista. But, Sub is developing in Vista, so add one.

I keep hoping the latter will eventually produce a solution for the former. I WISH WISH WISH I could run EVR, but the thought of giving up negative aspect ratios is too much to bear.

[kayphoonstar]

As Soccerdad said, from the hobby=learning angle, working with Vista has been interesting but I've also found it very frustrating. I thought having Media Center would be very cool, but I've stayed with GBPvr on my Vista machine because of the limitation of multiple tuners.

I've never had optimal hardware (e.g., using a 939 socket Nforce3 MB with AGP - NOT a good idea) so I can't really say with any authority how it works with the *right* hardware, but I can say, the wrong (read slightly older but still good) hardware is a real pain and I've still haven't gotten it stable 1 1/2 years later.

On the other hand, XP SP3 runs everything perfectly fine now. I try to stay up to date which is why I've been trying to work with Vista. When I get around to getting newer hardware maybe I'll be able to say it is worth the upgrade but so far I haven't seen much to encourage the move.

[LewE]

P.S. It will be a 780G MB, so standby for questions on that!

This must be a new record for Microsoft, having an operating system that needs 780G MB of RAM to run. :eek:

That would be 780,000 Terabytes if my math is correct. :o

[mikeh49]

Yeah, I got a special pre-pre-alpha conceptual release of the 512 (or 513, I can't remember which) bit version of Windows 10 to support this much memory.

On a more rational note, it just occurred to me that the firewire drivers may not (probably won't) work in Vista. So, given the apparently minimal benefits of Vista, I think I'll stay with XP. Someday, I'll talk myself into spending the money for a HD-PVR.

However, talk among yourselves, I'm interested in any additional inputs. Especially whether Direct Show is improved in Vista, especially for MPEG2.

Thanks, guys.

[LewE]

Yeah, I got a special pre-pre-alpha conceptual release of the 512 (or 513, I can't remember which) bit version of Windows 10 to support this much memory.

Reminds me of when Windows 95 came out, I went to a presentation Microsoft made about how great it was going to be. One of the presenters said that "Windows 95 is designed to use all your memory." This was as people were coming off of the restrictions of DOS and he meant to say that there wasn't a limit on how much memory you could put on your PC but what he said was probably closer to the truth. I remember the whole auditorium broke out in laughter when he said that.

On a more rational note, it just occurred to me that the firewire drivers may not (probably won't) work in Vista. So, given the apparently minimal benefits of Vista, I think I'll stay with XP. Someday, I'll talk myself into spending the money for a HD-PVR.

However, talk among yourselves, I'm interested in any additional inputs. Especially whether Direct Show is improved in Vista, especially for MPEG2.

Thanks, guys.

How many years has Vista been out.. and the most common things I hear about it are about the software and drivers that became incompatible (and the wait for some of them - particulary drivers - to be updated) and that you need a real fast computer with a lot of memory.

There has always been the argument that Windows could be a much better operating system if it didn't maintain backwards compatibility with its earlier versions. Well, I guess that Vista has the worst aspects of both worlds: not really backwards compatible and falls far short of all the new architrecture features that have been promised for years.