XP Home or Pro or Vista Business

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mark2006
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Mark2006

Hi,
I am getting a new computer and I have the choice of XP Home, XP Pro or
Vista Business. I currently use XP Home. I am not a power user. I use
Word, Excel, Palm Desktop, Thunderbird and Firefox.

Should I stick with XP Home, go to XP Pro which has greater security or zip
to Vista. Your opinions matter.

Thank you.
 
Mark2006 said:
I am getting a new computer and I have the choice of XP Home, XP
Pro or Vista Business. I currently use XP Home. I am not a power
user. I use Word, Excel, Palm Desktop, Thunderbird and Firefox.

Should I stick with XP Home, go to XP Pro which has greater
security or zip to Vista. Your opinions matter.
Click to expand...

Brand new consumer computer that you plan to keep for X number of years and
may connect future peripherals to (printers, scanners, cameras, etc...)?

Windows Vista with SP1 - there will be a learning curve and you should check
that any peripeherals you currently own and will be keeping are supported in
Windows Vista before doing so. Being Windows Vista Business - get the
downgrade rights as well and you will be able to use Windows XP Professional
if you deem Windows Vista to be unacceptable.
 
Thanks for your recommendations. I presume I will keep the computer for
about three years. Thanks again.
 
Mark2006 said:
Hi,
I am getting a new computer and I have the choice of XP Home, XP Pro or
Vista Business. I currently use XP Home. I am not a power user. I use
Word, Excel, Palm Desktop, Thunderbird and Firefox.

Should I stick with XP Home, go to XP Pro which has greater security or
zip
to Vista. Your opinions matter.

Thank you.
Click to expand...


I agree completely with Mr. Stanley. In fact, it's exactly what I did - I
purchased a Vista Business laptop that was also offered with XP Pro.

The fact that it was offered with both OS versions meant that there will be
no problem with getting drivers should I find I have to change. And Vista
Business is one of the two Vista versions that have downgrade rights. To
exercise these rights, you have to already have legal XP install media.

If you go to Vista - it doesn't matter if you are a power user or not, get
more memory and do pay attention to the video adapter. Be sure that it is
fully capable of running Vista in all its "glory". Memory is inexpensive
now, but may be more expensive later when another technology is dominant.
For hard disk space - Vista uses more than XP.

Consider the external hardware that you own now. Not all hardware is
supported by Vista, which may mean that you give away the old stuff and
replace it. Specific Scanners or webcams, for example, may not now or ever
have Vista drivers. Check before you purchase, and be aware of what it is
you will have to replace.

Finally and by no means least, consider the way that the re-install media is
supplied. If the system doesn't come with install CDs or DVDs, it should
offer you the chance to make them. If it does, do this, right away. If
the system relies on a System Recovery partition and there is no way to make
or get reinstall disks - move on.

Mine came with the restore partition, and you can make a backup DVD or two,
but the manufacturer offered System restore DVDs for a price; I ordered
them. You absolutely have to have a way to easily reinstall the system to
a new drive should the hard disk fail.

HTH
-pk
 
Patrick said:
I agree completely with Mr. Stanley. In fact, it's exactly what I did
- I purchased a Vista Business laptop that was also offered with XP Pro.

The fact that it was offered with both OS versions meant that there will
be no problem with getting drivers should I find I have to change. And
Vista Business is one of the two Vista versions that have downgrade
rights. To exercise these rights, you have to already have legal XP
install media.

If you go to Vista - it doesn't matter if you are a power user or not,
get more memory and do pay attention to the video adapter. Be sure
that it is fully capable of running Vista in all its "glory". Memory
is inexpensive now, but may be more expensive later when another
technology is dominant. For hard disk space - Vista uses more than XP.

Consider the external hardware that you own now. Not all hardware is
supported by Vista, which may mean that you give away the old stuff and
replace it. Specific Scanners or webcams, for example, may not now or
ever have Vista drivers. Check before you purchase, and be aware of
what it is you will have to replace.

Finally and by no means least, consider the way that the re-install
media is supplied. If the system doesn't come with install CDs or
DVDs, it should offer you the chance to make them. If it does, do
this, right away. If the system relies on a System Recovery partition
and there is no way to make or get reinstall disks - move on.

Mine came with the restore partition, and you can make a backup DVD or
two, but the manufacturer offered System restore DVDs for a price; I
ordered them. You absolutely have to have a way to easily reinstall
the system to a new drive should the hard disk fail.

HTH
-pk
Click to expand...
To add to Patrick, I also agree the you need CD's. You got to assume
the drive will fail. Hope it won't, but assume it will. And we
bought a Vista machine at the office so we could test an application I
develop.
I feel the jump to Vista, is like the jump from 98 to XP. If you did
that, you'll get Vista. Everything is there, they just moved some of
the good ole items and you'll have to learn a new mouse click. Big
deal. And when SP3 for Vista comes out or they apply 250 patches, it
might just be as good as XP. MIGHT!
 
Patrick said:
I agree completely with Mr. Stanley. In fact, it's exactly what I did
- I purchased a Vista Business laptop that was also offered with XP Pro.

The fact that it was offered with both OS versions meant that there will
be no problem with getting drivers should I find I have to change. And
Vista Business is one of the two Vista versions that have downgrade
rights. To exercise these rights, you have to already have legal XP
install media.

If you go to Vista - it doesn't matter if you are a power user or not,
get more memory and do pay attention to the video adapter. Be sure
that it is fully capable of running Vista in all its "glory". Memory
is inexpensive now, but may be more expensive later when another
technology is dominant. For hard disk space - Vista uses more than XP.

Consider the external hardware that you own now. Not all hardware is
supported by Vista, which may mean that you give away the old stuff and
replace it. Specific Scanners or webcams, for example, may not now or
ever have Vista drivers. Check before you purchase, and be aware of
what it is you will have to replace.

Finally and by no means least, consider the way that the re-install
media is supplied. If the system doesn't come with install CDs or
DVDs, it should offer you the chance to make them. If it does, do
this, right away. If the system relies on a System Recovery partition
and there is no way to make or get reinstall disks - move on.

Mine came with the restore partition, and you can make a backup DVD or
two, but the manufacturer offered System restore DVDs for a price; I
ordered them. You absolutely have to have a way to easily reinstall
the system to a new drive should the hard disk fail.

HTH
-pk
Click to expand...
To add to Patrick, I also agree that you need CD's. You have to assume
the drive will fail. Hope it won't, but assume it will.
I ran into Vista at the office. We needed to test an application I
develop.
I feel the jump to Vista, is like the jump from 98 to XP. If you did
that, you'll understand Vista. Everything is there, they just moved
some of the good ole items and you'll have to learn a new mouse click.
Big deal. And when SP3 for Vista comes out or they apply 250
patches, it might just be as good as XP. MIGHT!
 
Downgrade rights??????? I never heard that before. I know Vista has Upgrade
rights. (Bus32 to 64bit).
MS may feel Vista is the way to go, but imo it's not there yet. Even after
being out more than a yr.
 
Larry said:
Downgrade rights??????? I never heard that before. I know Vista has
Upgrade rights. (Bus32 to 64bit).

MS may feel Vista is the way to go, but imo it's not there yet.
Even after being out more than a yr
Click to expand...

Perhaps you shold do more research. ;-)

Downgrade rights have been around pretty much since Vista was first
released.
 
Downgrade rights??????? I never heard that before. I know Vista has Upgrade
rights. (Bus32 to 64bit).
Click to expand...

Some new computers come with XP "downgrade" discs so that you
can install XP in place of Vista. I've seen quite a few Acer
models come through this way. I don't know if it's possible
to obtain downgrade rights on any random PC you might purchase,
though, or what Microsoft's general policy is.

The Acer systems that I've "downgraded" do run noticably faster
with XP than with their pre-loaded Vista.
 
Well really now... :)~ It's not like I wanted Vista. Nor do I really care
for it. Most of my Xp progs. don't run under Vista. So I have been tracking
down new versions for the past couple mos. HP screwed my old pc and wiped
the HD, so they replaced it. Unfort. I had to take Vista (only a couple
laptops had Xp). So anyway I have been doing lots of relearning. Plus
relearning MS Office. Lots of fun.....lol
 
Hi,
I am getting a new computer and I have the choice of XP Home, XP Pro or
Vista Business. I currently use XP Home. I am not a power user. I use
Word, Excel, Palm Desktop, Thunderbird and Firefox.

Should I stick with XP Home, go to XP Pro which has greater security or zip
to Vista. Your opinions matter.
Click to expand...


And you will undoubtedly get all three possible opinions. Here's mine,
in two parts:

1. Regarding XP Home vs. XP Professional: It is *not* true that XP
Professional has "greater security" than XP Home. Almost certainly
from what you've said, there would be no difference between the two
for you, and you should choose Home rather than Professional, since it
is cheaper. XP Home and Professional are identical except that
Professional includes a few features (mostly related to security and
networking) missing from Home? Most home users don't need and would
never use these extra features and will see no benefits by choose
Professional instead of Home.

For details go to

http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_home_pro.asp

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/whichxp.asp>

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/howtobuy/choosing2.asp

Also note another point, not included in any of the above:
Professional allows ten concurrent network connections, and Home only
five.

2. Regarding XP (any version) vs. Vista: . If you're buying a new
computer, get it with Vista. It works fine, and it's the platform for
future growth. It makes no sense to buy yesterday's operating system.

On the other hand, if you are currently running XP, and the question
were whether to upgrade to Vista,a change of operating system should
be driven by need, not just because there is a new version available.
In those circumstances I would recommend that most people stay with
XP.
 
Thanks for your recommendations. I presume I will keep the computer
for about three years. Thanks again.
Click to expand...

In that case, you should go with XP Home in my opinion. Extended support
for XP will continue through 2014. The security available with XP Pro
(encryption) can also be found with third-party software that runs on XP
Home.
 
Larry M. said:
Downgrade rights??????? I never heard that before. I know Vista has
Upgrade rights. (Bus32 to 64bit).
Click to expand...

Downgrade rights were also available when XP came out. It isn't a new
concept.

It's intended to allow companies who must replace hardware - but can't for
legacy support reasons shift OS versions - to get the new hardware and
legally install the older OS with no extra license cost.

When they come to the point where they can use Vista, they already have the
licenses and can just re-image those systems.

With Vista, downgrade rights are available only to Business and Ultimate.
As with XP, if the version has "home" in the name, downgrade rights are not
available.

HTH
-pk
 
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