Thinking about changing my OS.

[Anjuna]

Good morning!

I am currently using XP Pro (32) on "Dual View" mode to run 2 WoW clients and I am experiencing the FPS loss mentioned in many posts on these forums. I have tried 2 clients on 1 display in normal mode, and it works great so I am 99% sure it has to do with the XP Dual View & DX bug. I am debating switching to Vista, but I am a little apprehensive since have heard horrible things about it. On the other hand, I have heard people praising Vista, so I am a little torn between what to do.

Here is a general rundown of my system. (Built in '06)

Dual Core 2.8ghz
Nvidia 7950GT
4GB RAM (dumbed down to 3.2 or whatever)
ASUS P5W DH Deluxe Mainboard

Should I go with Vista? If so, which one version? I was not a big fan of XP home and always ran pro, but I am willing to go with whatever works best with gaming.

[Rufio]

Check my thread - i have the same problem: Dualview problem with 4:3 + wide ('http://www.dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=7350')
Some solutions at the end, might try them before you decide to buy vista.

I run vista at work and well, i'm not that satisfied. I still regularly crashes. It looks good but all that fancy shmancy is just slowing down your system imho.
If i had vista i'd probably tweek the looks so it would look like XP.
Then again I'm an XP fanboy. I know I'll have to make the switch someday but I'm postponing that as much as possible :)

[Anjuna]

Check my thread - i have the same problem: Dualview problem with 4:3 + wide ('http://www.dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=7350')
Some solutions at the end, might try them before you decide to buy vista.

I run vista at work and well, i'm not that satisfied. I still regularly crashes. It looks good but all that fancy shmancy is just slowing down your system imho.
If i had vista i'd probably tweek the looks so it would look like XP.
Then again I'm an XP fanboy. I know I'll have to make the switch someday but I'm postponing that as much as possible :)

I tried swapping primary displays and it makes my desktop settings a royal nightmare, it did not improve my FPS enough to justify leaving it that way. I don't like the idea of having to change settings every time I want to play.

I will try the -opengl thing later.

Thanks for the reply ;)

[OzPhoenix]

Well, my new machine runs Vista64. So far so good, but early days of course for me.

I'm hoping most things have been sorted out, now that I'm using it, having delayed switching to it for as long as I have.

[shaeman]

Despite me starting a thread about how much I hate Windows Vista (the issue turned out not to be with Vista, but with drivers and my hardware wrongly configured), I would say windows vista is a good solid operating system.

(I always think it's fashionable to be openly scornful of new microsoft operating systems, The same happened with XP when it came out, now people love it and hate Vista).

On my laptop I've been running Vista for months and it has been very stable. I downloaded Tweakvista which allows you to quickly turn off services and things like the Aero interface.

I'm sure there may be a way to run Vista in a dual boot arrangement - I guess it might be the smart way to try it out and revert back to XP if you don't like it.

[Khazrael]

I use Vista at home currently for my 5 boxing adventures, and honestly I have 0 issues with it. The very reason you mention is exactly the reason why I upgraded to it. You can stick with xp and do horizontal span if you like, but i hate that view mode as if you have just the two monitors it will split things in the middle across the two, which looks terrible in my opinion.

Really, after turning off the "are you sure, are you sure?" questions in Vista, I can even barely tell a difference between it and XP aside from the dual view fix. It looks a little prettier, has some snazzier behind the scenes functions (true symlinks anyone?) and also uses a bit more ram, but it sounds like you've got enough ram.

Lots of people hate on vista, but I have no issues with it, I'm very happy with my upgrade.

[geoffdavison]

As i've stated before I think the problem with Vista doesn't come from new installs on new PC's ... its from people who Upgraded.. the drivers seem to be the main issue...

[Anjuna]

Which Version is good? Home? Home Premium? Business?

Is it like XP where Pro (Business) > Home???

[Khazrael]

Personally I think Home Premium has about everything you would need. I don't actively recall the differences, but I remember researching it when I purchased it and didn't feel the need to go beyond Home Premium.

[Tamu]

I have been running Vista Ultimate 64 bit for a couple of months now. I really like the Vista and wouldn't even think of going back to XP. I only had one problem with drivers, which was because Creative Labs hasn't issued Vista drivers for my sound card. My on-board sound works fine, though. I run dual-view: 5 wow clients + Keyclone.

[Chorizotarian]

Personally I think Home Premium has about everything you would need. I don't actively recall the differences, but I remember researching it when I purchased it and didn't feel the need to go beyond Home Premium.

There's a handy comparison chart on the MS website:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/editions/choose.mspx

Home Premium is probably fine for most people. I'd miss remote desktop.

[Anjuna]

I have been doing some research on which OS to pick and it looks like Home Premium is the way to go for me. Should I get the full version, or the upgrade? I don't foresee losing the XP disc without losing the Vista disc. Any reason to NOT save myself $100?

My girlfriend would rather see it used for a nice dinner or something. :D

[Akshun]

If it were me I would definitely go with the full version. It's worth the extra $100.

A fresh install is always better than an upgrade install. In my opinion anyway.

[Anjuna]

Okay, so it looks like I am going with Vista Home Premium. I still have some questions though.

Should I go with 32 or 64 bit? I have 4gb of ram and plan on adding more later. Is it true that Vista 32 can't see more than 3.x GB of ram?

If I go Vista 64, will my G15 work?

Thats all I can think of for now, thanks for reading.

[OzPhoenix]

It is true.

If you've got 4gigs I suggest Vista 64 over Vista 32 any day. Especially if you're adding more in later to (I run 8 gigs in my one).

A good link if you feel like really delving into the 4g barrier in 32-bit OS' http://www.dansdata.com/askdan00015.htm

For those of us old enough to remember mucking around with HMA in DOS, it's a little nostalgia trip as well.