New computer, should i go XP or Windows 7

[zigns62]

just got a great deal on a new laptop 8gig, 500 hd with win 7. Installed VW, and all my other programs and it all works. This thing is quick, I say if you have the chance to upgrade "JUST DO IT"

 

[ChiknNutz]

I'm looking at building a new PC and am still pretty gun-shy about moving to Win 7. I currently have XP Pro rigs that run everything just fine (and one Vista 32-bit that works too, but I hate the UAC deal). I'd like to build a new rig, but am afraid to go to Win 7 after I picked up (and quickly returned) a Vista-64 machine last year. For one, I could not get Adobe CS2 to ever run (even after using the install trick to install it in the x86 directory). I have no current plans to move away from CS2 in the near-term. I know that Win7 is better than Vista, but have learned the hard way MANY times over the years that it's best not to fool with something that just works...and XP Pro does. Having said that, I'd love to be able to install more than 4GB of RAM, so that has me considering it. Also, has anyone here seen the need to go for Win7 PRO over the HOME version (primarily due to the XP compatibility mode). I primarily use Corel X3 and want to ensure that will work with Win7 64-bit. Thanks.

 

[ChiknNutz]

Any comments?

 

[Letterbox Mike]

Chris, I upgraded my design station from XP to Win 7 Pro 64 bit. It's rock solid stable, much much more so than any of our other XP machines and leaps and bounds more stable than our single Vista computer. The only other thing I did was add an additional 4GB of ram for a total of 8, and upgraded Photoshop to CS4 64 bit, and it's a BEAST compared to what it was. (Intel Q6600, 2 WD Raptors in Raid 0 for OS/programs, a third Raptor for PS scratch disk). I was originalyl going to just build a new machine since the Q6600 is at this point quite obsolete and you can't get any processors to fit that socket anymore (the computer is about 2-3 years old) but with upgrading to Win 7-64 and adding the additional RAM I'd say I bought another 2 years out of this machine at least.

FYI, I've had zero compatibility issues with non-64 bit programs, drivers etc.. Everything works fine (including GraphixCalc).

Do it, you won't regret it.

 

[bbeens]

you can run Win 7 in XP mode (upgraded version of Win 7), this way all your XP applications should run just fine.

I have heard quite a bit about the compatibility mode. Having run it myself I would tend to downplay this option as a viable alternative. It is pretty much a virtual PC (ala VMWare, etc). Any software that uses dongles will most likely not work in compatibility mode. Also it was a huge pain in the ass switching from the XP machine window back to Win7. When returning to the XP window all programs were minimized and all Windows explorer windows would be closed for some reason.

I have been running Win7 for a few months, this is my only complaint so far. Aside from the Aero shake 'feature' I still can't find out how to turn that off.

Bryan

 

[ChiknNutz]

...FYI, I've had zero compatibility issues with non-64 bit programs, drivers etc.. Everything works fine (including GraphixCalc).

Do it, you won't regret it.

Can I safely assume you are running Win7 Home Premium and not Pro?

 

[Letterbox Mike]

No, pro. Not sure why you'd go with Home over Pro. Also having now been using Win7-64 bit for a while and seeing first hand how well older 32bit programs run on it, I don't see a need for the XP compatibility mode, unless you have some really old or off the wall/unsupported programs.

If it helps, when I reinstalled my Adobe Creative Suite, I accidentally installed CS1 instead of CS4 (it was late...), CS1 worked just fine. Of course I dumped it and installed CS4 when I figured out what I had done, but I don't see how you'd have any issues installing CS2 on 7 Pro.

I'll take back what I said about having issues with programs, the only thing I ran into was I couldn't get a driver to work for my Canon scanner. But it is 6 years old and Canon hasn't released a driver for it since before Vista came out, so I guess I can't complain too much... it was only a $50 scanner anyway, it gives me a good excuse to upgrade it anyway...

 

[ChiknNutz]

No, pro. Not sure why you'd go with Home over Pro. Also having now been using Win7-64 bit for a while and seeing first hand how well older 32bit programs run on it, I don't see a need for the XP compatibility mode, unless you have some really old or off the wall/unsupported programs..

The only real differences between home and pro is the XP compatibility mode, support for more RAM (16GB -vs- 192GB) and some other networking features that I think most users don't need (more geared for true office environments with domains and the like). If you are saying that you don't even use the XP compatibility mode, then seems like Home would be just fine.

 

[Letterbox Mike]

If that's the only difference then Home probably would then. I've always tried to buy Pro OS whenever I bought a computer or upgraded, that's why I stuck with it. But that's mostly because buying off-the-shelf computers home versions tend to have a bunch of crap bundled on them that Pro machines don't... hence my choice...

I'd go with Pro for the expanded RAM support if nothing else, in case you ever wanted to go nuts with it.