I thought that before I upgrade to Vue 7, it might be a good idea to upgrade my operating system. So I went ahead and ordered XP Pro 64. I've got some questions for those of you here who have already done this.

What problems do I need to look out for when installing  the new version?

How hard is it to create a dual boot with both the 32 bit (which I have now) and the 64 bit versions of XP Pro?

Will Vue 6 know that I have a 64 bit operating system, or will I have to reinstall it in order to run it as a 64 bit program?

For anyone who has it, how well does Poser 7 run on XP 64?

Thanks for any help!

a) You might have problems with device drivers, many (usually older) device drivers don't work under 64 bit XP. Be especially careful with printers.

b) I don't know, for 32 bit stuff I use my notebook.

c) I think you'd have to re-install. If I understand it correctly, at install time Vue decides which version to install.

d) In my experience, Poser 7 works as well under 64 bit XP as it does under  the 32 bit version.

a) agree with mycat - be VERY careful with printers.  even the 64 bit drivers can cause crashes, lockups, etc.  i speak from experience, and currently have NO printer attached, nor do i have plans for one.  Hubby's laptop works just fine for printing needs =D.  But i agree, be extremely careful about drivers.  Some older programs might not run as well.  I've encountered a few "modern" ones that won't run - but none of them are what i would call generically usable.

b) no idea.  my brother built this and installed xp 64 pro for me.  bless him =D

c) when you go to install Vue, it detects what type of system you have and installs itself appropriately.

d) Poser 7 runs beautifully under XP 64 Pro. 

Suggestion - (sounds stupid, i know, but i screwed up once) - make sure your programs are shut down completely before installing OS updates... the one time i mucked up, i didnt realize vue hadnt crashed completely - did a windows update, and boy did i have problems for a while sorting THAT headache out.

enjoy your new OS!

My printers are all attached to my other computer (networked to the computer I'm updating), so no problem there...though I hope there will be no issues with the local network.

I do have an external hard drive and a Wacom graphics tablet.  There should be drivers for them...I hope.

My wacom had no issues, nor has my external hard drive.  My camera drivers DID have issues,. but i got around that by putting the card into a drive-converter thingy (makes it into a ... thumb drive), and no problems now.

my mp3 player, likewise, has no issues.

edit:  when hubby's laptop is set up and on our local network, i have no issues there, either.

I have vista 64, not xp 64, so I can't advise you much but I'm curious: if you wanted to go 64 bits, why did you choose XP instead of Vista? I mean, XP is a "dying horse", why bet on it now? Besides, Windows7 is just around the corner and most likely the upgrade path from Vista to Windows7 will be better than from XP64.

Because Vista blows.

About the drivers, now each time my printer is on, i have a warning window that pops up, but it works though. I just had to change my wireless card, because the one i had wasn't 64 compatible.

The Dual Boot has been installed by my reseller, so i can't tell. Be sure though you install the new OS on a separate drive.

Same as other say for the install of Vue 64 :)

"Vista blows"? Sorry, lack of english knowledge here, what do you mean?
Anyway, I have Vista and I'm very happy with it. In these forums it's usual to hear about other Vista users also happy.

Ahhh, a "lost in translation" issue =D

It means I am VERY unhappy with Vista (as are anyone else who says a certain something "sucks" or "blows" - actually, the wording hints that the product itself is bad - but typically, people use it to express their personal opinion of a product or service or whatever - and that their opinion is negative). 

I am aware that it (XP) will be obsolete in a few more years, but until then, I intend to use it - and probably even after they stop "patching" it like they finally did with 98.  It was another 2 years before I was dragged, kicking & screaming mind you, to XP.

I'm not one who enjoys upgrading my OS (obviously - i STILL think Windows 3.X was great).  If its stable, and if they're still patching security issues, WHY go with a newer more unstable version? 

When I chose XP 64 Pro, it was with my brother (computer tech guru).  He and I discussed the good and the bad of both XP and Vista.  In my own opinion, the extra cost was NOT worth the extra headaches I knew I would get trying to get things working on what I consider an "alien" operating system. 

My only current issue really with XP 64 is the fact that it seems to REFUSE to do any kind of handwriting recognition with my Wacom tablet.  In other words - I can't use my Wacom tablet as a notebook & pen. =D  Not sure if its a 64 bit thing, or just me not knowing what the heck I'm supposed to do (and can't read/comprehend the technical stuff in the not-so-helpful help files & online "help")

now... my other programs, on the other hand... i do like to upgrade more often.

Does that help?  =D

XP versus Vista is like Mac versus Windows at times ;)

Quote - Because Vista blows.

LOL, that's the way to explain it girl.
Though I don't have any of my computers with Vista on them and we are still running XP Pro on the machines at work, I have taken a course in Vista and think any real problems with it are elementary and as anything New, a little education may fix the problem. Notice I said 'MAY FIX', but I am waiting for Windows 7 myself, to upgrade. If it is as good as the first few preliminary reports then it will run circles around Vista and make you forget about XP,................... I just hope so!!!

Sorry, Melikia, I couldn't disagree more. I have two computers, one XP and one Vista. I find Vista much faster and more stable than XP. I didn't have any problem whatsoever with Vista.

The so called problems with Vista was mainly derived from lots of negative hype created by Mac fans, it has very little truth to it. All statistics of bugs and patches are far better in Vista than in XP, with the same "age". Sales of Vista are much higher than XP's, with the same "age". Etc, etc. No matter how you look at it, Vista is better than XP.

You might know about the famous Mojave experiment, where Microsoft called a group of Vista critics, people who really said highly negative remarks about it, and called them to test the new Microsoft operating system, codename Mojave (or Mohave? am not sure). Anyway, these guys loved Mohave and said it was much better than Vista. Finally, it was disclosed that Mohave was just Vista, exactly Vista, with another name. So, rumours do influence one's judgement.

This is a bit like the blind taste of cola drinks. As you might know, in a blind taste experience, Pepsi generally beats CocaCola but if the consumers know what they are drinking, they prefer CocaCola.

Glad you have no problems, Rutra. More Vista sales stems from it being already installed on most of the new PCs. I know of people who demand Vista be taken off and XP be put on instead.

Our IT guy is not a fan of Vista and he's a Microsoft guy all the way. Corporate IT will not allow Vista to be installed. Too many problems with programs, etc., and they aren't going to upgrade computers for it as well. XP Pro is still their OS of choice.
 
The people I personally know that have Vista hate it and want to buy Macs!

From what I've read about XP Pro 64, it doesn't use as much memory as Vista. With Vue needing so much memory, I would go with XP Pro 64 before Vista. And what ever happened to holding on to old computers?  :)  Besides, I believe the original poster was doing a dual boot so they shouldn't have big problems. And XP Pro 64 costs less than Vista.

Quote - "More Vista sales stems from it being already installed on most of the new PCs."

That was also the case with XP.

Quote - "Corporate IT will not allow Vista to be installed. Too many problems with programs, etc., and they aren't going to upgrade computers for it as well. XP Pro is still their OS of choice."

I'm not talking about corporations, I'm talking about the average user. Corporations are a whole different matter and the decision criteria is completely different than for a private consumer. I know that, I'm an IT manager myself in a big corporation.

Quote - "The people I personally know that have Vista hate it and want to buy Macs!"

All the people I know with Vista love Vista. From what I read in forums, blogs, etc, most of the people who criticize Vista do not have it. Just see Thelby's post above. This is one perfect example. Doesn't have it but by what he heard, he doesn't want it. This is the typical Vista critic. I would say that a critic done by a Vista owner is, in principle, more valid.

Quote - "From what I've read about XP Pro 64, it doesn't use as much memory as Vista. "

Memory is not a problem anymore. That was in the old days. RAM is increasingly cheaper and if you have, say, 8GB, there's no difference if the OS takes up 512MB more or not.

Quote - "And XP Pro 64 costs less than Vista."

Now. But the upgrade from XP64 to Windows7 will probably be more expensive than upgrade from Vista to Windows7.

Well, with one person I see at work every day, he always has problems. I have to help him some times because the IT guy doesn't work on personal laptops, we have to get work done and often I'm at a loss. Re-booting is sometimes the only thing that works. He has a good laptop, too - an HP. So I do have a little experience with Vista. Our digital manager has Vista at home and she hates it. She is computer savvy  and has been a Windows fan for years but now is thinking of getting a Mac Probook because of all the hair pulling Vista has caused her.

Our IT guy also does not recommend Vista for personal use. I've asked him more than a few times. He thinks it still has problems and was a mistake.

If you roll your own, upgrading isn't an issue. You just buy the new OEM version with a new part, do a new install and you're all set. Right now Vista 64 bit is still $40 more than XP Pro 64 for an OEM disk. When Vista came out it was still more than any OEM version of XP.

I have been slow to upgrade anything because XP Pro has been very stable for me (I never have all the crashes others relate). If I do, it will probably be to XP Pro 64 on a new separate Vue box I've been getting parts for over the past few months.

You can't convert a person for hating ONE OS to the one you use, so might as well give it up.

A fact however, is that many companies no longer create drivers at all for any flavor of XP at all. Many dropped XP support almost a year ago now.

Odds are that WILL byte him in the butt sooner or later.

I've still got a xp system here, as well as two vista 64 ultimate systems in the network, and there's some things that I cannot use with the xp system any longer. That's part of the reason we switched to Vista earlier this year.

On the new computer I got I ordered Vista Home Pro 64 and, after having disabled UAC, works without any problem. W.r.t. to drivers, it is much more likely to find Vista 64 b bit drivers than XP 64 ones. The only thing to take care is to put as much RAM as you can in your box (currently 2GB sticks are little more than 30Euros, so getting 2 of them is not a problem and you have 4GBs of RAM).

Applications work without problems (apart from very old DOS ones, which, b.t.w., everybody should have updated replaced by now!).

Bye!!!

P.S.: DO NOT believe Penguinistas disinformation.
P.P.S.: about Macs... just look around in graphics forums and you will see lots of problems with Mac boxes, problems that software houses have no real reason to fix, being Macs a niche (~8%) market.

HP printers/scanners have good XP x64 support(the newer ones).  In fact my wacom tablet was the last to come out with drivers & continued to work without updated drivers.

Before I upgraded I selected what peripherals I wanted then scoped out the vendors notes to see if they had drivers before I purchased.  In fact my DVD/CD recorder is functioning properly w/out x64 drivers.

Hi Smallspace,

What problems do I need to look out for when installing  the new version?

The system installs fine and takes 40 mins or so.

How hard is it to create a dual boot with both the 32 bit (which I have now) and the 64 bit versions of XP Pro?

I've done it in the past and they recommend installing the oldest OS first, it worked as advertied and gives you the option for dual boot when installing.

Will Vue 6 know that I have a 64 bit operating system, or will I have to reinstall it in order to run it as a 64 bit program?

Yes Vue knows you have a 64bit system and installs appropriately.

For anyone who has it, how well does Poser 7 run on XP 64?

I've had varying degrees of success with Poser on XP 64 and 32 so!

Cheers
Chris

Poser 7 runs fine for me.

wow - my comments generated a LOT of good discussions.  Rutra - I dislike Vista because I HAVE USED IT.  Not because of rumors or other's say-so.  My mother-in-law uses it - and hates it every time she boots up and it takes 20 minutes because the laptop she bought had Vista Home and only 1 gig of memory.  She cant run some of her games, as they only work on XP or lower. ( Edit to add:  I also have finally told her I will no longer be her tech support because of Vista.  It gives me headaches every time I try to fix something, and I inevitably go - ITS VISTAS FAULT! take it to the shop!)

I, too, will wait for Windows 7 and at least a year of their bugs being worked out on the average user who doesn't care about constant crashing, memory hoggin operating systems ;)

After a year or so USUALLY, a system IS more stable, due to the number of patches they have to put out to fix the things that dont come up in beta testing.

Remember I said i was a '98 girl until I was drug kicking & screaming to XP.

My next OS upgrade will, unfortunately, be the same way - whether its Vista or Windows 7.

And to all of this discussion, my brother would say - "LINUX!!!!!!!!!!" =D

And my opinion?  To each their own - I will say I love XP now.  I hated it at first.  If i had NO CHOICE (like with XP) - I suppose I would eventually get used to Vista and then fall for it, too.

I don't rag on Mac users - they have their place.  Macs help keep the prices down by making sure Microsoft doesn't have a complete monopoly.  Macs are hard working lil machines, and their users tend to be loyal fans. 

Each OS has its place... Like with anything, there are always going to be people who refuse to believe anything bad about something, and those who refuse to believe anything good - most of us, thankfully, fall in the middle somewhere.

I agree, Vista has its selling points.  However, it EATS MEMORY.  If i had a dollar for everyone who has said that their Vista hogs computer memory, i'd be rich enough to buy all of you in this thread some nice toys in the marketplace =D

So, Rutra - you haven't converted me =D.  I've had a year with XPpro 64.  I love it.  I do hope they'll keep the updates going another year or two, until I'm ready to build another computer.  At that time, I'll once again do my research on operating systems to determine what best suits my needs.

Something i suggest anyone does before making a major investment such as this one.

Peace and enjoy your OS's - whichever flavor you prefer!

Quote - "hates it every time she boots up and it takes 20 minutes because the laptop she bought had Vista Home and only 1 gig of memory."

That's like complaining that a Ferrari doesn't run if you don't put gas on it. :-)

Quote - "And to all of this discussion, my brother would say - "LINUX!!!!!!!!!!" "

Yes, and forget about running Vue on it too. :-)

Quote - "I agree, Vista has its selling points.  However, it EATS MEMORY."

Like alexcoppo said above, 4GB of RAM cost 30 euros. Like I also said above, memory is no longer an issue in todays computing.

Quote - "So, Rutra - you haven't converted me"

LOL I don't want to convert anyone! :-) I have no Microsoft shares. :-)
All I know is that my Vista runs perfectly, my Vue runs perfectly on it and I'm very happy with both. I hear complaints all the time in forums about crashes and stuff that I don't suffer from. That's all! :-)

By the way, interestingly enough my mother-in-law also has Vista... and she's very happy with it. She used to have XP and she was calling me all the time to help with this or that but now, with Vista, she hardly ever calls. Of course, she has more than 1GB... :-)

Peace! :-)

LOL Rutra =D

Mom-in-law doesnt have $$ to upgrade memory (or desire, or... well, lets just say she only has a computer because my husband got a laptop for school - and she's the kind that HAS to have what others have and it has to be better.  in this case, she didnt think to check around and find what works and what doesnt.  if she had, or had even asked me, she wouldnt have this piece of CENSORED - or woulda at least had more memory.  The price of laptop memory is still higher than for desktops, and while I CAN install desktop memory by myself, a laptop is a different ballgame and one i refuse to participate in, so she has to figure in shop time as well.

So, its more like - A Ferrari doesnt run if you refuse to put gas in it =D

Linux - yes, this was why even bro agreed windows was best for me LOL.  he DID offer to do a dual boot system for me - linux on one side, XPPro 64 on the other.  I told him he had to be a moron.  While i USED to use linux/unix flavors (read: at LEAST 13 years ago now) - i cant remember a durned thing now, so it'd be useless.

as for the memory issues with Vista - again, i say laptops are more expensive than desktops, and even desktop memory isnt that cheap - especially if your system as as picky as mine is - there's only one or two brands that ths one LIKES and plays nice consistantly with.  I currently have 4 gigs of memory and am looking to expand another 4.  Also to upgrade my video card - this one works, but most of the time all 4 viewports in vue are blank.  i gotta do creative clicking to make things show up long enough to grab 'em and do what i want LOL.

When i migrate to my next monster, this one will go to hubby for his amusement.  what he doesnt realize yet... is that the new monster (in a few years, mind you), will have that video card that hates games & gamers. ;)  so... THIS one will be the family gaming machine & entertainment producer (not that i play games a lot... but i do love a good session killing off sims now and then...)

Out of curiosity... whats the exchange rate between euro's and american dollars?

oh yeah... conversion... that part was a bit of a joke ;)  As much as i complain about their products, I am still a micorsoft user.  i dont have shares in it (thus i CAN complain LOL).  I have only crashed a few times with this machine  - and im pretty sure its cus i did something stupid.  i did have that one hard-core vue crash... but other than that, i have been very happy with this machine - and XP PRo 64.

I am HOPING windows 7 won't eat memory as bad as Vista does.  As for that mojave experiment - i'd like it too, if it was on one of their 30,000$ machines!  They dont tell you the specs of them, or the fact that they have more memory than God...  (yes, supposisition here... i havent seen their computers, but it stands to reason - if you are attempting to convert the naysayers, you'd do it with the best you can afford - and microsoft can afford THE BEST)

i'm very VERY glad Vista works for you, Rutra =D  wish my mom-in-law could say the same LOL.  at least for MY sanity's sake.  =D

Quote - "whats the exchange rate between euro's and american dollars?"

Today, 1 euro is worth around 1.25 american dollars. Some months ago the dollar was really in a bad shape and each euro could buy 1.5 dollars. That was a good time for online shopping for europeans! :-)

I run Vista 32-bit, XP Pro, Mac 10.5, and Vista Business 64-bit.  Vue 6I runs fine on Vista 64-bit -- much better than Vista 32-bit or XP.  My biggest complaint with Vista 32 bit is memory usage. Vista has a much larger memory footprint than XP.

Initially, I prefered XP over Vista, but now, with all the MS patches, Vista is more stable than XP.  I love the Mac OS, but Vue isn't 64-bit on the Mac, so I use Vista Business 64-bit (under Bootcamp).  The Vista security/admin functions can be a problem though.

The price we pay for security!

Quote - "The Vista security/admin functions can be a problem though."

Not exactly a problem but rather a nuisance, yes, I agree. But it's easy to disable UAC (User Account Control) and the nuisance disappears. That's what I did. Of course, it becomes less secure but even so it's still not less secure than XP.

Wow. I didn't mean to set off a Vista V. XP debate.

I'm simply happy with XP (32 bit) but I need more memory access, and using the 3 gig switch in XP32 causes intermittent resource conflicts with my Nvidia Gforce 8500 that only go away if I install an older version of the video card's drivers, and then reinstall the newer version...even then, it only lasts a couple of boots with the 3 gig switch on before the conflict shows up again.  

(how's that for a run-on sentence?)

Everything I've heard says that XP Pro 64 is as stable an OS as you can get with Windows. That's good enough for me.

I doubt if I'll ever upgrade to Vista. Most likely, my next OS will be whatever ships with my next computer.

Vista 64 bit works smooth as silk on my art rig :)
in 64 bit, with 8 gig RAM, it's a pussycat.
It's more stable, easier ot use than XP Pro is.

Note: XP Pro 64 does not have a lot of drivers for things, which causes problems.

Vista, on a recent PC, with Intel CPU, 2+ gigs RAM (minimum!) and Nvidia gppahics card, seems ot work very well.
It is a memory hog, but the larger your system RAM the less problem this is.
A laptop with 512 can barely function with Vista, and is just "acceptable", IMHO, at 1 gig.

I have odd bug with a Photoshop plugin in Vista 64, that's it.
Oh and they don't make Registrey Mechanic in 64 bit version, pity, awesome app for keeping XP working ok!

Each to his own though! :)

Ok. The software has arrived.

Already...First issue.

My computer's main board has nothing but RAID controllers for the hard drives and the installation disk doesn't recognize them. I can take the drives out of RAID mode and reset them as IDE drives, but that will erase both drives...something I REALLY don't want to do, especially since there's no guaranty the installation disk will recognize the drives even in IDE mode. (since they're still on a RAID controller)!

Any suggestions?

Check out this thread.

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?message_id=2807799&ebot_calc_page#message_2807799

Kevin

Oh...just great! :(

The only method I can find for installing Windows XP while still in RAID mode (as opposed to IDE mode, which as I said, erases the drives) is called the "F6" installation. This involves loading RAID controller drivers located on a floppy disk at the same time XP is being installed.

Only one problem...

MY COMPUTER DOESN'T HAVE A FLOPPY DRIVE!

Quite frankly, I never thought I would need a piece of antiquated technology like that again! I haven't used floppy drives in years!

You can get a floppy drive for a song these days. I've seen brand new ones as low as $7.50 or you might be able to borrow one from a friend's computer. If you don't have a floppy port, there are USB versions around that don't cost much more.

We have a saying in America..."Bite the Bullet"  That's what I'm doing now. The only place around here that sells floppy drives is the local computer repair shop. I decided that rather than buy a drive from them I'd simply have them do the installation for me. It'll cost more, but it's being done be someone who (supposedly) knows what he's doing.

That will at least save you some time and frustration!

Quote - Because Vista blows.

Sorry, but that is a myth. I've been on Vista since its release and never had a single problem.
People who had problems caused them themselves. Installed Vista on old inferior machines, did not learn the differences out of laziness, blamed Vista for the vendors not keeping their drivers up to date even though they had plenty of time to do that and lying salespeople stuck with old machines and an inventory of OS's on the shelf. Add Apples viral smear campaign and you create a myth.

I have not seen a complaint in months until now. Even the computer shop that told me the myth and lies when I had my Vista machine built, no longer even carries XP 64 and when I asked about it to be mean the tech just stuttered. They changed to praising Vista the minute they got rid of their old inventory it seems.

"They changed to praising Vista the minute they got rid of their old inventory it seems."

Of course they did.  Its THEIR paychecks.  If they dont keep up with the newest OS's WHO WILL?

As for "Myth" - you are wrong.  NOT myth.  THIS is a FACT: They put Vista on NEW machines WITHOUT THE CAPABILITIES TO HANDLE IT - and expected the AVERAGE USER who has little to NO knowledge of how to deal with such things to deal with all the little issues - such as programs that would run under XP and no longer do under Vista, etc, etc, etc.  We could go on this for years and never make a difference one way or the other...

And... it wasn't even MYTH - it was OPINION. 

and my OPINION still stands.  Vista blows.  I love my XP Pro 64.  I'll skip vista, thanks very much.  let me know when windows 7 comes out; i'll eyeball it for a year or so before i finally make a migration to it.

I have used Vista since it was released and apart from some teething problems it has been rock solid and stable, I have never had any issues with it, or multiple BSOD.

Everyone is entitled to there opinion of course, and as I have said in many posts concerning Vue for some it works great for others it doesn't. It works fine for me and I love it, if it doesnt work for you, then thats a shame.

However you might want to start getting used to Vista, you mentiion Windows 7, unfortunately for you, you might want to research it a bit more. Windows 7 isn't a rewrite, its basically an updated version of Vista. It still requires virtually the same specification as Vista.

Ideally its probably not good form to write sentances with capital letters all over them.

Jon

You can not seperate Vista from the general bashing that occors all over world against Microsoft. If you know something about human character and history of mankind you know that the leader, marketleader or any gifted person for the matter always will be critisized. The greatness of a person is linear with the amount of bashing he gets. Envy and jealousity is THE basic trait of human nature. Most of The critique comes from the users of the OS that have under 1% of the market.

Problems with uppgrading to Vista have only to do with incompatibility with the applications. That is one hit you have to take sooner or later, no matter what, so why not do it now. Window 7 is nothing else that Vista, with some superficially minor improvments.

If you go the detour via XP 64, and then Windows 7 you get exatly TWICE as much problems.

Quote - "They put Vista on NEW machines WITHOUT THE CAPABILITIES TO HANDLE IT"

Melikia, this has absolutely nothing to do with Vista itself. It's not Microsoft who puts Vista in these machines. Continuing with my previous analogy, it's like blaming Ferrari that their cars don't run because a car stand is selling Ferrari without wheels.

Quote - "and my OPINION still stands.  Vista blows. "

Your opinion seems to be based primarily on one single bad experience caused by a bad installation of Vista, done against Microsft specs, not by a Vista problem itself. As far as I understand, the rest of your opinion is based on hearsay. It sounds interesting to me how your opinion, although not strongly supported by any concrete personal experience, seems so strong that you feel the need to use so many caps.

"THE basic trait of human nature. Most of The critique comes from the users of the OS that have under 1% of the market." A bit humerous, me thinks. ;-)

Actually, I think one of Homo Sapiens big negative traits is the lack of objective evaluation. As I stated before, I initially prefered XP over Vista, now it's the other way around. I am an OS agnostic.

As this is a Vue forum, I'll say that Vista Business 64-bit on a 8-core Mac Pro, with 10 GB of RAM, is far superior to 32-bit XP, better than Vista 32-bit, and (since I've never used XP 64-bit - won't say "better") has far better support than XP 64-bit when running Vue. Vue runs more stable under Vista Business 64-bit than any OS I've used (pretty good under Mac OS, but only  Vue 32-bit for Mac).

"Vista Business 64-bit on a 8-core Mac Pro, with 10 GB of RAM"

Yes, now I am envious. And Jealous too!

Grr..

After ten years on Windows systems, I woke up one morning and said "I think I'm gonna buy a Mac". It was  one of the best things I could've done.

Initially I was not interested to migrate to Vista - there were many problems at that I didn't want to deal with at the time - and perhaps a little quality time with it would remove all fear. When helping a neighbor troubleshoot an issue on her Vista machine, I found the interface to be madly unintuitive and like XP, very slow to start up from a cold boot.

Though the mac is a "niche market", it runs all the cool Windows apps, the open source community is incredible and my favorite feature (drumroll) it runs UNIX under the GUI, an enterprise class OS that has been under development for nearly 40 years.

It is impossible to discuss anything that has to do with Microsoft because it has become politics. I notice however, that no one is claiming that Vista is unstable in any way. So we are back to

1. Long start uptime and
2. Being a memory hog.

So why don't show by an example? I have a fairly new computer bought this year. An Intel Core 2 Quad (4 X 2.33 MHz) with 4 MB memory. The price was $1350 (without monitor and peripherals). Hardly high end, rather normal.

It has 156 programs installed, large and small. All was backed up on a Acronis backup, it took less than  one hour to get started, unpack, restoring the image file and download drivers.

The start-up time is 1 min 25 sec until I can see my desktop and can begin to use the computer. Another min for the computer to start all services and go to idle status. (The shut down time BTW, is only 10-15 sec). It is starting from sleep mode in 4-5 sec.

And memory? The fact is that no matter how much memory you have, Vista is using it more effectively, because the graphic card take much of the load unlike XP.

Regards from
Mythbuster

(Remember, Windows 7 = Vista + cosmetica)
 

4 GB memory of course

"Mythbuster" LOL :-)
Good post, facts and figures.

I have XP 64, it is based on Windows Server 2003 and many drivers don't work with it.
For instance, I have to give up my big graphic tablet and this is major disappointment for me.
If I can give a suggestion, install Vista 64 instead, it is more compatible with drivers than Windows Server 2003.

Attached Link: http://www.cornucopia3d.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7593&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Some of you might know the VueMark concept created by the RanchComputing people.
Here's a link to the thread in C3D where this is updated to Vue7. Their reference system is a Core2Quad Q6600, in XP64. This CPU happens to be the same as mine and I ran the VueMark7 test yesterday, in Vista64. I also posted the results in this thread, 2nd page. My score is 103, the reference system score is 100.