So long, Vista

[Amasov]

[Would the mods delete the thread of the same name in "Science and Technology"]

Having reached my limit with Windows Vista, I decided that it's time to go back to Windows XP Media Center. The amount of problems that Vista has caused is just unbelievable, but I'm not starting a thread to bitch about this OS. I do, however, have a question pertaining to "downgrading" to XP.

I'm good with a computer, but when it comes to installing an OS, I get nervous. I've got a few concerns and I was hoping some of you guys could help me out. I'll just post each question I have point by point.

You should know that I'm installing XP just simply by partitioning the drive - erasing everything on there and loading the entire OS.

Here is my question/concern:

- Will I need to back up my drivers, or will the installation of XP be able to compensate?

 

[Venardhi]

I'd say back up at least the drivers for your network adapter/modem so if it isn't automatically found by XP you can at least get online to get the rest of them.

 

[Amasov]

Yeah, I'm going to back them up and load them upon install of the new OS. I just don't want to run into any issues. Most of the drivers are default drivers that should be put back in as the OS is installing.

Like I mentioned before, when I installed Vista previously, I ran into a major snag which forced me to roll back to XP temporarily. When I got XP running, there was no sound coming out of my speakers and I couldn't get the resolution to where I had it before.

I'm nervous of that happening again. I would really like this installation to go nice and smoothly without any problem.

 

[Venardhi]

Both would be driver issues, which should be resolved by getting the drivers online from the manufacturer (or from whoever built the computer, as they usually have them available). If you have 'onboard' video and/or sound, they should be available from whoever built the motherboard.

 

[RobertVA]

The biggest potential for trouble would be the availability of drivers that are compatible with Windows XP. If the computer was built with components that didn't reach the market until after Microsoft Vista was released the component manufacturer might have only produced drivers for Vista (possibly incompatible with Windows XP).

 

[Venardhi]

That is fairly unlikely. XP still dominates the market 3 to 1 over Vista.

 

[Rÿcher]

I've been using Vista Home Premium since August and I haven't had ne'er a problem. Maybe I'm using it wrong?

 

[JonathonWally]

The biggest potential for trouble would be the availability of drivers that are compatible with Windows XP. If the computer was built with components that didn't reach the market until after Microsoft Vista was released the component manufacturer might have only produced drivers for Vista (possibly incompatible with Windows XP).

Honestly? I think the only thing you lose out is DX10 graphics in going from vista back to XP. I can't think of anything else off the top of my head that doesn't work with both OSes.

I'm sure there's something.

Hardware wise. Sure, Vista can handle more ram, 64 bit procs and I think it uses multicore procs better, but I could be wrong, I know only XP pro supported multiple chips. There is a 64 bit version of XP out there though.

 

[Amasov]

This computer was an XP machine when I bought it. I'm not sure what would make it incompatible with XP.

 

[Danoz]

Vista is just bloated. It can be gutted and reconfigured to look/feel/respond like XP and work quite well. I would recommend doing this over a backwards installation of an earlier Windows-- especially if the computer is new. I personally prefer Linux distributions (Ubuntu!), and given the success I've had running Windows programs and games in Wine-- I rarely boot up Vista, excect to periodically update the system and anti-virus definitions.

If you're intent on downgrading, XP with the newest Service Package is what we use at work and I love it.

 

[Lindley]

Honestly? I think the only thing you lose out is DX10 graphics in going from vista back to XP. I can't think of anything else off the top of my head that doesn't work with both OSes.

And that's an arbitrary limitation on Microsoft's part, since all the DX10 features are available on XP for programs using OpenGL.

 

[Kryton]

Bought my current laptop at the beginning of August and I played with the installed Vista Home edition for a few days.

Though one of the selling points of the computer in the first place (for me) was that it included a copy of XP-Pro up to Svc Pack 2. Nice little box...sure burns up the electrons nice-like.

 

[CaptJimboJones]

Vista is just bloated. It can be gutted and reconfigured to look/feel/respond like XP and work quite well.

That's basically what I did. I disabled most of the "shiny new features" Vista had to offer (following various online tutorials) and my PC runs much, much better now. It's still Vista at its core, but certainly seems to run faster and with more stability.

 

[RAMA]

I still have a PC with XP on it, but I prefer my Vista PC. To each their own.

RAMA

 

[Trekker4747]

You should try Windows Mojave. I hear it's awesome!

 

[Kryton]

^I can't stand sand. It's coarse and it gets into everything.

 

[FordSVT]

I never have problems with Vista SP1, I've got all the graphic bells and whistles on. I can play music, have a browser open, be downloading torrents and play WoW all at the same time and still have 2GB of memory left out of three. It might have crashed once since I started using it six months ago. My machine is pretty sweet though still not an uber-PC, but I guess if you've got a three year old computer with a gig of RAM you're not as happy as me.

I clicked a few check boxes here and there (like the permissions function) to make certain operations smoother for me, but other than that it seems like a pretty version of Windows XP to me.

I know people run all kinds of strange programs on their computers, I just don't know how some people seem to have so many problems, like their machine crashing multiple times a day, etc. That to me wreaks of user incompetence (not directed at the OP). I know a lot of early Vista problems were driver related, but a lot of early XP problems were driver related too. I'm not sure why 3rd party drivers are Microsoft's problem.

 

[Trekker4747]

^I can't stand sand. It's coarse and it gets into everything.

 

[Kryton]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

 

[Cutter John]

I'm sure Vista is fine for a lot of folks, but I don't plan on buying a new OS until either a) XP Pro software and driver updates become hard to find. Or b) I check out a demo that makes me jump up and shout "Holy crap! I wish XP could do that!"