Hi All,

I did the Vista compatibility scan on my desktop last night, and received the recommendation to use Vista Business.

This desktop is a home use machine, and I would prefer to use home premium

the spec for the desktop is:

Gigabyte GA-945GCMX-S2 motherboard (Rev 6.6 1066 FSB)
Intel Pentium Dual-core E2160 Processor (800 FSB)
ATI Radeon X1300 PRO Graphics card (256Mb Ram)
2 X Seagate SATA HDD's running in IDE Mode
Windows XP Professional (My Employer's Corporate version)
Office 2003 (Corporate version)
Gigabyte GD-1703BP V.3 17" LCD Monitor (soon to be replaced with a ASUS MB19TU 19" wide screen LCD)
I also have a HP PSC 1110 All-in-one printer and a CANON PiXma 4000 printer attached to the PC, and have been told to get the Vista drivers from the vendor (no problem with that!), same as for the Radeon

Could you advise - it seems that the business version does not support the multimedia apps. as well as HP does

Thanks

Kev'

It probably noted the corporate editions and that's the reason it recommended Business. I'd suggest that you check out the features here for specifics on what you get/don't get: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/...ons/choose.mspx

Don't forget to check the Canon and HP websites for Vista-compatible drivers for your printers before upgrading - this will surely affect your decision to upgrade. The Radeon drivers are available for Vista. Here's a link to the Vista drivers for your mobo at Gigabyte: http://www.giga-byte.com.tw/Support/Mother...?ProductID=2521

Hi John,

Thanks for that, I'm just curious that, if I upgrade to HP instead of Business, there will be "shouts and screams" that the HP upgrade is incompatible with XP Pro - YOU KNOW WHAT M$OFT IS LIKE!!!

I will download all the necessary drivers etc. when my broadband cap has more meat to it - I've just upgraded the PC to XP Pro (with all the updates and so forth) at the behest of my employer, and expect them to insist on a Vista upgrade within a year or two, and want to be ready for it!!

Kev'

I'd recommend against an upgrade and would opt for a "custom" install instead. The drawback is that it'll overwrite all of your data - so you MUST BACKUP everything first!!! In general (and IMO), an upgrade is just importing all your old problems into a new OS (which may have even more problems with the old OS).

Beyond that, there shouldn't be any issues with which version you install - most installation glitches revolve around video and the Aero interface. I've got Vista Ultimate installed on an older Toshiba M45 laptop (with Aero disabled) and it works just fine.

You don't have to download the drivers now, but should check to see if they're available - that way you can make an informed decision when it's needed. Also, check with the IT folks at work and see what they suggest (but take it with a grain of salt).

Hi John,

I've already checked the various sites for the necessary drivers (HP, AMD for the ATI card, CANON for the iP400 and Gigabyte for the MOBO and bookmarked them all).

UMM.... Our IT folks normally ask ME for advice, so I wouldn't even bother them with this. This is not a trumpet blowing exercise, the competence of some people in our IT section sometimes astounds me.

As an aside, the HP site states that the drivers for the psc 1110 are INCLUDED in the Vista pack, but the adviser says that that there will be minor compatibility issued - who do I believe??

Thanks for the trouble once again

Kev'

From what I've seen, minor compatibility issues from HP usually mean that some of the features of the All-In-One may not work (minor things like the scanner or the copier!

IT knows IT - they don't necessarily know what the user wants/needs because the business takes priority over the user. Just like anything else, there's good ones and there's bad ones. It's not advice that you'd be seeking from them, but rather an idea of where the business is heading (from IT's view) so that you can better prepare for the transition (and maybe even influence it a bit). A good relationship with the IT department will make your job much simpler and easier to do!

You may need to check your video/graphics card to make sure it's up to snuff. Mine wasn't (running XPpro), but everything else checked okay for Vista Business.

EDIT...I have no problems running HP 1610 all-in-one-printer.

John, Jacee,

Thanks for the support and interest in my query:

John, I agree that IT knows IT, but our fella's appear to be just hanging on by their nails - example: our CORPORATE IT Manager was not aware that it was possible to deploy updates over the network?!?

I meant no offence with my comment, please accept my apology if I trod on any toes.

Jacee: I get your point - I have visited the AMD (ATI RADEON) website, and bookmarked the drivers page, as well as with the other sites.

Many thanks once again for all the constructive assistance

Kev'