BleepingComputer.com: New Laptop: Vista Or Xp?

Hi all,

I buying a new laptop because my old one decided to melt itself (literally). Anyway, seeing that I'm leaning towards a Dell Inspiron 1420 or similar, I was wondering whether to get it with Vista or XP, as Dell still offers XP preinstalled on its systems. I've heard both sides of the debate, "Vista's new features outweigh the flaws", and "Vista's just a pretty face on XP." I admit, I can't seem to resist prettiness in OS's.

Is Vista worth the money for the hardware upgrades, or should I stick with XP?

This post has been edited by Domenicm: 11 September 2007 - 05:54 PM

Avoid the headaches, don't go with Vista until they have the first service pack out for it, and they will.

Couldn't agree more dc3, XP is much more stable, and you're guarenteed your laptop will work correctly!

IMO a Vista laptop is the way to go. Vista is very stable and has many improved features that make computing easier. That being said, you do have to be careful with adding stuff to it - since it's new not all manufacturer's provide support/compatibility for it.

For example, I just bought a brand new Lexmark All-In-One from WalMart. It's got the little "Works with Vista" sticker on it. Closer inspection reveals that it is a sticker - so it was stuck on after the thing was manufactured. This is a "clue" that the VIsta drivers aren't included with it. Sure enough, it took a trip to the Lexmark website to get the correct drivers.

The same thing goes for software/programs/etc. You'll have to use Vista compatible applications on your Vista system. While you can make most XP apps work, it may turn into a real PITA when trying to do so.

So, if you're looking for the latest and greatest - go with Vista. If you're looking for compatibility with your old apps and hardware - either do the research to see if there is Vista compatible software, or stick with XP.

Thanks for the replies! I'll probably stick with XP for now, since I've got quite a bit of hardware that drivers haven't been released for Vista.

Hi, I own a Dell 9400 (highly spec) and I bought with windows vista home premium. It works extreemly good with no interruptions. Since windows Vista is the new XP now-a-days, go for Vista, even Dell are always there to assist their clients so you do not have to worry about nothing. Also, my laptop do have alot of things installed on it and still everything works fine. Even I did install the office 2000 and works full.

Conclusion, in my opinion go for Vista since it is the latest and now software and hardware are being made vista compatable and the XP out-fasshioned.

In another thread around here it was suggested to go to the Dell support site to look for drivers - and manually key your model in rather than entering the service tag number - that will allow you to select the OS (if available) and see what drivers they've got.