XP x64 and the new i7

[demonfire]

I am in the planning stages of a new system and have chosen the Core i7 920 as the most likely CPU....I hate Vista almost as much as WinMe, and don't want to wait and get my hopes up for Win 7 as I expect a massive let down in the release version. Will XP x64 Pro be able to utilize the i7 and all four cores?

 

[aford10]

It's not the cpu that matters so much to the OS. The benefit of the 64bit OS, is the ability to utilize more than 3.25Gb of RAM.

XP 64bit has a serious lack of driver support. I would advise xp 32bit if you dont' want vista or windows7.

 

[Zoron]

Nothing wrong with Vista x64 other than your perception. Windows 7 will be an improvement upon Vista. If you want 64-bit, I would avoid Windows XP. If you want 32-bit, then by all means, have at it. Though why people continue to cling to XP at this point puzzles me. Makes absolutely no sense to build a new computer with the choicest new components and then stick a 7+ year-old OS on it.

If this was 2 years ago, I'd understand it a bit more. However, all of the reasons people thought they needed to avoid Vista are gone. Vista performs on par with XP on the same hardware. It isn't the "memory hog" that people have claimed; that was a misconception right from the start. Also, SP 2 is imminent, which may or may not give users further improvement... but it will certainly help with any bugs that might still be present.

In short, Vista is not, nor has it ever been, like ME. The comparison is ridiculous. If you still want to avoid though and still want 64-bit, then you'll have to wait for Win 7 or go with Linux. Win XP x64 was a stop-gap solution at best... and MS didn't put much effort into getting vendors to support it.

 

[number13]

I agree with the OP, except that Vista is nothing like M.E., which actually worked, Vista is a resource hog and never ending pop ups, yes it can be configuired to ease up a bit, with a lot of work, and I'm not holding my breath for Vista SP3(Win 7), MSFT should release it as a SP3 so all the people that got the shaft with Vista could get something that worked, as for me, I'm sticking with that old OS until win 7 proves itself.

 

[aford10]

There's a lot of people that feel that way. Texas has proposed a bill to ban vista from all government PC's. Most businesses won't go near vista. To a certain extent the stigma is valid. There is some configuring that needs to be done to optimize vista. But once that's done, it's actually a pretty stable OS that can utilize above 3.25GB of RAM.

Personally, I use xp. There was nothing about vista that warranted paying a cent for it. Most PC's don't come close to utilizing 4Gb of memory. There is virtually no benefit to more than 6Gb. The 3.25Gb I get in xp is more than enough to run smooth.

I will check out windows7 when it comes out. But if it isn't what people make it out to be, I'll still stick with xp.

 

[badge]

When Windows XP was released in th era of IDE hard drives, SP2 patched in drivers for SATA hard drives so a floppy disk with SATA drivers didn't have to used at the F6 prompt to use a SATA HD Oh yeah, and SP2 patched in the 'Security Center'. Before SP2 Windows XP literally crashed more often with spyware and viruses than Windows 95 for god sakes! SP3 did not do a single thing to enhance the performance of Windows XP. On the other hand, Vista offers hardware excellerators like Superfetch and Readyboost. Vista SP1 further enhanced hardware performance with Vista. Vista 64 gave enthusiasts the first 64 bit mainstream OS. Comparing Windows XP with it's lame prefetch useage of system RAM and it's seven years of endless patches to Vista 64 is not even a worthy topic. I have at least a dozen personal computers running with Windows XP. I wouldn't compare the experience of sitting down to one of those XP systems to the pleasing, even fun experience of sitting down to one of my four Vista 64 systems. Like Zoron stated, "Though why people continue to cling to XP at this point puzzles me. Makes absolutely no sense to build a new computer with the choicest new components and then stick a 7+ year-old OS on it." Could not say it any better than that.

OP should install Windows 7 RC 64 and enjoy the latest technology an OS has to offer and forget about XP. If I came to your place and you showed me your brand new system you built and booted up Windows XP...I would not be interested in trying it out.

 

[aford10]

Can't be that bad if you have a dozen using xp still.

From my point of view, nothing about vista is worth the $120 it costs to upgrade.

 

[badge]

Why would you buy Vista 64 now when Windows 7 64 RC is free? Install Windows 7 RC 64 and keep all your important files on a seperate drive. When Windows 7 64 is offcially released install it.

I have computers in three locations, two are business offices. Many of the XP machines are socket 754 and 939 as well as 478. When I upgrade those work stations I will upgrade the entire system, not just the OS. There is no need to upgrade now while the XP machines I have work perfectly. As far as for my personal use and enjoyment, I would not load Windows XP on any of my quad core or even dual core systems. My wife, son and I all have Vista 64 machines we enjoy and have a lot of fun and entertainment with. Like Zoron said...

"Though why people continue to cling to XP at this point puzzles me. Makes absolutely no sense to build a new computer with the choicest new components and then stick a 7+ year-old OS on it."

Edit for writer's embellishments.

 

[Zoron]

Vista is not a resource hog, Number 13, as I said that was and still continues to be a huge misconception. Vista reports memory usage differently than XP... it's actually more honest about the memory it's consuming... whereas XP will report more free memory than there actually is.

Aford, a lot of people didn't consider XP worth upgrading to either. People were still clinging to Win 98 until MS pretty much forced the issue by discontinuing it. People didn't really embrace XP until after SP 2... and most pre-SP2 people were extremely reluctant to upgrade to SP2... despite the fact that it would have stopped certain worms dead in their tracks. I used XP since RC 1 and thought right from the start that it was a huge improvement... but I was in the minority.

Now, rinse and repeat, the cycle starts again with Vista. The problem now is that people read one or two bad things about an OS upon release and then carry those misconceptions on forever... or at least until they're proven wrong. Most people never bother searching for new information... they simply go on what they've read 2 or 3 years ago.

You may not have a compelling reason to upgrade right now... but if you purchase a new computer, you'll have to purchase an OS to go with it. Are you seriously going to stick with XP? I understand the reluctance to upgrade when you already own a legal copy of XP... but not when you have to go out and purchase a new copy of Windows. Windows 7 will definately be a welcome and noticable improvement over Vista, but most Vista users won't be compelled to upgrade right away either. Most XP users concerned with Vista should seriously consider it, however.

 

[badge]

The first XP machne I owned was a notebook my wife bought. It had 256 MB PC2100 system RAM! I can still remember clicking on 'Start' and waiting while that hourglass let me know, 'XP was somewhere and trying to open 'Start'. But yeah, until SP2 spyware and virus was crashing XP on a weekly if not daily basis. I'm not bashing XP, I still use it like said. But, my personal computers have Vista 64 and I have Windows 7 64 install with a dual boot config with XP. That's on an old socket 939 single core syste. Windows 7 64 is great so far. It appears Vista 64 drivers work in many instances with a lot of hardware and that puts the 64 bitWindows 7 off to a good start. I'm thinking of buying an SSD and installing Windows 7 64 on my new PII 940. Anyway, it is sad the many posts that appear on this forum bumbling what a 'dog' Vista is. Many times it is user incompotence and sometimes a lack of computer knowledge that causes this. How great it is having a 64 bit OS that performs so well. hard to believe thinking back a couple of years. On the other hand, Windows XP has been around for 7 years. That is a record that may stick for some time.

 

[badge]

BTW, any of you can download and install Windows 7 RC and give it try for free.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/

 

[aford10]

My roommate has vista on his pc. I've spent some time configuring his user profile and disabling some services that just bogged down the system. We also upgraded the RAM from 1GB of ddr2 667 to 4GB of DDR2 800. Overall, it's a pretty nice OS now. But it was pretty ugly when he first got it.

I think the most frustrating aspect of it, for me, was the networking services. I'm not a networking guru. I've worked with Novell and now IBM, however little Microsoft. I've learned my way around through windows 95,me, and xp. I think Vista has given me more fits than any of the previous. It's more of a preference, but I like the system configured around my computer not the user.

But yes, I remember when xp came out. It wasn't pretty either.

Windows7 is coming though. I'm an optimist. Thanks for the link badge, I'm gonna take a look for myself.

 

[badge]

Go ahead and download Windows 7 64 RC from the link. Then burn to DVD and load it up! If you have Nero installed, that should burn the image for you. I think I may install it soon on a better machine and get some serious use out it. Hard to find time.

 

[Zoron]

The interface is a bit different, but everything you're used to with previous versions of Windows is still there. I do agree it's a bit of a pain to find everything when you first get started... but once you know where everything is, then it's no different from any other version of Windows.