What OS Are you using and Why ?

[PermenentMarker]

Well, with the new official arrival of Windows 7... I am wondering what OS everyone is using, why and how has it treated you.
Emm http://www.burgerkingjapan.co.jp/news/win7.php

I am using Windows XP 64 as I am an old school computer user and I like to keep working what works till the end.
Used 98SE Till XP Just came out only to then move to 2000Pro (up to XPSP1)

My specs are Owka for today's standards. Phenom9950 @ 2.73Ghz with 4gig ram + GTX260 + 2x320Gig Raid0 (outdated AM2 Mobo, weaker HTLink)

Vista is a fine OS unless you run it on a laptop, or anything that has less then 2gigs ram, 7200RPM...


I herd great things about Windows 7 Beta however as long as everything runs on DirectX9c ... XP64 is what I keep.


XP64 has treated me fantastic so far. Boots windows real fast, less then 700MB Memory usage at startup (and thats because I run a lot) Never crashes and I reboot less then once a week.

XP64 Bugs...
Sony Cybershot Camera does not detect on usb, Latest MSN is 8.5
Besides that, works like XP with more ram.
Good thing is I never seen a Genuine advantage update on X64

 

[REZ]

I use Windows XP Pro because it works. I have no actual need for a new operating system and I probably wont be switching until I'm forced to.

Windows 7 doesnt do anything different that I feel I need to have.

 

[SheepDip]

I've been running Windows XP Pro since 2003. The only reason I run windows is ease of gaming, I'd never considered moving to Vista due to the fact that it's horrid. Going from Windows 98/2000 it was very easy to just walk up to XP and know your way around. XP to Vista I found different in many silly and irritating ways.

Tempted by Windows 7 (even though it is very similar to Vista), I'm due to upgrade. But I wish they'd take the awful TV ads for it away...making out like the features that have been on Linux/Apple for years are new things.

 

[UncleDrax]

Currently Vista Home-Prem 64-bit. Honestly, I don't see what the issue is.. but I did wait for a year or two to get all the drivers settled up. UAC doesn't bother me, and once I turned off all the 'features' of Vista (aka: make it look like Win2k), it works for me great.

When I updated to this H/W, I went ahead and figured I'd grab Vista 64 so I could have DX10.. not that it matters most of the time to me.

Next to me I also have my 2nd PC which is running VMWare's ESXi server with an Ubuntu and XP-64 on it.

 

[Fedorov]

I use Windows XP 32, it works and is IMO the fastest and most compatible, on a side note:

Vista is not as bad as people say, and 7 is not as good as people say, everything is just hype

 

[Zips]

Win7 RC1 64bit

I'll be making the jump to the final release of Win7 in a few months time. Been loving the RC1. It runs great, love the interface, great features.

I came from using Vista which was just fine, but I hadn't reformatted in a few years with Vista and once the Win7 RC1 came around I figured it was time.

 

[LemoN]

Vista Ultimate 32
why?
because i decided to install Vista when i got my new machine
was a mistake

 

[omarfw]

vista is the new window millennium

 

[Xendance]

Running Windows 7 Pro x64 here. The explorer works a lot faster than a bogged down XP because it actually uses the memory rather than keep it free. Also this uses less ram than Vista. Also the new taskbar and window management is awesome, as is the working library system (kind of meta-folders, you can add whatever folder to them and the library will show all the files and folder inside the added folders).

 

[Capt.Marion]

I've been using 64-bit Vista. Started off fine, but slowly got slower and slower. I plan on making the switch to 64bit 7 home premium tonight.

On my workhorse of a 7-yo laptop I run Ubuntu, because XP was slowing down, and I felt like messing around. Works like a charm.

 

[Mahnsikir]

Running Vista 64 Home Premium on my desktop but ive got Win7 Pro 64 ready to install as soon as I find a spare day to back all my stuff up, was using Win7 RC 7100 over the summer which I really liked and is why I decided to move to win7 on release. (That and the student deal cheapness )

Vista is a fine OS unless you run it on a laptop, or anything that has less then 2gigs ram, 7200RPM...

Vista actually runs much better on my laptop (2gig ram 2ghz c2d) than it ever did on my desktop, even after 2 and a half years of having lots of crap on it, it still boots up to a responsive desktop really quick. I am tempted to upgrade it to win7 as well, but it runs really well on vista and the amount of time I spend on it for anything more than the occasionally bit of basic work/uni stuff or web browsing is pretty limited, but still

 

[DietOrange]

XP...bought a new machine this year and had that installed since I was so used to it.

 

[Hirmuinen]

I use Windows XP 32, it works and is IMO the fastest and most compatible, on a side note:

Vista is not as bad as people say, and 7 is not as good as people say, everything is just hype

Heres the new Gamespot benchmark of the current OSs:
http://www.gamespot.com/features/6237831/p-2.html

Vista doesn't seem bad at all, maybe it was a lot worse at release, but I don't know about that. I have always thought that the constant Vista bashers either haven't used it(or did when it was released) or are trying to run it on old hardware(the one which ran XP great). I could be wrong tho.

Vista has worked better for me than XP(no crashes, application errors ect.) and don't see why anyone would switch from Vista to Win7, unless they get it extremely cheap(or you need overall better performace from your computer). Seems like a waste of money for so little change.

 

[arramus]

I'm using XP Pro and only switched from Win 2000 because a lot of game releases stopped supporting it. I'm comfortable with the interface and didn't feel the urge to switch to Vista as it didn't appear to provide any major benefits.

My game server is also running XP Pro. I found a 30GB SSD in the seasonal sales in May (one of the first 5 customers to pick up a model and got a good deal) and replaced the old HDD. The change was remarkable and gave me a whole new perception of XP.

I must say I'm interested in Win 7 and will watch how it goes for the next few months.

 

[Dcode]

Vista 64 Business because i upgraded to an i7 platform with 6GB of RAM back in May and needed 64bit support. I got the licence for nothing.

Early versions of Vista were a cluster****, added to the fact OEM's shipped underpowered machines with it pre-installed did the OS no favours. After 2 service packs its running solidly.

I do intend to upgrade to Windows 7 in the not so distant future. I will pick up the OEM version of 64bit Pro.

 

[Shadrach]

Using XP Pro, had the same install for over 2 years now, installing OSes are for lamers who cant keep it stable/backed up

And will continue using it until someone convinces me to switch, or shows me how much more awesome directX 11 is. It won't be easy I tell you.

 

[Murphy]

When I got a new computer way back in the days it came with Windows XP Home Edition. Then I got another new computer a few years later (one that could play UT2004 maxed out and RO almost maxed out. Those two games were most important to me) and it also came with Windows XP HE.

So I didn't actively chose Windows XP, but coming from Windows 95 I got used to it pretty fast and I have always been more or less satisfied with it. I tried some other OSes briefly, but none of them impressed me enough to make me switch to them permanently. Not necessarily because I think Windows XP is so superior but because the ones I tried were at least not superior to XP enough to make me want to relearn where everything is.

I might have switched to Vista because it's flashy and looks comfortable and because of DX10, but my PC can't handle it properly and XP is still fine.

 

[dogbadger]

XP sp3
got a athlon 3200 XP 2gb ram system - need all this 'power' for games so dunno if it would be happy with anything more recent (and, presumably, demanding.)
as Xp runs everything I have why spend cash on upgrade?

 

[FaTaLeKe]

Windows 7, only cause XP X64 was getting slow and got a free copy from MSDNAA

 

[=GG= Mr Moe]

Windows XP Home. Never saw any reason that I should upgrade to Vista and spend the money on it.

Thinking of Windows 7, but I would like to hear what noticeable improvements there are over XP to warrant me spending money and going thru a reformat first.