Though I had always been an advocate of free and/or open source softwares, the gamer in me can’t simply put Windows aside. I had recently bought a new development/gaming rig to replace my ancient one and I was torn between two choices whether to install Windows XP SP3 or Windows Vista SP1 as my main operating system.
You might ask, why not do a dual boot setup? Well, I could, but I don’t like it. This forces me to create multiple partitions and waste a lot of disk space and constantly switching between operating systems is a pain in the a$$. I had been a long time user of Windows XP and with Service Pack 3 released, like other people out there, I believed that this is Microsoft’s greatest operating system so far. But I finally give in to my curiosity and I installed Windows Vista SP1. I won’t be providing benchmarks or any technical comparisons of Windows XP and Vista here since there are already tons of them in the web but if you are thinking about moving to Windows Vista from Windows XP, as long as you meet the hardware requirements of Windows Vista, you’ll be fine. Windows Vista is not really that bad as what other people say when comparing it against Windows XP. Indeed Windows XP performs better but having an additional second in application loading time and a 5-point frame rate drop in games is not a big deal for me. Like you are going to notice the difference between 55 and 60 FPS (frames per second)! In PC games, to have a smooth gaming experience, you should try to achieve at least 30 FPS. My only gripe with Windows Vista is that some of my older applications are incompatible with it. Well, that’s one reason why I like virtual machines – to run older and incompatible applications. I think I should make a post about virtualization next time. :-)
Here’s my desktop buddy, currently running Windows Vista SP1. It’s not the best but it performs well.
Specifications: Dual 19-inch LCD monitor, Intel Core 2 Duo E4600, 4GB RAM, GeForce 8600GT, 160GB SATA HD
For reference, my PC had a Windows Experience Index base score of 4.8.
A computer with a base score of 4 or 5 is able to run all new features of Windows Vista with full functionality, and it is able to support high-end, graphics-intensive experiences, such as multiplayer and 3D gaming, and, recording and playback of HDTV content. Computers with base score of 5 were the highest performing computers available when Windows Vista was released.
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