What is the best OS windows version for gaming purposes and why?  Should I wait till October to buy Windows 7?  Or should I get the latest copy of Vista? 

btw... I kinda want to play Aion at launch so thats why I'm skeptical about waiting for 7, but I also hear you can download a version of it too... I'm confused and don't know what to do really.  (this is my first gaming rig so be gentle)  =D

~thanks

and sorry for posting software question in the hardware section,... I didn't know where else to ask this question.

Hey SoulSurfer,

Before the flamers arrive...

I really suggest waiting for Windows 7, just for its better system resource usage and legacy OS compatibility. You'll be paying a similar amount of money and its only a month's wait.

I will admit that I am a Linux fangirl so I tend to bash Vista, possibly more than is due, but in all honesty Windows 7 is a huge improvement from a hardware compatibility and application support perspective.

Why can't you play Aion now? It even runs on my old Dell Latitude laptop with XP from 2004...

(edit: quote)

I would wait for Windows 7. I just switched to Windows 7 Professional on my home computer last week and I love it, can't really think of any complaints off the top of my head. I also switched my work computer from Vista to 7 last week too. It's a very solid OS that is actually ready for release.

XP or wait for Win7(or download the beta).

Do not buy Vista!

I am also a Linux fan but I think that would be a bit much trying to figure out building your first rig.  After you get some experience under your belt, I Would recommend looking into it if you like tinkering with that kind of stuff.

Originally posted by Tisiphone

Hey SoulSurfer,

Before the flamers arrive...

I really suggest waiting for Windows 7, just for its better system resource usage and legacy OS compatibility. You'll be paying a similar amount of money and its only a month's wait.

I will admit that I am a Linux fangirl so I tend to bash Vista, possibly more than is due, but in all honesty Windows 7 is a huge improvement from a hardware compatibility and application support perspective.

Why can't you play Aion now? It even runs on my old Dell Latitude laptop with XP from 2004...

(edit: quote)

I cannot play because I don't have a computer at home.  Well I do, it's just that its in a few pieces in my room with no OS. =P

I post mostly at school and work, and on my dad's notebook at home.

I think I'll take your advice and get 7.  Maybe if I download it soon I can play Aion?  I went all out on this rig, so I kinda want to mate it to the best technology on the market. 

thanks for the responses!  =)

Microsoft stopped offering the Win7 ISO for download a couple weeks ago, though I'm *pretty* sure you can still get an RC key for it that lasts until March '10. If you torrent the ISO be very careful when you get it there was a couple ISO torrents that had a virus prepacked into them.

2 weeks ago i got my new rig , i bought vista home premium and got a coupon for windows 7 ^^ pretty nice offer , not having any problems with vista runs smoothly .. i dont think ill be changing for windows 7 if i dont see any issue

Originally posted by selobthegod

2 weeks ago i got my new rig , i bought vista home premium and got a coupon for windows 7 ^^ pretty nice offer , not having any problems with vista runs smoothly .. i dont think ill be changing for windows 7 if i dont see any issue

The problem is that Vista uses a lot more resources than any other OS including W7. So you don't see any actual issue but your computer still runs a lot slower than it would with any other OS.

OP: Get W7 or the old faithful XP. Computers have a limited speed and there is no need to waste any of that.

Originally posted by Loke666

Originally posted by selobthegod

2 weeks ago i got my new rig , i bought vista home premium and got a coupon for windows 7 ^^ pretty nice offer , not having any problems with vista runs smoothly .. i dont think ill be changing for windows 7 if i dont see any issue

The problem is that Vista uses a lot more resources than any other OS including W7. So you don't see any actual issue but your computer still runs a lot slower than it would with any other OS.

OP: Get W7 or the old faithful XP. Computers have a limited speed and there is no need to waste any of that.

hm i dont think i sense going any slower :P Intel core i7 920  , 6 gb memory.. doesnt affect me at all and it doesnt make my games run slower or something either , it uses more memory but still i got plenty

that is because your system is way over the top for the kind of applications you seem to use it for. Don't think there is much out in the entertainment sector that you need to throw that much raw power at. Doesn't change the fact that Vista is a poor OS with respect to resource management (and other things..^^).

I actually think I'm going to go with XP because I have to load this ArcGIS 9 software in order to pass this incredibly hard computer class I'm taking this semester.  (instructors told me it does not get along with Vista!) XD 

Also I know I'll be able to load Aion with ease.  If the time comes, I'll just upgrade next year to 7, so maybe I'll be able to get max performance by that time for FFXIV.  =)

once again, thank-you for your honest opinions. <3

Originally posted by SoulSurfer

I actually think I'm going to go with XP because I have to load this ArcGIS 9 software in order to pass this incredibly hard computer class I'm taking this semester.  (instructors told me it does not get along with Vista!) XD 

Also I know I'll be able to load Aion with ease.  If the time comes, I'll just upgrade next year to 7, so maybe I'll be able to get max performance by that time for FFXIV.  =)

once again, thank-you for your honest opinions. <3

Smart thinking. XP works well, and next year will MS finally got most of the buggs out of W7.

I would still go Win7 running WinXP on a virtual machine if you need it. Win7 has a run as WinXP mode and you may find it works.

Why Win 7 - its clean, fast and runs DX10.  It is modern and nicer to use than XP.  Better audio options than XP. Game performance is the same if not faster than XP. 

It also just works.  Installed - it found and installed all my drivers.  I had to do nothing at all.  Installation was fast, clean and without stupid annoying questions. 

Server 2008 FTW! sawo released a converter to make it like a "workstation" and I've never ben able to rave about a stable version of windows. Make sure you get R1 ...R2 has not been fully tweaked successfully yet. but R1 is awesome! had uptime of 6 months and only stopped once becuase of one power outage. :( I could have ran for a whole year if it weren't for that! Most games work on it with no problems. Specially after getting SP2. The only games I haven't gotten to work are Fable: The lost chapters, and Black and White 2. The others work just fine, if not better then XPSP3 ever did. I get 10-15 more FPS!

Originally posted by selobthegod

Originally posted by Loke666

Originally posted by selobthegod

2 weeks ago i got my new rig , i bought vista home premium and got a coupon for windows 7 ^^ pretty nice offer , not having any problems with vista runs smoothly .. i dont think ill be changing for windows 7 if i dont see any issue

The problem is that Vista uses a lot more resources than any other OS including W7. So you don't see any actual issue but your computer still runs a lot slower than it would with any other OS.

OP: Get W7 or the old faithful XP. Computers have a limited speed and there is no need to waste any of that.

 

hm i dont think i sense going any slower :P Intel core i7 920  , 6 gb memory.. doesnt affect me at all and it doesnt make my games run slower or something either , it uses more memory but still i got plenty

THIS, lol ^^ qft.

So, after all the wasted energy, time, and bandwith, I broke down and got Vista, with the 7 coupon for $119 bucks. (was on sale)

Vista works fine, and I was able to load the ARCGIS9.3 software for my computer class - and all is peachy.  They installed the OS and the rig is working fine and GREAT.  I cannot believe how quiet it is, compared to my bro's old rig.  Technology never ceases to amaze me.  (lets turn the boooost up on this baby, overclocked ftw)

So thanks once agian everyone for your honest and helpful inputs!!! =D appriciate it. <3

Personally i would suggest anybody to do a clean upgrade if you wana switch to a new OS.

Originally posted by SoulSurfer

What is the best OS windows version for gaming purposes and why?  Should I wait till October to buy Windows 7?  Or should I get the latest copy of Vista? 

btw... I kinda want to play Aion at launch so thats why I'm skeptical about waiting for 7, but I also hear you can download a version of it too... I'm confused and don't know what to do really.  (this is my first gaming rig so be gentle)  =D

~thanks

 

and sorry for posting software question in the hardware section,... I didn't know where else to ask this question.

mm if you havent buy your computer yet wait till window 7 is pre-installed in ,you often get lot of added software etc 

if comp is bot then you probably already have vista ,if so then keep thats its stable now thats what i ve been gaming on but 

its not window xp pro .xp pro is a speed demon compared to vista from that factory <

yes vista added some stuff to speed it up,its still slow

dont know about w7 yet since i didnt try it,but one thing is sure w7 isnt hybrid anymore like vista was so it will probably be faster

faster then xp pro? nha probably not .the problem with ms os is their tendency to block you acces to only 50% of whats avail,

i found some clutter ms put in to slowdown traffic its mind bogling ,but you cant just boot those why because everybody runs like ms want so if your the only one speeded up yep you got it it slows your computer even more 

its like i speak to you in french but you speak to me in english eventually we ll understand each other but it might take a while 

maybe w7 will do better we ll see havent heard much about it yet (probably a good thing lol)

Originally posted by SoulSurfer

What is the best OS windows version for gaming purposes and why?  Should I wait till October to buy Windows 7?  Or should I get the latest copy of Vista? 

btw... I kinda want to play Aion at launch so thats why I'm skeptical about waiting for 7, but I also hear you can download a version of it too... I'm confused and don't know what to do really.  (this is my first gaming rig so be gentle)  =D

~thanks

 

and sorry for posting software question in the hardware section,... I didn't know where else to ask this question.

Get the beta of W7 or get XP. Vista will lower your performance to much.

You could of course always download a prerelease version of W7 from Piratebay.org too, not legal but moraly correct if you buy a legal version as soon as it releases. I don't reccomend it of course but I don't reccomend you to do anything illegal, particulary on an open forum ;)

I have a coupon for 7, when it comes out in October.  It was part of the package deal for the free upgrage even though I had purchased Vista for the time being.  I don't have any games to load on it except for Aion, and it runs the school software ok so all is well. =)

For all you XP fans:  Don't you want to upgrade to direct X 10?

I'm not a huge Windows fan and never really liked Vista that much. But, I got the Windows 7 RC/Beta they offered a while ago and am sold. All of my hardware 'just works' and it also seems very fast for me and arguably faster than Vista. Plus it has a few nice UI fixes and tweaks. I liked it so much I pre-ordered it when they had the special offer in the UK earlier in July.