Which version of Vista shall i buy?

Waxmyballs

Waxmyballs

Waxmyballs

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Hi

I'm building a new pc.

Q6600, Gigabyte P35 DS3P, 8800GTS etc.

Which version of Vista am i best off purchasing? 32bit or 64bit?

What are advantages etc over XP?

Thanks
 
I *think* that it matters not on which version you buy as a key for a 32bit Vista works just fine on a 64bit OS. The difference for you is whether you have 4GB of RAM or not or whether you are getting 4GB of RAM anytime soon as 32bit OS's only see 3 - 3.5GB max of addressable memory space max.

Has a lot of advantages over XP, but at present disadvantages too in that it's slower in games, has some bugs regarding hibernation and file system indexing, but overall it's a lot more pleasant to use and is very user friendly, but it looks a hell of a lot nicer. Here's a quick feature list for the diffrerent types of Vista versions to show what you get with certain packs - although the most popular is Home Premium as it benefits from Windows Media Center whereas "Home" does not.

features2.jpg
 
Don't use any old things no, i leave that for my parent's PC.

So, *in theory* i can install a 32bit Vista package, then use a 64bit package later; on the same PC activating it with the same key?

Only 2GB at the moment :)

I read the FAQ on 64bit. Is there any real reason to start on 32bit then upgrade later? Seems to me that use of the 64bit system will only get more common and the 32bit emulation works fine?

Would that sound right?
 
Waxmyballs said:
So, *in theory* i can install a 32bit Vista package, then use a 64bit package later; on the same PC activating it with the same key?
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Yes this is what I've heard, although don't quote me and I'd seek a confirmation on that :)

Waxmyballs said:
I read the FAQ on 64bit. Is there any real reason to start on 32bit then upgrade later? Seems to me that use of the 64bit system will only get more common and the 32bit emulation works fine?
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32bit is just far more common at the moment, and the only real reason I see in going 64bit is to make more use of the addressable memory space. I would personally start on 32bit and move to 64bit at a later date since you only have 2GB of RAM but that's personal preferance and what I would do.
 
You can run Vista x64 with 2GB just fine,personally I'm using Vista x64 HP and consider myself a gamer,not encountered any game problems where I could not run a game.

End of the day its down to if you need to run very old 16 bit software(including 16 bit games) which Vista x64 does not support and also do you have the 64 bit drivers for your hardware,in my case I had all 64 bit drivers available.

As to software all my usual programs run fine,ie..Firefox,CCleaner,Printmaster 16,uTorrent,Spybot,Foxit reader,Quicktime,Nero etc.. so can't complain at all in how well Vista x64 handles my software.
:)
 
Hey Waxmyballs, here is another graph that compares all of the Windows Vista editions with one another. Windows Vista Home Premium is without a doubt the better value for money out of all of the other versions.

Moving onto the 32-bit or 64-bit.

In my opinion, If you have a processor that is capable of handling 64-bit instructions then there is no reason to go for the 32-bit edition. You won't see a massive performance increase going from a 32-bit to a 64-bit operating system as of yet since many programs have been written for 32-bit architectures. However this will be changing in the future because with 64bit being more recognized, more and more programs will be written under 64-bit architectures. When programs are released that are written specifically for 64-bit, you will then start to see a performance increase from 32-bit programs.

As already been stated, you will be able to address up to 128GB of RAM depending on the edition of Windows Vista you purchase as opposed to a 32-bit Operating System which can address up to 4GB of memory natively but is then cut down to around the 3GB mark depending on your hardware. This is actually more of a 32-bit architectural hardware problem and simply not down to the 32-bit Operating System itself. It's all down to the way that the hardware allocates the memory for its own resources.

Their is a lot more to a 64-bit Operating System other than it can address a lot more RAM and this article explains this.

As far as the support goes, it is now excellent. The majority of manufacturers have now released 64-bit drivers for their hardware and to regards to software, once again, the majority of software now work perfectly fine under Windows Vista. :)

Rochest said:
neither, vistas *****
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Hey Rochest, any particular reason why you say that? Maybe instead of saying you don't like Windows Vista (Full stop and not commenting on why), it may be an idea to create a thread and explaining the problems that you are experiencing and then maybe someone will be able to help you out. :)
 
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flibby said:
32bit is just far more common at the moment, and the only real reason I see in going 64bit is to make more use of the addressable memory space. I would personally start on 32bit and move to 64bit at a later date since you only have 2GB of RAM but that's personal preferance and what I would do.
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Other way around. the only reason to go 32bit is if you know of something that won't work on 64bit. Which is very few and far between. 64bit seems to run faster. On computers I've played with. It also means when you do upgrade you don't have to wip 32bit vista and install 64bit vista.

Go 64bit you won't regret it. As for which Home primum or Ultimate.
 
OK, definitely want 64bit premium now.

OCUK only seem to sell OEM products. What are the implications of buying these over the retail version??
 
Hey Waxmyballs, the only difference between the OEM and Retail license is the actual licensing terms and obviously the cost :p. If you purchase the OEM version of Windows Vista, once you have installed Windows Vista, it is then linked to that particular system so if you install it on any other system you will be violating the EULA. You can upgrade any system component apart from your motherboard and your license will still be intact. If you change the motherboard in your system then i am afraid you will have to purchase a new copy of Windows Vista to stay within the EULA.

If you purchase the Retail license, you will be able to install it on as many systems as you like so long as you are only using one license at a time. So if you install it on Machine A and wish to install it on Machine B, you will first have to completely uninstall Windows Vista from Machine A before you have the right to install it on Machine B. :)
 
Hey Waxmyballs, sorry, I forgot to mention about the warranty side of things.

If you purchase the OEM version of Windows Vista, the licensing terms above still applies, the only exception to this rule is if your motherboard becomes faulty, if this happens, once your new motherboard arrives ring up Microsoft and tell them the situation and they will re-activate your copy of Windows Vista (They will have no problem re-activating your copy of Windows for you due to the circumstances) for you since online activation will fail. :)
 
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Waxmyballs said:
Sounds fair enough!

Thanks everyone!

EDIT: What about if my newly purchased motherboard fails???
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I've been running V64HP OEM since July on a new system. My motherboard died (thanks to a Hiper PSU) a couple of weeks ago and the online activation did not work. I phone Microsoft and didn't speak to anyone - I went through the automated telephone activation.
 
Fire Wizard said:
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Although there is one caveat with what you quoted. You can replace a motherboard for faliure replacement purposes, without a direct manufacturer warrenty if you built the system and are therefore called the 'system builder'. This is not the case if you aren't the system builder, for example you bought a HP desktop with an OEM license. If that's the case, then my previous statement applies :)

Burnsy
 
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