Well, I was curious as to the following topics under which will make my decision for my upcoming pc's OS. Game Support? (Newest games, like Far Cry) Software Support? (Adope Photoshop, MSOffice XP) Small Buglist? (No crappy OS's with tons of bugs) Mod-Ability? (Duh, I'm going to mod it. )
XP pro i cant think of any reason to go 2k pro over xp pro games support is identical between 2k and xp software support, ditto small buglist, both 2k and xp have big buglists 'modability', well id say xp, it has the theme engine that allows for a lot more flexible skinning but both will do litestep/windowblinds etc
err, its the same, believe me 2k and XP are basically the same, theres a few tweaks, a few additional bits and pieces and a bunch of gui changes but underneath they're pretty much the same if a game runs on 2k it runs on xp and vice versa
I remember reading ages ago, when XP released, that it had better support for games than 2000 (particularly with older games) Here we go, http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1168805,00.asp http://www.annoyances.org/exec/show/article10-001
Crap, now I gotta go buy an XP serial code, hopefully someone might have a crack or keygen, but I've had bad luck with those. Thanks a ton, guys! Yet again, it proved worthy to ask you guys first.
Hello Windows XP is far better than Windows 2000. Game Support? Windows XP Software Support? Windows XP Small Buglist? Both but that might change for Software Mod-Ability? Windows XP Windows XP and Windows 2000 are both good stable operating systems. Why do people bash both operating systems? 1) Because they do not follow the critical driver installation procedure. I use to be like that and I ended up reformatting every 2 weeks because unexpected problems would show up in the operating system. Since I started following the CDIP, I have not installed Windows XP in 2 months and my Benchmark scores are the same as a freshly installed One 2) They don't defrag the hardrive. Defrag the hardrive when your away from your computer because it will improve the performance. Set 1 day in the week for Maintence, like Virus and Adware scanning 3) Because they don't update. Check for Windows updates weekly. Doing this makes both operating systems perfect. But I would rather choose Windows XP because it has more features like Thumbnail and Video Preview, themes etc. On my XP machine, I have MANY programs installed and uninstalled. It still runs as fast as a fresh install. Oh btw, Anyone who says Linux is fast....Linux is not faster than Windows XP if Linux is using the gui. Using a gui, LINUX IS SLOW. I have my own research to prove this. KDE and Gnome can't keep up. Linux wasn't made to use a GUI and using it Kills it's performance compared to Windows XP.
windows server 2003 but do the workstation mod on it to enable sound and directx and so on. havnt looked back since installing it oh and john cena... 2k has thumbnails and video preview.
wtf is the point server 2003 is effectively winxp server, its just XP without the pretty bits and with all the server bits in so if you're using it on a desktop you're not using the server bits and you've basically got a cut-down version of xp people who use a server os on a desktop because they think its more 'stable' or some such bollox piss me off, its something of a pethate :\
For Windows XP it goes like this Chipset Drivers SP1A <-----Maybe this comes first than the Chipset drivers, I have to check All Updates Directx 9.0 Video drivers Audio Drivers Network Drivers Any other Drivers A major outcome of incorrect order of driver install is disabled USB 2.0 (Might be wrong) Before, I use to install XP on a weekly basis because problems would occur especially videos would freeze. I could tired of doing that, did some research and follow the Critical Driver Installation Procedure. I installed Windows XP one more time. I loaded it up with lots of software. It's been 2 months since I last reinstalled and the Windows XP install is running like a fresh copy. Although I have 512MB of pc3200 ram, after boot up....I only have 200mb left lmao. I run 2 clients of Distributed Folding and Thunderbird and a couple of browsers and aim and msn. After that I got like 80MB left haha. I wonder where the rest went?? But I can release ram and it would go back upto 250MB I really wished programs would be smarter. Like Adope Photoshop 8.0 has adobegamma process running in the background that takes like 10mb of ram. But Linux is no better hehe
i can safely say i've never followed any driver install order and my last XP install was about 40 odd weeks old when i reinstalled because i swapped my boot drives for a raptor it was rock solid iirc the install order i followed would've been sp1a(streamlined into XP cd) + nforce/chipset <reboot> gfx + dx9 + everything else <reboot> then install software works fine for me...
Hmmm... This all sounds useful, but I think I'll just get XP Pro, and not worry about it too much. I'll just mod the living heck out of the GUI. PS sorry bout the wares talk, wasn't intentional to piss off. Just, some sites say it's ok, and some don't. Don't know till I try. Lesson learned.
I use a guide I found in a sticky on the Abit boards. The "correct" order for Win XP is: Install OS Install SP1a (SP2 now?) Install USB drivers Install Chipset INFs Install LAN drivers Install DX9b Install video drivers Install sound drivers Run a registry cleaner (such as Norton Systemworks) Defrag The guide is very comprehensive (19 pages). If there is any interest or if you are anal about installing an OS like me, i can post a link to the guide.
That's awesome, bud. How would you go about installing drivers? Either the typical, "Update Driver", option under each of the pieces of hardware/firmware or by installing them via Disc/Diskette?
The proper procedure is to download and burn to a CD each driver you will need BEFORE you format. For each piece of hardware in my system, I go to the manufacturer's website and download the latest drivers available. Once I have everything I need, I put all the driver updates in a folder (well labeled) and burn that folder to a CD. When I reformat, all the drivers I need are on a single CD Only thing that sucks is that since companies put out new drivers so frequently, I have to get all new drivers and make a new CD each time I format...
Ok, I dug up the link to the guide. It's written by a guy named Mr. Steveo and is VERY detailed. It contains step by step instructions on how to do a clean/stable install of Windows XP. There are links throughout the guide that take you exactly where you need to go for patches, updates, etc... The only thing is that it assumes you are running an intel based system. The only difference I would see if you were on an AMD platform would be the chipset INFs. Just replace Intel with Via/NVidia or whatever. It also contains a section detailing how to update or uninstall video drivers for both NVidia and ATI based graphics cards. If you won't have internet access while formatting, there is a downloadable MS Word version you can print out and keep with you. I'm telling you, this guide is good! Gotta build a solid foundation before you start loading all that crap software on your machine, ya know?Make me a sticky!
