XP>Vista<Win7

[fili450r]

alrighty...my father is looking to buy a new tower. There is this "custom" made one at a local shop, with 2gb RAM, 160gb HD, a decent graphics card....but it is vista.

I am in college for computers (basics now, then ill decide between network or programming) and i absolutely hate vista. now, i have my "ways" of getting windows XP Professional, or should i just have it upgraded to win7?

Its just normal use, checking mail, looking up news, weather, etc... But i will play some games on it, and be running like up to 7+ windows on it at times...

what should i do...should i just set him out to look for one that already has win7?

 

[Kroto]

that's a decision really up to you. Any reason why you hate vista so much that would make you want to change OS just for the basic stuff your doing?

 

[fili450r]

well, we have had to learn how to use it at my school. even though, i highly doubt many companies are running vista. but anyways, on a schools slow computer, and a OS that lags everything, it just didn't embed a nice picture for me. personally i prefer xp, only cause i have no use of win7, but from what ive seen it looks similar to vista, but with out the bugs....i know there will be bugs still, so im still in the thinking stage.

 

[berry120]

If it's genuinally a custom built one, you should be able to specify what OS you want! That would immediately make me sceptical of that shop.

Judging by those specs anyway I'd say it doesn't look like what you're after. How much did it cost, and what are the other specs (including the model of the graphics card?) I'd say that's firmly at the budget end of the market - 2GB of RAM is really the minimum I'd advise these days for a new build, and 160GB is tiny in this day and age.

Judging by the specs and the fact it's running Vista, I'd be tempted to say steer clear of that place - almost looks like it could be a refurbished one a few years old.

In terms of OSs these days, for any new build I'd be looking at 7 (unless you're going with a non-windows variety obviously!) unless you've got a very good reason to go otherwise. XP is great for older machines that 7 wouldn't comfortably run on, but it's support is dwindling, especially for gaming. 7 is a decent OS, and while not perfect it's a huge leap up from Vista. Search around if you want more details on it - it's been covered many times over on this forum and in many other places!

 

[jmacavali]

I'd go with 7 but i'd look out for that specific computer. It's is certainly on the low end. 2Gb isn't bad for what you'll be doing, but 160Gb HDD is pretty small.

How much is it being sold for? Also, if they 'load' 7 on it they will probably make you buy it which could raise the price considerably. I'd look elsewhere for a PC that already has 7 on it and maybe with a much bigger HDD (and if you ask anyone else on this forum - more RAM, though I comfortable with 2Gb).

 

[fili450r]

its selling for 500. really, with how it looks, i think i will have my father shop around more... I think he could find alot better ones. I was also thinking that is was more of a budget build than anything....To be honest, i never knew this shop existed until my dad showed it to me. haha. alright thank you guys!!!

 

[Mutant Corn]

7, or keep Vista. XP is old. Once you get used to Vista/7, it's much less annoying than XP, and much more stable and secure than XP will ever be. 7 is the same way, but better obviously.

Honestly, as long as it's got 2 gigs of RAM and a decent processor, it should be perfectly fine with Vista on it.

 

[shozzking]

you could get an i5 from dell for $699.