1) Which one will crash first?

2) Which one collects virus's faster?

3) Which one requires the most support?

4) Which one requires rebooting more often?

5) If I "had" to choose one of then which would it be?

If your going to ask a question like this t least make it fair for both OS's.

And I will give you the MOST biased answer of anyone on UM...

Vista hands down.

(most people around UM know why I'm biased... I worked on the Vista team for 2 years at Microsoft. LOL)

Onward Windows 7!

What is Onward Windows 7! ????

as long as you got a recent up to date computer with core processors then vista is ok.

If you have a crapy computer and try to run vista then i guess your gonna run into problems.

personally xp is the best though for me

Do ya think Microsoft decided to stop building OS's? ... It's the next version of Windows. Whether that will be the name it's released under, I don't know.

I haaaaated Vista's interface when I first started using it but now I have zero complaints. Other than my ancient webcam I've had no compatibility problems and it hasn't crashed once. But like the person above me said, you're going to have problems if you try to install it on an older computer, rather than messing with all that I just waited and bought a quad core with all the goodies and Vista pre-installed. If your computer doesn't meet the vista requirements or only barely meets them, then of course you'll want to go with XP, which isn't a bad system at all.

My new machine had Vista installed on it. I really haven't had many problems with it at all. It stays updated. And I use the free AVG virus protection. Which has been very reliable. And Vista service pack 1 was released a little while back. So hopefully they have a handle on everything now.

The only problem that I used to have was if my machine shut off due to a power loss, without shutting it down the correct way, whenever it would boot back up it would say that the sound device was not present. And it would not play any audio at all until I shut it back down and restarted it.

And I was told that your machine should probably have at least 2 gigs of RAM for running Vista. ( Which mine does )

I tried Vista and wasn't impressed. One of the first things I did was turn off all the extra visual crap and made it look like windows 98 (the same thing I do with Windows XP). Do I really need something to look flashy to work correctly?

Vista was nice actually, but the problem is there are softwares that is not available for vista (well,.. games).

If you have computing power to give away: Vista, if you don't: XP.

As usual, Windows takes away all the increase of computing power generated by Intel with its next operation system...always works the same.

Now, good look trying to find a legal version of XP in any store... (I still have four unused licenses but am not giving them up)

I prefer Vista, though sometimes I do get annoyed by the incompatibilities of some games.

Ebay and Amazon
*snip* Removed link.

i wonder why

my computer is mainly used for gaming, which vista seems to have technical difficulty with most I've tried. but with a few tweaks here and there the games usually work out ok. when xp came out it to had many problems with gaming, specially if you was running older games you'd have to run them in 98 mod. vista thus far hasn't had that problem even with the older games. I myself like vista better than xp, their both great os ImO.

Ok gamers, you have to understand that it's not all Vistas fault that some games are not compatable. Microsoft gives the game companies the opportunity to work with MS and update their software and DLL's to work with upcoming OS's. Many many choose not to do that before the OS releases. You'll remember, XP and 98 and even 95 (especially 95) had this problem too. Major software applications like oh, most of Adobe's products always work well with a new MS OS. Why? Because they choose to update their software DLL's to coincide with Microsoft releases and work with Microsoft to make that happen.

In fact, the backlash against Vista is WAY less than the backlash against XP.

No wonder, this did not happen either:

Vista leads to boom in XP sales
Advisors: Just say no

By Nick Farrell: Friday, 20 July 2007, 8:22 AM

ALTHOUGH WE knew that Vista sales were mixed for Microsoft, according to Reuters there appears to be a drift backwards to XP.
The wire said that some consumers are seeking out machines equipped with the more compatible Windows XP and PC makers and retailers are re-introducing the OS into product lines. HP, Dell, Lenovo and Toshiba are all offering XP machines.

Craig Rabe, owner of the Computer Cafe, an independent computer store in Arlington, Massachusetts, said he received so many complaints about Vista he stopped selling machines loaded with the software.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has told its freshmen to buy PCs loaded with Windows XP. One day MIT will start supporting Vista, a spokesman said. But not yet.

Comp USA has a huge range of XP machines which it is planning flog during the back-to-school sales season. Circuit City wants to sell nine XP models on its Web site.

Full story, source

Interesting, what kind of work did you do, if you don't mind me asking?

I use my computer for a lot more things than the average person ever will, and apart from a slight lack of driver compatibility with some old hardware, I'm yet to come across and problems at all which can't be fixed after just thirty seconds. Every time a new OS is released their seems to be a trend to revolt against it, I've never understood why, but it looks like people are beginning to warm up to Vista now.

So, just three more years until we can all hang on tightly to Vista while we beging hating on Vienna!

To say the truth, I celebrated the transition from 3 to 95, I thought 95 to 98 was great...Millennium was just hype...no real improvement. I was disappointed by XP and not satisfied until Service pack 2.

What I did not like at all is the lack of backwards compatibility, with the drivers for XP and with drivers and programs for Vista.

Our IT people had Vista to test and the result was that the transition would cost more than it was worth ... so I vetoed it for the company. My private systems run on whatever I bought them with, which means that I have an interesting assortment of several Windows versions, Reactos, OS2, Linux and Unix.

And by the way...that is just my opinion about the transition from 3.11 to NT to 2000 and so on...

XP all the way. Vista was too hyped at its release. The programs are a bit...eh...although, I love the concept. They just needed to work on it a bit.

I do a few things over there actually. Mostly I'm in charge of all the internal communications about the product development. Last year, I worked directly for Sr VP's Jim Allchin and Brian Valentine communicating their messages. This year, the communications are done a bit differently. The other part of what I do is provide information to all Microsoft employees on how the need to install, debug, stress test and file bugs against upcoming OS's. Basically I communicate all "dogfooding" efforts internally. I do a lot of technical writing, marketing writing, and information architecture. I'm something of a jack of all trades. I've even been known to dive in and write Silverlight controls and Web parts.

This year I am also doing some other things such as migrating all IIS based intranet sites to Sharepoint server (so NOT fun. LOL) and desiging a new internal security plan/process/application for the group which for obvious reasons I can't talk a about.

Although, it's looking like I MIGHT be making a change to the Xbox team... maybe. We'll see if they want to pay me what I want first. LOL.

I'm probably going to stick with XP for a while, considering some of the problems I have with Vista... It's not terrible, but it's not anything to write home about either :/. I'm sure it will eventually be great, but I am worried about how my system will run it (I meet the requirements, barely)...
Also
Ctrl+alt+del

xp sp2 all the way !

Vista to allexept #5 if I had to do over I would buy an Apple

Well,at the moment i'm using vista....gotta say,not loving it.It doesnt accept half of the games I wanna play.I'm suprised I can play the sims*cant anyways since the data's corrupt*I prefer XP and 2000.Mainly that's what my ninendo wi-fi will work for*XP,not 2000*I guess it all depends on if you wanna do games for it or not.It's got a few other bugs,but i'm not totaly sure what you would consider them as.I think.Some people like vista some hate it.I hate it X).

Vista eats up 1 gigs of ram just to run, that pisses me off to be honest >.<
I hate that it has to warn and ask if you realy mean it for every little thing you try and do, why would a tell it to install a program in the first place if I was in doubt zZzz
And Then all the minor beauty flaws in vista is still annoying, they will be fixed in time of course.
Like if you change and pull out the plug from some speakers and then put in the plug from a headset to the soundcard vista won't play sound from things you stream before you reboot first (youtube etc)
During the last week my vista desided I could not full screen when streaming google vids neither.
And then it also desided to error every single time I try to recreate my computer as it looked at an earlier time and on top of that when I ask it to update it searches for updates indefinitely so I can't update my mashine in hopes of removing those annoying things.
yesteday to make it a tad worse my friend called me and laguhed "nanana I have xp on my computer now" as he could not deal with it Gah I have to pick xp for now.

Even when vista fixed all the beauty flaws as some might call them it eats up a HUGE amount of resources which I find kinda silly to be the case for a program like that. My inspiron duo core struggles for the love of god.

I'm getting a new comp soon and I asked a good amount of people and most of them told me to go with XP. I've heard alot of negative AND good things about Vista though.

If you're getting a brand new computer, go with Vista. Really. Unless you're playing a lot of games (most of the major games work fine with it though)... Just make sure that new computer has plenty of RAM. My laptop has 4 gigs of RAM... really, not very expensive, and it runs fantastic.

Never skimp on the ram for Vista or video card. You can skimp on HDD and stuff, if only because removable storage is cheap and easy to get.

Atleast XP doesn't rape you if you know what your doing -_-: Freaking Vista...

Well, if he/she isn't playing a lot of games, then what are they really going to do? I know I spend most of my time just surfing the web, and from what I gather, that's all alot of other people do, too. Do these people REALLY need vista or 4 gigs of RAM or whatever else just to surf the web, check their e-mail every once in a while, and maybe play some flash games? I would say that most of the modern computers are overpowered for what the average user uses them for. Sure, if you're really into gaming, or a CAD designer or do video editing/encoding alot, you're going to need a good computer, but I would say that the majority of computer users aren't these people. I think they would be wasting their money (I recently read an article about how this hurts the environment too, here) by buying an expensive, overpowered computer or a gigantic, bloated operating system to go with it.

vista is in full working order now, do not listen to what people are saying about it being buggy, but if you are a gamer, in some aspects its not that great, it runs Call of Duty 4 better than XP though, its also improving quite well. I like them both the same, both the best os's ever made, better than the rotten apple

vista looks cool, but xp is more dependable at the moment...
why cant os designers create a system that doesnt use so many resources, and is compatible with basic programs and hardware?
paying $450 for new software every 2 years- not to mention the cost of hardware like motherboards and ram video cards ect.. is kinda annoying.
ill wait a couple of years before i try to use vista on my personal pc, by then the cost will be probably 50% less and hopefully the kinks will be worked out

How much time have you got to listen to my diatribes? LOL

First, there hasn't been a new OS out from Microsoft in SIX years, prior to Vista. That's plenty of time save your pennies to upgrade your hardware and OS.

The reason the OS's get bigger and more demanding is because the applications you LOVE get bigger and more demanding. The graphics for your beloved multi-media require much more processing, more ram, more HDD, more video, more OS involvement because you want your computer to work for EVERYTHING. So, OS makers have to put everything and the kitchen sink in there. Now some of you computer geekazoids (like me) will say "No no no, I'll add that or this add on if I need it!" ... well, I can assure you that you or "we" are in the minority... Most people want it all in there so it "Just works".

oh- i didnt know it was 6 years...yikes, it doesnt seem that long-lol