dittohead

I have Vista running on a couple systems, and XP on the rest. I prefer Vista now that i am used to it. Most of the complaints are catch 22's "It won't run my old stuff. " The same people complain that windows actually still supports all the legacy stuff. I think the Vista Media center is spectacular for my HTPC, and until SD decides to wake up, I will be using that for my carputer, while I learn how to get RR working.

greatwhite

Vista media center is fantastic on my htpc.

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streets97f

I personally have been dabbeling with the idea of vista with SD for the carputer. I'm running vista and XP, and I have to agree with whats been posted. Vista is heavy-handed for a carputer (althought I'v upgrade to a duo with 4gb ram so I don't think it will slow down the system too much) but the media center is great.

Really the only reason I've contemplated using vista is the hybrid sleep option. For me, this seems worth it. Prob. the best, new feature of vista. No more waiting to boot up or unhibernate and if batt power is cut, you still can boot out of hibernation. I think this is the perfect power managment option for the car. What do people think?

Also, saw a post about problems with using disc drive with SD in vista? Anyone?

slvrsol

I have vista on my laptop which doubles as my carpc and have no problems. Once you disable all the annoyances.. it works just like XP with some extra features.

greatwhite

The thing about vista, is the hardware requirements are a bit more "heavy" than what is considered carpc hardware. Most people are using lower powered MOBO's, processors, etc fro power, cooling and packaging considerations. If you have the hardware, can power and cool it in your car, vista will run like it does on a desktop.

I use XP in the car due to it's lighter harware requirements and compatability with all the carpc software floating around right now. Well, that and XP is dead stable in my install right now and the car is the last place I want computer issues. I'll trade the newest whizbang graphics and OS for stability and predictability in the car. It's Vista for my new home computers though, esspecially the dual core HTPC......


Personally I use RR so I can't give you any specific advice about CD and vista.

But keep this in mind if you decide to migrate to vista for the carpc:

Pretty much all carpc software was written on or for XP. Will it all work in vista?

Should, but there's only one way to find out........................

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2k1Toaster

extra features like being slow...

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HiJackZX1

Well I started hearing that the Media Center is way better in Vista, so I upgraded my Media Center to Vista Home Premium. That PC is a P4 1.8GHz with 1 gb of RAM, with areo turned on. It is amazingggggg the GUI is better and way it transistions seems to be better. At work another company had bought there systems with Vista but it was just Home, the PC didnt even support aero, so I thought it was cr@ppy, but jeez I was wrong. The one problem I ran into is that it did not have drivers for my sound card, so now I am looking for those. Im going to go with XP. Although Vista is nice, I dont want to have hardware and software issues. At least I know with XP everything will work.

PS: Oh my, I left the PC on, and at the bottom it said it automatically downloaded the drivers, so everything works now.

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perk03z06

Why would you be worried about uSoft not supporting the O/S anymore? The web is usually a better place to find O/S support than the OE site ... there's times I still build systems with WIN98 ... NBD.

I'm all for XP ... it's lighter, not as secure (Why would you need high security for a carpc???) and the Media Center Theme that's available for it makes it look really nice. Plus, if you have a good frontend like Centrafuse, Roadrunner, Streetdeck, etc. those programs will handle your media functions. Why worry about whether the O/S can do it???

With Vista disappearing faster than it came out (uSoft said Vista will be gone in less than 2 years) ... why bother moving over to it? It's not the media hyping up saying it's bad ... it's the manufacturer of the O/S saying it ...

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perk03z06
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Windows XP PC
InTruckPC
P4 3.0 GHz Hyperthread CPU, 1Gb RAM, 120 Gb Hard Drive, DVD/CD-RW, Centrafuse XLE 1.47, 7" Xenarc, GPS, EV-DO via Samsung i730 ... more coming!

danielkh

That part of Vista I loved. Media Center rocked! It was the other 99% of Vista that made me go back to Windows MCE.

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.
"Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead.
Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow.
Do not walk beside me either.
Just pretty much leave me the hell alone."
--unknown--

HiJackZX1

No Im just saying that I installed it on my Media Center PC to use as a Media Center. I didnt want to use that feature in the car. I was impressed with transitions and effects though. I have my media center connected to slingbox so I can control it that way for the car. I just wish CF had a plugin in for slingbox.

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HiJackZX1

My first system was cr@ppy, but this new Car-PC I decided that overkill was my goal. Its a AMD 64bit Turion 1.8 GHZ dual core processor with 2 GB of ram. My Media Center PC that I tested VISTA on, is a 1.7 Intel P4 single core with 1 GB od ram and AERO and all effects turned on, and it ran very fast, infact it seemed to work better then MCE XP and in the XP version, I had all transistions and effects turned off.

I do believe the term Vista is the new ME, except VISTA actually works and runs nice, at least for me it is. I do hear that they are already working on VISTA's replacement, which I hear is scheduled for 2009. Making VISTA a "waste your money on this OS so you can replace it in 2 years product", just like ME.

I think I will stick with XP, I dont want to have to replace the OS in 2 years because Microsoft no longer supports it. Before when I originally posted this thread, I thought it was the other way around, that XP would be replaced. Looks like I was wrong though.

Also I have a valid key for my Windows install, so wont that make using Tiny XP, etc, legal?

PS: I read that Windows XP has been extended to 2014. I hear though that this new OS will be 100% diffrent from the Windows we all know.

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LittleDragon

I have no problems with Vista. XP was great but it's time to move on. The majority of people I come across that complain about it are either A) running a new OS on 5+ year old hardware or B) bought a new machine loaded with bloatware. The slowest machine I run Vista on is my dedicated MCE which is a P4 2.4ghz with 3 gigs of ram and it's smooth as silk

HiJackZX1

I agree, I run mine on a even slower system P4 1.7 with 1 ghz, but it does have a nice graphics card, but anyways, it runs smooth also, not one hick up. Like perk03z06 says, VISTA will be replaced in less then 2 years, were as XP will still be around till 2014.

In my eyes Vista is better, but the future support isnt. XP is not as good as Vista, but will be supported for years to come.

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Nerd2

The point is that ME was 98 wrapped in some "handy features" which you could have downloaded anyway. Whatever Vista is, it is more than a wrapped up XP.

HiJackZX1

It is still going to be replaced though............. Or you know what, maybe the same will happen to Vista, like XP, consumers will complain and it will be extended long past its scheduled life. If that happens, then I will replace XP with no doubts, as of now though, Im sticking with XP.

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