upgrade to XP

[tigger]

I'm looking at upgrading my PC from ME to XP Pro and I was interested in peoples views on XP, I'm looking at getting the full program rather than an upgrade so I can format the h/d first

My system can handle it I think I'm running 1.7 512ram on 60h/d

ta

[BlobFisk]

Hey tigger,

I recently upgraded one of my machines from 98 to XP! It's a 450mhz, 128mb RAM on 8Gb and it's running away fine!

[tigger]

I thought XP is a bit of a resource hog so needed at least 256 to run

[DaveN]

Tigger i love Xp could live without now

got it running on 2gig with 512 ddr

but it runs fine on my p1 944 laptop with 256 pc133

Dave

[ncsuk]

Ihate XP with a passion and no matter how fast a PC I have used it on it is in retrospect to 2k or linux about as fast as a snail going up a vertical wall.

I wouldnt touch it with a bargepole and I think its the worst GUI OS I have ever seen.

I have just upgraded my system to use Red Hat Linux 9 and that says something because I am no Linux guru to say the least.

Im on an XP computer typing this message as I speak and the only redeeming factor I can see is the sexy bar at the bottom.

[tigger]

I think this always going to be the problem some people lov it others hate it I just need to decide whether to spend £200.00 to see if I like it or not

[ncsuk]

You should be able to get a trial version somewhere. I think you can download or ask to be sent one from the microsoft website.

[digitalghost]

I have XP Pro installed on a system using an Athlon XP board, 1.5 gigs of SDRAM and a 1.3 Gig AMD Processor. The system is water cooled and runs quite fast.

I also have it installed on a Dell box with 512 megs of SDRAM with a 1.8 Gig processor and it runs quite fast too.

I didn't even have to get out the bargepoles. Snails are extra.

[dmorison]

Hi Tigger,

I am very impressed with XP - a far more significant improvement on the previous Windows than any other new release.

I used to have to re-start every 4 or 5 hours on Win 2K after running multiple copies of Internet Explorer, FTP programs, Editors, Graphics programs etc - memory usage would just creep ever upwards until everything ground to a halt.

Now under Win XP my machine can run for days on end without a reboot.

Highly recommended.

[adds: i'm running on a P4 1.4Ghz, 256MB RAM)

[edited by: dmorison at 12:04 pm (utc) on May 22, 2003]

[BlobFisk]

I thought XP is a bit of a resource hog so needed at least 256 to run

I installed it as a trial to see how it would run on an old (3 years) machine and was pleasantly surprised. I was having some trouble with drivers with Win98 which all dissapeared when I upgraded to XP.

I don't run any major apps on it as it's a test machine - but I play Worms and Age of Kings on it occassionaly without any performance lag.

[mack]

To be honest I like XP.
I agree though it can be a bit of a resourse hog. The computer I am on now is an old machine (almost 3 years old) and has a 3 gig hard file. It is only running 128 meg ram and is able to power xp pro without to much dificulty. On my other machine with a higher spec it is a very fast OS indeed.

On slower machines the only main problem is the boot up time. On this machine it takes the best part of 40 seconds from turn on, to being usable.

The most convenient feature of xp is the instalation. Simply place the disk in and away you go. Normaly auto detects all your hardware and installs the required drivers during install. A lot easier then 98/ME where you usualy had to install the OS then hunt around for the drivers.

All in all it is a good OS.

Mack.

[ncsuk]

dmorison

Must of been something wrong with your 2k machine because mine has been online and connected with an ftp, mail and web servers running for the last 5 months without crashing or slowing down once.

On the other side of the coin I have to reboot the XP machine every 2 days because it just goes mental because it cant handle to programs im running.

[graywolf]

If you are going to be in any sort of network don't bother with XP home it's not worth the trouble and aggrivation. If you play older games you may have problems. I know there is compatability mode but sometimes it just doesn't work.

[mat]

Ah, nothing brings 'em out like a thread like this one.

For my two 'pennurth, I've bought 2 new setups with XP pre-installed on them and immediately reformatted them and stuck 2K onboard.

There isn't overmuch wrong with XP, but on balance I have less trouble with 2K. Depends on usage, needless to say, but XP gave us problems with running Apache (it kept picking up on weird network calls that it shouldn't have), assorted firewalls and, on balance, it just seemed a tad slower.

Seems pretty much like 2K but with some extra bells, whistles and eye-candy to boot. Oh, and we had to do that more often with XP also.

[digitalghost]

ncsuk,

Must be something wrong with your XP machine because mine has been online and connected with an ftp, mail and web servers running for the last 3 months without crashing or slowing down once. ;)

[dmorison]

Must of been something wrong with your 2k machine because mine has been online and connected with an ftp, mail and web servers running for the last 5 months without crashing or slowing down once.

I kinda thought that too, because from what i've heard Win XP is mostly Win 2K under the hood...

[universalis]

I think the most important point is that you are looking to upgrade from Windows ME - I can guarantee that either Win2K or XP are in a different league compared with sucky old ME. You'll find that XP will be a lot more stable, as its memory management is far superior.

I would definitely upgrade, although you should consider buying some more RAM to prevent any speed issues - it'll only cost a few dollars more and it will make things run more smoothly!

[tigger]

>If you are going to be in any sort of network don't bother with XP home it's not worth the trouble and aggrivation. If you play older games you may have problems. I know there is compatability mode but sometimes it just doesn't work.

I'm looking at XP Pro as the PC will be part of a 4 computer network

[tigger]

>you should consider buying some more RAM to prevent any speed issues

yep online price £36.00 for 512 ram chips so I'll grab a couple

[digitalghost]

>>will be part of a 4 computer network

I have 4 PCs running on a network now. XP Pro is on two of them. Setting up the network was a snap. After you get XP Pro up and running you might want to take a look at this [winguides.com].

[universalis]

Comparing Win2K Pro and WinXP Pro: Windows 2000 Professional is actually "Windows NT 5.0" - and Windows XP is "Windows NT 5.1" - so as you can guess, they are very much the same beast. With XP you have much better multimedia integration as well as the "explosion in a candy shop" look and feel. Personally, I use Win2K, but if you're buying, you should get XP Pro. The "Home" version should be avoided, due to the networking issues.

[tigger]

Thanks for the feedback looks like I need to get the old flexible friend out

[SethCall]

You should have 256 mgs of Ram. Xp = 2000. They are nearly the same OS, just as some others said, bells and whistles. They are EXTEMELY similiar.

But if u have say 128 mgs of ram, Windows xp is going to be pissy at u, cuz it optimally uses 128 -160 megs just sitting there. In the case that u only have 128, windows unloads alot of commonly used things out of memory, which is why on such a machine you will notice delays when executing common tasks for the first time.

And with 128, that means u only have about 40 megs free... which is equal to about one copy of IE and Word open..

[StanBo]

I've switched exactly like you're planning to around Christmas. 1.8, 190Mb
For me it's proven to be faster, more stable. Overall, I have yet to find a single reason to regret the upgrade :)

[ncsuk]

Anyone know the specs needed for Longhorn?

Thinking of buying a new PC and I may want to use it. From the screenshots I have seen it looks very nifty.

[griz_fan]

XP is vastly superior to ME. I have two systems (a p3 650 and a duron 1.1GHz). The p3 runs win2k and the Duron runs XP Pro. For day to day work, building websites, etc... there's not much difference between the two, though my family prefers using the XP system because its a bit more user-friendly for non-techies.
For memory requirements, get at least 256MB for either 2k or XP. Memory is really cheap these days, and makes a difference no matter what OS you are using.
Regarding XP Pro vs. XP home, there are 4 big differences:
1. price
2. XP Home can not connect to a domain (but runs fine for home networks)
3. XP Pro supports dual processors
4. XP Pro allows you to run a personal version of IIS.

If you plan on developing ASP and other MSFT stuff, get XP Pro. Otherwise, XP home should do just fine and save you some $$$.

Your PC has plenty of horsepower to run XP, and I'll bet it will actually be noticably faster than ME. I've been running XP 24x7 for over a year now, switching back and forth between IIS and Apache, running tons of apps at once, etc... and the only crash I've encountered was due to a bad video card early on. So, take the plunge, you'll be glad you did.
Also, go ahead and get the upgrade version. You can still wipe your drive clean and install the upgrade version, just be sure to have your ME CD handy during the XP install. If you need some new hardware (mouse, keyboard, whatever), a lot of online retailers will sell you the OEM version of XP with a hardware purchase, saving you even more...

[dvduval]

There are still compatability problems with Windows XP--among them, scanner software and cd writing software to name a few. Windows 2000 is surely the most versatile of the Windows family, offering compatabilty and stabilty. XP is pretty though. I have 2 computers at my home office. One is running XP and the other is running 2000. I find myself using 2000 more often.

[mack]

"If you are going to be in any sort of network don't bother with XP home it's not worth the trouble and aggrivation."

Maybee it's just me but I had no problem setting up my LAN using XP home. The network I used consisted on three computers. XP home, Win98 and a linux box. It all worked pretty well. XP has the network setup wizard that is pretty helpfull.

Mack

[SlyGuy]

I'm looking at upgrading my PC from ME to XP Pro

Made the same change, Tigger, with positive results. Athlon 1.5, a gig of ram and 120 gigs of HD.

Setting up the network was a breeze (4 computers) and overall I have experienced less downtime.

I still use my copy of WinME as a coaster.

:)

- Chad

[StanBo]

As for the compatibility problems outlined by dvduval - I haven't encountered any. Both scanner and CD burner run fine (maybe because of SP1, I've never worked without it). The only problem that I seem to have is with Diamond Monster soundcard (which is no longer supported by its manufacturer anyway) - if an application that uses it runs for over 30 consecutive hours, the sound just hangs :)