[Kuchiyose]

Ok, I'm building a pc, iv got the motherboard and CPU (thank god) and now iv got the ram ordered (and now Iv I have no money XD) now iv been thinking, what operating system should i get for it? The purpose of it, is for: Multimedia work (web designs, flash work mainly and fireworks). But i also play games on it (well want to) so what is the best operating system, the motherboard is compatible with most OS (even Vista). So whats the best OS for it?

[Platinum Sun]

My first choice would be Mac OSX. Especially since you don't sound like you'll be doing much business or word-processing on it. If you're going to go with Windows, (Which I grudgingly reccomend due to its compatibility with most games) avoid Vista like typhoid. I think Windows peaked at XP, go with that. Maybe wait a few years until they fix Vista, as right now is a horrible time to have a Vista PC. (I mean come on, my right mouse button stops working on a daily basis, WTF?)

[Someone Else]

You say you want to play games, so get Windows XP. Way more games to choose from than any other OS.

[Golden Legacy]

I concur with WD about getting Windows XP. On the flip side, my school gave me a Dell laptop recently that comes with Vista Enterprise - my suggestion is not to get that yet. Most of the worthwhile changes, from what I've seen, are purely aesthetic in nature, and there are a few compatibility issues with certain programs.

[Toasty]

Vista has too many problems. Mac OS X would be the best for multimedia, but XP is far better for gameing. Most games right now don't demand DirectX 10, so XP should do fine. Within a year or so, Vista should hopefully have all the many bugs it has worked out.

[Kuchiyose]

Looks like Im learning towards Windows XP, although Mac OS is really interesting (good for multimedia and hardly any viruses for it) blimey i didn't know Vista was that bad, hahaha I feel sorry for cousin XD he got a laptop for Christmas with Vista on XD But for the looks of it I'm either going to get Mac OS or XP. But thank you all helping with my problem:D

[Split Infinity]

In a nutshell, Mac OSX is Windows Vista minus the bugs. Though Windows XP is still a more powerful system in my opinion. Macs make it easier to do the easy stuff, but harder to do the complex stuff.

[Toasty]

Kuchiyose, on Dec 26 2007, 01:32 PM, said:

Looks like Im learning towards Windows XP, although Mac OS is really interesting (good for multimedia and hardly any viruses for it) blimey i didn't know Vista was that bad, hahaha I feel sorry for cousin XD he got a laptop for Christmas with Vista on XD But for the looks of it I'm either going to get Mac OS or XP. But thank you all helping with my problem:D

Get Windows XP Media Center. That's probably the best compromise between the two.

And split, Mac OS X Is NOT Vista without the bugs. Vista supports FAR more games, but it just has too many problems with them all, and problems in general. And Macs make it impossible to do the hard stuff. Like modding the OS to make it look however you want it to, or sound however you want it to, or even overclock. Heck, you can't even get into the BIOS on a Mac.

BUT,
Macs = Best for multimedia (i.e. pictures, movies, music, etc.), GREAT for beginner movie editors.
Windows XP = Best for gameing, and programming, and all the complex stuff.

[Max]

I'm curious how many of you that are bashing Vista have actually used it as your day-to-day computer for more than a few weeks. Because if you haven't, you really are in no position to be bashing it. I've been using Vista Ultimate on this laptop of mine (equivalent to 2.2Ghz Core 2 Duo + Geforce 8600GT + 2GB RAM), and haven't had many issues with it. Sure, it may be a bit slower than XP on the same machine depending on what you are doing, but I haven't really run into any true issues with it.

Also, recommending Mac OSX to someone who already has parts is not fair, since to get OSX he would have to buy an entire Mac, which means the parts he has will go to waste. So while it may be the best for multimedia work, it clearly does not match his situation.

Having said all that, you can't go wrong with XP, but you will eventually have to upgrade to Vista, of which I'd recommend Home Premium or Ultimate (if you can afford it). Unless you are running really old games and applications (and even then, most of them still work), you probably won't run into too many compatibility issues with Vista.

Edit: I also do a ton of web design and development work, and I run Adobe's Creative Studio, Microsoft's Visual Studio, and all my other creative/design apps just fine in Vista.

[Golden Legacy]

Max, on Dec 27 2007, 02:27 PM, said:

I'm curious how many of you that are bashing Vista have actually used it as your day-to-day computer for more than a few weeks. Because if you haven't, you really are in no position to be bashing it. I've been using Vista Ultimate on this laptop of mine (equivalent to 2.2Ghz Core 2 Duo + Geforce 8600GT + 2GB RAM), and haven't had many issues with it. Sure, it may be a bit slower than XP on the same machine depending on what you are doing, but I haven't really run into any true issues with it.

Also, recommending Mac OSX to someone who already has parts is not fair, since to get OSX he would have to buy an entire Mac, which means the parts he has will go to waste. So while it may be the best for multimedia work, it clearly does not match his situation.

Having said all that, you can't go wrong with XP, but you will eventually have to upgrade to Vista, of which I'd recommend Home Premium or Ultimate (if you can afford it). Unless you are running really old games and applications (and even then, most of them still work), you probably won't run into too many compatibility issues with Vista.

Edit: I also do a ton of web design and development work, and I run Adobe's Creative Studio, Microsoft's Visual Studio, and all my other creative/design apps just fine in Vista.

I'm not saying that Vista's horrible - all I'm saying is that XP runs considerably smoother. I myself run Photoshop CS3 on Vista Enterprise with hardly a problem, and it does fairly well, most of the time, of mimicking the XP model so that programs are compatible - but certain other programs still have compatibility issues. For example, when running certain videos in Windows Media Player/Realplayer/Quicktime, the video will somtimes flicker, and Vista has to "force itself" into a "basic visual mode" (I forget the exact name), but it basically temporarily disables some of the graphical features of the OS until the video that's running is complete.

[Someone Else]

My family has a laptop that runs Vista. Granted, I don't use the laptop much, but from my limited time with it it works fine for browsing the web or using Word.

I keep hearing that Vista has compatibility problems with a lot of programs that XP could use. I don't know that from personal experience, but that's what my father keeps telling me at least. But maybe you should go with Max and just get Vista.

[Toasty]

I use Vista when I'm on one of the laptops in the house, and it's alright for day-to-day stuff, but being the local 'computer geek', I've heard many, many complaints related to games. Many won't even install. IT Proffesionals have trouble with it too apparently. There were a number of questions and comments in a Windows IT Pro magazine I was reading about having to do with Vista troubles.

But so far, I haven't run into any snags running Paint.NET, DivX, or any day to day things. Though I had blast getting my sisters iPod to register on her laptop. ^_^