New computer ... XP or Vista?

I wouldn't say that; I have an i7 in my work computer and I couldn't be happier. Every software I have renders whatever I need it to without a hitch. I understand some peoples' need to feel protected from errors, but Windows 7 and an i7 processor give me complete confidence. Only one software I have crashes regularly, and it always did that no matter which machine or OS I was using. I don't need ECC memory in my computer.

You never had a program crashing or a file corrupted that you couldn't account for? I'm fine with my MBP and iMac but running the Pond5 database on it? No way. One corrupted bit in one week, or whatever the typical rate is, it way too risky. I even feel uncomfortable syncing the php codebase with the server from the non ECC machines. The computer and OS can do absolutely nothing about the twisted bit. Not even a disturbingly paranoid OS like OpenBSD.

Marcus

What about using a Hackintosh?

...and render with an iPhone, yeah! ....

Vista? Did I read Vista? Hands away!!! Reallllllly! Vista take 20% of your power! Use XP or W7! I setup W7 64bit with my (old) dual Xeon and it works like a charm! Smooth, easy and quick. I will update my other computers with W7 because it’s pretty cool. I’m waiting for AE and PP –CS5 (64bit) and than you got the real power of W7 / 64 bit! The only bad thing is" the Matrix": You need Ram, a lot of Ram! ;-)

Rudi

I am running Vista... I really need to get windows 7. I feel like my i7 processor and 9 gigs of ram are getting wasted on the OS

Yup they are... when I went to W7 things really started smokin' Vista was a real memory hog... W7 is a just a really pretty wrapper around XP with better drivers - at least that's how I would explain it if someone asked. :)

This was an old thread resurrected and still of value for people upgrading. Win 7 smokes compared to Vista or even XP. The bootup is ten times faster and the crashes are few and far between. I'm running Win 7 32 and have not tried the 64 bit. Totally happy with it now.

What does an upgrade from vista to w7 64 cost?

I switched to Gateway desktop gaming computers when I heard that Dell fell into manufacturing quality problems. I have never had issues with crashes or drivers in conflict. I know that Gateway was purchased by Chinese, but it is still my brand of choice. As for W7, I am going to wait one more year. Their software plant is right here where I live. A family member is one of their sales managers. If I had vista I would upgrade, but I have XP. In 2011 or later this year, they will have solved all the bugs in W7 and software producers will now more how their products behave in W7.

Can you run 32 bit programs on a 64 bit platform?