I've been having a real squeal of a time getting Vista and XP Pro to cooperate with each other. I've had yet to get them to work on the same computer.
Until now.
Currently I am typing to you from XP Pro, with SP2.
Configuration:
ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe
AMD Athlon X2 4200+
4GB RAM (mixed between 2700 and 3200...I know I know, it's n00b)
nVidia GeForce 7950GTS 512MB (holy shit fast)
(2x) 160GB SataII HDDs
That last bit is what's been haunting me. I originally wanted to load XP onto one HD on an 80GB partition, and Vista onto the other HD on an 80GB partition, but NO. Vista is a ***** with the boot loader. Let me explain.
Vista overwrites the XP boot loader, from what I can tell, in a dual boot configuration. As a result, XP will NOT BOOT if Vista, having been installed AFTER XP, is not present, or on the same hard drive. Thus, the OSes must co-exist on the same drive, as far as my research and trial/error has been able to conclude.
Thus far, Vista has many pros and cons to it.
Pros:
~Incredible stupid-easy setup: The entire thing is beautifully done and it's all GUI. Not only is it easy on the eyes, but it doesn't bug you for retarded stuff like RAID or SCSI drivers, since they are all pre-loaded into the OS.
~Impressive video drivers: Vista was able to detect both my 32" Sharp Aquos primary display and my Envision 22" widescreen display, and use both in a dualview configuration. It was not, however, able to support their native resolutions.
~Most of the menu options and configuration windows have been carried over from Windows XP. Those that are not similar to XP style have been re-engineered to be very easy to understand and navigate, especially the display setting/properties menu.
~WAY FAST BOOT UP AND SHUT DOWN. You don't even have time to go pee when you're booting up. Shut down takes literally about seven seconds, if even that much.
~Beautiful (if very Mac-esque) GUI interface on the desktop. Flip-3D is freakin amazing, and the customizable Aero options are, in a word, breathtaking.
Cons:
~The bastard overwrites the boot loader for Windows XP! THAT MEANS NO XP SAFE MODE! Well, yet, anyway. Must research.
~Does not support many older pieces of software/hardware: For instance, I cannot install my Epson R220 Photo Printer in Vista. Also, AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition (www.free.grisoft.com) is not compatible with the 64-bit version of Vista. It is however, compatible with the 32-bit edition.
~I've been hearing reports that Battlefield 2's 1.41 patch is not supported as of this time in Vista. I will be investigating shortly.
More information will be posted as my research goes on. What experience do you have with Vista?
Due to my position as a field tech in the IT industry, I am going to be relying rather heavily on Vista in the near future, trying to keep it working and running smoothly. If you have any questions, or would like for me to experiment with something for the sake of knowledge, please, let me know in thread or in PM. I will be happy to bug-test the final release candidates of this OS for the community, as a person, not a conglomerate or corporation.
Until now.
Currently I am typing to you from XP Pro, with SP2.
Configuration:
ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe
AMD Athlon X2 4200+
4GB RAM (mixed between 2700 and 3200...I know I know, it's n00b)
nVidia GeForce 7950GTS 512MB (holy shit fast)
(2x) 160GB SataII HDDs
That last bit is what's been haunting me. I originally wanted to load XP onto one HD on an 80GB partition, and Vista onto the other HD on an 80GB partition, but NO. Vista is a ***** with the boot loader. Let me explain.
Vista overwrites the XP boot loader, from what I can tell, in a dual boot configuration. As a result, XP will NOT BOOT if Vista, having been installed AFTER XP, is not present, or on the same hard drive. Thus, the OSes must co-exist on the same drive, as far as my research and trial/error has been able to conclude.
Thus far, Vista has many pros and cons to it.
Pros:
~Incredible stupid-easy setup: The entire thing is beautifully done and it's all GUI. Not only is it easy on the eyes, but it doesn't bug you for retarded stuff like RAID or SCSI drivers, since they are all pre-loaded into the OS.
~Impressive video drivers: Vista was able to detect both my 32" Sharp Aquos primary display and my Envision 22" widescreen display, and use both in a dualview configuration. It was not, however, able to support their native resolutions.
~Most of the menu options and configuration windows have been carried over from Windows XP. Those that are not similar to XP style have been re-engineered to be very easy to understand and navigate, especially the display setting/properties menu.
~WAY FAST BOOT UP AND SHUT DOWN. You don't even have time to go pee when you're booting up. Shut down takes literally about seven seconds, if even that much.
~Beautiful (if very Mac-esque) GUI interface on the desktop. Flip-3D is freakin amazing, and the customizable Aero options are, in a word, breathtaking.
Cons:
~The bastard overwrites the boot loader for Windows XP! THAT MEANS NO XP SAFE MODE! Well, yet, anyway. Must research.
~Does not support many older pieces of software/hardware: For instance, I cannot install my Epson R220 Photo Printer in Vista. Also, AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition (www.free.grisoft.com) is not compatible with the 64-bit version of Vista. It is however, compatible with the 32-bit edition.
~I've been hearing reports that Battlefield 2's 1.41 patch is not supported as of this time in Vista. I will be investigating shortly.
More information will be posted as my research goes on. What experience do you have with Vista?
Due to my position as a field tech in the IT industry, I am going to be relying rather heavily on Vista in the near future, trying to keep it working and running smoothly. If you have any questions, or would like for me to experiment with something for the sake of knowledge, please, let me know in thread or in PM. I will be happy to bug-test the final release candidates of this OS for the community, as a person, not a conglomerate or corporation.
