OSC's current column and some of the reaction to it made me think of asking this question here, since I know there's a lot of computer experts on this forum.
I need to buy a desktop computer. Badly. Not a huge budget - I'd like to go around $500 or so. Not really a problem from what I've seen out there.
The problem is this whole Vista thing. None of the big retail stores (Best Buy, etc.) will sell without Vista on their computers, unless they already still have one in stock from before the transition. I've found a couple of stores in the area that do have them in stock, but I'll have to make a decision soon.
This is what I do with a computer besides lurk on this forum. FWIW, I'm a music teacher:
- Very basic web page design - nothing fancy, just a web page for my students to access for information and practice
- Sibelius (a music-notation program similar to Finale)
- Word processing and spreadsheets, etc
In other words, nothing real fancy. I do some limited gaming, but I'm the type that waits until the game is old enough that I can pick it up in the discount rack - I'm still playing Diablo II for example.
Which brings me to the core of my question for you computer experts out there. I've noticed that with the same hardware, I can get an XP machine that runs very fast and well, but a Vista machine that is at the "minumum requirements." The problem is, am I shooting myself in the foot for future applications by not using Vista right now? I'm inclined right now to look for an XP machine that will run really well, as opposed to a Vista machine that runs at the minimum.
Any advice or suggestions are welcome. Well, let me amend that...Macs are not an option. I'm just not interested.
Thanks!
[ June 27, 2007, 01:20 PM: Message edited by: Don Domande ]
Posted by Nighthawk (Member # 4176) on :
As far as Vista goes, it might be a complete and utter nuisance, but everyone eventually must join the Microsoft Collective and suck it up.
There's no avoiding them... They are everywhere... You must be one with the Collective... Join us...
First thing I did when I got Vista is turn off the security features and turn off the "Aero" visual interface (becuase some programs I wrote in .NET 2.0 wouldn't work properly with it). Probably not the safest thing to do to the "normal" person, but I know what to do and what *not* to do.
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
Did you check to see if your Sibelius program is even compatible with Vista? Will it run on Vista?
To me, that would be a major determining factor.
Check all the things YOU NORMALLY USE (if you want to play Diablo II, for example, take that in consideration. I have no idea how that acts on Vista).
I'm not yet upgrading to Vista (at home) for these very reasons. 1) It's a memory/system hog, and 2) I like to run legacy-type applications, which will not be compatible
FG
Posted by Iain (Member # 9899) on :
Linux running Wine will probably do you. The OS is free and you can use an older computer.