XP or Windows 7?

[A8EJay]

Hey fellow cartoon pilots.  I wasn't sure where to put this, hopefully got the right place, if not sorry Skuzzy.  I had a question I'm sure someone here can help with.  I currently am playing the game with a HP dv4 laptop running Vista and i absolutely hate this operating system.  I'm defiantly going to switch to either XP or Windows 7, but i don't know which.  Which one do you guys think would run best?  AH is basically the only thing I use my computer for so that's all I really care about.  Here's a dx diag of my system. 
------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 2/1/2010, 11:48:51
       Machine name: ERIC-PC
   Operating System: Windows Vista™ Home Premium (6.0, Build 6001) Service Pack 1 (6001.longhorn_rtm.080118-1840)
           Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Hewlett-Packard
       System Model: HP Pavilion dv4 Notebook PC
               BIOS: Default System BIOS
          Processor: AMD Turion(tm) X2 Ultra Dual-Core Mobile ZM-82 (2 CPUs), ~2.2GHz
             Memory: 3836MB RAM
          Page File: 2255MB used, 5644MB available
        Windows Dir: C:\Windows
    DirectX Version: DirectX 10
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
     DxDiag Version: 6.00.6001.18000 32bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
      Display Tab 1: No problems found.
        Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
        Sound Tab 2: No problems found.
        Sound Tab 3: No problems found.
        Sound Tab 4: No problems found.
          Input Tab: No problems found.

--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D:    0/4 (retail)
DirectDraw:  0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (retail)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (retail)
DirectPlay:  0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow:  0/6 (retail)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
        Card name: ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics
     Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
        Chip type: ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics (0x9612)
         DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
       Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_9612&SUBSYS_30FB103C&REV_00
   Display Memory: 1914 MB
 Dedicated Memory: 251 MB
    Shared Memory: 1662 MB
     Current Mode: 1920 x 1080 (32 bit) (60Hz)
          Monitor: Generic PnP Monitor
      Driver Name: atidxx32,atidxx64.dll,atiumdag,atiumdva,atiumd64.dll,atiumd6a.dat,atitmm64.dll
   Driver Version: 7.15.0010.0096 (English)
      DDI Version: 10
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
 Driver Date/Size: 5/8/2008 17:04:24, 1499136 bytes
      WHQL Logo'd: Yes
  WHQL Date Stamp:
Device Identifier: {D7B71EE2-D552-11CF-BB71-F110A1C2CA35}
        Vendor ID: 0x1002
        Device ID: 0x9612
        SubSys ID: 0x30FB103C
      Revision ID: 0x0000
      Revision ID: 0x0000
      Video Accel: ModeMPEG2_A ModeMPEG2_C
 Deinterlace Caps: {6E8329FF-B642-418B-BCF0-BCB6591E255F}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
                   {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalSt retch
                   {5A54A0C9-C7EC-4BD9-8EDE-F3C75DC4393B}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY
                   {6E8329FF-B642-418B-BCF0-BCB6591E255F}: Format(In/Out)=(UYVY,UYVY) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
                   {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(UYVY,UYVY) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalSt retch
                   {5A54A0C9-C7EC-4BD9-8EDE-F3C75DC4393B}: Format(In/Out)=(UYVY,UYVY) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY
                   {552C0DAD-CCBC-420B-83C8-74943CF9F1A6}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,2) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
                   {6E8329FF-B642-418B-BCF0-BCB6591E255F}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
                   {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalSt retch
                   {5A54A0C9-C7EC-4BD9-8EDE-F3C75DC4393B}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY
     DDraw Status: Enabled
       D3D Status: Enabled
       AGP Status: Enabled

Didn't know if it was needed or not but there it is.  Thanks for any help!  See ya in the sky.

[BaldEagl]

I'm personally staying with XP as long as they keep updating it.  My experience with Win7 hasn't been much better than it was with Vista as tech support for my brother although Win7 is marginally better.

[humble]

If you have a licensed copy of XP then run it. However since you have an HP Win7 will do a wonderful job optimizing it without all the crap that HP loads on. I'd buy Win7 before I bought XP.

[gyrene81]

You might have a rough time finding all the proper drivers for XP to run on that laptop. Unless that system was in production before Vista was released. Loading it with Win7 64bit would be a bit easier and it will be more stable than either Vista or XP, but if you don't like the Vista interface, you're not going to like the Win7 interface.

[kilz]

check this thread out, http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,282379.0.htmli started it to get multi oppions on Windows7 and XP

[A8EJay]

Wow, thanks guys, that was fast.  I'll probably go with the win 7 because this is a fairly new laptop, i know it came out after vista did.  Im going to read that link though.  Thanks again! 

[Skuzzy]

Just make sure you can get and have all the drivers for the laptop from HP before you start trying to change the OS.  All the drivers have to come from HP.

[gyrene81]

Just make sure you can get and have all the drivers for the laptop from HP before you start trying to change the OS.  All the drivers have to come from HP.

Not all Skuzzy, I just got a new HP laptop at work and we use our own license of Win7 Enterprise...we wipe the factory installs off and reload...the only driver needed from HP are a mobo chipset and oem audio.

Of course the OP would be well advised to take note of all the drivers installed on that system before wiping it...any HP OEM should be noted.

[MrAxe]

!!! Screw vista!!! Screw 7!!!! Windows XP 64bit is by far my favorite operating system to date!!

[Ghastly]

!!! Screw vista!!! Screw 7!!!! Windows XP 64bit is by far my favorite operating system to date!!

As a general rule however, XP 64-bit is often problematic, especially as a general purpose OS. 

It has it's uses of course (where 3 GB of memory is a significant - as opposed to perceived - limitation, such as in some of the processes we use that were written in DOTNET by some of the Research team) but as a gaming platform it would be well down my list of recommendations.

Given that he's currently running Vista, I'd suggest Windows 7 64-bit if his hardware is capable of it, Win 7 32 bit otherwise, and an XP-32 bit downgrade only as a last resort.  For a general use laptop, he'd likely be borrowing a world of hurt to try to downgrade it to XP-64, so I'd avoid that like plague.

All IMO, YMMV, etc.

<S>

[AAJagerX]

Just upgraded to Win 7 X32 ultimate (got it for $10 through my college).  Big step up from Vista....  Unfortunately, alot of drivers just aren't available for it yet.  The major problem I ran into was if you're on a wireless connection, alot of adapters just won't work.  Luckily, I had two.  The Belkin adapter won't work, but a Netgear adapter does just fine.

My only gripe so far.

AAJagerX

[MrAxe]

I've never had a single problem with xp64. Works like a dream for me. I generally only use ah, Firefox, and tversity though. Just gaming and browsing!