Will the cost of Windows XP be cominging down now that Vista is out?

Question

I want to stay with XP for my first computer build.

What's your opinion of Windows XP OEM (as opposed to the Retail version)?

Should I be concerned with 32 or 64 bit? What does that mean? And which should I buy?

Does the motherboard need one or the other? I don't want to buy a mobo that requires 64 bit after I buy the 32 bit....if this is a factor. Is it?

Answer 1

1. It will remain at current levels. And XP will not be supported for too much longer.

2. I recommend staying with XP as Microsoft. has included (DRM) Digital rights management with Vista. I have been testing Vista on a few Machines and I am not happy with the O/S at all. Manufacturers like Dell have even gone back to pre- installing XP on some machines due to customer demand. Drivers are not complete for some older hardware, and there is no XP compatable mode that I have found. OEM copies are fine as long as they have not been activated. This is the only down side of XP, the product activation. If at all possible I would try to attain a corporate copy of XP as product activation is not included. They are very rare, but worth it if you can find one. Here is a web page so that you can download current updates with out any further hinderance from Microsoft such as there genuine advantage (I call it double check your product activation) that they started to distribute with there automatic updates a year ago. I have now ceased my machines from connecting to the update server for this reason.

http://www.ryanvm.net/msfn/

3. Do not try to use a 64 bit version of XP. I know it is tough to swallow when you have a shinney new CPU that can exicute 64 bit instructions, but the drivers are not developed, and Microsoft half heartedly worked on this o/s. It is very unstable.

4. All Motherboards that will host a 64 bit O/S can handle the 32 bit version Xp with no problem. I would look at dual core CPu fro your build. They are very economical and very fast. I have upgraded all of my systems to dual core now and I am very inpressed. I can work yahoo answers and burn a movie at the same time. I could never do that on a single core system.

Answer 2

Only in your dreams.

Microsoft anticipated that many users would not immediately dump their hardware to run out and buy Vista. For this reason, MS is providing non-technical support for XP for another 4-5 years. I am amazed that even older Office software, like Office 2000, is still at a high price.