Windows XP-x64 (FragFood Here)

[LA_MERC_MadMAX]

A while back Frag posted about XP x64 and I feel that I and some others gave him bad advice now...

It's been a WHILE since I'd done anything with XP-x64...until yesterday.

I built my "new" new machine and for some reason the ONLY Vista x64 DVD I had at the house flat out would not boot...it did look a little "worn" but I thought it would work...

Long story short - I wanted to put SOMETHING on there, so I loaded XP x64, and I will say I was pleasantly surprised. The last time I messed with it drivers were so scarce it was like Linux back in the "old days"...

Anyway - my new Motherboard had XP-x64 drivers on the CD, Nvidia has up-to-date drivers, and everything is working great - and in fact, I'm thinking I might just leave it on there until Windows 7 goes final...(it's fast as hell for one thing!)

Quite impressed - anyway - just wanted to mention it, and "recount" my negative "recoil" response that I spewed out before when I heard mention of what was once a horrid, horrid little Operating System...

[LA_MERC_DocSparky]

I was one that cautioned against using XP x64 and I would give the same advice today. This is not from a users standpoint, but from a developers standpoint. The development community has been warned against using it as the basis for future OSs by MS (MSDN). The driver model of the future is based on Vista and not XP x64 (although it was the model a couple years back). In terms of what apps will be available for it from MS versus Win 7 and Vista, don't expect much to be coming out from MS. It will be avoided.

This is a totally different line of reasoning from yours and it doesn't take away from what you are saying. In a practical sense, if an OS works for you then by all means use it. Same goes for OSX and Linux. I do think your experience today with XP x64 has more to do with your hardware selection. I don't think you should take one negative experience and assume it is the general case anymore than I think that one positive experience should.

It is certainly interesting to have your "take" on so many different OSs (which you've installed over the last few months) and it's good for me to keep an open mind to the choices available. We all benefit from the input. BTW, I've installed about 6 OSs on my machine in the past few months as well even though XP x64 wasn't among them. It's been useful to have a bootable Flash drive with Mint Linux. Nothing like experimentation to learn something new.

[LA_MERC_MadMAX]

I think one of the differences now is that more and more people are pushing past that 4GB address barrier and looking into an x86-64 OS.

Perhaps it's my specific hardware set, but it does seem that there are more drivers for XP-x64 available now than say a year ago. Also Dell has started using XP x64 as the default load on Precision Workstations (with the "Vista Downgrade" thingy)...I think people are looking for options to Vista (which I personally have no problems with) and are considering it as an alternative.

I still say there is nothing wrong w/ just loading up a 64-bit Linux distro and living with that - I did it for almost 2 years, BUT I did miss gaming, and as good as WINE has gotten (and TransGamings tweaked version) there is still a huge performance difference.

An interesting adventure I had a while back was "converting" Server 2008 into a "Workstation" which I could see working really well for some people...which really in a way what Windows XP x64 was - it was actually based on the Server 2003 code base...XP x64 was NT 5.2 (as was Server 2003) vs NT 5.1 (XP 32-bit's version number)...

[LA_MERC_MadMAX]

Also as a side note (someone may know) since XP x64 is on the same patch release schedule as Server 2003 (which is why it's still SP2), I'm assuming it will be actively supported longer than regular XP Pro...

Anybody know this?

[LA_MERC_DocSparky]

Absolutely nothing wrong with any OS that works for you. In fact I need to rebuild my hackintosh to that I can do some iPhone development. My last install would freeze after 30 mins or so. I think it has to do with the nvidia drivers.

[LA_MERC_MadMAX]

Which "hackintosh" build are you using? I had the best luck with "Kalyway" - but I haven't messed w/ it in a while, so someone might have something better now...

[LA_MERC_DocSparky]

iDeneb. I know the Kalyway was the standard for a while, perhaps I'll give it a go. There's a new version of iDeneb out as well.

[LA_MERC_MadMAX]

cool - I might try it out - I never could get an iDeneb torrent to finish, so I never tried it.

I'm always up for trying something new - and a new machine is the best time to "play" because you haven't "moved in" yet :-)

I'll definitely be trying a few Linux distro's on this new machine too before I decide what to "live on" until Windows 7...

[LA_MERC_MadMAX]

Personally, I wound up bringing home a good Vista DVD yesterday from work - so I re-installed Vista (after a "play" install of Ubuntu and OpenSolaris)...

I've finally just "gotten used too" Vista.

Plus...for some reason, MS decided to release Windows Live Writer w/o support for XP-x64...c'mon guys - you gotta support your own OS! :-)

[LA_MERC_DocSparky]

I got my OSX install going and it seems that NVidia support is improved. It still not perfect though. I think I'll get a real MAC if I start developing for it a lot. Now I just need to get the iPhone SDK going.

[LA_MERC_MadMAX]

Have you seen the new Mac Mini's? They finally did some upgrades too it - instead of crappy Intel video they now have a (low end) NVidia chip...still overpriced for what they are though :-)

I had a MacBook Pro through work for a while but I got tired of it - turned it in and got a ThinkPad X Series Tablet instead...love the smaller form factor, and I don't need "raw performance" in my notebook - just connectivity and portability.

[LA_MERC_DocSparky]

Yea, the new Mac Minis look much better spec-wise. If I pick one up, that's what I would want to get. I hear that they work fine for iPhone dev (which isn't very demanding). The idea is that work would pick up the tab on it if I could justify it.

I find that OSX is nice, but it just feels somewhat limited compared to the other options out there. Maybe it's because it's just wishful thinking, but I believe Win7 will be a step forward. I'll try it again when RC1 comes out.