OT: Which is better: XP or 2000? > Another Piracy Discussion

[Slynky]

Well, PvK, you failed to talk about the fact that M$ has dropped support for W2000. So, if a vulnerability arises, you have been left out. There will be no new updates for that OS.

XP is basically the kernal of W2000 improved. If you walk into Best Buy or Media Play (popular places in the US), and take a look at the OS's supported, you'll find backward compatibility for more games for 95 and 98 than W2000. W2000 was published as a platform for buisneses. Accordingly, a lot of gaming companies didn't bother spending time to test for compatibility. That didn't mean they wouldn't run but that they didn't "promise" it would. A lot of games run on W2000 that don't list it on the box. But some don't. They just don't.

This is also true of XP, since it was (kind of) based on W2000. But, you'll probably have more success installing an older game on XP than W2000.

Now, it may be that I went through some sort of activation scheme but I don't recall it. I never had to call or register. I installed and it ran. Now, IF it did some "stuff" behind my back, I don't really care. My Adobe PS "checks in" regularly and so does a few of my other software packages. I installed an additional HD on my system and I never had to call M$ and my OS never stopped working (like a lot of people feared). I've flashed my BIOS and still no problem. Of course, EVERY bit of software on the 4 PCs on my home network have been paid for. That goes for multiple copies of NAV, M$ Frontpage, and a few others.

As an IT professional, I advise people who approach me all the time. I don't think I'd be steering anyone wrong by recommending XP. NOt to mention a few other added features the average "village idiot" might find useful that XP has that W2000 does not. Besides all that, you can't even legally purchase W2000 any longer. IF you do find a copy legitimately, you will be lucky. Just try to order a PC with it and see what you get.

[PvK]

Originally posted by Slynky:
Well, PvK, you failed to talk about the fact that M$ has dropped support for W2000. So, if a vulnerability arises, you have been left out. There will be no new updates for that OS.

I assert that I was never under any expectation to completely discuss all aspects. I actually relish the non-support of Win98SE, because it means M$ is no longer (so often?) silently attacking my computer to hack my Version of IE, etc. Meanwhile, my XP system at work recently had the hated MS Outlook Express added to it during an "update", even though it Outhouse marked to not be installed at all in the Office XP installer and the Windows Components installer - apparently I'll need to uninstall the update in order to get rid of it.

... Besides all that, you can't even legally purchase W2000 any longer. IF you do find a copy legitimately, you will be lucky. Just try to order a PC with it and see what you get.

Gee, when did that happen? My dad just bought W200Pro a week or two ago.

No comment about the amount of M$ software you've paid for. However... Front Page ... laugh!

PvK

[ November 27, 2003, 05:32: Message edited by: PvK ]

[Will]

Ummm... my school's CS department is still offering Win2k Pro to students. They just updated the group license about a month ago. So it's still being sold.

And as for no more support for the OS, I'm pretty sure that only means major updates. They will have to release security patches and such for some time to come (and in fact I just downloaded a security patch for 2kPro Last week that was dated around Nov 15). I could care less if they don't release any major updates, and don't blame them for not doing so, since they're already approaching their third generation OS removed from 2kPro.

[Atrocities]

I have to be honest, win2k has served me quite well over the years. The only issues I have had with it at ones that deal with my configuration and my AMD/MSI mother board CPU combinations.

Windows XP has also worked well for me. Be sure to turn off both the XP and Win2k instant messaging program, or you will get spammed regularly with window pop ups.

[se5a]

if you are wanting compatibility (both HW and SW) get 98SE
if your carefull you can get it fairly stable.

I dont know much about 2000
but others have told me that XP is a little more stable.
I have XP pro on this and its prety good, I still havent looked at tweeking it yet, but I am impressed at the stability, even if I do get some kind of lockup it will usualy sort itself out given half a chance.

[Atrocities]

Avoid the problem of stablity all together and just buy a Mac.

[Alneyan]

PvK, what changes in XP user interface were you talking about? For me, XP looks almost like 98 after a few tweaks (removing the horrible basic interface, disabling Messenger and so on). Of course, with the basic interface, I can understand your problems.

As for old games, it mostly depends on the game in my experience. While Daggerfall runs like a charm on XP (yes, I even managed to play Daggerfall for several hours without a crash on XP), I have quite a few games that refuse to launch when they don't basically crash the whole system. But I would believe the same can be said of 2000 as well.

If given the choice, I would gladly go back to 98SE as soon as possible, as this OS is much simpler and less cumbersome. (And my computer is a bit slow to run XP with ease as well) However, I don't have the Second Edition of 98 and cannot find it anywhere, so I am basically stuck with XP since 98 (first edition) is lacking connection sharing. Either that, or I couldn't make it work, your choice. And I don't recall having much issues with stability back in those days when I used 98 either.