OneSerendipity

CC itself is very slow, actually. My favorite version is CS5, it's pretty good on resource use, and has a lot of features I find useful. CS6 is pretty heavy, although still pretty good, if you have powerful enough hardware. CC, though... slow on everything literally. In this case, it's not an OS problem. The official MS support for Windows 7 and Server 2008 R1/R2 is until 2020. Most companies will definitely support 7 for a bit more after that date, that's for sure.

Well, Windows 8.0 is different from 8.1 in some things. Better DWM performance (despite it using a lot of RAM at times, can even reach 160 MB), more friendly in mods (although not enough like 7). It also doesn't get the GWX updates like 8.1 does, as far as I know. Despite so, I'd rather use Windows 7/Server 2008 R2 in this case, since 8's UI is really crap (don't get me wrong, still better than 10's), it can get even heavier than good old Vista in memory use, and mods are still hit or miss. I got Vista installed in all of my computers anyway, now to get Server 2008 fixed, as it boots very slow for some reason, compared to the client counterpart... As for MS's support, I doubt you get anything real good at the moment in Vista/7, they're trying to get every 7/8.1 user to upgrade to 10, in every way, be it very catchy or spastic. 7/8.1 Enterprise or their server counterparts at least don't get affected by those, so I'm better off with either one of those. Also, because MS's support for 7 is for 4 years, doesn't mean the OS will die immediately in January 2020. Even XP has still support from some companies, Nvidia with their GTX cards as a great example of this. Don't expect 7 to die very soon, it'll most likely stay alive by most companies for at least a year after its MS support ends. As for mods, I have made several mods to 7 too, including the navigation pane text color and theme color bitmaps to look like Vista's (well, some of them are non-existent in Vista, but I made my own instead, based on its own bitmaps). I have uploaded a screenshot and links to the mods in here (on my DeviantArt page): http://fav.me/d9tg0pu

My Intel HD Graphics 4000 card that my laptop has works exceptionally well in Vista, just not verified. Here's a screenshot if you want. http://ft.trillian.im/d0e126060e6636736853e7a887355c68b48441ae/6FAD2LMSEb9HLayasb4WDWSlL8T2G.jpg Modding the 7/8 drivers of HD 4000 won't work at all, but since we have official Vista drivers for that, there's no need to do so. I got USB 3.0 drivers to install properly too, although I get Code 39 errors with it. Chipset drivers for the 7 series also work fine. The best thing we can guess, is that Haswell is just not that Vista-friendly, and X99 only seems to support it officially.

Nah, Server 2008 is actually my favourite OS along with Vista, but Server 2003 is second. If I wanted to, I could still use 2003. They're not stupid OSes, I've used all those for a long time. I remember when I got Server 2008 through Dreamspark while studying IT back in 2008, it was very great. As for actual desktop use, Vista is still the best option, as it already has those necessary files to play most games, which require DX11, and MS bothered to include DX11 in Vista and Server 2008 SP2 with the platform update, that's why you can play games like GTA V on that OS, for example. It's just, the community support for NT 6.0 diminishes fast, as no one would bother to use Vista at this time. My work rig runs awesome with 2008 and Vista, as it has one of the most robust CPU architectures ever released, which is Sandy. I thought about getting a Haswell CPU (probably a 4790K or a 5820K) for a new build I'll make in this year's fall, but not sure if some boards I thought about purchasing have good support for those OSes, I'll find a way to sort that out.

I was only using Server 2003 some weeks ago in my work custom built PC, when I had to migrate completely to Server 2008. The oldest OS I use in my hosts, is Vista and Server 2008 SP2. In my guests in VMware though... it's Windows 3.1

I can supply with other needed files to transform Windows 8 to Vista if you want, as I even transformed Server 2012, which wanted to get DWM leaks everytime, even with updates. I got to use Windows 7 again, as 8 really hates being modded in its installation media. I tried replacing the Aero theme, and everything broke down. Explorer wouldn't open properly (windows had no corner buttons, new explorer windows would be stuck), and I couldn't change the theme, so I can't suggest 8 as an OS if you feel like modding the install media. 8 is still a great OS to use if you don't want to mod it that much, but as for myself, better stick with Server 2008 in my Sandy custom built PC I use at work, which completely satisfies me. When support for NT 6.0 ends forever, we'll see if we are to get to 7 and 2008 R2 or if MS makes a great OS again (after we got awful 10), use that instead. And as for the Classic Shell Vista skin I made, whoever feels like continuing it, I'll be happy to check their work! I can't continue on it anymore, as it needs a lot of my patience and I've been very busy with things lately, too.

Server 2012 has the Aero Lite theme of 8 by default, but you should be able to change to the normal Aero theme of 8 in Personalization. I changed to a custom Vista theme for Windows 8, which works perfect. For all of those bells and whistles of the Aero theme, you can just go to the advanced system settings and change performance settings in there. Of course, for features like Media Player, you still need to install Desktop Experience, along with WLAN Service and .NET Framework 3.5 to get some apps to install and work.

I would really like to hear so, since Windows 8 is just easier to setup for desktop use than Server 2012, lol. I do have Server 2012 running in my home laptop though, and it's perfect. DWM feels smoother in NT 6.2 than 6.3 with the glass8 mod, that's why I'll leave 2012 R2 and completely migrate to R1 in the home computer.

Sure, MS support doesn't kill everything on an OS, but it kinda determines an OS's life, as they'll most likely push other manufacturers to stop supporting that OS, for example, and get them to give support for a newer one instead, in the upcoming days near the End of Life. And, why not using Server 2008? Is it so hard to configure? Is there anything wrong using it? Definitely not. I use Server 2008 since it got released, and I love that OS. It's just a server edition of Vista that has better performance and needs some small configurations to get it working like Vista and use it as your everyday OS. It's not like jumping off a cliff to use Server 2008 at this point of time, it'll actually run better than 7 or 2008 R2, as that's what it did to me, and I like it. Whatever, since Vista's support is also a bit dead, and 2008 is NT 6.0, it'll have the same support. And for the original poster, Windows Server 2008 is a server edition of Windows Vista, so it's most targeted to those that have those computers to run websites and such (24/7), so it doesn't have those nice Aero features and Sidebar enabled for example, by default, but you can enable those easily and get better performance, and Server 2008 competes with Linux, so that's why it performs better than Vista. It will run most software made for Vista fine, without any problem. But, I regret talking about it, since it's kinda expensive to buy now, and you'll unfortunately have to upgrade if your issues are bothering you quite a lot. I recommend upgrading to Windows 8 or 8.1, and then if you miss Aero or such features, we can help in getting those back. I've had some issues with Windows 7, like a sudden high memory usage sometimes, so that's why I say to keep away from it.

Google Chrome isn't to be used in Vista now, unfortunately. Google will cut support for Windows XP, Vista, Server 2003 and 2008 in April 2016 with that browser, as they say those OSes are unsupported (Vista and 2008 are still supported by MS, by the way ), so your better option is go with Firefox or a fork of it, or another browser, as Mozilla won't cut support for either XP or Vista soon (remember when they stopped Win2k support in 2012, 2 years later than its official MS support end date?), and it is a great browser still. And, if you feel that you need that MS support, you can go with Server 2008 and set it up to work like Vista and get awesome performance, even better than Vista by about 17-20%, and get support until January 2020. Then, we're here to help you with whatever issue arises in your computer.

I didn't really get what you said then, as there's simply nothing like that.

When you have transparency disabled, the Aero look doesn't have the background of it blurred, instead it's a fixed color with the glass look and all other features. Basically I wouldn't recommend disabling it, as it's that eye-candy that makes your experience better in Windows Vista and 7, but you can use it to save a bit of battery power without having to disable all Aero features.

Wonderful, XP x64 just needs a few mods to get a usable OS and it's well structured to use all that power of your rig. As for myself, I had used Server 2003 x64, which is what XP x64 is based on, so they have similar compatibility and performance, as they're both not that based on NT 5.1, which is XP x86. It was running very well, but I needn't mod it, since I had been using it specifically for work stuff and I had another computer for entertainment purposes. Since XP x64 also doesn't support 32 bit software that well (drivers for instance), most malware and exploits shouldn't affect it, as most of them are written on 32 bit, and that OS is so stubborn with 32 bit software in general, but you can get rid of that and mod it, as if you would to a server OS to transform it to a workstation. It needs some modding, but you get awesome performance and stability in the end.