Should I downgrade from Vistax64 to XPx64?

[pooranimator]

Windows Xp x64 without a doubt. If possible slipstream it with Nlite (for advanced users) . I am not a pro but I can tell you this much that even with my powerful pc all Vista does is drive you insane doing unnecessary background work. Xp flows smooth and easy to use but that's just my opinion. Oh by the way if you are using Adobe CS4 keep in mind that the OpenGL support for it won't work in XP x64 especially if you are using Photoshop but thats not a big deal either. Good luck !

[CoffeeFiend]

Vista x64 for sure, especially if you're using Photoshop CS4! The OpenGL-accelerated version is by FAR the biggest upgrade since I can remember (and I've been using it since v2.5). I surely wouldn't go using any platform without OpenGL drivers. It is a very big deal, those who say otherwise seemingly haven't even tried it. GPU acceleration is amazing, the image looks great any *ANY* zoom level (about time! and the pixel grid at high zoom levels too), much improved "navigation" around the image (animated zoom, birds eye view, flick the image around and watch it slide by...), many everyday functions like setting the brush size, color space conversions, image rotations (working rotated, that is), etc. I've been using it for a while on Vista x64 (on a machine with similar specs) and it works absolutely great. Other CS4 apps (like Bridge) also make use of the GPU. OpenGL makes a world of difference here -- day and night! There's just no going back once you've tried it.

Besides, Adobe doesn't officially support XP x64 either (you could almost say the same about MS, heh), and that's not going to change anytime soon...

Also, a large number of your other apps make heavy use of OpenGL (After Effects, Cinema4D, Blender 3D...). Going with a OpenGL-less platform in your scenario sure seems like a VERY bad idea to me (doubly so when you forked out the extra money for the fancy Quadro FX 1500M to have superior OpenGL performance in the first place)

[meowing]

FYI: There is nothing about OpenGL or DirectX 10 or CS4 that doesn't work in XP x64, mind you!

http://www.brothersoft.com/km-software-directx10-197601.html runs stable as a rock here for months already.

[Raybo58]

Personally, I love XP Pro x64. Coupled with some beefy hardware it's as snappy as anything I've seen, especially with apps that have been developed to take advantage of it.

But it can be something of a pain finding drivers, since this is probably THE most neglected version of the MS platform. Because MS wants (is forcing) everyone to buy their new junk, support is skimpy to say the least. As you know, XP primary support was supposed to expire years ago. So those of us with Mavrick versions have to fend for ourselves.

Upon his request, I downgraded a friend's laptop from Vist to XP x64. It litterally took days, and a spelunking trip into a Google translated Japanese website to find some drivers for the built in hardware on his HP Purchase.

It's been a year and a half and, while he's for the most part still thrilled with it, I still get occasional calls asking me if I've found a way to make his I-Tunes burn CDs.

Which is why I no longer reccomend it to any but the most skillful users.

The rewards are worth it though and there's always a workaround. When worst come to worst, VMware runs XP x32 faster on my box than I've ever seen it run on a physical machine. That is if you've got at least 4 Gigs of ram so that neither the host or guest go thirsty.

Edited April 2, 2009 by Raybo58

[b16hatch94]

Well i just recently downgraded my DV9933cl HP Laptop from Vista home premium 64-bit to XP Pro 64-bit only took me just little under 2 hrs thats finding all the correct drivers.

I love Xp64bit very quick and smooth.

[meowing]

VMware runs XP x32 faster on my box than I've ever seen it run on a physical machine. That is if you've got at least 4 Gigs of ram so that neither the host or guest go thirsty.

Just out of curiosity; Which type or version of XP (32 bit) do you run in VM? Just the stock release you have, or some of the famous nLited ones out there?

I very much want VM inside my XP x64 to run a really stripped XP 32 bit (no browser, no Outlook, etc.) to be able to use it for that odd driver I can't run in XP64.

[Raybo58]

I have serveral versions of XP that I've been playing with in VMware. I guess the leanest among them is rootw0rm's Turbo XP SP3. It's had most of the resource hogs nLite'd out. You can still call IE though. As far as I know, IE doesn't use any resources unless you actually launch it. So I'm not sure why you'd try cull it.

Edited April 11, 2009 by Raybo58