New Computer . Opinons and Questions .

I need a new computer (mine is 5 years old and maybe on it's way out) it likes to restart / shut down on its own when I close FF now or let it idle.

Gateway is not customizable so they are not of my interest.

I hit the wall of my camera, card reader, printer, HP PSC potentially not working with vista. So I am torn between XP Pro and a Vista Brand.

I have 3 IDE hard drives and am unsure if running them off of an IDE controller card (atleast my 200 gig drive) would cause problems with Vista, the 200 gig, or the computer.

I am curious what people think of Vista vs XP Pro and my HDD Dilema ... I would rather not throw away my 200 gig drive and would rather it be in the case and not require an external HDD case etc ...

Thoughts, comments .... fire away!

Thanks in advance.

moved -- sounds more of a hardware dilemma to me.

that works ... thanks, didn't know exactly where it belonged.

I don't think you would have any problems with either OS regarding your HDD.

It depends on what you would like on your HDD that the issue may arise. But even then, Vista has had plenty of updates and is probably fine anyway.

xp all the way i hate vista, its way too buggy now, wait till they fix it really good

ubuntu - why bother paying when there is totally free operating system out there just as good. It is more of an XP type default front end but there's soooooo many front end GUIs to choose from. Take a leap of faith and save yourself £100. The learning curve is small, no adverts no virus worries open office - compatible with M/S Office incredible amount of add-ons and absolutely zero cost. Download an image of "Gutsy Gibbon" - the latest stable version. I even have my 70+ mother using ubuntu and she loves it. I removed vista from her laptop because she hated it so much and was used to Windows XP.

Dell computers will sell you a desktop/laptop with ubuntu preinstalled. Spend your money on hardware........

Cheers, Prime ..

PS> If you want your PC for gaming ignore everything I just said

I have considered the Linux option ... do you know if they are up to speed on cd and dvd applications, last I knew they were not. I tend to run nero and other dvd software alot and macromedia products ....

Open office is nice ... I wonder if it reads the new access databases ? I have my budget on that

The biggest drawback to date has always been the wireless technology, providers weren't making linux drivers however, Gutsy Gibbon appears to have nailed that last big one. I installed the latest release on a new Compaq laptop and it went through without a hitch. All drivers found etc etc etc A friend of mine had a similar experience with his Toshiba. It really is what you may call "a proper operating system for all PCs". I'm not saying it the greatest ever flavour of linux but it's totally free and I love it

The video stuff is great, I spend all day downloading movies in the background and watching many DVD's through the drive. It's free, download a copy and try to install it on your current box. What have you got to lose

If it can burn dvd-videos, dvds, and music, data discs, and read / write iso's then I would have no reason not to try ... but I think my 80 gig is tired ... so a new system might be in order.

it's not that buggy i rarely get random crashes and blue screens

ok theres a few bugs but what os doesn't have them?

I'm with deathblade on this one ... XP crashes aswell ... what's the difference ... My vista has crashed only two times in the 6 months that I have had it ...

Thanks for all of your responses ...

I will start researching the specific program I will need to use and go from there I suppose in making my choice. An IDE controller card is not much so if that idea works then great ... as all the rest of the drives would be SATA. Or break down and get an external USB case for IDE drives.

I would love to move up and use vista ... exp for the new macromedia / adobe software .... as my current machine can't run it but alas it is trustworthy for the time being.