Vista or XP for Trading PC?

[Jack o'Clubs]

Despite RAM upgrades my 6 year old home PC is finally showing its age and I'm planning to buy a new one. Boy, things have changed since I last did the research!

A quick whizz through the T2W forums suggests that the last time someone posed this question, Vista was considered a no-no. Is it still to be avoided? The applications I would use (IB and Esignal) say that they're Vista compliant. This would be a pure work / trading PC so not bothered about impact on gaming etc.

I'm leaning towards sticking with XP (if I can find a manufacturer who will 'downgrade') because i) I'm used to it, and this old dog doesn't want to learn new tricks; ii) even if the trading software works, Vista is supposed to be more RAM-hungry than XP and so will slow the PC down relatively speaking; and iii) Vista will presumably be made obsolete by upcoming Windows 7 and XP may end up with a longer shelf life.

Are these valid reasons, my technically minded friends, or am I just being unnecessarily luddite?

Thanks in advance.

 

[shadowninja]

What software do you need to run?

 

[Jack o'Clubs]

Nothing particularly complicated - esignal and Interactive Brokers (which is a Java app).

 

[nine]

Windows 7 is just around the corner and is really "Vista, finally got right" so in the mean time I'm sticking with XP. Maximum compatibility, minimum eye candy bs, just works.

 

[gedward3]

Not got time myself but here's the Beta version if anyone wants to try and give it a review. All for XP Pro myself as i hate Vista..




Download the Windows 7 Beta

 

[wheezergeezer]

Either one,
I use both XP & Vista, if you're buying a new pc I would think Vista O/S in the way to go......

 

[tomorton]

I'd be surprised if you can get a decent PC without Vista. I intend to upgrade this year asap also. You will certainly need a late version Internet Explorer unless you use Firefox or an alternative - I have just been forced to upgrade to IE8 as Capital Spreads' website won't display on earlier versions since last week and I guess that situation will become more common. The Vista set-ups I have seen running look very similar to XP so quite familiar already - few people seem to select the fancy themes and features and 3D panes that got the limelight when it launched. Hopefully Vista will be more stable than XP Home version I run.

What about transfer of files etc. to the new machine? Have you identified best method for this?

 

[zambuck]

Buy a £200 or so worth of mini laptop. These are still available with XP pro.....then buy a computer that you want as the new ones will come with Vista only.....If it is Vista Business or anything else then get salesman to agree the Ultimate upgrade with the package - for free.

After that either stick with Vista Ultimate or ditch all and stick XP on the computer and Vista on the mini laptop.....

Either way you will not lose anything....

I did this and gave the mini to my daughter....

 

[Jack o'Clubs]

Thanks all for advice. I'll probably stick with XP for now, especially as new apps like IE8 are compatible with it. I've found a few PC builders who offer a 'downgrade' to XP as a no-cost option (eg Cyberpower whose kit benchmarks well in magazine tests and seems to be good value).

What about transfer of files etc. to the new machine? Have you identified best method for this?

Good point. No! I was thinking of setting up some kind of network with both PCs and bridging the files across, but I may just save them to CD or a flash memory and transfer them.

 

[Jaydee]

Hi Jack o'Clubs,

I agree with the advice already said prior to this post. Essentially, you are looking for the OS to provide three things:

1) Compatibility
2) Reliability
3) Use the minimum amount of hardware resources

In almost every case, you should choose the older, more tried and tested, operating system.

Best

JD