2K VS XP

Hi

I just got a new computer set up, now thinkin about which OS i should use

I personaly buy official Windows OS's,(because i'm too bamn lazy to go throught the tweakin and crackin stuff) and i currently have a official win 2K in hand.

Question: should i use 80 sth bucks on a XP Home OEM, or just stick with 2K?
(ultimitly, i'm gonna switch to vista when it's on the market.)

if you guys need my computer specs, just ask.

Of course we'll need your damn specs.

ASUS P5WD2 Premium Socket T (LGA 775) Intel 955X ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Pentium D 920 Presler 800MHz FSB LGA 775 Dual Core Processor Model BX80553920
Creative Inspire 5800 72 Watts 5.1 Speaker
Thermaltake Tsunami VA3000BWA Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
eVGA 256-P2-N563-AX Geforce 7900GT CO 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card
Antec TRUEPOWERII TPII-550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS SB0350 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card
Kingston ValueRAM 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 533 (PC2 4200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model KVR533D2N4K2/2G
Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 ST3300822AS 300GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Rosewill R912E Black 19" 8ms LCD Monitor
LITE-ON 16X DVD±R DVD Burner W/LightScribe and 5X DVD-RAM Write Black ATAPI/E-IDE Model SHM-165H6S
COOLER MASTER KHC-L91-U2 92mm Ball Cooling Fan/Heatsink

copy pasta + editing from newegg

fail for buying windows

>>1
Stick to Windows 2000

Get XP and stick with it. Fuck Vista.

Windows 3.11 for Workgroups FTW !!!

i recommend windows 2003. it's stable, fast (faster than xp) and very secure (at least more secure than xp). i run it for a year now and it works flawlessly (as a windows can get) with all games, apps and stuff.

ANONYMOUS' CHOICE.

quick note: never install (any) windows without stripping useless stuff out of the installation. use something like nlite to create a nice windows-cd with the stuff you need.

>>8
nlite breaks shit. You can strip without doing that.

Does 2k3 run EVERYTHING XP can? I run XP but am always looking for STABLE ways to lighten the load.

>>9
hmm... nlite never broke anything for me, but i always check what i remove from the cd.
and yes, 2k3 runs "EVERYTHING" xp runs. i couldn't find anything that wouldn't run on 2k3. i don't know why something shouldn't work with 2k3 since it's xp with better defaults and some sweets added.

>>10
ive heard some games lock out non-XP releases out of laziness to test. i guess i'll try 2k3 on my next install, thanks.

nlite doesnt necessarily break things unless you do heavy trimming, but in my experience XP is barely stable and error-prone by default as-is, no need to make it moreso.

>>10
No. I have Windows 2003. I can assure you not everything works on it, there are games and some other stuff that would normally work on 2000 or XP but will not work or install on 2003. There are, ofcourse, ways around these problems but it definately does not work with everything.
Reason why stuff does not work on 2003 is that 1) it has different OS identifier (NT52) and some installers block it intentionally for one reason or another. 2) despite sharing the base with WinXP it is considerably different in a lot of ways from settings to how it treats programs. But typically, if the thing works on XP there is a way to make it run on 2003 with a few rare exceptions. And beside that, the list of stuff that does not work with it is not particulary huge.. among popular games and applications. At least I haven't found many.

Also it's not stable in the hands of a dumb user, winXP and 2000 are just as stable if the user does not make any mistakes or win2003 is just as unstable if the user lets it become messed up.

>>11
ive heard some games lock out non-XP releases out of laziness to test
You've heard wrong rumours.

>>13
BF2 demo works for 200 but the full version needs XP.

>>14
I run BF2 and Special forces on 2k with no problems. However, the booster packs and Age of Empires 3 lock out non-XP OSes.

SETVER.EXE OR GTFO

>>15
How curious, Age of Empires is made by Microsoft.

Bah. Exclude Microsoft® software™. It's Microsoft® shit™.

XP Pro > 2k > XP Home. it's simple.