Help choosing XP Version

Carcrazy · Post by **Carcrazy** » 21 Jan 2007, 07:55

Which version of XP do you think would be better for my system Professional Or Media Center Edition

AMD Sempron 64 3400+
1.25 GB DDR RAM
164 GB Hard Drive
DVD-RW Drive (2)
TV Tuner card
BFG nVidia 7600GT

I can get either one I just cant make up my mind which one I want! Please help me choose. Thx[/u]

prince1142003 · Post by **prince1142003** » 21 Jan 2007, 08:26

Professional. You can do more.

S2000_Skyline12 · Post by **S2000_Skyline12** » 21 Jan 2007, 08:37

MCE. Just my personal prefrence but MCE is pretty much Pro with some extra features

BrontoX · Post by **BrontoX** » 21 Jan 2007, 10:03

You should go with Pro with Service Pack 2 it's the best.
MCE is not compatible with some games

Jmac- · Post by **Jmac-** » 21 Jan 2007, 13:53

BrontoX wrote:You should go with Pro with Service Pack 2 it's the best.
MCE is not compatible with some games

Such as ? I'm running MCE and have yet to run into a game I can't play ... and I've got 120 GB worth of games ...

Also, if you have a TV Tuner card and you want to record TV, MCE is the only way to go ... Much more user-friendly in that department than Pro, free TV guide, etc. ...

"Although Windows XP Media Center Edition is based on Windows XP Professional, Microsoft has disabled its ability to join an Active Directory domain post install in the last version. This effectively precludes its use in a corporate environment. Media Center still retains most other Windows XP Professional-specific features, such as Remote Desktop and the Encrypting File System."

Abrams · Post by **Abrams** » 21 Jan 2007, 17:28

MCE has some of Pro tweaking stuff missing i beleive.

Carcrazy · Post by **Carcrazy** » 21 Jan 2007, 21:44

What does it acually mean to not be able to join a domain? In what ways would that limit me?

prince1142003 · Post by **prince1142003** » 21 Jan 2007, 22:07

You won't be able to set up a server-based environment, but only a peer-to-pper network. Why you would want a server-based environment at home is beyond me,though.

S2000_Skyline12 · Post by **S2000_Skyline12** » 22 Jan 2007, 01:03

BrontoX wrote:You should go with Pro with Service Pack 2 it's the best.
MCE is not compatible with some games

Yeah as Jmac said, MCE is as compatible with every game as Pro or Home is pro just has a bit of a better theme, great media program (Media Center) with nice UI and has movie maker 2.0 (or something) that is'nt available in Pro or Home thats pretty much it. and another thing he said about the TV Tuner...It rocks on MCE

BrontoX · Post by **BrontoX** » 22 Jan 2007, 17:40

Well i have a friend with MCE and he says a game doesn't work for him and he tried it on Pro and it worked (i can't remember the game i'll try to ask him)

2fast4all · Post by **2fast4all** » 25 Jan 2007, 04:51

MCE is better, supports everything

S2000_Skyline12 · Post by **S2000_Skyline12** » 25 Jan 2007, 06:05

Yeah and theres this secret theme for it called Royal Noir (black) someone just discovered it or something it's pretty cool (black version of Energy Blue)

BrontoX · Post by **BrontoX** » 25 Jan 2007, 16:56

Actually i have that theme on my XP Pro right now and i have it since November

S2000_Skyline12 · Post by **S2000_Skyline12** » 25 Jan 2007, 17:10

Well I said or something so it may have been discovered before that lol

donaldgladden · Post by **donaldgladden** » 26 Jan 2007, 01:10

wow your buying XP when Vista is only weeks from release? i would just wait and buy the Vista Home Premium for 240 bucks. if im not mistaken you can buy PRO for about 300? i dont really know but still.

prince1142003 · Post by **prince1142003** » 26 Jan 2007, 01:30

Vista is just coming out. It'll be full of bugs. Ideally, you'd wait at least a year before buying a newly releases OS.

Additionally, Vista Home may be US$240, but it's missing so many features that are available in XP Pro. The comparable Vista version, Vista Enterprise, runs around US$400, I think.

Carcrazy · Post by **Carcrazy** » 26 Jan 2007, 02:00

I just installed my MCE (2002... all i could get my hands on) and it's got everything but the Energy Blue toolbar theme

any ideas about it?

S2000_Skyline12 · Post by **S2000_Skyline12** » 26 Jan 2007, 02:03

The closest thing you can get to it is Royale Noir or by having someone send you the theme through IM or something

Carcrazy · Post by **Carcrazy** » 26 Jan 2007, 02:08

Yup, I just got royal off google... but I might try havign someone IM it to me...

S2000_Skyline12 · Post by **S2000_Skyline12** » 26 Jan 2007, 02:34

If you want I could try to you'd just have to get on your messenger now

The Gravedigger · Post by **The Gravedigger** » 26 Jan 2007, 02:39

Really it doesn't matter, Windows has extended it's 'support' (security updates, etc) for XP has been extended 'til 2010, it comes down to whether you want a resource hogging OS (Vista) or not...

I'm going to stick with XP for a bit longer until all of that crap is dealt with and the resource hogging is toned down a nice bit.

Jmac- · Post by **Jmac-** » 26 Jan 2007, 06:27

prince1142003 wrote:Vista is just coming out. It'll be full of bugs. Ideally, you'd wait at least a year before buying a newly releases OS.

Additionally, Vista Home may be US$240, but it's missing so many features that are available in XP Pro. The comparable Vista version, Vista Enterprise, runs around US$400, I think.

Uhh, no ...

Microsoft's pricing scheme is as follows:

Vista Home Basic: $100 Upgrade/$200 Full
Vista Home Premium: $160 Upgrade/$240 Full
Vista Business: $200 Upgrade/$300 Full
Vista Enterprise: Only Available For Volume-Licensing Customers
Vista Ultimate: $260 Upgrade/$400 Full

Vista Home Premium offers more than XP Pro for your average user and Vista Business offers more than XP Pro for your average business ... and Vista Enterprise isn't available to the public.

Carcrazy · Post by **Carcrazy** » 26 Jan 2007, 06:30

Home: $0
Home Premium: $0
Vista Bussines: $0
Vista Ultimate: $0

I'm not spendin jack on Vista for another 2 or 3 years. I'm perfectly Happy with my XP.

S2000_Skyline12 · Post by **S2000_Skyline12** » 26 Jan 2007, 06:33

Home: $200
Business:$300
Ultimate:$400
Home Premium:Priceless (Cause i'm getting it for free

)

prince1142003 · Post by **prince1142003** » 26 Jan 2007, 06:34

Mmmm,

Vista Ultimate: $200, cuz I'll be getting the OEM version.