New computer - Win2000 or WinXP?

[tluxon]

I'm putting together a request for a new computer and need to select an OS. I've used Windows 2000 on everything and had great success with it since it came out. In video editing circles, I've heard that WinXP isn't as compatible with everything. How about for SolidWorks? Should I go with the newer WinXP OS or the more basic W2K OS?

Thanks,

Tim

By the way, I'm limited to about $300 for a video card. Any strong recommendations?

 

[DetroitPickles]

Tim,

I would NOT hesitate from getting Win XP Pro (NOT Home) on the new system. As for the video card, if you are strapped for cash, get the best nVidia Chipset Quadro4 card you can afford.



Mr. Pickles

 

[StarrRider]

tluxon

The only thing that I would like you to consider is the Piracy Policy that MS instigated with XP and how it will affect you. I have had machines get viruses, had installation problems, corrupted files (SolidWorks), and other problems in the past. There may have been a different work-around - but I chose to do a complete reinstallation of the OS and the other software.

Before XP - this was not a problem - It just took a little time - Pop the CD in - Enter the numbers - and follow the instructions – And you have a completely “Clean” system. Then you can decide what you want on it.

With XP - it is a little different – After doing the installation you have to contact MS and have the OS activated. They will see that those numbers have already been activated and then you are faced with having to explain why you are installing the OS on another machine. I don't know what is required to do this - It might be simple but then again it might not - I don't want to find out the hard way - To me - it is simpler just to avoid this problem completely.

By the way – I do a complete OS install on my home system at least once a year – In case you have never done this – you will be surprised how fast that tired old machine actually is.

Lee

Consciousness: That annoying time between naps.

 

[swhitey]

I had quite a few problems with solidWorks on a computer running Win2K. I also updated to a new computer running WinXP Pro and the problems seem to have dissappeared. Coincidence maybe, but SolidWorks is running the best it ever has.

Steve

 

[SBaugh]

It's Coincidence Steve. I have been runing SW on Win2K since it has came out (win2K that is) and I prefer it over WinXP anytime. I have a XP Pro machine and yes it works fine but I like the Win2K better. SW has out performed on my Win2k stations, than on WinXP.

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP
3DVision Technologies

http://www.3dvisiontech.com

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

faq731-376
When in doubt, always check the help

 

[rocheey]

I'm running sw03/sp3.1 on both partitions of on a dual-boot XP Pro/Win2k box. The latest service packs for Win2K give me
a more stable platform than sp1 for XP.

 

[tluxon]

I actually prefer the more traditional user interface of W2K anyway, so I'll just stick with that for now. That is, unless someone knows of some functionality that XP has that W2K doesn't.

Thanks,

Tim

 

[okthisone]

I use Xp Pro, which to myself is more stable than win2000. There is a couple of tricks, in that you can revert to the traditional look of win98, but also gain quite a bit of speed by doing this.

1, Right click on the start icon, go to properties, select classic start menu.

2, Go to control panel and select system. go to advanced, then performance setting and select best performance.

Much cleaner and faster!

 

[JNR]

No question. XP Pro - latest SP.

3/4 of all the Spam produced goes to Hawaii - shame that's not true of SPAM also.......

 

[JNR]

Oh, and by BTW: NVIDA Quadro of some kind. You can get them fairly resonably now. That is apparently the SW 2004 development baseline. So you will be avoiding problems in the near future and saving a graphics board change.

3/4 of all the Spam produced goes to Hawaii - shame that's not true of SPAM also.......

 

[EnglishMuffin]

I have heard that Windows XP is slower than Windows 2000.

See :

http://archive.infoworld.com/articles/tc/xml/01/10/29/011029tcwinxp.xml

 

[JNR]

Win XP can be faster or slower. If you turn off all the crap that takes up CPU doing cute Disney cartoon things, it will be much faster than the default settings. Who needs the CPU claculating shadows on the cursor all the time, for example (did you even notice it?).

Start -settings - control panel - system - advanced - performance. Turn off everything except: The last one "use visual styles..." (makes it look like XP rather than 2000) and "Use background images for folder types" or whatever it is (about 5 from the bottom - doesn't seem to hurt speed any).

3/4 of all the Spam produced goes to Hawaii - shame that's not true of SPAM also.......

 

[SBaugh]

I have set that up with mine JNR and it's still slower for me. I have had numerous sharing problems over my network with XP and I'm on a Peer to Peer network. I'm not happy with XP Pro. Yes it's stable, but there are some issues in XP that I don't see in Win2000.

Just my extra .02.

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP
3DVision Technologies

http://www.3dvisiontech.com

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

faq731-376
When in doubt, always check the help

 

[tluxon]

Well, it turns out that company policy nudged me to XP Pro. It'll make it less of a political headache when it's time to upgrade next time (easier to pass down). Fortunately, I was able to swing the nVidia Quadro FX 500, so hopefully it will help make the XP Pro more tolerable .

Tim

 

[triggerguard1]

I'm using XP Pro with a Matrox Millennium G550. Excellent system and completely stable. I've also got 3 other computers working off the network with zero problems. I'll never look back.

 

[ctopher]

I was running Win2000 for a while...then SolidWorks started crashing, don't know why. I upgraded to a very fast P4 2.4gh 512 ram w/Win XP Prof and it worked good, but SW runs slower.
I had to upgrade the video card to the best I can find..now it works great.

 

[linqur]

This appears only through network and under WinXP. That doesn't appear in Win2000:
If you open files as read-only (System option: Open referenced files as read-only) and try to save the changed model, then SW can't save the file and corrupts the original. It makes about 2 KB crap file.