Hi there, kind of new here! I know there's probably an ancient thread out there with the answer to this within, but I 've looked for half an hour through the archives of 2002 and similar, and they seem to only be relavent to 2k SP1 and the like.

I'm planning on building a new super awesome machine soon, and seeing that I already have a copy of 2k I can put on there, I was wondering, is it really worth forking out £80 on my limited paper round budget (lol) for a copy of XP pro, when I've got 2k pro? (Considering that the Vista route seems, umm, foolish, at best).

So do any of you Windows gurus out there know of any significant differences performance wise, boot-time wise, compatibility wise, between the latest 2k upgrade/service pack (whatever) and XP? Seeing that I'm not too bothered about drivers not always being preinstalled on there, as long as i can download the 2k versions and they will work for the new stuff.

Any help would be thoroughly appreciated, and I'll be happy to attempt to further clarify anything I've said here later (I can be a bit rambly at times...)

-Myco

When you say, "super awesome," do you mean for gaming? If gaming, you would be better off with XP. The reason is advanced graphics cards and graphics drivers. Depending on the brand (Nvidia or ATI) the last two or three generations of graphics cards do not appear to support Windows 2000, at least not their drivers. So for Nvidia you will have to buy a 7000 series Nvidia card or a X100 series ATI card (like an X850) at best. Those will not make a "super awesome machine" in my opinion. Don't get me wrong. It might be ok for gaming but not super ok.

Win Xp Sp2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You mean Windows Xp Service Pack 3 ofcourse

Thanks guys! Looks like I'll be going for XP then, although could I ask if anyone knows of any particular advantages of XP Pro over home edition?

Here: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/h...choosing2.mspx

But some users also report Professional is more stable

That MS link is disingenuous at best - most of the things touted as 'pro' advantages are also in Home, perhaps with an add-on, but except in specific circumstances such as requiring 'genuine' networking into a professional server for example - rather than the up-to-5 local file sharing in home - I strongly believe there is no advantage in 'pro'.

Certainly XP over Win2K on the driver issue alone, though.

the advantages with pro is that it has drivers, and some other odds and ends. im not sure, but when i had home edition, my computer crashed more often then with pro.

so, all in all, pro is better, i think, and since XP is going to be decomissioned soon
you might want to think about ebay.... if it is already decomissioned....

what is the advantages over Sp3? i could not tell.... i tried installing the sp3 update on my sp2 and it wouldent update....

personaly, sp2 is my fav!