WindowsXP/7/8 32/64? Is XP still a valid option?

[tomczak]

I need a piece of advice - I haven't bought a new computer for a while: I'll be be probably getting a new laptop. Most come with Win7 (or 8 now?, or sometimes Unix/DOS). I kind of like XP for it's speed, my familiarity and lack of multiuser features like permissions, and the like, that, in my more or less single-user case, have been more a hindrance than help.

Everything seems to work, all the software run without problems, and I know where to find things in XP, and most of the time XP doesn't do too many things behind my back (I'm using a Win7 laptop now, and it seems do some mysterious operations).

Am I dreaming that XP is so much more efficient overall or is it my historical inertia? Also, what are the options: if the laptop comes with win7/8 preinstalled, am I not looking for troubles by insisting on XP? missing drivers? manufacture's tuning? Is it worth the trouble?

And then editions maze, especially with windows7 - they seem to be pretty different - what to get?

Then, the 64bit versions: are there any disadvantages? Do they only work with certain processors?

Cheers!

[Dieter Mayr]

Maciej,

I'm still usung XP here, too, so you run in open doors with your thoughts.
Drivers can be a problem, but this can be easily found out at the support site of the laptop manufacturers website if there are still drivers for that particular model for XP.
For the 64 bit-Versions it can be impossible to find drivers for old hardware, I know a case where they have a old PC with XP still running in the network for a special scanner for which it is impossible to get a 64-bit driver.

In not too far time im probably in the same situation to get a new machine, so I will read with interest the upcomming posts of others.

[jsachs]

Windows 7 is very stable - I have used the 64-bit version on several computers for a number of years now and never had any problems. If you want Windows 7, this is a good time to buy as it is being phased out in favor of Windows 8 and getting harder to find on new computers. Microsoft will sooner or later stop supporting Windows XP -- I would definitely recommend Windows 7 over Windows XP for new computers.

I don't recommend Windows 8 for anything but phones -- in my opinion it is a forced marriage of two totally different user interface models that is a step backwards for laptop or desktop users. Under the hood, Windows 8 may be improved over Windows 7 but until they make it more usable or make it easier to operate entirely in one mode or the other, I would avoid it.

[MikeG]

I'm running Windows 8 Pro 64-bit and agree with Jonathan's comments about the user interface. Little, if any, advantage to non-touch screen users over Windows 7, though I did appreciate the built-in support for RAID 1 (mirrored hard drives).
I went to 8 partly because I'd just built (assembled) a new desktop PC so was inclined to go for the latest OS and partly because Microsoft are offering upgrades to Windows 8 - even from XP - for USD40 until 31st Jan 2013.
The only problem I can recall happening when I moved to Windows 7 (from Vista) was the lack of a driver for my Epson Perfection 3200 flat bed scanner. I now use Vuescan fairly happily.
I've noticed no downside to 64-bit as it still runs 32-bit programs. 64-bit is a big plus for large stitched panoramas and, I suppose, will gradually become the new standard.
Mike.

[Dieter Mayr]

Maciej, please excuse for capturing your thread for this, but I guess it can be of general interest, and I had a longer conversation with my brother yesterday and will get a about one year old notebook via his company in a few weeks, they get completely new ones, but is still a quiet hot machine with 4 cores and 8 GB RAM.
I will run it with Win7 64bit, and there is, of course, a driver problem.

Mike, you mention you use Vuescan because of the lack of drivers. How does this work with Vuescan? Doesn't it need the windows drivers ? What I have read about Vuescan it will not import the images directly to PWP like a TWAIN-Scan but will save as a file that will be opend in PWP then, right ?

Sorry for the maybe stupid question, but this are my first steps in the 64 bit world and of course I want keep my scanners.

Thanks a lot in advance!

[Winfried]

Dieter,
VueScan brings its own drivers for many scanners. For other VueScan still need the manufactures drivers.
I use an Epson 2450 Photo, a Nikon Coolscan V and a Canonscan FS4000 US (with SCSI) with Windows 7 64-bit.
SCSI-Card is an old Dawicontrol DC-2975U. Even my old Fritz-Card for ISDN works fine.
The main problem was to find a motherboard with enough "old" PCI-slots.

Winfried

[Dieter Mayr]

Thanks for the explanation, Winfried!
I have a Epson 2580 Photo and a Minolta Dimage 5400, for both I could not find a Win 7 64-Bit driver.
What I found are both supported by Vuescan, so everything should be fine :)

Thanks again!

[jsachs]

You can run the 32-bit version of PWP or any other scanning software with 32-bit TWAIN drivers, even on the 64-bit version of Windows 7. For some reason hardly any scanner manufacturers have taken the trouble to create 64-bit TWAIN drivers, so scanning from the 64-bit version of PWP (or Photoshop for that matter) is a problem.

[Dieter Mayr]

Thanks Jonathan, a interesting approach to have both 32 and 64 bit Version installed parallel.
For most of my work I suppose the 32 bit version to be more then enough, but of course when having a 64 bit OS i want have the 64 bit version too, and if it is just for workflows with many images.

[jsachs]

I use the 64-bit version for everything but scanning.