Win 9x, Win 2000 or Win XP?

[falcon1]

Hi guys, I\'m in small trouble deciding on OS - What would you recommend?

Also should I have the drives in FAT32 or NTFS? Can I read and convert my old files into NTFS without problems?

[Scott Cairns]

Hi Falcon, IMO you are better off sticking with the 2000/XP/Longhorn line as Win98 will soon have no support offered at all. Microsoft announced that they wont support an O.S. past four years I think from memory. Also, it\'s possible that new app\'s like Giga 3 will be released for 2K/XP and may not support older 9X O.S\'s at all. (this is only my speculation)

I know that composers here can wring more performance from a Win98 machine currently but you also want to be able to take advantage of newer technology such as Serial ATA drives and larger amounts of ram, etc. (As time goes on I think it will be less and less likely that 98 will support new technology or that new technology will recognise 98)

There is no significant difference between FAT32 or NTFS. NTFS does offer more security options and is considered more stable but FAT is slightly faster. One down-side with NTFS is that it you cant stick an NTFS drive into any Win9X O.S.

Your files wont require any conversion to reside on an NTFS drive. NTFS or FAT is simply the way the drive is partitioned.

Scott.

[falcon1]

Scott, thanks. I think I\'ll go with Win XP, I have heard that it\'s also much better choice for networking for the future when I need to buy extra computers. Is that true?

[carlmsmith]

I\'m in the midst of a bad experience with XP. I have a Darla20 audio card and a Midiman midi interface and to my chagrin, although these manufacturers have drivers that are intended for XP, they are not \"certified\" and I have a problem with the computer hanging up on a continuing basis.

Fortunately, I have back-ups running 98SE. (Not GS though)

Bottom line- make sure you will have good drivers for any older hardware. Good luck.

Carl

[falcon1]

Thanks for the warning! - Does someone here know if Echo MiaMidi run ok in Win XP?

[Scott Cairns]

I\'m in the midst of a bad experience with XP. I have a Darla20 audio card and a Midiman midi interface and to my chagrin, although these manufacturers have drivers that are intended for XP, they are not \"certified\" and I have a problem with the computer hanging up on a continuing basis.<font size=\"2\" face=\"Verdana, Arial\">Carl, I was running the exact same card with XP and had heaps of problems with it.

Falcon, you might want to check with Bruce, he runs a few Echo cards, I think on XP too.

Cheers, Scott.

[carlmsmith]

Thanks for your input, Scott. Seems like I may have to upgrade.

Falcon 1, I\'m virtually certain the Mia was designed with XP in mind. In fact I was thinking of buying one.

Carl

[Rudi]

I switched from 98 to XP about a year ago and I must admit I am really impressed with it. It feels less \"clunky\" than 98 and more like a proper grown-up OS. One thing that has been really great for me has been the \"restore\" facility. Whenever you install a new application or make major changes to your system XP can take a \"snapshot\" of your system so it can be restored back to that point if the new application causes problems. It has saved my bacon a couple of times. I also like the networking / IP wizards, very easy to use.

FAT32 or NTFS seem to give about the same performance on a modern system. I went with NTFS mainly because of the security features. You can migrate an existing partition from FAT32 to NTFS but not vice-versa, it\'s a one way move unless you use something like PartitionMagic.

As others have said it\'s important that you make sure your sound card is fully supported on XP.

I also use 2K on my work PC and frankly there is not much difference between the it and XP... but I like the GUI in XP better images/icons/smile.gif

It also has been a very stable system with hardly a crash at all. Recommended.

Rudi

[damoy]

I\'m running an echo mia (not midi) with XP. Running great so far.