The end for XP and Vista 64?

Effluo

Hi i just had a thought there about drivers.

We all know that when getting new peripherals and hardware when you're on vista 64 it's very important to check for driver support beforehand.

I'm thinking now that when windows 7 comes out manufacturers will stop making drivers for vista 64 as no new people will be buying it anymore(not to mention that a very small % of people are on vista 64) and because XP will then be two os's ago they will probably stop making drivers for it too!!!

I did hear recently from someone posting on boards that vista 64 and windows 7 use the same drivers.... Can someone clear this up for me?

Or is the general consumer going to outlive a driver hell in the next 5 years?

cpu-dude

Effluo wrote: »

Hi i just had a thought there about drivers.

We all know that when getting new peripherals and hardware when you're on vista 64 it's very important to check for driver support beforehand.

I'm thinking now that when windows 7 comes out manufacturers will stop making drivers for vista 64 as no new people will be buying it anymore(not to mention that a very small % of people are on vista 64) and because XP will then be two os's ago they will probably stop making drivers for it too!!!

I did hear recently from someone posting on boards that vista 64 and windows 7 use the same drivers.... Can someone clear this up for me?

Or is the general consumer going to outlive a driver hell in the next 5 years?

Windows 7 and Vista basically have the same kernel so yes, Vista drivers work on Windows 7. I haven't had one single driver issue with it to date.

Secondly, just because one new OS is out, doesn't mean everyone changes at the exact same time. I know plenty of people who still happily use Windows 2000 (I would too, works perfectly well, esp. for a server) and have no intention of changing any time soon, they have a comfort zone.

Driver support usually goes like this : Windows 2K, XP, Vista. Now it will most likely be Windows XP, Vista, Win 7 (32 bit and 64 bit). The drivers will still be there (if the manufacturer wants Windows 98SE drivers, then they will) but just harder to find and to get support for. We're a good bit away from switching everyone to 64-bit especially with the Netbook craze (all single core Atoms etc.), it wont start until they become dual core. Give it a few years before we even get close to being primarily 64 bit. I see Apple making that jump first because they only sell dual core machines.

Capt'n Midnight

XP drivers are cheaper to write because there isn't the same pressure to pay microsoft to rubber stamp them.

In old days third party Novell NLM's all ran with the same privilege and the OS didn't protect them from each other, and just maybe it was proper driver testing but it always seemed more stable than windows.

cpu-dude

cpu-dude wrote: »

I see Apple making that jump first because they only sell dual core machines.

Not necessarily. The first Intel Macs used Core Duo CPUs with no AMD64/EM64T support.

DenMan

Ok lads, just a quick question.

I have 2 machines (working PC and laptop) and both run on Windows Vista.

The working PC was bought last year. I use 3DS Max and Avid (and a little bit of ZBRUSH) for work. Vista didn't support these at the time, now they do. I am just wondering about Windows 7. Will I need to upgrade and how long will Windows continue to support Vista. The OS is fairly new and XP has been around for a good while. Last year Microsoft stopped supporting ME (Millenium Edition)

I also have Ubuntu (Linux) and am considering installing it to see what it's like. My boss uses it for some work and really enjoys it.

Thanks

_Kaiser_

I can't imagine XP support going anywhere anytime soon. Despite what Microsoft would have liked, most businesses didn't touch Vista and will be wary of Windows 7 until it's been out a while - even though it's shapng up to be vastly superior to Windows ME R2 ... er sorry, Vista!

Now getting DOS NDIS2 drivers for network cards under Ghost.. THAT can be tricky!!

PogMoThoin

Windows 7 is just Vista repackaged, it the dog doesn't eat his dinner today I put it back in the tin and serve it again tomorrow