How old is the computer you are contemplating installing Windows?

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsvista/aa905075.aspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb977556.aspx?SA_CE=VIR-MAP-WEBS-TNET
WEBST-2008-02-22

This is a question which will undoubtedly get you passionate responses
on both sides of the fence. You will get no consensus.

I think the answer is clear cut. If you're buying a new computer, get
it with Vista. It works fine, and it's the platform for future growth.
It makes no sense to buy yesterday's operating system.

On the other hand, if you are currently running XP, and the question
is whether to upgrade to Vista,a  change of operating system should be
driven by need, not just because there is a new version available. Are
you having a problem with Windows XP that you expect Vista to solve?
Do you have or expect to get new hardware or software that is
supported in Vista, but not in XP? Is there some new feature in Vista
that you need or yearn for? Does your job require you have skills in
Vista? Are you a computer hobbyist who enjoys playing with whatever is
newest?

If the answer to one or more of those questions is yes (and your
hardware is adequate for Vista), then you should get Vista. Otherwise
most people should stick with what they have. There is *always* a
learning curve and a potential for problems when you take a step as
big as this one, regardless of how wonderful whatever you're
contemplating moving to is. Sooner or later you'll have to upgrade (to
Vista or its successor) because you'll want support for hardware or
software that you can't get in XP, but don't rush it.

If you do get Vista, make sure you get an adequate hardware
configuration for it. In particular, almost everyone should have at
least 2GB of RAM, and even more if you run particularly memory-hungry
apps like graphics editors or video editors.

First be aware that Vista requires more memory than XP and a better video
card than XP would need.

XP vs. Vista Features:
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/features/138195/xp-vs-vista.html

For Vista PC requirements see:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/editions/systemrequiremen
ts.mspx

Choose the edition of Vista that best meets your needs:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/editions/choose.mspx

Windows XP Professional System Requirements:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/upgrading/sysreqs.mspx

For XP Home PC requirements see:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/editions/systemrequiremen
ts.mspx

Just keep in mind that these are minimum requirements and in reality XP
really likes 348 to 512MB of memory and Vista at least 1GB of memory
although 2GB is preferred. Vista also needs a mid to upper end graphics card
if you plan to take advantage of the 'Aero'

JS

Out of those two choices I prefer XP. Overall I prefer something else
entirely that isn't on your list and actually have a very low opinion of
Vista.

However, what does "much better" actually mean? Vista is much newer and
contains newer implementations of various Microsoft Windows features, but in
my opinion Vista has some problems that mean the overall 'experience' adds
up to less than the sum of those parts. You might disagree, or you might
find one of the newer features is so vital to how you use a computer that it
overrides any other problems you might find.

It beats me how, but there are people out there apparently happy with Vista,
and you might be one of them if you try it on a system that is built to run
it really well. You presumably "know" XP already. You should see if you can
have a go at using Vista (is there a trial?) and read some of the reviews on
the web and form an opinon based on that.

Rob