(replying to your previous post)
So.. I'm a Systems Engineer by trade. Windows is what i do (servers mostly, but desktops aren't much different to be honest)
I'd really like to hear the reasons why XP is "better" than 7 on today's hardware in your opinion. I read stuff on the subject all the time over on the Hyperspin forums and I've just straight given up on dealing with FUD. (fear, uncertainty, doubt). People just don't want to move away from what they know.
My personal favorites are the guys who built a Core i7 w/ 16 GB RAM and a Nvidia SLI video card setup to run.... Windows XP. /facepalm (they don't realize that half the features they paid for on those fancy video cards only really work in DirectX 10 / 11.....) (Or they drop $1500 on hardware, but won't spend $100 on an OS, so they continue to run bootleg XP)
The Vista requirement for NFS - The Run is probably due to need DirectX 10 or 11 (you can get DX10 running on XP... but its not worth the effort in my opinion).
What hardware are you running on your MAME cabinets? (I've got Win7 on my MAME cabinet, and Win8 on my Driving cabinet)
Are you just trying to avoid the activation requirement of Windows 7 (basically running a bootleg copy of XP)
I wouldn't say it's better on today's hardware. It wouldn't surprise me if xp drivers weren't available for some of today's hardware.
The most popular processor on this forum is probably a Pentium IV. A lot of people get into this hobby thinking they've found a use for their outdated PC. Little did they know much they'd end up spending in the end.
Some benefits to XP (which you've already addressed, but I typed this before your last post):
The lack of all the user account control stuff like "permissions" and "ownership" makes it simpler to use.
I turned it off, but still had issues with it not allowing me to take control of the printer port to rotate my monitor.
I ended up moving on to USB controlled Pololu controllers, but the parallel port would have done the same thing for free.
Ability to easily hide bootup. Instantsheller makes it....instant.
I've tried in vain to hide the vista bootup. There is one screen that every program that claims to hide Vista fails to cover.
I actually paid someone to make me an awesome bootup video, but it is ruined by the vista bootup before it.
Like I said, I have Vista64 in my slim LCD cab. I was lucky that it (unexpectedly) let me migrate to a newer motherboard without hassle, then I incorrectly seated some memory and fried said motherboard and had to go through the phone-in process to get it activated again. It wasn't that bad. I expected to be grilled and hassled about it being a system-builder copy and being tied to the mobo, but I just entered the crazy amount of numbers it asked for and it activated. I didn't purchase it for the purpose of using in this emulator rig. It was what I had laying around, so I used it.
I have around $250 in each of my emulator PCs.
Three of them use 3.4Ghz Athlon X3 processors, 8600GT video cards, and $40 mobos with the same chipsets.
That is the fastest processor the budget mobos I used will allow for since they're limited to 95w. I have a fourth one with a 2.9Ghz Athlon X3, still with the same chipset and video card. They are used in my driving cab, old emulator setup (x-arcade pedestal in front of CRT-TV), slim LCD upright, and now this extra PC I just put together .
The copy of Windows 7 I just bought is for the killer system I'd like to build. It was on sale at Newegg for $80 and I didn't think it would go much cheaper.
That is how I build my computers, snagging one part at a time when the price is right.