Windows 7 64bit Ultimate or Win XP 64 Pro? Also, resolution questions.

[withalligators]

Hey guys,
Planning a cabinet around a Pioneer PDP-V402 4:3 (640 x 480) plasma.  It's a pretty awesome screen, and according to http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=43256 it can do 15Hz, as well as 31Hz, 60, and some others I think. 

I got a GREAT deal on an i5-4670K, a Z97 board, a 650W PSU, and an SSD (Traded an old C2D system with an E8400, GT 430, 4GB ram, 500GB HD, and Win 7 home premium).  I plan on adding a GPU for Naomi, Dreamcast, and Dolphin stuff. 

My question is this: I already have a Win 7 64 Ultimate license floating around, but I see a lot of folks still use Win XP.  Which should I use?  I'd like to take advantage of the monitors ability to handle 15Hz to play older stuff, or does it not matter since it's not a CRT?  Will I need an older GPU to take advantage of 15Hz?  Could I use Powerstrip and a 7850? 

Thanks guys, I have a ton of questions I'm going to ask.

EDIT - Oh yeah, I want to run Hyperspin and have windows as invisible as possible from startup.  Is that possible with 7? EDIT - Nevermind that last bit, I see it is!

[withalligators]

Huh, I thought this would be an easy one.  I just went with win 7 since I already had a license.

Cheers,
Alex

[BadMouth]

Sorry, meant to reply.

7 was the right choice for you.
The newer versions of Demul emulator (Naomi, Dreamcast) require Directx11.
I haven't checked in with Dolphin in a while, but it was also moving in that direction.

XP is limited to Directx9.  There are some hacks to supposedly get Dx10 installed, but they didn't work for me.
The system reported having Dx10, but the games wouldn't work.

This will set you up for the newer PC games as well.

[withalligators]

Thanks! Glad I don't have to reinstall.

Cheers,
Alex

[keilmillerjr]

Windows XP support has ended
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/end-support-help

That OS is 12 years old. Time to move on. With that being said, I am happy with windows 8.1. Testing various operating systems in virtual installs on my i5 iMac, windows 8 was the fastest version of windows from xp and newer. 8.1 wasn't out at the time, but I'm sure it would test the same.

[BadMouth]

Windows XP support has ended
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/end-support-help

That OS is 12 years old. Time to move on. With that being said, I am happy with windows 8.1. Testing various operating systems in virtual installs on my i5 iMac, windows 8 was the fastest version of windows from xp and newer. 8.1 wasn't out at the time, but I'm sure it would test the same.

If I were building a cab that wouldn't be connected to the internet and wasn't going to play newer games and emulators that require dx11, I'd still go with XP.
Everything you'd ever want it to do in that type of cab has already been worked out, from hiding it completely to using the parallel port pins for automation.
Those things are just easier to accomplish in XP and familiarity makes setting everything up go faster.
Who cares if support has ended if it's a closed system?

I do wonder how soon you won't be able to run it on new hardware because of a lack of drivers.

[keilmillerjr]

Windows XP support has ended
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/end-support-help

That OS is 12 years old. Time to move on. With that being said, I am happy with windows 8.1. Testing various operating systems in virtual installs on my i5 iMac, windows 8 was the fastest version of windows from xp and newer. 8.1 wasn't out at the time, but I'm sure it would test the same.

If I were building a cab that wouldn't be connected to the internet and wasn't going to play newer games and emulators that require dx11, I'd still go with XP.
Everything you'd ever want it to do in that type of cab has already been worked out, from hiding it completely to using the parallel port pins for automation.
Those things are just easier to accomplish in XP and familiarity makes setting everything up go faster.
Who cares if support has ended if it's a closed system?

I do wonder how soon you won't be able to run it on new hardware because of a lack of drivers.

I was able to successfully hide newer versions of windows. Don't know what the deal is. It's like windows users are always stuck in the past.

[withalligators]

You were able to hide 8 ok?  I actually have come around to liking windows 8 a lot once you were able to skip the whole dumb metro thing.  It seems much faster.  that said, windows 7 boots off my ssd ridiculously fast, and a win 8 license isn't worth the one or 2 second speed bump over that. Unless their are other reasons?

[keilmillerjr]

You were able to hide 8 ok?  I actually have come around to liking windows 8 a lot once you were able to skip the whole dumb metro thing.  It seems much faster.  that said, windows 7 boots off my ssd ridiculously fast, and a win 8 license isn't worth the one or 2 second speed bump over that. Unless their are other reasons?

Yes, I was able to hide everything. The metro thing seems to piss people off, and they write off the whole OS. One click jumps between the metro interface and regular explorer interface. And with windows 8.1, the regular explorer interface can now be default by ticking a setting. However, this argument of metro won't even matter because you will want to change your shell to your front end.

I wouldn't shell out the cash if you already have a windows 7 license. However, if shopping for a new windows install, I'd go with 8.1. If I didn't want to run a few windows only steam games, I'd be running Linux for free. Hate m$oft.

[Slippyblade]

Can't stand Win8.  Even 8.1 you still have to deal with the crappy metro interface.  I've not seen ANYTHING that bypasses it completely.  Go with Win7 and stay there until the next itteration.  Microsoft has simply continued their cycle of ---smurfy----good----smurfy----good with Win8.

[keilmillerjr]

Can't stand Win8.  Even 8.1 you still have to deal with the crappy metro interface.  I've not seen ANYTHING that bypasses it completely.  Go with Win7 and stay there until the next itteration.  Microsoft has simply continued their cycle of ---smurfy----good----smurfy----good with Win8.

See attached photo. Was that so smurfing hard? And you wouldn't even use metro/explorer as a shell when using a front end anyways. Did you even read my post?!

[withalligators]

To be fair, I hated 8 for a long time.  But now that metro is hidden, and I've gotten used to the other stuff, it's just a faster 7 with a pretty helpful shortcut rightclick in the bottom left corner.