Topic: Win 2000 v. XP Pro for laptop taping

[dmonterisi]

can someone please explain to me why Win2000 is a better OS for laptop taping?  i have searched but can't find a thread that discusses it.  I thought i remembered seeing some discussion but didn't pay attention to it.

[rabhan]

http://24bitfaq.org/

" 1.1.1.1.2        What operating system works best for 24-bit recording?

A: Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 Professional have shown to be very stable, reliable performers when used for digital audio. They are the only Intel based Microsoft OS’s that should be considered for recording use. While many sound card manufacturers are striving for compatibility with Windows 95/98/ME, these operating systems are poor platforms for audio recording. The lack of true multitasking in these OS’s puts the recordist at high risk of dropping samples while recording. From experience, samples can be lost very easily by merely moving the mouse, closing the display lid, causing power management events (e.g. plugging in an A/C adapter while running) and otherwise changing the focus from one window to another. Program stalls for unknown reasons have been known to occur, sending streaming bits of digital audio data into the abyss. Additionally, because of the architecture of these “home user” OS’s, an errant or poorly written driver or program can cause total system instabilities without a moment’s notice, leaving the recordist staring at a blue screen. Windows NT and 2000 Professional employ a true multitasking and multithreaded architecture, and programs and drivers are generally well protected from stepping on each other in ways that frequently occur on 95/98machines. Still, the importance of a cleanly installed, properly patched and upgraded OS cannot be understated. The use of something as simple as a mismatched or outdated driver can easily cause system instability. In any case, an OS installation should be thoroughly tested before relying on it in the field. Users who insist on avoiding Microsoft OS’s by using Linux instead will undoubtedly run into the driver (or lack thereof) support issue for at least the soundcard. Yes sir, Billy Gates certainly does have us PC guys by the short hairs. "

[dmonterisi]

thanks jon...so do the positive things said about win2k not apply to XP Pro?

[rabhan]

however, i am not sure that this page excludes XP. XP is based on the 2k kernal, but it has a lot more features and stuff that you dont need for taping. win2k is very barebones and more stabile. damon, i have win2k and winxp on my laptop. i use win2k for only recording, and winxp for daily use. the win2k partition is stripped down with no software but wavelab. this reduces the load on the os compared to my xp partition which has antivirus, MS office, and a whole host of applications ans services that run, which cause more of a burden if i try to also record with it. can a machine with a 1+GHz cpu and over 512M ram handle it, probably, but why try when i got the stable 2k OS that is bulletproof.

[dmonterisi]

thanks, jon, that makes sense. +t.  i've noticed just how much dumb shit is always running in the background of my xp machine at home, like 40 processes and all i'm doing is surfing the net.  i'll probably end up going with 2k cause when i get whatever machine i get, it's gonna be used pretty much exclusively for taping and maybe some web stuff and watching dvd's on airplanes    but that's about it.

[rabhan]

well, when you get your laptop, PM me, i can help you get it setup.

"someone set us up the laptop" hehe

[dmonterisi]

ok, thanks...not sure if i'll need to do a dual boot setup, but it probably can't hurt right?

[Brian Skalinder]

ok, thanks...not sure if i'll need to do a dual boot setup, but it probably can't hurt right?

IMO, you should definitely dual boot.  At some point, you're going to want to install non-audio s/w on your laptop.  I figure, why risk screwing everything up?

[rabhan]

dual boot and ghost! ghost is the shit!

[dmonterisi]

ok, thanks...not sure if i'll need to do a dual boot setup, but it probably can't hurt right?

IMO, you should definitely dual boot.  At some point, you're going to want to install non-audio s/w on your laptop.  I figure, why risk screwing everything up?

is there a downside to a dual boot?  does it take up substantially more of the HD?

[rabhan]

thats the only issue. hdd space. so get a larger hdd and you have no issues.

here is my layout for my 30 gig drive:

win2k 6gigs total 4available

winkxp 10gigs total 4available

data 12total 10available

[rabhan]

so with 10gig available, i can record a couple shows. also wink2 takes up 2gigs and xp takes up 6gigs. xp is more of a hog but also bc of all that apps i got installed on it.

[rabhan]

but i also have a 120 gig ext hdd which i can dump shows onto if i am doing more than a couple, and i can edit them, track them, flac them, etc. and still have space to record the next night.

[dmonterisi]

i'm gonna end up with something in the 30-40 gig range, i think.  if it's 40, i'll probably dual boot, but if 30, i'm not sure.  10 gigs of storage space isn't that much, especially for like a 3night run...i can always add reformat and add a dual boot later on if i decide i want to put other apps on the pc.

[rabhan]

3 nights of 24/48 is what 6 or 9 gigs of wav data?