Ditching VISTA for Windows XP X64 Edition on a T61

[helmet4000]

I am not an expert on computers and cannot provide any technical support. But, I really like XP as an operating system and would prefer to use it to run my Thinkpads (a T61 and X61). This is after using VISTA 64-bit Ultimate for several months and seeing that SP1 did not do much to improve Vista's performance. Even a highly "tweaked" install of VISTA makes WIN XP 32-bit seem appealing. Perhaps when SP2 for Vista is released, things will improve. But for now, I decided to try XP X64 (a "64-bit" version of XP). It was released roughly three years ago in April 2005.

Microsoft touts it as "...designed to meet the needs of people who use or design applications that demand the highest levels of memory access, performance, and scalability."

Microsoft is obviously not touting this OS as it is possible that some people might substitute XP X64 for Vista. The major issue with this particular OS is finding drivers.

An install of this OS on my T61 and X61 was not terrible and with a little Googling, software drivers were obtained for most things. I still have a few things, but I have been able to get LAN, WLAN (Atheros), Audio, and Graphics ready to go.

Before installing, make sure you download the following drivers (and they are specific to my system a T61).

Ethernet PRO1000/LAN:
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/detail_ ... nldID=8719

For the Atheros a/b/g card, these drivers worked for me:
http://www.atheros.cz/download.php?athe ... G&system=2

For the graphics drivers for the 965 GM chipset:
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/T8Clear ... 9&lang=eng

For the audio, the Vista 64-bit drivers work (an error pops up on boot to say that the drivers are incorrect but with a "beep" indicating that the error message itself is erroneous).

The Lenovo website has the appropriate drivers tucked away in here:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-67821

For anti-virus, I use the Kaspersky security suite.

A couple of software things:

Adobe (version 7 seems to work better in XP X64, not sure if some updates will allow Adobe 8 to work).

Installed Office 2007 Enterprise w/o a hitch (seems to work well).

I am an academic and use lots of statistical software:

STATA 10/MP 64-bit runs smooth

SYSTAT 64-bit seems to run well

Have not attempted SPSS (but SPSS' website indicates it is not compatible...kinda bloated statistics software anyway)


Other stuff:
Firefox browser runs very well.
Spyware blaster

[rmendoza]

I have a T60 that I "upgraded" to Vista, as well as a X61 that came with Vista, and I have yet to find a missing driver. Even the drivers that are not "Vista ready" work with the OS.

On the other hand, there have certainly been "issues" (I am a regular user, not an engineer), but I think overall, if you get your ducks in a row, Vista has been pretty decent. Just my 2 cents.

[o1001010]

as i have mentioned in the other thread, i just started using vista 64 on a desktop.

e3110, 4gb ram, 8800gt 512 graphics.

vista enterprise. after i tweaked the os everything is actually usable. it feels like a core duo running xp. but i have all the junk such as aero and animation shut off. i never liked them.

what i think is that microsoft designed vista for consumers, like apple did with osx. there needs to be a button in vista that turns off all the dummy features with 1 click. but overall i am neither impressed nor agitated.