Kotaku: windows xp

So Which Is Faster: XP, Vista Or Windows 7?

Luke Plunkett — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 06:30:00 MST

Windows 7 is out and up for download, provided you're OK with using a beta operating system. It promises a raft of improvements over Windows Vista, but how's it shaping up for games?

FiringSquad have taken a look at how it runs across two systems: a mid-spec one (AMD Athlon X2 5000+ Black Edition) and a high-end machine (Intel Core i7 965 Extreme Edition). While the results areworth a look at, it's worth remembering, remembering then remembering again that Windows 7 is still in beta. So there's room for improvement.

Anyway, that caveat out of the way, above are some of the results more relevant to you, the game-playing public.

More detailed break-downs - including Crysis at DirectX 10 - below.

Windows 7 Beta Gaming Performance: XP vs Vista vs 7 [FiringSquad, via Evil Avatar]

NES Turned Into Retro Gaming Uberbox

Stuart Houghton — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:30:00 MDT

True, this mod could have been done with pretty much any small plastic box, but choosing a Nintendo Entertainment System to house a retro gaming PC is the kind of crowd pleasing coup-de-modding that is difficult to surpass, save by hollowing out a Vectrex or performing electronic taxidermy on an actual anthropomorphic hedgehog.

The beast contains a Windows XP PC loaded with the GameEx emulator front-end and a metric shedload of NES, SNES and N64 games - all of which, I am certain, are fully licensed and were purchased alongside their original packaging.

NES Console Modded as Retro Gaming PC, With Video [Slashgamer]

Vista Game Speeds Finally Catch Up To XP

Luke Plunkett — Wed, 14 May 2008 01:30:00 MDT

I got Vista a few weeks back, and have found it nothing short of delightful. No compatibility issues, no performance downgrades, none of the complaints I've heard PC gamers cussing over for the past year or so. Then again...I've been playing Oblivion and the Battlestar Galactica mod for Homeworld 2, so I haven't exactly been pushing the OS to its limits. If you're playing things a little more current, and are finding things on Vista a little slower than they should be, chin up: some benchmarks run by ExtremeTech have compared Vista's SP1 to XP's new SP3, and found that over three games tested (World in Conflict, Supreme Commander and Crysis), Vista was just as fast as XP on two, and marginally faster on Crysis.

Gaming Performance: Windows Vista SP1 vs. XP SP3 [ExtremeTech]

EVE Online Trinity Update Kills XP

Mike Fahey — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 10:20:48 MST

The EVE Online Trinity update is live, bringing with it an all-new graphics engine, new features, and the death of your Windows XP boot.ini file. It's okay! The file is only necessary if you want your computer to start. Apparently a faulty version of the updater slipped out that worked great across the board, with the exception of Windows XP - one of the most widely used PC operating systems in the world. You know you've got trouble when you have to issue an alert that starts like this:

Check the root directory of your hard drive and see if you have a boot.ini file.

Having worked tech support for six years, I nearly peed myself laughing after reading this. CCP will have a new version of the updater available shortly. So how does something like this slip past testing? Was the new update was just so compelling that not one tester ever rebooted? Maybe it's time for another free 14-day trial!

ALERT: READ THIS IF YOU INSTALLED TRINITY BEFORE 4 A.M. GMT [EVE Online - Thanks Ralph!]

Shadowrun "Cracked" For Windows XP

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 20:40:30 MDT

Fortunately for Mitch Gitelman and FASA Studios, recently released pride and joy Shadowrun looks like it's now unofficially available for play not just on the Xbox 360 and Windows Vista, but Windows XP as well. Circumventing the other franchise killing executive decision—to limit the game's Windows audience to Vista only—warez group Razor 1911 has released a crack for Shadowrun that makes it playable on Windows XP and without DirectX 10 support.

The report from The Inquirer also states that the crack is rather simple, requiring only a few files to be rewritten to get the game working under the older Windows OS. Michael McWhertor

Vista-only game cracked [The Inquirer]

The Best Windows Gaming XPeriences

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 17:41:50 MST

As we move from dominant operating system generation to generation, some games will inevitably be tied to their respective popular OSes. Welcoming Windows Vista into the family of questionably necessary upgrades, Voodoo Extreme has posted what they consider to be the best games of the Windows XP era. While they may not be explicity linked to the OS, they were released after October 25, 2001 and represent some groundbreaking, classic video games.

The best part about a list like this one? Most of the games, in the nature of PC gaming, are wicked cheap acquisitions if snagged via eBay. Most contain dozens, if not hundreds, of hours of gameplay.

Sure, one could argue that it relies heavily on two PC-centric genres (first person shooters like Half-Life and real-time strategy games like Civ IV), but we're trying to keep it on the positive tip. Consider this a hater free post! Michael McWhertor

Generation XP: Top 20 Games of the Last Generation [VE3D]

Direct X 10 is Windows Vista Only

brownlee — Mon, 29 May 2006 13:40:46 MDT

According to XBitLabs, Direct X 10 is going to be a Windows Vista exclusive:

During a DirectX 10-related event in London, UK, Richard Huddy, ATI Technologies' software developers relations chief, said that Microsoft's Vista will integrate DirectX 10 and DirectX 9 APIs for different types of hardware, but the current Windows XP will not get DirectX 10 support, as suggested some rumours earlier. For end users this means that to get the most advantages of the new-generation graphics processing units (GPUs), the new OS will be required.

Microsoft is really trying to push Vista down the craws of gamers. Fair enough — those who can afford top-of-the-line, Direct X 10 capable video cards will certainly have beefy enough systems to run Vista anyway. Let's hope Vista is enough of an improvement over XP to justify the move.FLORIAN ECKHARDT

Direct X 10 Vista Only [XBitLabs]

XP Gaming on a Mac: Surprisingly Playable

brownlee — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 12:40:10 MDT

With the news that Apple is now quasi-officially condoning WinXP and OSX dual-boots on the new Intel-based Macs, you may be wondering if PC gaming is viable on a Mac yet. Well, the lads over at 1UP have got you covered, installing WinXP on an opalescent MacBook Pro and running Half-Life 2, Oblivion and F.E.A.R. through their paces. Surprisingly, all games were fully playable and ran fairly respectably...

...the MacBook running Apple's official XP drivers is a robust, stable gaming platform capable of playing software from either side of the OS wars. While some are predicting this will be the beginning of the end for the Mac platform, the opposite seems to be true, at least anecdotally. At least a dozen platform fence-sitters have told me that the Mac's newfound ability to play PC games has broken down the last barrier to their buying a Mac as their next computer.

Is this news going to make any other long-time PC owners invest in a Mac? We know we're sorely tempted.

Oblivion: Macintosh Game of the Year? [1UP]