I'm getting along fine with Premier 6.5 , After Effects 5.5, Photoshop 7 and Lightwave 5... But will it make a big difference to get Premiere Pro, AE6 and Photoshop CS which need Windows XP?

Is it easier to get DV onto a PC with Windows XP than with 98SE?

There is one very important reason to go with XP over 98. XP
has NTFS filesystem which supports files larger than 4 GB (and
thus DV movies longer than 15 minutes!!) which is a must in
my opinion for any serious DV work.

In my mind XP is more stable when doing large files and video
work as well. The new Premiere Pro requires XP for example.

LightWave will definitely benefit from XP.

Wait, does that mean that I can only upload 4 gigs worth of video onto my PC at a time?

You will need to upgrade to XP when you upgrade to newer releases of the software you currently have. For the most part the newer software works on XP only.

XP is very stable and I have only had the OS crash maybe three times in the last year and a half - and I have the system running 24/7.

Win98 sucks for networking while XP is a breeze to set up.

Cheers

Seriously, you need to upgrade....I don't care if its Windows 2000 Pro (The most stable Windows OS) or XP, we are talking the year 2004, not 97. Plus yeah, NTFS file system is way better than FAT or FAT32....uhhhh...I hate those file systems.... anyways. just my little rant, 98 is almost as bad as Windows ME, just so you get some perspective on the subject. Do yourself a favor and upgrade, if not for yourself, for everyone else around you.

Yeah, thing is, I'm on a network here (I'm the host PC on a ADSL Connection) And if I get XP and the other PCs stay 98, won't that mess things up?

It shouldn't. I have a Windows ME laptop and an XP Pro desktop on the same network -- but I'm using a separate router to connect everything to the internet.

In fact, I'd recommend using a router instead of one of your PCs to host the internet connection -- a router is meant to be dedicated to sharing the connection, it will include a hardware firewall to augment your PCs' software firewalls, you don't have to turn your host PC on everytime someone wants to use the internet, and they are fairly inexpensive.

Great gugglie mugglie, get yourself into an updated OS! Those old FAT based Windows were terrible. Crash prone, unstable, inefficient, limited compatibility with today's software and just plain old school.

Question: Does Windows XP Professional require more CPU than Windows 2000 Professional? I'm just wondering if there would be any speed difference in the OS's on the same exact computer. I have a Mac and a PC and am considering upgrading my PC.

I am a Mac guy, how does one install a new OS on a PC anyway? Can you just put in the CD-ROM disc, hold "C" as it boots (which will boot the machine from the CD), install, and then boot back into the system and every application and item is exactly where you left it, the only difference is you have a new OS? Or do you have to do something retarded with the floppy drive, being that it's a PC and PC users refuse to give up the badass blazingly powerful technology that is the floppy?

Actually to get a PC to boot from the CD, I have to go in and change the BIOS, right? How 70's.

You put the boot CD into the CD drive and your computer wil boot from there.

2- You may have to go into the BIOS if you set the boot order to be hard drive before CD-ROM.

3- If you want to format NTFS then you will need to backup your data first.

4- Windows has a bug when going from 98 --> XP, so if you get an error message search on the microsoft knowledge base. (or google search). The fix is super easy.

I am on a router, should be relativly hassel free to get an XP network up and running correct?

Doing an upgrade path on any Windows OS is generally a bad idea. You're basically just overwriting old problems with potential new ones. If you want a new OS to really feel like a new computer, backup your stuff, pop the XP CD in there to boot, and let it partition and format it using NTFS (NOT Fat32). You can still purchase the 'upgrade' XP if you have an existing valid older copy of Windows - but you do definitely want it to swipe your drive in its entirety.

XP's install is pretty painless. And one good thing about XP is that it's got better compatibility with age-old software than Win2k, and even though it has a prettier interface, it handles your RAM and CPU much better so any extra usage of color in the interface is overshadowed by generally better performance.

As far as changing boot order, usually PCs come set with CD first, and then whatever else. PCs have the wonderful ability of allowing this to be customized if you wish - so I wouldn't call it '70s'. They're designed for users to be able to do exactly what they want.

Yeah, don't ever just "Upgrade" your OS, always reformat and then clean install.....like what Imran said...you just overright the files, and its not gonna help you, and will protentialy give you problems later, if not right away. Also yeah don't have that stupid Windows XP GUI also, change it back to regular windows, you exchange your preformance with a "cool nice looking" windows xp Look.

If you actually do want to make your XP UI look pretty, then I recommend using the only skinning software out there that doesn't cause system overhead.

http://www.tgtsoft.com/

It uses XP's built in skinning system, but just tweaks it a bit so that you can add custom skins. I've been using it for about a year now, and while I've written of a few other skinning software apps out there, this is the only no-overhead, reliable app. And there are tons of skins out there.

I hated the new XP look from the first time I saw it, until I found out you could change the Fisher-Price color scheme. Right click your desktop, click "Properties", go to the Appearance tab, and under "Color Scheme", select either Silver or Olive Green. I'm running Silver right now, though Olive Green comes in a close second. I switch between 'em every now and then.

And that goofy, awkward, unintuitive, "new and improved" Start menu? Right click the Start button, click Properties, and then the "Customize" button. Bunch of options for adjusting the look to suit your style. You can, of course, have the old-style Start menu WITH the new window/button look, if you like that sorta thing.

Personally, I get warm and fuzzy inside whenever I see (and get to click) the new XP style buttons. Love the way those things look. ;)