Vista games old and new

Blackdog2 · Jul 23, 2007, 11:04 PM

We are considering getting a new PC for our daughter, and I wonder if anyone here have much experience with Windows Vista when it comes to PC games and such?
As many of you know my daughter has a multi disability which among other things prevents her from speaking with her voice, but she has come to communicate rather well with modified signs and to some extent via the computer. She loves computers, and while she does have access to a school computer that we don't have to pay for, those "official" PCs are not very good for playing games - they lack the processor power etc. We think that playing PC games etc. Is very good for her - for all sorts of reasons - not the least to keep up the good relationship with the PC , but she's having a lot of on and off problems with various games on the computer she has now, which is operating on XP - and it takes away some of her motivation and joy as it create rather stressful situations when it doesn't work...

So, what I wonder is whether any of you have experience with various OS, and especially Vista, when it comes to PC games. We need to be able to install old games as well as new games - and in our experience there seem to be problems with XP handling both. Is there any solution to this - does anyone know if Vista is better?

I'm grateful for any input here - those PCs are soooo expensive and we're trying to do some proper research before we decide...

Thanks in advance!

Necrosis · Jul 23, 2007, 11:28 PM

Vista really is going to be even worse about handling older games. Under XP what steps have you taken to try to make the older games run better? Also do you have a list of games?

BlueMak · Jul 24, 2007, 02:48 AM

XP has been for me almost excellent running older games, be it previous windows or dos games.
If you tell us the games we might be able to help more.

WardenWolf · Jul 24, 2007, 06:14 AM

It sounds to me that by "older" games you mean games that are just a few years old, and the problem you're having is that her current computer just doesn't have the juice to run the newer stuff right. Vista will run most Windows XP-era games just fine. I honestly haven't heard of any real problems there, nor have I experienced any. I still run the original Neverwinter Nights, and it works just fine. I have not tried some of my other games, though. There honestly is not a HUGE difference in the underlying DirectX between Vista and XP. DirectX 10 is a huge improvement over 9, but it is highly backwards compatible. Vista's added advantage is that, should a game's installer not recognize DirectX 10 and require you to "install" DirectX 9, it will simply ignore the installation (discard the installed files) while telling the program that it succeeded. Once the game is installed, it will work just fine. I really don't think you need to worry about Vista. If you have some real oddball game that just won't work right on the new system, well, she can still use the old system for that, but I don't expect her to have any issues.

Jul 23, 2007, 11:04 PM	#1
Blackdog2 DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 1 Rep Power: 0	Vista games old and new We are considering getting a new PC for our daughter, and I wonder if anyone here have much experience with Windows Vista when it comes to PC games and such? As many of you know my daughter has a multi disability which among other things prevents her from speaking with her voice, but she has come to communicate rather well with modified signs and to some extent via the computer. She loves computers, and while she does have access to a school computer that we don't have to pay for, those "official" PCs are not very good for playing games - they lack the processor power etc. We think that playing PC games etc. Is very good for her - for all sorts of reasons - not the least to keep up the good relationship with the PC , but she's having a lot of on and off problems with various games on the computer she has now, which is operating on XP - and it takes away some of her motivation and joy as it create rather stressful situations when it doesn't work... So, what I wonder is whether any of you have experience with various OS, and especially Vista, when it comes to PC games. We need to be able to install old games as well as new games - and in our experience there seem to be problems with XP handling both. Is there any solution to this - does anyone know if Vista is better? I'm grateful for any input here - those PCs are soooo expensive and we're trying to do some proper research before we decide... Thanks in advance!

Jul 24, 2007, 02:48 AM	#3
BlueMak HH's Asteroids' Dominator Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Hellas->Macedonia->Thessaloniki Posts: 13,483 Rep Power: 349 System Specs	XP has been for me almost excellent running older games, be it previous windows or dos games. If you tell us the games we might be able to help more. __________________ The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm *Sic semper tyrannis.*

Jul 23, 2007, 11:28 PM	#2
Necrosis HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Ohio Posts: 8,838 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	Vista really is going to be even worse about handling older games. Under XP what steps have you taken to try to make the older games run better? Also do you have a list of games?

Jul 24, 2007, 06:14 AM	#4
WardenWolf DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 43 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	It sounds to me that by "older" games you mean games that are just a few years old, and the problem you're having is that her current computer just doesn't have the juice to run the newer stuff right. Vista will run most Windows XP-era games just fine. I honestly haven't heard of any real problems there, nor have I experienced any. I still run the original Neverwinter Nights, and it works just fine. I have not tried some of my other games, though. There honestly is not a HUGE difference in the underlying DirectX between Vista and XP. DirectX 10 is a huge improvement over 9, but it is highly backwards compatible. Vista's added advantage is that, should a game's installer not recognize DirectX 10 and require you to "install" DirectX 9, it will simply ignore the installation (discard the installed files) while telling the program that it succeeded. Once the game is installed, it will work just fine. I really don't think you need to worry about Vista. If you have some real oddball game that just won't work right on the new system, well, she can still use the old system for that, but I don't expect her to have any issues.