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The main reason for preferring a newer version of Windows has generally been hardware compatibility. But when virtualising (or emulating), this is far less impo
by simondotau 1y ago
The main reason for preferring a newer version of Windows has generally been hardware compatibility. But when virtualising (or emulating), this is far less important as compatibility is usually scaffolded by emulated hardware and/or backported drivers.
When your requirements call for an old version of Windows, generally you have a specific piece of software you want to run, so start by choosing the version most widely used at the time, which sometimes isn't the latest version. And you should always experiment, because there are thousands of things which contribute to stability. Newer (or older) version of Windows could be better or worse, depending on your specific case.
Regardless which version you pick, treat them as a security risk and (if you're in a serious production environment) avoid giving them unrestricted access to your local network or unrestricted access to the wider internet.
- reconnecting 1y agoNT 4.0 was way different from XP or 2000, and it wasn't just a matter of hardware support. It wasn't as "Plug and Play" as XP, but somehow it worked much more stably. I think back to the days when we had an NT server that ran for years without a reboot, and that's not something you could expect from XP or 2000. Actually, if I ever decide to dive into old Windows, NT 4.0 will be the only version I have personal sentiments for.
- com2kid 1y ago2000 was rock solid stable once it was up and running. It took a lot of one off patches to get my k7 system to that point, but iirc I never had the os crash.
- hulitu 1y ago> Newer (or older) version of Windows could be better or worse, depending on your specific case. This only applies since Windows 8 when Microsoft started bundling new features with patches. For older Windows versions, you usually want the latest service pack. Except, of course, when your programs depends on a specific bug being present.
- simondotau 1y agoI was only referring to choosing between NT4, 2000, XP, etc. I've personally never come across any reason to avoid a service pack.