I'm in a situation where I would like to get the best performance out of the machine that I'm using.

Computer Specs:

-Dell Inspiron E1505 (Laptop)

-32 Bit Machine

-1gb RAM

-Intel Core Duo Processor 1.87ghz

-111gb HD space

It's currently using Vista Basic and I'm feeling that it's a waste of resources to be using Vista Basic SP1 and not have all the nice things that Premium or Ultimate has. Indeed it may be shinier by default and the design is more user friendly, but I feel that my old XP computer ran as fast or possibly faster and could have the same looks if I used a program to do so. Point being, I think XP could perform as well as my Vista Basic but not be so hard on my computer.

My previous computer was a streamlined "gamer" version of XP where I followed tutorials that lead me to having an improved OS than what it originally was. This was great in all until the computer crashed when I did something wrong.

My question is, with the specs that I have above, I'm wondering if I should go with a fine tuned version of Windows XP Professional SP3 or continue to use my Vista Basic SP1 and wait for the next SP2. As I'm reading around, Vista Basic seems to be a waste of money to every critic….

Getting a better computer is not an option at the moment, for I'm saving to build a tower from scratch so i'm just trying to choose what is best for me until the time comes when I do upgrade my entire computer.

Now, if you're a fan of XP over Vista I would like to listen to why you prefer it and vice versa with the Vista users. One thing I would like to know is, if a slimmed down version of XP is considered a better gaming OS, then wouldn't the same work for a slimmed down version of Vista? Or is there something I'm missing. I always thought that a newer OS would mean a more efficient OS and it seems to me that XP is only good when it's highly modified….

If you have an opinion on this, I'd like to hear something more than a Vista/XP sucks type of response (and I'm not switching to Linux, Mac, etc…). This computer is essential to me and I'd like the best performance out of it.