Any Operating System recommendation?

J

jliu21

Hi, buddies

This is my first post. I am a newbie in the stock market. After two months lurking in the forum, I built my own desktop yesterday with the Microcenter sale. Here is my built machine:

AMD Phenom II X4 B55 (unlocking from X2 555, $99 @ microcenter.com)
Biostar TA785GE 128M mobo ($30 @microcenter.com after 40off)
8GB DDR2 memory ($200)
1 TB Samsung F3 spinpoint HDD with Samsung DVD RW ($80 for this combo deal@ewiz.com)
Two 17" Dell monitors bought from university yard sale ($90 total)

I think this desktop is powerful enough for my trading. I want to buy a 64-bit operating system (i.e, Win 7 64 bit, Vista 64-bit) to maximize my memory utility. However, I found most trading software, such as IB, Tradestation, recommend Win XP 32-bit as a reliable platform. So, is anybody can give me some suggestions for the operating system? Thanks in advance.

Jerry
 
We usually suggest people build systems "backwards" meaning know what you need to run and how many monitors of what resolution before buying parts.

But since you are where you are, your next step is to decide what you are going to trade on. If you're new and just trading a couple trades here and there to tinker, get your feet wet and hopefully turn a profit, then you'll probably be trading in a browser.

I can't see anyone new in the market doing anything with leverage, scalping, day trading, etc.

So that's where you are - figure out what platform you're going to use. If you're going to be trading through a browser then any OS should work. BTW: I run applications on Win 7 x64 even though software vendors say it won't work; what that means is that they won't support your tech issues if you have any.
 
OP,

Welcome

Fwiw

I’ve used XP Professional for several years with no issues.

Then at the beginning of this year I had to switch platforms and purchase a new laptop (my original was stolen)


Desktop has XP Professional
Laptop has Win 7 Professional
Platform – TradeStation

Absolutely no issues


Btw my previous laptop came with Vista – hated it and replaced it with XP (meaning I reformatted my drive to NTFS and loaded XP)


As for using 64 bit over 32 bit – I am not qualified to say

RN
 
Quote from Redneck trader:

...


As for using 64 bit over 32 bit – I am not qualified to say

RN
More...

I've ran XPx64, Server 2008 Enterprise x64 and 7 x64. Main thing is drivers. Make sure you can get drivers for your hardware. Once you do that, 99% of all applications will run on it because x64 OS's are designed to run both x32 and x64 applications.

FYI: x32=x86 - same thing. Bad nomenclature in the industry.
An x86 system runs at x32.
An x64 system runs at x64.
 
For amodern OS drivers are a non-issue.

MS dropped the ball with XP here - with Windows 7 the rules changed. If you want to use the Windows compatibility logo for Windows 7...
...you have to submit drivers for 32 and 64 bit.

Suddenly all the hardware works ;) If it has current drivers ;)

XP left that for the companies to decide, and XP never catched on, so they never made drivers, so it never catched on.

I use 64 bit exclusivvely since Vista - never looked back. Has nice advantages, even when running mostly 32 bit software.
 
Quote from jliu21:
"... I found most trading software, such as IB, Tradestation, recommend Win XP 32-bit as a reliable platform. [/B]
More...

XP32 is the safer choice. There is no compelling reason to use anything else.

As for the "memory" issue of XP32 vs. newer 64-bit OSs.... When XP came out, RAM was expensive. So XP was written to use a minimum of physical RAM, supplemented by "page file" on the hard drive... XP is VERY efficient in this function.

Now that RAM is cheap, newer OSs like lots of RAM so that EVERYTHING in a session can be cached for faster re-access when required. And for 32-bit apps run on a 64-bit OS... the 64-bit OS runs the 32-bit just like it was on a 32-bit machine.. with a "32-bit emulator".

All and all, there is very little functional application difference between XP32 and newer OSs.

XP will be viable until at least 2014, so it's a safe choice for now.
 
Quote from Scataphagos:

XP32 is the safer choice. There is no compelling reason to use anything else.

As for the "memory" issue of XP32 vs. newer 64-bit OSs.... When XP came out, RAM was expensive. So XP was written to use a minimum of physical RAM, supplemented by "page file" on the hard drive... XP is VERY efficient in this function.

Now that RAM is cheap, newer OSs like lots of RAM so that EVERYTHING in a session can be cached for faster re-access when required. And for 32-bit apps run on a 64-bit OS... the 64-bit OS runs the 32-bit just like it was on a 32-bit machine.. with a "32-bit emulator".

All and all, there is very little functional application difference between XP32 and newer OSs.

XP will be viable until at least 2014, so it's a safe choice for now.
More...

Sadly, this is a fallacy based on false knowledge. There are a LOT of well documented reasons why a 64 bit OS is a better choice even to run a 32 bit application. I am not going to repeat them - but reading up a little on the topic would clear up a lot of accumulated garbage knowledge.
 
Quote from NetTecture:

Sadly, this is a fallacy based on false knowledge. There are a LOT of well documented reasons why a 64 bit OS is a better choice even to run a 32 bit application. I am not going to repeat them - but reading up a little on the topic would clear up a lot of accumulated garbage knowledge.
More...

Not really.... as I said, no "compelling" reason to avoid XP32.... especially when an important app "recommends you use XP32". Besides, an OS never made anybody any money.

You made this argument like my wife (not a compliment).
 
Quote from jliu21:

Hi, buddies

This is my first post. I am a newbie in the stock market. After two months lurking in the forum, I built my own desktop yesterday with the Microcenter sale. Here is my built machine:

AMD Phenom II X4 B55 (unlocking from X2 555, $99 @ microcenter.com)
Biostar TA785GE 128M mobo ($30 @microcenter.com after 40off)
8GB DDR2 memory ($200)
1 TB Samsung F3 spinpoint HDD with Samsung DVD RW ($80 for this combo deal@ewiz.com)
Two 17" Dell monitors bought from university yard sale ($90 total)

I think this desktop is powerful enough for my trading. I want to buy a 64-bit operating system (i.e, Win 7 64 bit, Vista 64-bit) to maximize my memory utility. However, I found most trading software, such as IB, Tradestation, recommend Win XP 32-bit as a reliable platform. So, is anybody can give me some suggestions for the operating system? Thanks in advance.

Jerry
More...

SIAP but Tradestation support says that TS is not native 64 bit and that it will run best in XP 32 bit.
 
Quote from jliu21:

Hi, buddies
... I found most trading software, such as IB, Tradestation, recommend Win XP 32-bit as a reliable platform. So, is anybody can give me some suggestions for the operating system? Thanks in advance.

Jerry
More...

if you don't respect your broker's recommendation, what makes you think our recommendation worth anything?
 
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