is there an OS that XBMC works best with?

do any of the releases beat the others, or are they all pretty much even. i have a dell xps 630i with quad core, 8gb of ram, an nvidia gt 285 that i run in windows 7 x64, would server 2008r2 be better? linux? i've even had snow leopard running on this before with osx86. just wondering if for instance, 24p worked better in another OS, or video playback or anything like that? it is a dedicated XBMC box so i don't really care which OS is run on it

i did try searching for this info, but came up short.

thanks.

XBMC works very well with any OS. Any OS it was built for, that is.

For an appliance feeling, go with XBMC Live. Check my sig.

hudo Wrote:For an appliance feeling, go with XBMC Live. Check my sig.

and if you need some more appliance feeling try OpenELEC ;-)

Your computer is plenty strong enough for any OS and XBMC, really it comes down to comfortability. Linux is probably best and live version specifically will give you a settop box type feel. But again if not comfortable with Linux do you want to spend the time? Myself I perfer Window7, I've tried and am using Linux at the moment but all those little tweaks I can do in Windows in seconds takes an hour, to google and whatnot, for me in Linux...

i'm currently running it on windows 7 x64, just wondering if there are any advantages running it on another OS. now certain why i personally would run the LIVE version, maybe i'm missing something there?

mcborzu Wrote:Your computer is plenty strong enough for any OS and XBMC, really it comes down to comfortability. Linux is probably best and live version specifically will give you a settop box type feel. But again if not comfortable with Linux do you want to spend the time? Myself I perfer Window7, I've tried and am using Linux at the moment but all those little tweaks I can do in Windows in seconds takes an hour, to google and whatnot, for me in Linux...

see, that is what i'm trying to figure out, you say linux is probably best, but why? i'm not worried about having to figure out how to do it, i'm more concerned with what is going to give me the best picture quality and media center experience. that hard work is fine, no issue there. if windows 7 is good enough, then i'll leave it, but if going to linux with give me some added benefit that i don't know about, i'll give it a shot.

prophetizer Wrote:see, that is what i'm trying to figure out, you say linux is probably best, but why? i'm not worried about having to figure out how to do it, i'm more concerned with what is going to give me the best picture quality and media center experience. that hard work is fine, no issue there. if windows 7 is good enough, then i'll leave it, but if going to linux with give me some added benefit that i don't know about, i'll give it a shot.

Maybe more of the hardware type guys can break it down better but the LIVE version boots faster and really helps XBMC run smoother on the low powered ION type HTPC's. A powerful computer you wont see much if any improvements...

I'm trying Linux just for fun, I prefer W7 just for ease of use. My HTPC is plenty powerful so I dont see any performance gain, though oddly Linux solved an overscan issue I had with my TV which I like...

One other thing is some new XBMC features like PVR seem to develop first or faster on Linux in my opinion...

The linux versions use VDPAU for GPU acceleration on Nvidia video hardware. This allows you to use a lower power CPU, making the ION based motherboards ideal for XBMC while getting flawless 1080p playback.

Under Windows GPU acceleration isn't quite as advanced yet so more CPU horsepower is a good idea.

VDPAU. Linux.

Doesn't Windows 7 GPU acceleration still depend on an external player?

sraue Wrote:and if you need some more appliance feeling try OpenELEC ;-)

I second this vote. OpenELEC.tv is a completely amazing experience. You will be up and running in under 10 minutes. The OpenELEC website is awesome and user-friendly. Guides are available for installation and configuration.

My GT430 works out-of-the-box on OpenELEC. Not the case on XBMC Live.

My HTPC boots in under 20 seconds with OpenELEC.tv and I have the same great features and functionality as XBMC Dharma (since it is built off of XBMC).

The minimal install is quick, responsive, and lightweight (under 80MB). You can run from a USB Flash Drive, SSD, or HDD. Updates are also seamless and do not require reconfiguring settings or dealing with hassles.

I was able to get my HDMI audio working in minutes along with my Harmony One remote control. (I am in the process of making a complete configuration guide for your Harmony One with OpenELEC)

Overall I highly recommend OpenELEC. It was the simplest "distro" of XBMC that I have used to this point. I have run XBMC on my Mac, XBMC Live, and XBMCFreak. I had issues with video drivers (outdated nVidia drivers not working with my GT430) in XBMC Live and had problems with LIRC and my Harmony Remote on XBMCFreak. (double key presses)

Rather than hacking away at the other solutions I finally stumbled upon OpenELEC and could not be any happier!