NX bit has been supported since XP SP2.

There are other things like ASLR which need 64-bit to be really useful, but even that is still implemented on 32-bit (starting with Vista).

When upgrading, 32-bit should really only be used if you have less than 4 GB RAM, or you desperately need 16-bit support without a VM; once you reach 4GB, 64-bit is better since it allows you to make full use of that RAM (on 32-bit, some of it would be lost mainly to the GPU memory).

One thing that's worth remembering is that going from 32-bit to 64-bit requires a completely new installation - you can't upgrade in place. For that reason, it might at least be *easier* to go to 8.1 now, and if you don't like it, hope 9 is better, so you can do an in-place upgrade then. (I'm personally sticking with Win7, though.)

Aren't you going to upgrade your PC too in the near future? Because in your case I'd probably choose to keep the old PC as a Windows XP machine (maybe disconnecting it from the internet for good for security reasons, or install Linux Mint on the side in order to still use it online), and buy a new PC with a new Windows OS (OEM license).

Unless that is some pretty new PC where you just chose to keep Windows XP, until now?

And just how many games will be requiring this new-fangled DX12?

Will it be more than the games requiring DX10/11 per chance?

Of course you could choose WindowsXP now or Vista or 7, but I think it depends how long you want to use it. The question is not how many games will use DX12 in 2015, the question is do you have the software and hardware to run this one game with DX12 when you want to. I for one do not think I will replace Windows 8 in the next 3 years, but I still think I will replace some hardware in this time and this new hardware will then benefit from new features.

Why buy software now that is in its last days of its life-cycle if you can have the latest one with a longer support time? You can wait for Windows 9 of course and replace Windows 7 in 2 or 3 years, but why not get Windows 8.1 in the first place and benefit from its improvement and the continued support in the meantime? I would not opt for any older Windows version now, as long as you can have the latest one without hassle. I actually see no reason which would justify this decision, nothing in Windows 8 is so bad you could not change it to look and feel like Windows 3.11 or whatever version of windows fits your taste.

NXbit (which dont really give you super-security) is enabled on 32bit in PAE mode. Its both correct for Windows and Linux (since its CPU feature, not software).

Just for info, in the past I've used a WinXP SP2 installation without adding SP3 or updates for about 1 year, and nothing has happened (with daily browsing, even in many bad places. Don't ask why :P )
Updating is always better, but I don't believe much in all the panic that MS is spreading.

P.S: why should those evil hackers still care about less and less common obsolete software? O_o7

Oh really? I didn't know it, that's bad.
Well, another annoyance could be the lack of real 4k sector drives support for the future..
I hate too much that Metro interface to accept Win8, silly MS! But Win9 is so far and unknown..

Keep in mind that people who try to create botnets want it to seem like nothing has happened.

You may have been lucky, but a cursory glance isn't going to prove anything.

That makes sense, I couldn't recall if MS ever added that support to their 32bit versions. It's not super security, but it does make buffer overruns somewhat less risky.

Ive been using win 8/8.1 for quite while now. Cant complain, works faster than previous window's as well. The coming service packet is probably going to add the start button and whatever some "nostalgics" have been complaining about ;)

It's not about nostalgia, it's about how fundamentally broken the system was at release. I'm sure it's fine for tablets with a touch screen, but the time I spent fucking around with it was rather depressing. One shouldn't have to relearn how to use an OS just because MS wants to cram the same interface into all of their OSes across the different markets.

From what I understand 8.1 fixes some of the brokenness, but it's not going to be until 9 that the rest of it gets fixed. Considering how good Linux has gotten, not to mention OSX, this is the kind of slip up they can't afford. I know my dad now uses Linux because of that.

So use Classic Shell or equivalent and you have a better Windows 7, or wait for Windows 8's impending spring update which makes further improvements to desktop usability.

Windows 9 is probably going to be a further refinement of Windows 8 (given Microsoft's major-minor release schedule) so don't expect any radical changes there.

In all my life i got only several cases of NX-related crashes. And i got HUGE amount of problems with software which use Photoshop 8BF plugins - its virtually incompatible with NX.
So, dont sure about big pluses which it brings...

in my daily use of win 8.1, that is pretty much internet, games etc usual crap i have zero problems with win8.1. I dont miss the start button and ive learned to navigate it just fine. But maybe you need something from win8.1 that i do not. I can only speak of my own use.

Sure the store is utter crap, but its not like you ever need it for anything. Desktop is desktop and you spend most of the time there, win-button plus write whatever search is super fast and for me thats more than enough to replace the start-button some want. Sure i could do quick buttons on either desktop or the metro-page or whatever, but ive personally noticed that i just dont have the need.

personal preferance ofcourse.

It means that portions of the memory are marked as not executable, which means that the processor will not execute anything in those areas. So, it means that if you load a text document or picture, anything in the regions being used by those files can't be executed. So, if somebody either tries to attach a script to it, or use a buffer overrun to hit execute things from that area of the memory, it fails as the processor won't execute anything in a region of memory with that bit set.

When you combine that with ASLR, you make it quite a bit more challenging to write things to memory and then execute them without asking permission.

I've never had either one crash a program, it sounds like the Adobe plugins that caused the crash weren't coded correctly or Photoshop lacks the appropriate controls to make sure that doesn't happen.
There's a certain degree of personal preference and the fact that it completely destroys the paradigm that Windows has had since I first started using it nearly 25 years ago. It probably would work on a tablet, but it's complete garbage on a desktop. It's just more of that unusable ribbony bullshit that MS has been foisting on their users for some time now. And I have better things to do with my time than to learn how to use the OS because MS doesn't feel like making the interface compatible with previous iterations.

First - I could not see your system requirements, so I have the listed (by MicroSoft) the recommended requirements for both Win 7 and 8.1
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows7/products/system-requirements
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows-8/system-requirements
Check that your system can actually upgrade to these requirements before you decide to fork out.

Second - If you are sticking with MS on the same computer I would suggest from personal experience that you look at Win 7. It too will see its end for mainstream use on January 13, 2015. It will go the way of the dodo on January 13, 2020.
Windows 7 is a fairly safe gaming platform and although it is quite a memory hog it can be adapted with a little work. So you can use it, and it can be modified quite a lot like XP with learning. I have personally had a few gaming problems on Win 7, but there are often ways around the problems, so it is not all bad.
Win 8 is a different beast to look at (I just bought my GF a win8 laptop so I have not yet tried out any games on it), but actually underneath there is mostly the same system as win Vista / 7 for all the main systems.
There are of course differences that lead to the current problem with it as a mainstream gaming platform and the inaccessibility of huge portions when attempting to navigate via the UI, but if you are reasonably comfortable playing with the back end then it is not all bad. A little messy, but mostly the same old MS BS.

Third - Have you tried Linux? You can download disk booting versions of some of the Linux operating systems to try and see if you actually can get to grips with them. With GOG announcing that they will begin to support Linux (Ubuntu and Mint) I would suggest giving it a look. If you like the way XP worked then I would personally suggest trying out Mint as Ubuntu always reminds me of the old Apple Mac system my uncle had when I was small.


Mint - - http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php
Ubuntu - - http://www.ubuntu.com/
Try Ubuntu - - http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/try-ubuntu-before-you-install