Help me choose OS

[poweredGguy]

ok so i have a very good rig but i am into 3d modeling and animation and want to sooner or later make a game (or games) with good quality. now i understand that windows vista has directx10 but windows xp has directx9c. now i need to know which i need to get. but i wanna get vista for directx10 but it does suck up a lot more memory. now windows xp i like cause its compatible with everything but it only has directx9c but it uses lower memory. so guys please help what do i do?

edit: i use 3ds max2010 if that helps

 

[S0ULphIRE]

Download yourself a copy of the Windows7 RC, it's free to download, and you'll be able to use it until March next year. By then Win7 will have been officially released, and you can buy yourself a copy.

 

[Nubbleet]

Have you considered Windows 7 RC1? It's free to use until 2010.

Edit: S0UL beat me to it.

 

[poweredGguy]

lol ok but is it like...free for anyone? or just vista users?

 

[S0ULphIRE]

It's free to download for anyone. It will only last until March next year tho, after that it will shut down every 2 hours. In April it'll stop working all together. But for what you need, it's perfect.
Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC): Instructions for Free Download

 

[KSoD]

You should consider Win7 as it has DX11.

 

[Jayce]

I'm going with the others on this one... Hit up Windows 7 and worry about purchasing it later - just don't forget.