best OS for an older system vista or windows 7?

[i1zombie]

I've got a AMd Athlon XP 2.3 Ghz system that is currently running ( for the past 8 years) windows XP Service pack 4. This is has become my back up computer since I've moved on to a core i7 2.9Ghz last year. It has served me well for all these years and still runs well so I'd hate to just chuck it.
It's currently running XP but Xp showing it's age. I'm planning to reformat the drive and either install Vista 32bit home or windows 7 32bit home. What do you think?
Here are the specs.
Athlon XP 2.3GHZ
Motherboard - asus A7N8x Deluxe 333Mhz front side bus
Memory - 3GB of DDR 400MHZ
Hard drive - 120 GB , 133 ATA still the original.
Video - 512MB card with DVI
Two DVD burnners

My gut instincts were to go with Vista but I think win 7 may be more efficient.

[Midknyte]

Win7 seems to run better than Vista for me, but it's hard to say with that old system. Vista and 7 take way more HD space than XP, so that 120 might run out pretty quick.

If anything, make a backup of your current XP. You can install Win7 or Vista and if they don't perform well, just restore your XP backup.

[Steve R Jones]

Why not leave XP on it;)

Find out if your PC can run Windows 7
To see if your PC is ready for Windows 7, download the free Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. It scans your PC for potential issues with your hardware, devices, and installed programs, and recommends what to do before you upgrade. (If you’re already running Windows 7, you can add premium features online with a Windows 7 upgrade.)

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/downloads/upgrade-advisor

[Train]

Win 7 will run much better than Vista on that rig. Any that is how it worked out with a MSI KT4AV with a 2500+ Barton.