Well, as you might have heard, Microsoft will be releasing Windows 7 this October. So is it better than Vista? To put it simply, YES. How much better? Let's see, it's faster (especially startup), more secure, more stable, and is less of a memory hog than Vista. It also comes with some pretty cool new features. PC Mag has a preliminary review if you're looking for more information.
So should you upgrade? If you're running XP on a 3 year old computer (or older), you'll probably need to buy a new computer. If you're running Vista on anything newer than 3 years, I'd say it's worth the upgrade. Another note for all you Windows XP users, this October might be the right time to upgrade to a new PC. Even though XP will be supported through 2014, if you wait that long to upgrade, you'll be trasitioning from XP (which came out in 2001) to Windows 8 or 9, which will be a huge leap for some.
I hope this has been somewhat helpful. Remember, if you have any questions, please free free to contact me via email at info@pcproindy.com.
First off, my apologies for the 15 month gap in posts, and I promise they'll be a lot more blogging on this blog from now on. Now onto the topic!
Windows Vista, the New Windows ME?
Back in late 2000, Microsoft released the much heralded successor to Windows 98, Windows Millennium. This was supposed to be a leap forward in speed, reliability, functionality and compatibility. Instead, it was perhaps the worst operating system ever released. It was slow and highly unstable. ME would freeze and crash incessantly. In short, Windows Millenium was a horrific computing experience.
Fast forward about 7 years, and Microsoft releases another hyped OS, Windows Vista. Did they learn from the Windows ME debacle? Apparently not. Vista has turned out to be another ME, in more ways than one, and here they are:
--Microsoft should've learned with ME that users want their operating system to be compatible with the software and hardware they buy. Well, they didn't, this is Vista's biggest shortcoming.
--They should've learned that users enjoy using their OS for more than 5 minutes before a system crash, freeze, or some other inconvenient interruption. Well, to Vista's credit, it is more stable than ME ever was. BUT, Microsoft, in all their infinite wisdom, decided to implement a system where anytime you'd like to make any seemingly small system change, the background goes dark, and a message pops up asking if you'd really like to do what you just did.....sound confusing? It is. Basically the system acts like it's crashing every 5 minutes.
--They should've learned with ME that users like a fast computing experience. Again, Vista fails miserably in this regard. It's slow, even on high end computers.
There is another similarity between Vista and ME. Millennium was replaced only a few years after its debut with XP. Well rumor has it that Windows Version 7, originally slated to be released in 2010, may be released in 2009 to relieve all the Vista users out there….......hopefully.
Welcome to the PC Pro Technologies blog. Please bookmark this URL and check back often, I'll be posting on a regular basis. In this blog I'll be commenting on any and everything from the world of computers and technology. I'll also be informing you of any news regarding my company, as well as tips and suggestions to make your life with computers just a little bit better. So I hope you visit regularly, and thanks for reading!
I've been receiving many questions regarding Microsoft's new operating system, Windows Vista. Here are some answers to some of the most common questions about Vista.
Q....Should I upgrade once Vista is released?
A....I usually steer my clients away from upgrading right away. I would give Microsoft some time to work out the bugs and polish the new operating system before I upgrade.
Q....Will my computer run Vista?
A....Click here for a link to Microsoft's premium and capable PC requirements . I would highly recommend using more than the minimum requirements, as Vista will run much smoother on a more powerful system.
Q....Will programs designed for Vista still be compatible with Windows XP, 2000, ME, 98, etc?
A....Yes and No. Most soon-to-be released software will be compatible with XP & 2000 for quite some time, although soon you'll start seeing ME and 98 compatibility fazed out. Also, Microsoft is no longer supporting 98 and ME, and when this happens, most software companies soon follow suit.
Q....Will Vista be that much better than XP?
A....It's too soon to make a good judgment on that, however I can make some educated guesses. So far Vista seems to be extremely stable (hardly ever crashes), and looks very polished (similar to an Apple operating system). Security wise, there are several key enhancements to Vista that should make it a more robust & secure operating system. On the downside, there have been some compatibility issues with certain hardware devices, and not all component manufacturers have released Vista drivers for their products. For example, if you have a PC you'd like to upgrade to Vista, there is a good chance some of your components (ie; video card) will not have a Vista driver, making the upgrade useless. But overall, Vista seems to be a good looking upgrade, but I'd still wait until the first service pack before making the jump.
