Windows XP on my main computer has been irreversibly corrupted. I really don’t want to re-install XP (mainly because of the missing SATA driver I don’t want to plug in my old 3.5" floppy), so I’m thinking about upgrading to Windows 7 (my laptop has Vista, my wife’s laptop has 7, so I’ve tried both. I think 7 works a bit faster.)
Is there any reason to stick to XP or install Vista instead?
Check to see that your machine meets (or even better, exceeds) the Windows 7 requirements.
Only reason to stick with XP is a piece of hardware that doesn’t have drivers for Vista/7. Even if you have incompatible software, 7 Professional and Ultimate have XP mode.
There is absolutely no reason to go with Vista over 7.
Edit: Assuming your computer can run it, as ZipperJJ pointed out. But most computers that were new within the past 3 or 4 years should have no problem.
Hardware checks out. The only question mark may be my geforce 8600 graphics card, but I’ll probably upgrade that at the same time.
I would add that there is no reason to go with Windows Vista under any circumstances, at all. It’s a greater resource-hog than Windows 7, and it’s buggier. XP is preferable to Vista, save those rare and unfortunate circumstances in which software simply won’t run on XP. In those cases, Windows 7 is preferable.
In Windows 7, if you open up a folder in Explorer, you can’t turn off auto-arrange. All the icons have to be sorted, you can’t place them in any random order you wish. I know this doesn’t affect many people, but I need to order my icons the way I want to, not according to some pre-defined sort option. Maybe I just have OCD or something, but it’s enough of a deal breaker for me that I’m sticking with Vista.
In Vista, you can’t arrange your files how you want at all. It will arbitrarily call your folder “Media” or something, and remove sort options. You can reset and add your own, but that will only last so long before something screws up.
I’ve never had that happen. I’ve always been able to drag around all the icons and have them stay in place.
A Geforce 8600 is fine. Before it went pop, my Shuttle had an 8600 GTS.
7 is more secure and more usable (IMO) than XP. Also far prettier. Turn off User Account Control if that bothers you, though XP SP2+ has had it as well.
7 is also slower and more resource-intensive on older hardware, if only by a minute amount. If your hardware is old or borderline, it might not be worth it.
Conversely, if you’re using anything fancy and new like dual-core systems or solid state drives, definitely go with 7.
No reason to choose Vista over XP or 7. I think Microsoft’s trying hard to make you forget Vista ever existed, and that’s just as well. Not because Vista was bad per se, but because 7 made it even better while fixing some of the complaints.
I did the upgrade and am content. I have one small problem I’m hunting down with drivers. But overall, once I got used to the difference, I was pleased.
A small point here but many BIOSes allow you to pretend that a USB memory stick is a floppy drive. And you can get USB floppy drives.
XP mode doesn’t always fix software compatibility problems.
I think the question you should ask yourself is “Why would I want to upgrade?”
For 90% of the population the only good reason to upgrade is if you want to run a piece of software that doesn’t work under XP. I can’t think of another reason to alter a workstation that is working for you.
Never upgrade just to upgrade. That’s just asking for a headache for no good reason.
That’s for sure. I’m looking at you Bioshock. :mad:
I went from XP to Vista to 7 (the latter two because I’d bought a new machine) and can definitely attest that you want to skip the middle step in that process. 7 runs fine, I’ve had no problems with it at all and have yet to encounter a piece of software that I couldn’t run.
grumble…like inability to run old 16 bit programs…
Had a couple customers who wanted 7 that were using old access 97 custom DB point of sale systems…
Shit like that will drive you to drink …if I knew what that was gonna be like I would have started drinking before I got there.
Could you run it in a VM?
The main reason is because of my SATA drive. If I reinstall XP, i have to plug in my old 3.5" floppy (which barely works now) or buy a new, USB one (which costs a bit.) If I need to spend $40 anyway, why not kick in the 35 and upgrade.
I don’t trust the ISO’s out there of XP with the SATA drivers. Imho, there’s too much risk of it having other programs.
You could also slipstream your own SATA drivers to XP. But yeah, 7 is worth it as long as your hardware can keep up 