I'm considering a new computer and need to know which OS to purchase for it, I've been using XP Pro for a long time. I'm pretty decided that I won't be installing XP again though, with the release of SP3 I've noticed that my computer no longer launches apps in what I'd consider a short amount of time. My home computer is an Athlon XP 2500+ system with half a 512mb RAM, I can understand it being a little slow for some applications, but opening Internet Explorer isn't one that I'd expect to wait for, and I never noticed it being slow until hundreds of updates and 3 service packs had been installed, a fresh install didn't bring back the fresh feeling either. My work computer is a CAD workstation based on a Core 2 6600 processor with 4gb RAM, it hardly outpaces my home computer when it comes to day to day tasks like opening up IE, MS word or sorting through a folder with image files using the filmstrip or thumbnail view.
I've poked around with some of the computers at electronics stores running Vista and they seem considerably faster when it comes to launching apps, even the low budget computers with celeron or sempron processors and as little as 1gb RAM. I've never felt like the GUI was a big enough change to warrant an upgrade, and the fact that from the beginning it's been called a resource hog and no more secure or stable than XP. Now I'm reading about Win 7 and people are comparing it to Linux as far as hardware demands and memory usage which has perked my interest, but I'm hesitant to jump on the software bandwagon so quickly, I usually like to wait until an OS has been on the market at least a year or until the first service pack has been released. Whatever OS I decide on it will be the OS for that system until the hardware is replaced, at this point I don't plan on keeping any computer less than 5 years.
Questions:
1) Is a newer OS really going to run faster on new hardware than XP or is my observation a placebo?
2) What are the advantages to installing XP on a system now then upgrading to Win 7 when it is released in the fall versus installing Vista and keeping it for the next several years. Do I need to meet any specific hardware recommendations to run Win 7? When Vista was released most people found they didn't have enough RAM or GPU power to run the OS, will any modern system run Win 7 without hiccups?
3) Are there any indications how much longer MS will continue to support XP and Vista through updates and service packs once Win 7 is released?
I've poked around with some of the computers at electronics stores running Vista and they seem considerably faster when it comes to launching apps, even the low budget computers with celeron or sempron processors and as little as 1gb RAM. I've never felt like the GUI was a big enough change to warrant an upgrade, and the fact that from the beginning it's been called a resource hog and no more secure or stable than XP. Now I'm reading about Win 7 and people are comparing it to Linux as far as hardware demands and memory usage which has perked my interest, but I'm hesitant to jump on the software bandwagon so quickly, I usually like to wait until an OS has been on the market at least a year or until the first service pack has been released. Whatever OS I decide on it will be the OS for that system until the hardware is replaced, at this point I don't plan on keeping any computer less than 5 years.
Questions:
1) Is a newer OS really going to run faster on new hardware than XP or is my observation a placebo?
2) What are the advantages to installing XP on a system now then upgrading to Win 7 when it is released in the fall versus installing Vista and keeping it for the next several years. Do I need to meet any specific hardware recommendations to run Win 7? When Vista was released most people found they didn't have enough RAM or GPU power to run the OS, will any modern system run Win 7 without hiccups?
3) Are there any indications how much longer MS will continue to support XP and Vista through updates and service packs once Win 7 is released?
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