[KomaGawa]

What are the pros and cons about leaving XP for something more recent?

and if you vote to leave it what do you recommend. I am typing this on a SHARP Windows XP, 1.2GHrz, 1.6GB RAM, 20 GB HD machine. The monitor at start up will sometimes turn pale blue with streaky or flickering lines, the machine will sometimes lock up and shut down, the keyboard has some quirky reactions while I am typing. SHARP no longer supports (or sells PCs)this model. So.....I am thinking of buying a used computer....Really I am not a fan of Office 2003 because it is in Japanese here, and I can't follow the logic of their changes. I consider Windows bloatware full of unnecessary features that I am forced to buy, so I was thinking of another XP used machine.
regards from Japan

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Biggest reason why:

Windows XP SP3 and Office 2003
Support Ends April 8, 2014

After that there will be no more security updates made. Drivers for XP are almost non existent at this time for anything new. I migrated to Win7 reluctantly 2 years ago and jumped on board with Win8 with the Beta release. I now have XP, Win7 and Win8 all installed on my system on a triple boot and honestly my XP OS I had not been on for over a year till yesterday when I went on it to update it. updates and a hour later I did the same to Win7. I'm still on my Win8 and plan on purchasing it when it is released in 10 days.
Security for Win7 and 8 especially in the 64 bit versions is drastically increased which is another reason I support them. XP was the most popular OS Microsoft released till just about a week ago when Win7 passed it. I would say if you are thinking of upgrading consider Win7 and take advantage of the Win8 upgrade offer. Win8 is not for everyone but you would have it f you ever decided you wanted to update to it later.
Win7 is a learning curve if you have never used it but one you get use to it I think you will like it a lot.

[rshaffer61]

Biggest reason why:

Windows XP SP3 and Office 2003
Support Ends April 8, 2014

After that there will be no more security updates made. Drivers for XP are almost non existent at this time for anything new. I migrated to Win7 reluctantly 2 years ago and jumped on board with Win8 with the Beta release. I now have XP, Win7 and Win8 all installed on my system on a triple boot and honestly my XP OS I had not been on for over a year till yesterday when I went on it to update it. updates and a hour later I did the same to Win7. I'm still on my Win8 and plan on purchasing it when it is released in 10 days.
Security for Win7 and 8 especially in the 64 bit versions is drastically increased which is another reason I support them. XP was the most popular OS Microsoft released till just about a week ago when Win7 passed it. I would say if you are thinking of upgrading consider Win7 and take advantage of the Win8 upgrade offer. Win8 is not for everyone but you would have it f you ever decided you wanted to update to it later.
Win7 is a learning curve if you have never used it but one you get use to it I think you will like it a lot.

[Alzeimer]

I respect your opinion but disagree on one thing. With Microsoft OS's you can never judge it's popularity based on copies sold since they do not give you a choice, they shove there new OS down your throat and makes it impossible to buy a new computer without their new OS, The day they give people a choice and not force it then maybe you can judge the popularity base on sale.

Windows 95. great beginning
Windows 98. an improvement and more user friendly but too many bugs
Windows Millenium. A mistake
Windows 2000. a great improvement but too stale looking
Windows XP. the first real good OS
Windows Vista, another big mistake
Windows 7. Looks better but not as user friendly for beginners and still too many bugs
Windows 8. not used it yet

[rshaffer61]

Windows XP. the first real good OS

I agree completely with XP

Windows Vista, another big mistake

Should have never been released like it was.

Windows 7. Looks better but not as user friendly for beginners and still too many bugs

Not sure what bugs you are mentioning as I have been using it since it's release with no problems. I also should say I am using the 64 bit professional version.

Windows 8. not used it yet

I;ve been using since beta release and other then the UI and lack of a start button (Which is easily corrected) I like it.
Mot meant I agree for the average user especially if they have not at least used Vista for awhile.

[KomaGawa]

I appreciate your comments. I am in the process of setting up a WiFi in our home, and I bought a iPad2, uploaded all my classroom documents to Google Drive, with the intentions of abandoning this XP machine when the monitor goes. But on further research I have decided it is wise to keep one foot in Windows, as the iPad cannot completely replace my work yet. I am teaching an American movie class, so I needed a base to send the movies to the iPad. This Windows machine and the WiFi is in Japanese....so I can't read any error messages very well....still not relaxed in Japanese therefore since the cheap Win machines here are all in Japanese...... :-(
Regards, painfully, from Japan

[rshaffer61]

Checking around it does look like it is possible to change the default language and it may be worth some research into it. If not the other option may be to purchase a Win7 from Microsoft in English and then format and install it.
Also I'm not sure but you may be able to simply do a system recovery and change the regional language during installation.

[KomaGawa]

Thanks you have given me a new line of investigation, if I keep XP.
If I go to Win7, which is what is suggested here, may I move all my stuff (minor and major programs included) up to Google Drive, (my cloud preference),
Then, buy a copy of Win7 US version , from Amazon,
Then wipe away all the programs on this machine,
Then install Win 7 from scratch?
Thomas

[rshaffer61]

Data can be transferred but programs would need to be reinstalled.

[**Brian**]

Good Morning:

I had XP for a while on my machine, then decided to stay with it until something BETTER then Vista came out. When Windows 7 came out, I upgraded my computer to it, and I have NOT been sorry - I like the Professional/Ultimate versions of the OS because they can allow me to remotely communicate with machines in my office and I can communicate with others where I work. Microsoft does make the decision of when support will end, and as older OS's age, they are less likely to receive updates. XP was a great system, and it does a good job for those who want a stable OS - ME was a terrible OS because it had so many bugs that it should not have been released - I had a machine with ME on it, and went to XP as soon as it was available - What MS fails to see is that if an OS does have problems, they should be working on them, rather then to listen to shareholders that want a new OS released to compete with Apple.

This is what happend with Vista - The Beta testers were telling Microsoft NOT to release Vista because of the number of bugs and problems that were being reported to them, but the shareholders won that battle - Vista was Slow and clunky, and a firiend of mine showed me an event log once, that had 60+ CRASHES in like 10-15 minutes time - I was shocked - that is UNACCEPTABLE for any OS!

When I got my first laptop, I talked to my boss about it, and wanted to update my laptop's Vista OS to Win7 Pro 64 Bit - Did that is minutes, and have been happy with Win7's proformance.

As far as Windows 8 - I am not a fan of the Metro Experience from what I have seen - I like having a Start Orb/button, and I also like the fact that Win7 is not based on Windows Touch Screen/Phone technology - I want to be able to use a keyboard to enter information. If voice technology gets better, maybe I would go for a change to it, but touch screen keyboards do not seem to work well for me yet. Maybe if I continue to work with my SIII, it will change my thinking, but for now, I stay with what works for me - Windows 7

By all means, I recommend abandoning Windows XP for the reasons stated within the discussion - Windows 7 is stable and can serve you well

Good Luck

Brian

[KomaGawa]

Your last paragraph strikes a note of harmony with me. I suppose that I also have this dread of endlessly chasing after what someone far away in Seattle judges is the next great benefit for me... Relatives and relations are often quoting to me one of their favorite philosophies, "You make choices, and thus you live by those choices". Regarding the perceived advance of technology that causes new models to appear, part of it is the reward of new discoveries, innovations, and a part of it are the desires of the marketing dept. So, some choices are thus made, based on idle fancies, vain aspirations; ignorance of both ourselves and a result of a lack of understanding. The choice of XP or Windows 7 is not a career-changing choice; so this matter isn't as significant as it sounds here. XP has certainly served us well; I think it is time to move on, it isn't the mountain top I once believed it to be.