New computer but win 7 or 8

[Ken Blake]

Maybe?

If you are interpreting what I said as the total number of years it
will be supported, you are of course correct.

But that's not what I meant. I meant that the end of Windows 8 support
will be later than the end of Windows 7 support (April 2014). There's
no maybe about that.

 

[Ken Blake]

If you are interpreting what I said as the total number of years it
will be supported, you are of course correct.

But that's not what I meant. I meant that the end of Windows 8 support
will be later than the end of Windows 7 support (April 2014).

Arrgh!! Delete that parenthesis. April 2014 refers to Windows XP, not
Windows 7. Sorry.

 

[Bert]

In Ken Blake

As far as I'm concerned, no. But we are all different, and perhaps
someone else might say yes.

Sorry if I wasn't clear; I'm not asking for personal impressions, but
whether the underlying OS is actually significantly different, or if MS
just glued a new GUI on top of Win7.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

I know next to nothing about the Macnitosh, and can't say anything
about. I can't even spell it.



If it were me, I would have just gotten a newer version of the
software in question.

I would have too.

I'm not as dumb as you're implying here, but the makers of the programs
are[1]. Nothing for Vista and later was or is available.

[1] OK, they might not be dumb, but they had lost interest in supporting
their products.

 

[mick]

I think you need to first determine whether it will a 32-bit or a 64-bit
version of Windows that he will acquire.

And, if he is using Outlook Express on his XP machine, he is in for some
discomfort in adapting to a new email client.

64 bit OS.

MS Office will be installed, so Outlook will be the email client of
choice with which he is familiar with.

 

[mick]

Have you considered just refurb'ing/rehab'ing the existing machine?
Whether that's a viable choice depends on why your friend thinks he
needs a new machine. For what he's doing, it doesn't seem he needs all
that much computing power. A thorough system cleaning and decrapifying,
and more RAM might be all that is required.

That was all I did for a client who complained his 7 or so
year old Pentium IV, 40GB HD, 512MB RAM, WXP SP2 was too slow, and he
needed a new one. He used it for business as well as personal. All I
did was decrapify it, up the RAM to 1.5GB, the maximum it would
take, and update it to SP3, etc. It was like a new machine. And that
was two years ago. Since that time, I've added a larger hard drive,
cloning the old 40 gigger as it was failing. It's still going strong.

FWIW, if your friend does decide on a new machine, whether W7 or W8, be
sure to check if his old XP software is compatible.

Stef

I did all that to it a couple of years ago Stef. I even reformatted
the hard drive and only installed the software that he needed. I have
got him running CCleaner once a week and then backing up to an external
drive. MS Office 2003 runs OK, Sony Vegas Pro 9 is slow but does work.
When he sees my machine which is nothing special, core2 quad Q6600
with 4GB he notices straight away the difference in performance and
this sways him to having a complete new machine.

Software is not an issue, thanks for the reminder though.

 

[mick]

And this is Microsoft's big error with Win 8: they are trying to force
everyone, even a skilled user of a Windows XP, Vista or 7 desktop PC, to use
an OS which is more suited to a tablet with a touch screen. They are imposing
change for the sake of change, and forcing people to unlearn what they
already know in order to learn something new.

By all means provide a new tablet-oriented shell as an *option* but don't
make it compulsory and throw away the old shell.

From my limited use of Win 8 when setting them up for customers, the innards
of Win 8 are probably fine: it may well be faster, more secure and have a few
additional capabilities. But I'd say that to be usable by anyone who has
prior knowledge of XP/Vista/7, it is essential that Win 7 shell, taskbar and
start button are installed.

Having listened to all the advice so far, the choice (for me) remains
between win 7 and win 8. Win 8 with the add ons as you mention seems
to be the best of both worlds.

 

[gufus]

Arrgh!! Delete that parenthesis. April 2014 refers to Windows XP, not
Windows 7. Sorry.

Yep..

VBG

 

[gufus]

But that's not what I meant. I meant that the end of Windows 8 support
will be later than the end of Windows 7 support (April 2014). There's
no maybe about that.

Again.

Maybe, M$ might extend support for W7. (they did with XP.. right?)

 

[Mike Barnes]

True Launch Bar works fine with Windows 8 and with Start8. I run it
here too.




Me too.




Except for the desktop picture being different, and my having a gadget
sidebar, yours looks *very* much like mine. I too have the Task Bar on
the left side of the screen. But unlike you, I have the True Launch
Bar on the left side of my second monitor, rather than on the Task
Bar.

That's all very encouraging (especially the bit about your desktop not
having my picture on it). I appreciate it, thanks.

 

[chicagofan]

As someone who recently converted to Win7 [from XP] with a new laptop
purchase, I would strongly advise going with Win7 versus Win8, because
that will be enough of a change to deal with. I am still wishing I had
XP back, and may buy Win7 Pro, just so I can get a better simulation of XP.

There are some free virtual machines available (I know of VMware Player
and Oracle VirtualBox) that do a decent job, so if you already have a
valid XP license, you can get there for free, rather than buying a 7 Pro
license.

Thanks, Gene... I sure wish I had known about that before I gave that
laptop to my daughter! I think it's too late to get it back now.

BTW, I was not happy with the Windows XP Mode. I wanted XP for a couple
of legacy programs, and they didn't both work OK with XP mode, so I went
back to VMware.

That's what worries me about all the alternatives I read about now. I
fear I'll go to all that trouble and some of my old programs still won't
work. However, I will do anything to avoid updating to Win8 in the
future.
bj

 

[mick]

One reason I switched back to Windows from the Mac a few years ago was
that some of the Windows software I had been using was not available in
OS X, so I ran XP in a VM on the Mac.

SO I got a PC with Vista and discovered that some of the Windows
software I had been using was not compatible with Vista, so I ran XP in
a VM on the PC.

Good thing I can laugh at myself...

I have used Macs at work but never had that much interest to buy one
probably because there is just so much software available for windows
orientated PC's (and of course price). Having said that a few people
from work have bought into Mac's and then all they do is run windows on
them. :-?

 

[Larry__Weiss]

64 bit OS.
MS Office will be installed, so Outlook will be the email client of choice with which he is
familiar with.

That will make the transition much easier.

 

[mick]

OK, you have to learn French.

Probably on top of a new OS as well, the mind boggles at the thought
LOL

It'll even be OK if you talk French OK but don't always understand it...

I get in a mucking fuddle as it is trying to decipher broken English

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

As someone who recently converted to Win7 [from XP] with a new laptop
purchase, I would strongly advise going with Win7 versus Win8, because
that will be enough of a change to deal with. I am still wishing I had
XP back, and may buy Win7 Pro, just so I can get a better simulation of XP.

There are some free virtual machines available (I know of VMware Player
and Oracle VirtualBox) that do a decent job, so if you already have a
valid XP license, you can get there for free, rather than buying a 7 Pro
license.

Thanks, Gene... I sure wish I had known about that before I gave that
laptop to my daughter! I think it's too late to get it back now.

BTW, I was not happy with the Windows XP Mode. I wanted XP for a couple
of legacy programs, and they didn't both work OK with XP mode, so I went
back to VMware.

That's what worries me about all the alternatives I read about now. I
fear I'll go to all that trouble and some of my old programs still won't
work. However, I will do anything to avoid updating to Win8 in the
future.
bj

Think of it as being an experimenter. Then it's all fun even when it
doesn't work.

Actually, I sometimes do that. I have tried all three alternatives above
trying to run XP, and I used the VMware and Oracle VMs to install a
trial beta of Win 8.

For XP, I had the best luck on VMware, and IIRC, Oracle was better for
W8.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

I have used Macs at work but never had that much interest to buy one
probably because there is just so much software available for windows
orientated PC's (and of course price). Having said that a few people
from work have bought into Mac's and then all they do is run windows on
them. :-?

LOL!

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Probably on top of a new OS as well, the mind boggles at the thought
LOL

Good! That's what I wanted!

 

[Shadow]

Again.

Maybe, M$ might extend support for W7. (they did with XP.. right?)

EOS for Win7 SP1 is 2020. Which will be extended if there is
an SP2.
So, I wouldn't worry about it. We will probably having
mandatory chips implanted in our brains by then. Think of something, a
Google search will flow into your mind. Filtered, of course. Hail the
future.

[]'s

 

[Ken Blake]

That's all very encouraging (especially the bit about your desktop not
having my picture on it).

LOL!


I appreciate it, thanks.

You're welcome. Glad to help.

 

[Ken Blake]

On Fri, 12 Apr 2013 14:10:30 -0700, Ken Blake wrote:


I would have too.

I'm not as dumb as you're implying here,

I hope you said that tongue in cheek, but if you really felt that was
my implication, my apologies.

but the makers of the programs
are[1]. Nothing for Vista and later was or is available.

[1] OK, they might not be dumb, but they had lost interest in supporting
their products.

I can't remember any specific examples, but the few times that I ran
into a similar situation, I was always able to find a newer, very
similar (perhaps even better) program.