The Options: Vista Now or Windows 7 Later

One of the HOT topics right now is, do we upgrade to Vista or wait for the all new Windows 7.
Here is s consensus of what I've gleaned so far. The options appear to be four-fold:

1 - Buy Now! If you haven't already done so, Buy a vista PC now
2 - Wait until July: then buy a vista PC and benefit from the promised free upgrade to W7
3 - Stay with XP: If you're buying now look for an XP based machine and stay with that until MS cease support in 2014
4 - Abandon Windows: Buy an alternative -a Mac or one of the many free flavours of Linux

Whatever you choose, this check list is a good starting point:
Do I need a New PC Checklist:

1. What do you use your PC for? If all your apps still function well and you know your way around your machine do you really need to replace it?
2. Running Slow: If it has slowed down, you may just need to give it an overhaul. Check out my previous Blogs or get it in to Hamilton Office & Home PC Care, or if you can't get it to us seek out a good tech and as him/her to clean up your machine and advise you on the options -apart from replacement.
3. Gamers: If you are a gamer then you may well need a new machine with more grunt -that's another ball game and this Blog is really not for you.
4. Age of your machine: If your machine is older than, say 4 years, you may have an argument for replacement, however, unless money is not an issue (for most of us among the great unwashed it is -especially with recession-itis setting in!) Again, seek some advise, because component or peripheral upgrades may do the trick for hundreds less than even an entry level new PC.
5. The Learning Curve: Are you comfortable with a new learning curve right now? A new OS comes with the hidden cost of learning lots of new things that you are probably doing reflexively right now. You will probably need a book as well to read while you watch TV to bring you up to speed. Vista is fun to learn if that's what you like doing. If, on the other hand, you find your masochist tendencies can be gratified satisfactorily in some other way -my advice, do the other! Hence, my suggestion that, even if you decide to replace your machine, think about staying with XP until 2014, or just put if off until later...
6. The Bugs Issue:
7. Any new OS will have bugs, and it is wiser to wait at least until the first service pack (SP1) has been released. Vista has now passed that milestone, so it is an option for now. As a result, a lot of the compatibility issues are being sorted.

The Jones Syndrome: Of course, there are those who have the 'J' syndrome and just have to have the newest and shiniest model available as soon as it hits the showroom floor. If that's you, and you don't give a toss about the money, then go for it. Buy the "biggest and the best" you can afford with lots of Ram, disc storage etc and keep doing it every six months or so. This, will help the economy and my dividend check and that's fine. You can also ask me to provide it for you and I will do so with real pleasure. After all, that's why I'm in business. I'm very serious, by the way. I love customers with lot's of money. You are the very best kind. Call me now.

My Pick of the Options:

1. Buy an external hard disc & Back Up: If you haven't already, right now buy one of the many excellent USB external drives with back up or sync software included and do regular back-ups. This will protect your data, which is always consideration number one -and stay with XP (upgrade to Pro if you can do so easily), or Vista if you already have it. Check your RAM to see you are running the maximum your machine will allow as, if you are running an early version of Vista chances are you are under powered in this department.
2. Stay with Your XP Based Machine: Here's a couple of applicable cliché's: 'The devil you know is better than the devil you don't know', and 'If it ain't broke why mend it?' My argument for not abandoning Windows here and going with Mac or Linux, is simply because of the 'Learning Curve' issue I dealt with earlier.
3. Wait Until July 2010 and Buy a mid range 64 bit machine with Windows 7 and SP1 installed. However, the variable here is my 'Age of Your Machine' comment above.

Final Words: Technology is always evolving. Unless you are a techno nut, as I am, your only interest is in how it works for you and makes life better or easier. If it doesn't do that what's the point? So, if your XP based machine is working well, you can do all the things you want to do on it, stay with that for at least the next four or five years. Upgrade as cheaply and effectively as you can along the way and only buy a new machine when you absolutely must.

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More Scamming

As you know, I have written about this ongoing issue before. However, others do to and we need it. Scams morph and multiply fast and staying informed is a task. Here's a top article by a David Risley who owns and runs PC Mech. A great source of information from a full-time blogger, who, as he says, makes his entire income from the great art of blogging for a living.
Read on at: PC Mech Blog

In the meant time, Season's Greetings and all the very best for 2009.
John