A Facebook friend recently posed this question:
Need advice: Is it worth the $200 and the pain in rear to switch from Vista to 7 when you have dial up? Comments please.
There were 12 comments, which is on the high side for Facebook. That meant, obviously, that quite a few people had an opinion to cough up.
My reply was short and to the point:
No.
First, you don’t need to upgrade unless the new upgrade addresses problems or issues you’re having or the new upgrade offers features you need, or both.
Windows 7 does address many of the problems with Vista. Windows 7 is better. It still has issues, but I can tell you that after using Win7 for a few months now, I prefer it. I’m actually disappointed when I’m on a Vista machine and it doesn’t have some of the features that 7 offers.
Second, the price is just obscene for the upgrade: $200? Is that what Microsoft itself is asking? The full retail price? And is that for the Ultimate upgrade?
The Windows Home Premium upgrade was around $100 last time I checked. I think it was something like $79 or thereabouts at CostCo.
But $200? Heck, just a few dollars more and you can get a new netbook running the absolutely easy and safe Windows XP operating system.
There was also some misinformation in the Facebook comments. On person wrote:
The biggest problem is that you have to wipe out everything on your hard drive and start over, for not too great a gain. Mac is still better!
I agree that the Mac is more stable, and a better choice for most people. Specifically, the Mac is a good choice when you don’t play computer games. (Ha-ha! The PC is still the best gaming platform.)
The other assertion, that you have to “wipe out everything on your hard drive and start over” just isn’t true.
The Windows 7 upgrade is very smooth. It didn’t erase anything on my hard drive, and it effectively passed through all my data, settings, software, and you-name-it. The process was painless.
Perhaps that commenter was referring to previous Windows upgrades, where the recommended procedure for a smooth operation was to zap the hard drive and then start over. Who knows?
When money is tight, I recommend keeping your operating system and computer for as long as you can. I offered up some suggestions in a previous blog post you can read here. Also, when the computer is older, say more than 6 years old, getting a new system with a newer operating system pre-installed is a better choice.
The new layout seems to be cutting some text off at 1024×768 up at the beginning… I see “Need advice: Is it worth the $200 and the pain in rear to switch from Vista to 7 when you have dial”.
So for games, I don’t play too many of them but that doesn’t mean I’m going to shell out $1,500 for an iMac that most likely will just have Windows on it using Boot Camp. A PC is good enough for me.
I’m frequently trying out different operating systems on my computer. From Windows 2000 to Windows 7 and all the others in between, including betas, while Windows 7 may be installed one month, the next may be something like Longhorn build 4074.
I do at least make sure to back up all my stuff on another drive before installing an OS though.
Comment by linuxlove — February 17, 2010 @ 8:32 am
I’m still working on the layout. The problem is time, as I have plenty of irons in the fire right now.
Why aren’t you into games? Games are fun! It’s the only reason I still hang onto my PCs. Well, that and the books I write. :\
Comment by admin — February 17, 2010 @ 9:21 am
mainly because i don’t have much money, so that leaves only two options: pirate it or don’t play it. since i’m not going to pirate games, i just won’t play it. i will play a few games here and there such as skifree or chex quest. there are even times when i just want to play GORILLAS.BAS 😛
i have written a game before using game maker that’s a hard game: ghost diamond. it’s over at http://www.beige-box.com/ghostdiamond.zip so if you want to waste time playing a hard game, go ahead.
Comment by linuxlove — February 17, 2010 @ 10:11 am
Wow! That’s a pretty cool game. It’s the kind of puzzle game I enjoy, too. Thanks!
Comment by admin — February 17, 2010 @ 2:18 pm
No problem and if you want more levels than the five that are already in the game, lemme know and I’ll see about making a new version of the game.
Comment by linuxlove — February 17, 2010 @ 4:19 pm