http://www.pcworld.com/article/258752/windows_upgrade_pricing_how_low_will_it_go.html#tk.hp_new
It's tempting but I'm not sure what Win8 will do for me.
Windows Upgrade Pricing
By jvolstad Follow Tue, 3 Jul 2012, 2:35pm 1,085 views 15 comments
In San Antonio TX 78254
Watch (0) Share
Quote
Permalink Like Dislike Viewing Comments 1-15 of 15 Last » See most liked comments
|
jvolstad is moderator of this thread. |
Follow
Befriend (9)
434 threads
4,247 comments
Baltimore, MD
I was going to ask why the fuck you even want Windows 8?
Follow
Befriend (2)
17 threads
443 comments
Reston, VA
It's a good deal. Plenty of reasons to upgrade from Vista or XP for $40, as long as the base OS is as good as 7.
Follow
Befriend (5)
1,070 comments
Santa Cruz, CA
Downgrade to XP, switch to Ubuntu, or buy a Mac already cheapskate.
OK, sorry. So why bother anyway? Seriously you want to give Steve Ballmer $40?
Follow
Befriend
3 threads
2,562 comments
There are people in the world not using Ubuntu? Actually I have an XP laptop hanging around somewhere. I'll dust it off and see if it still boots just for fun.
Follow
Befriend (4)
1,003 threads
1,146 comments
San Antonio, TX
jvolstad's website
zzyzzx says
I really don't. My biggest concern would be some of my drivers and applications on my current laptop.
If Microsoft was smart they would offer the upgrade to Win7 users for free. That might encourage some of the old XP and Vista users to at least upgrade to Windows 7.
Follow
Befriend (17)
785 threads
7,962 comments
Boca Raton, FL
Premium
The article link is down, but here's the Google cache of it:
http://tinyurl.com/85cgagr
Follow
Befriend (17)
785 threads
7,962 comments
Boca Raton, FL
Premium
Operating Systems are becoming ever less important, and there are few new things you want the OS to do. OS's already do everything you would want an OS to do and more.
The real growth in the software industry is in applications, not OS's. As such, I expect all OS's to keep dropping in prices, except, of course, the ones that are already free.
Follow
Befriend (4)
352 threads
965 comments
My XP works great for my stoopid comments.
Follow
Befriend (17)
785 threads
7,962 comments
Boca Raton, FL
Premium
Also running XP x32. Still the best OS even with the 3.5 GB system memory limit and Direct X 9.0c limit.
Follow
Befriend
16 threads
4,426 comments
clambo says
For many many consumers, it just makes much more sense to buy a Mac and get off the up and downs of Microsoft...
I cant say that for corporate customers... frankly MSFT is just screwing up in a major way...
Follow
Befriend (1)
2 threads
342 comments
Sunnyvale, CA
I wouldn't "upgrade" operating systems except as part of a system replacement or it was absolutely necessary for something I needed to run or I was having stability problems.
You're more likely to get new bugs (my machine running Windows 7 periodically gets a black screen, reports that the video driver had stopped responding, and leaves all running Sketchup instances unresponsive. Sometimes it becomes completely unresponsive and needs to be power cycled. When I installed a new Fedora on one machine the fan gradually increased to full speed after booting and stayed that way until rebooted.) than features you care about (I can't name anything that Windows 7 does for me which Windows 98 did not).
Follow
Befriend (17)
785 threads
7,962 comments
Boca Raton, FL
Premium
drew_eckhardt says
1. 64-bit memory space. Windows XP x32 and earlier limit system memory to about 3.5 GB even though they could have supported 4 GB with a 32-bit space. Windows Server 2008 x32 did support up to 6 GB of system memory as long as neither the application space or the OS space exceeded 4 GB.
2. Direct X 10 and later is only supported in Vista and later versions.
3. 64-bit editions of Windows use the 64-bit instructions. So there are some things the OS can do faster. Still, this isn't a very important thing since applications can still use 64-bit instructions on a 32-bit OS and it's the applications that really need the 64-bit instructions. However, if an app is using the Windows API and the OS is 32-bit, then the app will use the slower Win32 API.
There are a few nice things to getting a 64-bit OS, but it's not worth downgrading from XP to Vista or Win 7. Microsoft really screwed up on a number of issues with the later OS's.
1. Adding DRM to the OS.
2. Moving various files around inconsistently and still having a lot of old paths hanging around.
3. Separating 32-bit and 64-bit programs.
4. Requiring people to search for control panels every time they want to use them.
5. UI themes that are less aesthetically pleasing than XP. I'm all for choice, but why can't I choose an XP theme on Win 7?
6. The window frames are uglier and distracting.
7. The shine on the application bar items make the labels hard to read.
8. The re-ordering of application bar items is something that should have been done a long time ago, but they did it wrong. You can only re-order groups of apps, not individual apps. You should be able to re-order both the group and an individual app within that group. This can be done without changing any gestures.
9. Worst of all, Microsoft keeps hiding more and more things with every release of its OS. I want fewer hidden things, not more. For example, I should be able to see every single program that starts up with Windows listed in a single place. And it a program isn't on that list, it doesn't get started automatically. Period.
Follow
Befriend
4 threads
29 comments
ATK's website
we know that Windows 7 was a pretty good OS so there is a 50/50 chance that Windows 8 will work well... we have seen that happen already in the Microsoft life cycle. Windows XP - great, Vista - bad. Windows 2000 - great, Windows ME - bomb
Follow
Befriend (17)
785 threads
7,962 comments
Boca Raton, FL
Premium
Wait, are you saying that the Odd Even Star Trek Movie Rule applies to Microsoft Windows?
Follow
Befriend (9)
434 threads
4,247 comments
Baltimore, MD
Dan8267 says
Yes!