Computer OS question

[VeloVT]

I'm no expert, but I agree with staying away from Vista. If you get a MAC, which is what I have, you will need a partition running Windows in order to install/run any of the software you are using on your old PC. MAC won't run any of it and chances are you won't be able to find a version of your software made for the MAC. If you're on a budget, probably Dell has the best prices for what you get and if your tech friend should be able to set you up similar to your current P.

I think Mac is still behind the curve in compatibility with training software (Garmin, Polar etc), but it's just not true that "chances are you won't be able to find (most of the software you run on your PC) for Mac." Most (though not all) popular software is available for Mac. I have MS Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint etc) on my Mac, I know you can get Adobe suite for Mac, you can get Internet Explorer for mac (although I can't imagine why you'd want to use IE if you could use Firefox, Opera etc instead). I'm sure there are some technical/specialized software packages that aren't available in Mac versions, but that's what boot camp/parallels/etc are for -- and if you're mostly just puttering around with word processing and email/web, then it's not likely to be an issue.

Edit: look -- Garmin finally has Mac software: http://www8.garmin.com/macosx/. So no need to partition/run dual OSs for that.

[Tuckervill]

I switched from a PC to a Mac last September. One software that is better on a PC is Quicken. If you use Quicken extensively as I do (I've been using it since '92), you will not be happy with Quicken for Mac. Thus, I used Boot Camp and set up a partition to run Windows programs. It really sucks!

Karen

[OakLeaf]

In that vein... you still do have to buy a copy of Windows, but I've been running XP Home under Parallels on my Mac. It's fairly seamless and you don't have to re-boot into Windows as you do with Boot Camp. Supposedly VMWare Fusion is even nicer, but I've never tried it.

Besides the fitness software, there's no good mapping software for Mac. DeLorme StreetAtlas and Microsoft Streets & Trips ... unfortunately neither of them does everything, so you may need them both, but neither of them has a Mac version.

Garmin Training Center has a Mac version. It's not identical to the PC version, and actually I use them both. Both are free. SportTracks runs fine under Parallels. My Canon G9 came with a disc that has both Windows and Mac software. Printer drivers are free downloads. If you want to print wirelessly from Mac, you have to jerry-rig it with some printers, but the software is free and very stable.

DH is mostly a PC guy, but he's a semi-pro photographer, and bought a Mac last year just for his image processing. He says there's a significant advantage. He also just got a new laptop with Vista. With that one, he's having trouble printing wirelessly to his Epson printer, and Epson says it's not compatible with Vista, but other than that, no problems.

[Cataboo]

Skip vista. Either run windows XP or wait for windows seven.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2341805,00.asp


I'd avoid a mac, but that's me. Some people seem to love them. I hate them with a passion And you'll end up spending more.

Yes, if you are no longer using your old PC, you can use your old windows XP disk & license - you just can only have it installed on one computer at a time (you can't have 2 computers connecting to microsoft update using the same windows xp copy & serial #)

Depending on what your old computer is vs. your new one, you may be able to just take your old harddrive out of your old computer and plop it into the new one instead of ghosting it or reinstalling. And then use the new harddrive as a 2ndary harddrive for more storage.

Depending on the age of some of your accessories (printer, garmin) - there may not be drivers for them that support using them in vista. You should check that specifically.

My little brother does run vista on two computers - and while he seems reasonably happy with it... it's been in a HUGE pain in my *** when I have to trouble shoot the computers when something really screwy happens on them, which tends to happen. The computers are also significantly slower than they were when they were running windows xp... So if you're going to buy the fastest newest computer - bogging down it's speed with a bloated operating system isn't quite how you're going to maximize it's potential.

[Over50Newbie]

I teach computers and I HATE VISTA!

Every time we get a pre-loaded computer that has Vista on it, we reformat it immediately with Windows XP.

Lynette

[7rider]

Hmmm....sounds like the battle still rages on Vista.
Thanks, all...and thanks Cat....it's helpful to know I may be able to transfer my XP os. Yes, I would probably send this old junker off to recycling or something (or...it will just end up in a box in the furnace room like DH's old p.c. ). This thing has a 20 GB hard drive, plus a larger extra one for storage. That second one I'd move over....the small one is useless at this point.
Looks like I've got some homework ahead of me.....
Thanks all.
Oh...and KD..."Lunch Legs" is a term my friends and I use in skiing to describe the rubbery state of our legs after we take our lunch break. Ski strong, all morning long. Take a break....and the legs just don't work the same. You be suffering from "lunch legs." Kind of describes me lately....out to lunch and just not up to snuff.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

For what it's worth-

Assuming that Windows 7 is going to be an improvement over Vista...
I have read from Windows 7 beta testers that it's substantially more of a PITA to upgrade a PC from XP to Windows 7, that's it's way easier to upgrade a machine from Vista to Windows 7. Something to keep in mind perhaps.

[smilingcat]

bit late...

+1 about skip Vista.

If you want to transfer XP onto a new computer with new motherboard, new hard drive... you will need to call microsoft and transfer the license onto a new computer. You can do this only so many times 3 or 4 times. Other issues are not pertinent to you so not worth talking here. Oh and you taking your old hard drive with XP and installing into a new machine will not allow you to run XP. There is a minor thing called registration (XP keeps track of your hardware and its setup). If you change enough of it, XP no like and will tell you so.

Increasing the memory capacity of your old computer may give you what you want. 7 year old computer may be using a hard drive interface called ATA-100/133 this is lot slower than SATA. Slower transfer from your hard drive will slow your machine down.

Memory in your older machine may be using an older memory sticks. Again, its transfer speed is much lower than the newer ones like DIMM2s.

And finally, the processor is not duo-core.

XP will support the newer hardware but it may not take full advantage the hardware on the down side. The upside is its still better than VISTA. XP will run much faster on a newer machine. And be sure to have at least 2Gbyte of RAM, and preferably 360G hard drive or bigger. Check prices on newegg.com for cheap complete computers.

LINUX is something I would not recommend unless you have a special need or tech savvy. There are things like VMware which allows you to emulate XP machine and run just about all XP based software. There is also WINE which runs on LINUX to do the same thing. And several more. VMWARE is probably the easiest. and its also free. I have VMWARE on my office computer and it runs just as fast as native XP machine.

I have a special need so I run MANDRIVA LINUX. Another nice one is UBUNTU, and several other releases. With Linux you do have to pay attention to the hardware you want to addon/purchase since it may not be supported. So for you, I would stay away from LINUX.

Stay with XP. and stay away from blunt/bleeding edge of technology. Wait for windows 7 to mature a bit.

I run XP only when I have to. I don't bother with VISTA. and MAC is good. I know several people who swear by them. All of them are way beyond geeks and know how to recompile a OS release from source code. They are GODS! And another one who has a hackintosh. (don't ask what that is). And she too being a GOD, loves her hackintosh. I'm not even a demi-god so I stay with Linux. oh I think you can google hackintosh. TMI

smilingcat