Microsoft XP - Should You Upgrade?
Microsoft will soon be releasing their new operating system, called XP. This will be accompanied by a great deal of advertising and promotion aimed at getting you to buy the new system. Should you?
Before making this decision, be sure you understand what XP is and what it does.
First, XP will come in two versions, the home (less expensive) version and the professional (more expensive) version. If you now have Windows 95, 98, or ME you can upgrade to either version. If you now have NT or Windows 2000 you can only upgrade to the professional version. In any case, once you upgrade, it will be extremely difficult to go back to what you are using now.
Most small businesses currently use Windows 98 or ME. These systems support individual users and small networks. Major negatives are that security features are poor, the systems crash or lock up sometimes, and they may not support some future hardware or software. Big pluses are that they are inexpensive, run on smaller machines, are easy to configure and maintain, and run most old DOS and Windows programs.
Microsoft says the new XP has the following pluses: It is more stable (crashes less), supports high security features and large networks, integrates very well with other Microsoft products, and is specifically designed to function well on the Internet.
Reviewers have cited the following big negatives: It requires larger hardware, is more complicated to setup and maintain, is more expensive (you MUST buy a copy for every machine), will require more fixes and patches (at least initially), will not run most DOS programs and many older Windows programs, and makes it more difficult to use non-Microsoft software (for example, Real Networks, AOL, Kodak image).
Our general advice to individual and small business users is:
- R. S. Kulzick - 08/05/2001 -