New Lappy??

[621andy]

I'm off to the 3rd world again next week and need a new laptop...now the question is, do I buy one with XP or the new 7:rolleyes:

I've heard good reports about W7 but it's still early days...Every day I spend with Vista is a day spoilt:ugh: So the decision is whether to go back to XP or bite the bullet and go for the new stuff.

I heard W7 described on German TV yesterday as 'Vista without the childhood ilnesses' so there is hope, but is it enough to take the risk?

Heeeelllp!

[Sprogget]

You want next door Andy & seven is good provided your lappy is up to it.

[Buster Hyman]

How much W7 support do you reckon you'll get in the 3rd world?

[M.Mouse]

W7 is Vista underneath the interface but, unlike Vista, actually works as it should. I have been using the Release Candidate (the beta W7) for many months and it is solid, fast and reliable. I do even know of a large company of scientists in the USA who are running their entire office on the RC version!

The reasons it works so well can be explained but would take some time to do so. It is a disgrace that MS released Vista at all. Apart from Windows ME, Vista has to be the worst offering from MS ever.

I would have no hesitation in buying a laptop with it included and have even bought 3 copies via the pre-ordering scheme (excellent value at the beginning) to load on to my PCs.

[RJM]

Forget the PC. Buy a Mac and install an emulator. You'll have the stability of the Unix-based MacOS X, no PC viruses, superb design and more.

I don't sell Macs, but I've used both and I'm convinced that only a rusted on PC fan would stick with PC's.

(Puts on Ned Kelly-style armour)

[Whirlygig]

Personally, I'd stick with XP - better the devil 'n' all that ...

And if you can't get a new lappy with XP loaded, then get a pirate copy and argue the toss with Bill Gates in court as they shouldn't have released such a rubbish product as Vista and you don't want to risk W7.

Cheers

Whirls

[Kelly Hopper]

'Also in the market for yet another lappy but this time it's gonna be as far away from MS as you can get. It's time to take a bite of the Apple as so many peeps these days are doing. I've not heard one bad thing against them (yet!)

[M.Mouse]

I intensely dislike my Apple laptop. Overpriced and very pretty but it has been physically unreliable, the operating system DOES crash and I hate the 'Apple way'.

Fine for people who have no interest or understanding of PCs but I rue the day I took notice of the evangelists telling me they were the best things since sliced bread, they aren't.

[bnt]

'Also in the market for yet another lappy but this time it's gonna be as far away from MS as you can get. It's time to take a bite of the Apple as so many peeps these days are doing. I've not heard one bad thing against them (yet!)

(Psst: http://www.pprune.org/computer-internet-issues-troubleshooting/392362-linux-corner.html) :8

[BombayDuck]

Am I the only person who uses Vista day in and day out and has not had a single problem with it? Granted, I have a decent spec laptop (1.8 GHz C2D and 3 GB RAM) but that is not even remotely uncommon today! And I bought mine around 13 months ago. The only problem I've had was with Zone Alarm which kept knocking out my internet connection, but once uninstalled I've had no trouble! I run it for months without shutting down, use sleep and hibernate modes all the time AND run quite a few programs at the same time (including mathematical analysis software).

I think that Vista SP1 is mature now. Get yourself a laptop and an OEM disk instead of the junk companies that make laptops put on them. And these days many companies are doing a "buy it with Vista today and upgrade to 7 for free" offers, you may want to look into those.

Either way, get a late edition dual core and 3 or more GB of RAM, and as long as you know the software you use runs on the OS you're getting, it's fine. XP won't be patched for too long, with Vista/7 you're guaranteed patches and fixes for quite a few years more.

[Bushfiva]

7's fine, Mac's fine. Personally, I'd go for the OS that supports the apps that make me money. But if you just want to stay in touch with the world, consider a netbook such as a Dell 9, 10 or 10V. If you want a cheap, netbook-like device but want OS X, consider a Dell 9 or 10V: OS X installs nicely (but not on the 10). Forget XP. It's wonderful, but it's history. There are also major-yet-niche brands out there: NEC make outstanding semi-rugged stuff but are useless at telling anyone about it. I'm on a Kohjinsha SC3 right now which is way worse practicality-wise than a netbook, but way more interesting.

Re "how much support will you get with W7 in the third world?": well, lots, actually. People don't get thicker the closer they are to 3 than 1.

[seacue]

There is a sad tale of woe on the computer forum. YMMV

http://www.pprune.org/computer-internet-issues-troubleshooting/344358-c-apbook-pro.html

[OFSO]

Despite having a 1Gb WiMax fed desktop at home, a Palm in the pocket, and a number of other machines, if I were reduced to just one I'd pick my Acer Aspire One netbook every time. Only disadvantage is short battery life. But do everything on the Cloud so you don't need masses of storage space, and the Acer (running a version of Linux, BTW) wins every time. Brilliant device

[Standard Noise]

I'm off to the 3rd world again next week

Go to London often do you?

[ChristiaanJ]

IIRC from another forum, you need to save just about everything from a PC with XP, and then re-install and reload after installing Windows 7.

So on a new PC it may well make more sense to install Win 7 straight away, and start to live with it, rather than sticking with XP and then having to go through all that nausea at a later date.

Even more so, since most comments about Win 7 seem to be much more positive than they were about Vista at the time.

CJ

[Rollingthunder]

I've been told to buy an Apple when current lappy dies.

Otherwise, wait one year for windows 7, get XP.

[Evanelpus]

And if you can't get a new lappy with XP loaded

Don't think you can buy a lappy with XP as standard anymore, well, we couldn't find one back in July. Had to settle for Vista and 'er indoord can't get on with it.

[Sprogget]

There is no reason to wait for Windows 7 to be rectified, it works now. I've been running the final retail release of 7 ultimate for two months & no problems. Prior to this, I had every beta from 6596 to 7022, all told about eight builds of 7, all without problems.

XP is the best o/s Microsoft ever built but it's long in the tooth now, needs extensive patching to work correctly & safely & won't be supported a second longer than MS can get away with.

You can readily find people whining that their fifteen year old Olivetti dot matrix isn't supported, but for the rest of us moving with the times, there will be no problems.

[bjornhall]

Am I the only person who uses Vista day in and day out and has not had a single problem with it?

Nope, one more here. Use it at work (major corporation all on Vista) and on one of the computers at home, works fine, love it! :) Still use XP on other home computers, but only 'cuz I don't feel like paying for Vista licenses when XP is still working.

I would stay well clear of W7 for a good while! Even if the operating system itself is fine, I'll happily let someone else sort out how to get all the other programs I use to work properly with W7.

I think the main reason Vista has always worked great for me is I went nowhere near it for the first six months.

[Capetonian]

I am a Luddite with computers.

I wanted a new laptop and desktop but was not prepared to buy one with Vista, so I hung on to my XP machines. The laptop was recently upgraded to W7, it's not an easy upgrade but I was determined to avoid Vista. I had it done by a pro and it went fine, unfortunately I have to keep it as dual boot as I have one application which will only run on XP, but when I switch between XP and W7 on the same machine, I can see how much faster and more stable W7 is. Way to go, at least for me.

I believe that you can now buy machines with W7 and if so, that's what I'll be doing next week.

[Mostly Harmless]

Use Linux.

[Desert Diner]

I am with Bombay Duck on this one,

I have Vista on one laptop and have had no problem (also have 1.83G C2D and 4G RAM).

Now the other Laptop on XP seems to only be crawling along (1.83G C2D but with only 0.5G RAM:uhoh: there is not much I can do about that)

[621andy]

Thanks everyone:ok:

I basically got a very good deal on a cheap'n'cheerful Samsung Lappy with W7 on it. I'll report back on how it goes....;)

[621andy]

Well, first impressions are very good:ok:

Everything(except my PS Elements) has moved across seamlessly.

The only hiccup is that MS Photo Editor doesn't seem to want to open all JPGs. Not really a problem as I've got other progs, but an annoyance nevertheless:hmm:

[M.Mouse]

Capetonian, all W7 editions except 'Home Premium' will run programs which will only run in XP in what is called 'XP Mode'. I believe it is similar to running Windows as a 'virtual machine' on a Mac using Parallels. i.e. you have a program which allows you to run a different operating system which you then use to run your application aka a virtual PC. In the case of W7 a virtual XP machine is included.