Tony,
People's experience with various Windows operating systems is different because each uses their PC in different ways and have different computing needs. Windows has for years had problems that were never resolved until a new OS was released with it's own set of problems. For years I ran three or four PCs at my house and every year at least one of them had to be reformatted and the the OS plus all the user files reloaded - a real pain in the ass. That is why I now run only Macs and have Windows running on one of them so I can run two program that run only on windows.

As for buying new software - it is a given that about every 5 years Windows makes obsolete things like "office" which forces you to buy new software - nice marketing ploy.

Make no mistake about it, if you must upgrade a Windows OS the new Windows 7 will be your best bet - even if you have to replace some of your software. Another issue that has driven people nuts is really old excel or Word files are not compatible with the newer software - go figure.

Anyway, good luck. I made my living for decades supporting very large Corp networks and teaching high-end router courses, mostly Cisco and Novell, and it I can tell you your problem is an on-going thing that still exists.

Good luck with your choice.

Deane

Staying for a little longer one XP Pro - still using my older apps and am happy. Vista and Windows 7 still have undocumented bugs lol

Also available in Enterprise, or Ultimate editions

Larry,

What you doing on the 4th painting the shed!! and then sit watch it dry

Nice one Larry

Tony,

Don't think we'll be hired to paint a shed on the 4th...or anything for that matter

Our paint crew in action

Well, after due diligence and consideration, the decision was made to upgrade to Win 7 ... I did that Tuesday, then had a heck of a time trying to get Windows Live Mail to function ... spent a couple of hours Wednesday morning in a live chat with a MS support guy who admitted he had no training in WML, but helped me anyway ... bottom line is it is now working ...
Still have a ways to go D/L other software and files, but 'we are on our way' ...

PS ... before I D/L Win 7 the 'on board speakers on the PC were working ... after I D/L Win 7 they are not ... anyone know why?
Eventually I will get my 5.1 sound card on the new PC, but I don't know if I want to try that myself ...

Control Panel, Sound, then make sure the correct output device is set as default.

Hope this helps

Bill

Windows 7 is the best operating system i have ever used (and I have used every version since Windows 2.03). I hated Vista as it broke almost all my programs, I hated the security boxes asking me if I am sure I want to run the program, I hated that hardly any of my hardware worked without hunting for drivers or tweaking existing ones. So I ditched it and went back to XP which was very stable but by the end was so bloated with security patches and updates that it was spoiled.

Tony is right - Vista is fine for first time home users who brought their printer and digital camera at the same time as their Dell computer for £299 at PC world. If you don't need to use older programs or hardware and you only need to check email and download photos from your camera its perfectly fine. But at the time, it was just a nightmare situation for anyone taking care of a companies I.T.