Friday, August 23, 2013

It May Be Time To Upgrade To a Newer Computer

I am using an HP DV5126 which I bought in 2007 (and it was a refurbished model even then).  It is running Windows XP, and to be blunt, I am a bit scared of what is going to happen when Microsoft drops support for XP in April.

But just about everything seems to come with Windows 8.1 now.  I have heard some criticisms.  Is anyone using Windows 8.1 out there?

UPDATE: It does appear that HP has some quad core laptops with Windows 7 Home Premium still.
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8 comments:

  1. DaveAugust 23, 2013 at 11:27 AM

    If I were going to get a new machine, I'd build it with Windows 7. Actually, I built a new machine in January and used Windows 7.

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  2. Nathan MatesAugust 23, 2013 at 12:38 PM

    I have Win8.0 on a scratch box at home to test application compatibility. If you've got a Win8 box, the best thing to do is immediately download and install http://www.classicshell.net/ . 100% free, and gives you a start menu back. As a bonus, the start menu can be styled in XP, Vista, or Win7 look for whatever you want. Not what MS wants for you.

    I've appreciated a number of under the hood performance enhancements and tweaks in Win8 -- process explorer is elegant *and* useful! -- but mixed in are a bunch of horrible UI designs. Making it difficult to shut down from the UI -- something people have been conditioned to do for 18+ years -- is just plain "we know better than you" arrogance.

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  3. MooseAugust 23, 2013 at 2:15 PM

    Windows 8.1 has a number of improvements over 8.0 based on user feedback making it an excellent choice. Also runs better on lighter hardware than Windows 7.

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  4. DavidAugust 23, 2013 at 6:21 PM

    Windows 8 might make sense if your laptop screen was tough sensitive. If not, I'd pass on windows 8 and stick with Windows 7.

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  5. John CunninghamAugust 23, 2013 at 6:28 PM

    a computer store here in cincinnati is still offering their builds in desktops and laptops with Win7. it is Fuller Computers.
    I would also imagine someCS students at Boise State could build a good machine.

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  6. SebastianAugust 23, 2013 at 10:30 PM

    Get yourself a modern PC that has a motherboard capable of running Mac OS X with not much in the way of hacking :)

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  7. MauserAugust 24, 2013 at 1:23 AM

    I built a new desktop from components and I was able to buy Windows 7 on Amazon. Be very careful to NOT get the cheaper "System Builder Edition" because that's a one-shot install. When it registers, it ties itself to one computer only.

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  8. LCBAugust 26, 2013 at 5:44 AM

    Dell also offers Win7 on it's "work" desktops, the Optiplex's.

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