Pros and cons updating to Windows 7

BillAllen55

Posts: 363   +0
Hi,

I'm a long time user of Windows XP home version. I've used XP for about 10 years.
I'm currently a college student and have the opportunity of getting Win 7 at a very reduced rate. My question is this: what are the pros and cons of updating to Win 7?
Is it likely I will have driver issues? Will the Win 7 ultimate provide all of my office programs that typically come from the MS office suite? What would be recommended for the student user? Please don't refer me to the Windows website where there are sadly lacking descriptions of the new OS.
Hope that is not too many questions put together in one post.

Thanks
 
I was the same a few weeks ago. I actually keep my home edition on a seperate boot, just in case i decide to go back...Truth is, i aint gone back yet.

I suppose my pros would be: More smooth (desktop, icons), Windows aero is great, more secure overall, better support with updates, I'm liking IE8 (but most people go for firefox or chrome)..and more support for hardware straight off the bat (no cd install for most stuff), I aint really had any driver issues apart from my webcams.

My Cons:......Two of my webcams don't gel with windows (won't install right) and it's more ram hungry than xp, although this is understandable. I also prefer not to play major games using win 7 (because win 7 takes alot of ram), My ultimate didn't come with office programs.

My conclusion: I prefer win 7 way over xp, but i do like an xp on another hd just in case.
 
Windows OS will not include Office - those are two completely seperate and things and the Office suite costs more than Windows in most cases.

Driver issues are going to depend on the age of your hardware - there is a tool on the MS site for determining any issues you might have upgrading - though I can't comfortably recommend doing the upgrade from XP. I suggest a fresh OS install so you don't carry over your old problems to your new OS. This means you'll have to install your apps again including Office. BTW - you didn't get Office with WinXP either.

If your hardware is that old that you've been running XP on it for several years I would suggest holding off on the OS upgrade. Many people complained about Vista because of performance, but what I always saw was people trying to run the OS with super old P4 and Celeron procs complaining that the new OS ran slow with their 6 year old processor. Not sure why people would think the much newer OS would take fewer resources to run but still do a lot more.
 
Windows OS will not include Office - those are two completely seperate and things and the Office suite costs more than Windows in most cases.

MS Office over here in the UK can be as much as £500!...Very shocking from Microsoft.
 
If you are planning on using your computer on campus, what does your college recommend for hardware, that is the question of the hour?

If you have used XP home on that computer for ten years, you had better stay with it. W7 probably won't have enough RAM to be happy 10 year old computers were lucky to have 128MB RAM. It would be good to have 4GB for windows 7. If you are considering a new comp-uter then definitely go with the 64-bit version which allows more RAM than the 32-bit version which is standard.
I bought a cheapo notebook for my wife with Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit. It boots in ten seconds and shuts down just as fast, amazing compared to XP or 98.
If you own MS Office Suite (any Version) it will probably run fine on either OS.
If you do not have MS Office then Open Office is a free alternative.
 
Ultimately, it's a matter of preference, but before you upgrade, I recommend that you download and run the free Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. It helps find potential issues with your computer’s hardware, devices, or programs that might affect installing Windows 7, and gives recommendations on what to do.
 
It's all a matter of opinion. I have been running XP Pro since it came out and love it. I have heard from some friends that hate 7 and switched back.
 
Back