My Final Windows Upgrade

I'm a little slow on the uptake today. While going through a website for a review on my Blog & Article Reviews blog, I remembered that this PC needed to be updated with service pack 3 for Windows XP.

I stopped what I was doing, closed all my open windows and proceeded with the update. Well, at least I tried to do the update. Before I could, Windows Update forced me to upgrade to Microsoft Update (because of my Office software, I suppose) which took well over an hour. Then another hour passed while service pack 3 was downloading and another half of an hour waiting for the installation to be completed.

Even if I'm offered the ultimate Windows Vista edition at a dirt cheap price, would someone please remind me to never buy Windows again?

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hari on 2008-05-12 at 6:57 pm (Reply)

Don't worry, you will be assimilated over time.

Even if you refuse to upgrade for the whole of the next couple of years, it might well be nigh impossible to install XP on newer machines. It's also near impossible to purchase a brand new legal version of XP today so you're pretty much stuck.

Microsoft have a tie up with hardware manufacturers so that they'll never, ever release drivers for older versions of Windows except maybe just the last but one. So if Vista gets popularly adopted, expect a phasing out of XP very fast. I hate Microsoft for these tactics, but there's nothing that can be done about it so long as a majority of the hardware manufacturers kiss Microsoft's arse.

People said they'd never upgrade to XP when it came out, but try getting a Wireless driver for Windows 2000 today and you'll know what I mean.

hari’s last blog post… Don't Fall for Marketing Gimmicks by Papa Hari
2. RT Cunningham | Untwisted Vortex | Philippines on 2008-05-12 at 7:45 pm (Reply)
  
  Unfortunately, I'll have to buy a PC with Linux in mind the next time around. I paid less than $600 for this one, including the monitor and I already had the software from 2001. Some of the doo-dads (like the webcam) probably won't work, but oh well. I won't be needing it after my wife returns.
  
  It's interesting to note that my wife wants her own PC when she gets back. I think I'll get a new PC, put Linux on it and give her this one.
  2. hari on 2008-05-12 at 8:11 pm (Reply)
    
    I am not sure about the "unfortunately" bit.
    
    Linux is just great. Try it out. It has so many free software (FOSS - free in freedom as well as in zero cost) that you'd pay money for on Windows.
    
    Just a few examples are OpenOffice.org and The GIMP. There are tons of examples.
    
    hari’s last blog post… Don't Fall for Marketing Gimmicks by Papa Hari
    2. RT Cunningham | Untwisted Vortex | Philippines on 2008-05-12 at 8:14 pm (Reply)
      
      The "unfortunately" bit is about buying a PC, not about Linux. I've used Unix and Linux in the past, so I'm pretty familiar with it. Getting them to work with up-to-date hardware, now that's a different story.
    3. hari on 2008-05-12 at 8:18 pm (Reply)
      
      I'm sure Linux would work on your existing hardware just as well.
      
      As for your being familiar with Linux, then why aren't you using it now and even thinking about buying Windows?
      
      But if you've used Linux a few years back and you are genuinely worried about hardware support, you'd be surprised at how much progress has been made on the hardware support front.
      
      In fact, I bet some hardware which give trouble on Windows would work pretty neatly "out of the box" in Linux.
      
      Unless you're a gamer, I really see no reason to even consider using windows. (except maybe that you bought some very expensive software that would work only in Windows)
      
      hari’s last blog post… Don't Fall for Marketing Gimmicks by Papa Hari
      2. Ray from Place of Stuff on 2008-05-12 at 11:35 pm (Reply)
        
        What Hari said
        
        Most hardware will work with no real problems with Linux. For your graphics driver and possibly a wireless card (if you use one) you may need a driver from the manufacturer or third party software, but the vast majority should just work.
        
        For example - my laptop works first time with Slackware, Debian, Ubuntu, Kubuntu and others. In Debian and Slackware I had to grab the firmware for my wireless card, but that was painless. On the other hand, I have an external USB DVD/CD writer which needs drivers under Windows and isn't always guaranteed to work. Under Linux it works with no tweaking or configuring.
        
        Unless you need specialist software or have specialist hardware (your webcam may fall into that category) or, as Hari said, are a gamer, Linux should be pretty much fine for you and/or your wife.
        
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      3. RT Cunningham | Untwisted Vortex | Philippines on 2008-05-13 at 1:33 pm (Reply)
        
        No, I'm not even thinking of buying Windows again. Upgrading XP is as far as I'll go and only as long as I need it. Right now, I need it for the Yahoo IM video. After my wife returns, I won't need it for anything.
Lisa from Got No Dough on 2008-05-12 at 9:15 pm (Reply)

I'm afraid the Windows XP days are numbered although Windows Vista still has a lot of issues. I always like to stay one upgrade behind anyhow, because those seem to be the most stable. But they will do everything in their power to force us to upgrade because, after all, they are in business to make a buck. But thanks for the heads up - I was still on SP2 and will also upgrade later today.
Ajith K Punnoose from Software,Windows,Free on 2008-05-13 at 10:53 am (Reply)

I would rather have hardware not function with XP than upgrade to Vista. Also I am planning to build a PC and put only Linux on that. Linux and XP are both favorites of mine.

Why does Microsoft play all these dirty games after producing a bad product. can't they just create some thing that works fine. Atleast we are paying for Vista right?

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