My computer is a Dell from 2001. I'm running Windows ME, and have a Celeron chip in it. Recently Microsoft quit creating patches for ME, iTunes isn't compatible, nor are some other programs I'd like to use. My question is this, Should I upgrade to Windows XP? I can't afford a new computer, and can get the Windows product at a student rate. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Monsoon: Ted Arcidi's gonna drop by. Brain: What a jerk. Monsoon: He's buying dinner. Brain: Oh, that Ted Arcidi. He's a wonderful human being.
What I remember about ME is that it was a terrible OS. At work, we run XP on all our desktop clients. Its a much better OS, and support is readily available. If you can get it on a discount, I would go for it.
The wildcard here is the next version of Windows, Windows Vista, is due out in early 2007. (You can even download a beta version for free that's good till June 2007, though I don't think that's the best option for you..)
If you buy XP, you've got to be okay with having slightly out-dated software in 6 months. Since you've managed this long on ME, that's probably not a big worry, and I think they'll still be making stuff for XP for the life of that computer. If the student discount is affordable, I'd go for it.
I think upgrading is a good idea - as is waiting for Vista, which is just around the corner.
One thing I might suggest is installing something like Ubuntu on your current machine. I have an older tower, I grew very tired of XP, and decided to go with Ubuntu to keep it functional - and I end up using that machine quite a bit.
Ubuntu's install is a snap, and there are guides on how to get things like Java and Flash installed - both of which are very easy to install with some slight modifications.
There's also WINE, which allows you to run some windows applications.
"Oh my God! They have a shit-load of Cockapoo stuff!" -Jennifer's greatest quote... ever.
I would not upgrade that machine. Here's the thing... you can get a new Dell that is better for $279. You are probably paying $100 just to get the OS at a student rate. For $180 more plus shipping you can have two PCs, not go through the hell that is an upgrade installation of Windows, and transfer your files at your leisure with little worry of complete system loss.
That's one of the new Dells with the AMD processor, btw. Good stuff.
With a ME to XP upgrade you would probably want to flatten your hard drive to get NTFS, so that is a complete wipe and install. That means you need to back up absolutely everything and have it ready to reinstall.
Not to keep pushing the linux thing, but I came across this today which talks about MS ceasing support for Win98 and ME, and suggesting linux alternatives. It also breaks down system requirements for a couple of the linux distros:
Originally posted by Guru ZimI would not upgrade that machine. Here's the thing... you can get a new Dell that is better for $279. You are probably paying $100 just to get the OS at a student rate. For $180 more plus shipping you can have two PCs, not go through the hell that is an upgrade installation of Windows, and transfer your files at your leisure with little worry of complete system loss.
That's one of the new Dells with the AMD processor, btw. Good stuff.
With a ME to XP upgrade you would probably want to flatten your hard drive to get NTFS, so that is a complete wipe and install. That means you need to back up absolutely everything and have it ready to reinstall.
Just a quick point, you don't need to wipe the hard drive to upgrade it to NTFS. After doing the upgrade you can use the convert.exe util to do it. Just remember if you do convert to NTFS you can't uninstall XP and go back to ME if something goes wrong.
I'd agree it's probably best to get a new PC, but I would wait until early next year and get one with Vista on it.
I appreciate all the advice. I had no idea I could get a machine for under $300. With a mortgage and kid its tough to find the bread, but after reading this I think getting the 279 job in the near future makes sense. Thanks again everybody.
Monsoon: Ted Arcidi's gonna drop by. Brain: What a jerk. Monsoon: He's buying dinner. Brain: Oh, that Ted Arcidi. He's a wonderful human being.
Thinking of Vista...has anyone given the new OS a whirl? Is it worth looking at or trying? I've been putting some thought into it, but my system specs may be a little low, as I'm running a 1.6 ghz Centrino processor.
I'm running it on a couple of systems now, including a laptop with a 2.8 Pentium 4, 512 RAM and a crappy intel video card. it runs, but it's slow at times and I have to turn off a lot of the cool new features.
In other words, no I wouldn't run it on that system. But yeah it is pretty nice so far. You have to turn off it's obnoxious User Account Control or whatever it's called or every single time you click on anything it gives you a "are you sure" prompt.
Love the sidebar. It definatly does things differently so it takes a while to find the options you want. Either I'm too used to the old way or they've made it a little confusing. Not sure which.
No sir, we dont want no trouble! I shouldve kept in mind that you said you swore off Macs in the 90's. I'm pretty sure they werent working as hard to be compatible with PCs as they are now.