Topic: Operating System

[Peggy]

Just curious about who uses what operating system.
I'm not taking over Sarah, I promise!
Hugs! Peg

[Patty S]

Thanx for starting this poll, Peggy. At this point, it looks like I'm the 3rd one to participate... I think the first two were Jim & Dianna.

It'll be interesting to know what other people are using, although I'll be surprised if very many members besides Patti & I are hanging onto Windows 98.  I make no secret of the fact that I hate Windows XP (which I also have, but only use for photos & backup). I'm enjoying getting old, so I've joined the ranks of those who resent adjusting to change!

Shelly (Rochelle - AKA Lili's Mom) has Vista, but I wasn't very impressed with it when I saw it, while she was visiting. I can't "vote" for her, but will ask her to stop in when she slows down after the holidays, & put her 2 cents worth in. (By the way, thanx too, for spending so much time cleaning up her laptop while she was here, & teaching her some of the ropes of her OS... and for getting the much needed Ad-aware program installed for her!)  

I'm not taking over Sarah, I promise!

Hey, don't worry about stepping on toes. The moderators take on parts of the board, simply for "moderating" purposes, but having our names listed in certain forums doesn't necessarily mean that we're "in charge", other than monitoring posts to make sure things are running smoothly & that everyone is "behaving".   Starting new topics & contributing is everybody's job here, so if there's a forum that peaks your interest, or if you have something that others may enjoy or benefit from, have at it!

[Peggy]

This will be an interesting study in statistics, I wish my kids were watching this!!!  Cause right now, it looks 98 users are about 1/3 of the crowd here.  That will change.  I would not be surprised to see the number up around 5% by the end. You'd be surprised at the number of folks who do hang on. 

I, too, fought XP at first.  But, then I really fought Win 95. I found it very hard to give up the command line.  And, I also fought the idea of a computer at all at first.  I highly resented the computer until I realized what a great tool it was.  (That is a story unto itself)

Once you get to know XP, and understand it's underpinnings, it's really hard to go back though.  It's not Windows 98 version 4 as many people pronouced early on.  It's another form of Windows 2000 that is tweaked for the home user.  Windows 2000 has countless servers running with it, even now! It is an incredibly stable OS (ah, you know for a microsoft thing).  XP, in good shape, is darn near as good. 

The one thing that has to be understood, is that all computers will give you problems, on a semi-regular basis (specially with adware, malware, spyware, viruses, ETC.).  The best you can do is educate yourself, run the preventative applications, and/or find someone  you trust to help you through those times. 

I'm glad I got to spend some time with Rochelle, and Lily.  I really wanted to scoop that baby up and just kiss her!  But, I had germs I knew I couldn't pass on to that innocent kid!!!    Your kids are great people, and I look forward to getting to know them all better.

Now, for all you Mac people out there, and Linux, too... I'm not saying your OS isn't any good.  In fact, Mac is probably better, and Linux is another really, REALLY stable platform. But, the fact is that most folks uses a Microsoft product. 

Merry Christmas!!! Hugs, Peg

[Jim]

I edited the poll slightly in the hopes that a few more folks will wander in and participate.  I'm really curious how many folks are using Vista?  This way the XP users are split out from the Vista folks. 

So come on in and vote.  Some very interesting info Peg has provided.

[patches]

I'll be surprised if very many members besides Patti & I are hanging onto Windows 98.  I make no secret of the fact that I hate Windows XP (which I also have, but only use for photos & backup). I'm enjoying getting old, so I've joined the ranks of those who resent adjusting to change! 

Yep, I do have Windows 98, but not totally by choice!  Actually, I had XP shortly after it came out because it was recommended by a friend who serviced computers.  Well, I loved it and had NO problems with it, until my computer crashed BIG time!!!  Long story short, the same friend said that all his companies who were using XP experienced the same problem I had, so he suggested taking it off and he installed Office 2000.  It was okay, but I didn't really like it, then when that computer bit the dust one of my friends gave me this one with Windows 98 and this is what I'm stuck with for now.  Patty, I guess you and I joined the same ranks, because I'm really resenting all the changes that have been going on, and I don't like adjusting to changes either.       

[Jim]

  We have more votes now than when I edited the poll. 

I'm curious as to what specifically about XP you didn't or don't like and has anyone had any nightmares with Vista?

[patches]

Actually, once I got used to the XP program, I can't recall anything that I didn't like about it.   

[jv]

Of my three computers one is win 95 (use it mainly for games) the other 2 are XP had a friend that had Vista she finally gave it back as it was acting up all thge time and always a tech out to see  what he could do. So if I get another one I will make sure t has Linux or I wont buy it I am sick and tired of MICROSOFT ALWAYS messing with thinggs liek updates that are worse then what I had.

[sunsoaker]

I am running XP on mine, but to just look at it, you'd think I had 98 on it.  I have the desktop set to look like 98 - even on my PC at work.  I was hesitant to move to XP myself as 98 was fairly stable compared to 95.. though I would get the "blue screen of death" every couple of weeks. Yet, it never totally crashed and I never actually lost anything.  When I finally gave in to XP, I took the time to figure it out. I've never looked backed.  I have never gotten the "blue screen of death" with XP.  I very rarely lock up. When I do, it's ctrl/alt/del to choose the program I think is the offender and close it. Then the PC frees back up and I can reboot properly.  I fought XP at first, but now I wouldn't go back.

[Jim]

I do the same thing.  All my settings are the "classic" look. 

I was like Peg in that I didn't want to give up my DOS prompt.  Windows was something that I thought was boring and it wouldn't last long.  Shows you how much I know.

I migrated to Windows95, then Windows98.  I saw that same blue screen lots with 98.  I saw it so much that I even went to WindowsME.  Boy was that a mistake.  As soon as XP released the first service pack, I jumped on it and have loved it ever since.  I did have a few blue screens a couple of years ago but that was because I had a DIMM going bad, replaced that and haven't seen those dreaded blue screens any more.

XP does require a good amount of memory to run effectively.  Dianna had a little emachine that was really slow and just by maxing out the memory it practically doubled in speed.

[Triss]

I just got Vista a few weeks ago and am loving it so far.  I also loved my XP once I got used to it.  The switch from XP to Vista has been a lot easier than the switch from 98 to XP.

[Hillhound]

I've used '95, '98 and XP at home, 2000 and NT4 at work, I wouldn't swap my XP for any of them.

XP is almost NT5 if anything.

I too use the "Classic" look throughout and certainly does all I want it to.

I am probably looking for a new machine later this year and am dreading having to try Vista, the few times I've had a play with it using the built in screen reader it seems very sluggish to what I'm used to, and if I have to go to Vista I also have to upgrade my regular screen reader at a cost of £295ish [almost $500] which is another bug bear!

As Microsoft keep bringing out the new platforms all they seem to have done nowadays is add more "bells and whistles" anyway.
 

[sunsoaker]

Hi John!!  When you are ready to buy, if I am not mistaken, you order a Dell and choose to have XP instead of Vista on most, if not all, of their systems.  I guess they "heard" the backlash from users objecting to being forced into a new operating system just because they needed/wanted an upgraded PC. Not sure if there is a difference in price for the option of having XP but at least the option is there.

[Jim]

Barb is right, John.  There are several companies that are now offering new machines with XP or Vista.  The ones I have looked at from Dell are no additional cost for the Home version.  They do ask for additional monies for the Professional version though.

Most of the computers we have at work are Windows 2000 machines.  All of our new ones are Dell and recently the desktops are being replaced with XP Pro instead of 2000. 

Later this year I will be in the market for a laptop for my ham shack and it will be a Dell with XP.  I'm not ready for Vista yet.

[patches]

I don't know what happened to one of the votes for Windows 98 because when I voted the other day there were two votes and now there is only one. 

[Hillhound]

Hi John!!  When you are ready to buy, if I am not mistaken, you order a Dell and choose to have XP instead of Vista on most, if not all, of their systems.  I guess they "heard" the backlash from users objecting to being forced into a new operating system just because they needed/wanted an upgraded PC. Not sure if there is a difference in price for the option of having XP but at least the option is there.

Thanks for the info Barb and Jim! well worth knowing. I'm not looking yet but will certainly search around once I am.
I will be scrapping a machine with XP on it and I believe you can transfer the licence to a new machine under certain circumstances.... I have the original software on CD. Have you heard of this?
Cheers!

[Jim]

@ patches - I reset the votes when I edited the poll.  Since that time there has only been one vote for Win98.

@ Hillhound - Yep, you can transfer the license only if it is a retail license.  If the license is an "OEM" license it is "married" to the machine that you purchased it with, even if you have the installation disk.  The process of installing the retail license copy on the new machine will invalidate the previous installation.

[Patty S]

Jim, when you said that you "edited the poll slightly", you didn't mention that you RE-SET it, so those of us who had already participated in the poll needed to do it again!  

[Jim]

Once the poll closes, and it had, you can't edit it without resetting all the votes.  If I had edited it before then I could have without affecting the votes.  Didn't take folks long to realize it was back at zero and they needed to vote again.  Now we just need Peg to come along and do the analysis!