Should I rush to 7 or wait?

I recently purchased a netbook after much internal struggle. I carefully weighed the pros and cons of buying, should I wait for the newest windows (a highly anticipated and well-received OS) or should I give into the 8 year old inside me who just wants it now... Well needless to say the 8 year old won and I'm posting from my new netbook as we speak.

I still love good 'ol XP and the netbook runs really well and has surpassed my expectations (especially after I bumped up to 2 gb of ram). So my question is should I exercise my right to a 30 day exchange when the 7 netbooks come out or should I stick to my proven set-up which I am currently happy with? :confused

 

if youre happy with what you have, then stick with it... i dont think youll be "happier" with 7 than you are with xp in my opinion.

 

Two years ago I would have said stick with XP. But for a brand new machine I think you should get the Win7. New software will be written for Win7 and driver updates will all be Win7 centered. I haven't seen any downside when switching to Win 7 and there are a few navigation improvements. The only reason I could see to stay with XP is if you had particular software that might be difficult to transition but usually this is only a business concern.

I can't say much about long term stability but since Win7 copies the whole installation disc to HD and keeps it there, any repair procedures should be relatively easier with no need for recovery console of third party discs.

I had no interest in Vista because everything was running fine on my XP but I have to say I like Win 7, don't notice any slowdowns and don't have any regrets on switching.

 

I have to agree with sach2. XP, as good as it is, is outdated. Moving to W7 is real easy and you already have 2GB, which is just fine.

 

Sadly, I have to work/deal with XP every day at work. Though, I'm loving server 2008 R2. But, at home, I'm running 7.

 

Win 7 certainly looks and feels good, but a bit of forethought is still advisable. I've been running the RC and Vista on my main PC, and it's just as well I tried the RC because I can't get the Vista drivers for my TV subsystem to work in 7.

I certainly wouldn't want to lose my TV, and as I love the PC (and Vista too), it could be a long wait.

 

That's a rarity as there are not many drivers that need updating between Vista and 7. Hopefully your TV card maker will have updated drivers soon. Even so, since you love your machine and Vista then there's no point in going to 7 eh?:-D :cool

 

If you like what you have, stick with it. I've read reports that netbooks will come with win 7 starter edition. I don't know if this is true or false
http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/shots_starter.asp
but if you purchase a netbook and discover it is starter edition, you might not be happy.
It will cost $80 to upgrade
http://store.microsoft.com/microsof...Home-Starter-to-Home-Premium/product/83D7A62A
and the cost of an external DVD drive to install the upgrade.

 

At this point I think I will stick with XP. I don't like the thought of starter being on the machine (and I do believe you're right about that) plus I can't afford to invest another $80 for the upgrade software. I have played around with 7 a bit at work and though it is a very decent OS, I don't think it's worth the extra $80. Besides I think that XP compatibility will be a priority for software designers for at least a couple more years.

On a side note anyone else mildly frustrated with the fact zero netbooks were eligible for the free upgrade? I even looked at one with vista on it however it was basic edition and what do you know... not eligible.

 

I'm running XP, no problems at all. Win 7 seems great, but not gonna try right now. I remember when I upgraded my Microsoft office 2003 to 2007, I can't deal with the Excel at all. So kind of afraid of change.

 

I must be really unlucky then Augie, because in addition to my TV problem above, I now find my Epson flatbed scanner has a problem too. Driver appears to install, but Devices and Scanners says it has a problem. Works fine in Vista.

 

Take that back - scanner sorted :-o

Oh wow, I'm feeling like a really happily married bloke with lovely kids who has met a woman he just can't resist. I think I'd better unload the 7 RC and get back home to Vista before the inevitable happens :cry

 

Meh, $80 for starter edition? Fahgeddabouditt! Ya, stick with XP.

 

People seem to always forget about that about XP. Though, I'm sure those who remember going from windows 98se to xp, sure remember.

 

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I'm going to be reinstalling XP on one of my drives sometime today - fedex is dragging its axles... However. if you're sure you'll be going to 7 sometime in the future, you can take advantage of any of the current deals on it and install it later.

.bh.

 

Completely unrelated question is there a application that makes a linux usb install simple like this one does with 7? I tried to follow the steps from an online tutorial but I've never really used linux before and it wasn't working for me.

 

Look for unetbootin and pendrive linux.