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Which Operating System is Right for You?
Should You Upgrade Windows?

How-To > PC > ...

Which Operating System (OS) is right for you, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Vista? If you are using something that predates Windows 2000, you should seriously consider upgrading. However, your PC itself, may be too far out of date to be worth the trouble and expense of upgrading, it may be time for a new PC. Most PCs being sold now come with Windows Vista installed.

Windows 98 is no longer being sold and is no longer the most widely used OS. If you are still using Windows 98 and aren't having any significant problems, then you can probably continue using it. As new products are released, they will be less and less likely to run well, or at all, with this now out of date OS.

Windows Me was an interim product released to fill the void between the release of Windows 98 and Windows XP. It was Microsoft's marketing tool to generate sales without heavily investing in a new product. It put a slightly different face on Windows 98 and added a few trivial features. It was not a worthwhile upgrade and in some cases resulted in problems functioning with software already in use.

Windows 2000 was the successor to the Windows NT line. NT is a more sophisticated OS for large businesses and business networks. Windows 2000 is a robust OS that blends the niceties of Windows 98 with the complexity and strength of Windows NT. It is an excellent OS; however it too is obsolete, being replaced by Windows XP and now Windows Vista.

Windows XP, was released in October of 2001, and came in two common versions, Windows XP Home and Windows XP Professional, for home use and business use respectively. A third version called Media Center was available for use with a PC that brings together traditional PC tasks with Home Entertainment systems. It provided controls to enable the use of your PC as a video recorder, DVD player, slideshow projector, game controller and other features in conjunction with your TV and home entertainment system.The XP iteration of Windows stood for nearly six years until it was replaced by Windows Vista.

Windows Vista, was released for home users in January 2007. It comes in a whopping five versions; Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Enterprise and Ultimate. Most home users will be happiest with Home Premium. Upgrading to this platform will be demanding of a PC, especially the memory and the graphics adapter. To determine if your PC meets the requirements of Vista, download a program to scan your PC for compatibility; http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready

As a general rule of thumb, we prefer to purchase a new PC with Vista already installed to upgrading an existing PC. The cost of new PCs make this an attractive option and eliminates the risk of compatibility issues. Furthermore, some of your old software and peripherals may not run under Vista. Because XP is a fairly stable and reliable OS, we don't see a compelling reason to rush to upgrade.

*Update: As of January 2008, some agencies have conducted studies and concluded that it did not provide an adequate benefit for their organization to upgrade to Vista. Some PC manufacturers have begun offering more systems, not less, with the older Windows XP. These are all indications that there is not yet any compelling reason to transition to Windows Vista for most users.

For a comparison of features between the five different versions of Windows Vista, visit this comparison chart.

What about other operating systems like Linux or OS X? Linux is a wonderful OS and it is free. However, Linux is not for the novice; it requires a higher level of PC knowledge to be comfortable with its installation and use. Furthermore, it doesn't support nearly as many software programs as does Windows. OS X is for the Apple platform while this article focuses only on the PC platform.

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