Robert Gammon wrote:

J. Clarke wrote:
Robert Gammon wrote:


J. Clarke wrote:

Corinne wrote:



The ONLY reason I want to replace it is that my machine is eight years
old, but in excellent working condition.

But, I am still using Windows 98 SE and Microsoft is no longer
offering free updates, and I am told this opens me up to viruses, and
I certainly don't want to pass it onto others.

I was told that my machine will not support Windows XP Home Edition.

Can you tell me what I need in a computer in order to support Windows
XP?

Thanks for your help.


Thinking further, you might want at this point to wait another few
months and get a Vista machine--it will have teething problems at that
point (all Microsoft operating systems have problems when first
released) but if you only upgrade when the OS is no longer supported
then you'd do better to start with the newest one than one that is
already four years old.


I disagree. WinXp is the way to go NOW. Get Vista ONLY after the
first or second major fix pack is released. Vista is ONLY for those
that ride the bleeding edge and are willing to put up with the new
release faults when they crop up. In other words, wait a year AFTER
Vista is released before getting the new S/W.


If in fact she is willing to do that.

Corrine is expressing an interest in getting a replacement for her 8
year old Win98 machine. The question in her mind is do it now, or wait
6 months to a year to do it.

Any decent machine you buy new from Dell, HP/Compaq, e-machines....
With WinXP on it is ready to run Vista in its minimum mode. Upgrades
will be needed to get the full experience of Vista as Vista wants more
RAM than most machines are presently sold with.


And she has to buy Vista.

If she wants to go to the Vista experience AT ALL!!! Not everyone will
or should follow the Redmond junkies in lock step with what they put out.

So she goes with XP and in four years instead of 8 it's EOL and she needs to
upgrade and what does she have to upgrade to?

WinXp is now stable. EOL will have little meaning to Corrrine.

Sorry, but she has clearly stated that the reason that she is upgrading is
that 98 is EOL. That being the case, I'm at a loss to understand why you
think that that is not an issue for her.

Virus
writers will soon be turning their attention to Vista. A machine she
buys NOW with WinXP on it will have SP2 installed already. It will run
any S/W she wants to run, surf the internet,... for as long as she wants
to use it. If that happens to run beyond the ROL for WinXP FINE!!!!!
That is still 5 or more years from NOW!

Not the 8 that she got out of 98.

WinXP with SP2 installed is a good platform that will provide you YEARS
of good service before you need/want something else.


But it will be EOLed 4 years or so before Vista.


And I have a 1993 Acura Integra with 240,000 miles on it. I'm keeping
it as the engine still runs fine and I see no need for a new car
payment.


You don't seem to be paying attention to what the OP wrote and trying to
work out the practical ramifications.


I am, She is using Win98 on an 8 year old computer and wonders if she
should upgrade to a newer model. If it aint broke don't fix it. Cars,
Computers are BOTH similar in this regard. Sure the new model is sexy,
sleek, smells good, gets you admiration from your peers....

While I agree that there is no compelling reason for her to upgrade if her
existing machine is working, she has stated that 98 being EOL is an issue
for her, and that being the case perhaps you should consider the
possibility that her concerns are different from your concerns.

Personally I'm running Linux on a PS/2, but I wouldn't recommend that as a
solution to someone else's problem.

The real risk she faces is a hardware failure that loses all data on the
drive. Other than that risk, she can keep running with what she has,
until something breaks, or she succumbs to desire and gets a new
computer with WinXP on it. If she waits a year, Dell HP/Compaq,
eMachines, etc will only be offering machines with Vista on them,

Yes, she can run with what she has until it breaks beyond repair, but that
does not address any of her stated concerns.

--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)