Windows XP Pro OEM for £50

Voyage34

codger wrote:

Scoobie: sorry to disagree, but I worked for years in a large commercial / corporate environment and two of the IT staff were Microsoft Beta testers -- never found out what they actually did or whether they got paid for it, but the upshot with every new Windows release (and I mean, every new release) was their advice not to touch it.

One of 'em said, Windows is like cheese. It needs time to mature.

So our systems were never, ever, migrated to the latest bloatware, regardless of all the hype from Richmond.

Perfectly correct in a large production environment where interactivity with current systems needs to be carefully looked at before any deployment is made (I've done beta testing in corporate environments myself).

However the caveats that apply to using Vista in a corporate scenario can't really be applied to a single person using one PC with the latest OS loaded onto it.

Having said that there's no compelling reason to upgrade to Vista right now. Aside from the upcoming games that utilise Direct X 10 specific routines (and will also need DX10 graphics cards), there's nothing in Vista that you can't really do just as well in XP.

alchemista

Vista scares me with the amount of restrictions they are placing on the computer user, with their intimate DRM, shutting down of operating system functionality if any DRM violations are detected, genuine checks to receive updates, etc. Sorry, but I own my computer, not you Microsoft. This is why I will also hold out with XP (which started the restriction trend) as long as possible, then move on to Linux or another alternative if necessary.

scoobie

codger wrote:

Scoobie: sorry to disagree, but I worked for years in a large commercial / corporate environment and two of the IT staff were Microsoft Beta testers -- never found out what they actually did or whether they got paid for it, but the upshot with every new Windows release (and I mean, every new release) was their advice not to touch it.

One of 'em said, Windows is like cheese. It needs time to mature.

So our systems were never, ever, migrated to the latest bloatware, regardless of all the hype from Richmond.

Where Vista is concerned, I'm still trying to figure out why I'll ever need it anyway? XP Pro works just fine for me (and that was only installed a year ago!)

I'm running Vista now on an old PC and it works fine. I am a Beta Tester too. It's readily available to trial for free for home or business users. My impression as a user is it is a significant improvement on Windows XP. But if the user isn't interested in getting the latest version of an OS, Windows XP would be fine

I'd agree with your response re Beta testers if you are talking about Corporate Users where the enviroment is so much more complicated to support, but this is a home user.

In terms of value for money I guess what I'm saying is pay £50 now for Windows XP, or pay a tenner in a couple of months, because once Vista's out that's all it will be worth. So its worth holding on in this respect alone.

Also, in value for money terms, buy Windows XP now and it will last you say 2 years with support from Microsoft. Vista on the other hand will likely to have 6-7 years support and be future proofed for a similar period (in terms of security releases and updates etc)

More generally, the tv is plastered with adverts for so called bargain cheap pcs and laptops. My prediction is that within a couple of weeks, all these PCs will have dropped in value due to Vista's launch and impact. My advice to anyone is don't buy a PC this January unless it is substantially reduced in price.

kevinwj

scoobie wrote:

In terms of value for money I guess what I'm saying is pay £50 now for Windows XP, or pay a tenner in a couple of months, because once Vista's out that's all it will be worth. So its worth holding on in this respect alone.

So thats why windows 98 still sells for upto £60 for a genuine copy with COA :rolleyes:

£10 in a few months :rotfl:

I might as well give up system building now...;)

.

Voyage34

kevinwj wrote:

If Vista is so good and finished, how come uncle bills lot are already working on its first service pack? :think:

Umm, because no operating system in existence has ever been perfect? I'm writing this on a Macbook - Tiger get's an update around once a month. I used to work with OS/2 (god help me), the so-called Windows NT killer. When I stopped using it the service packs were up to release 26!

It's when an OS provider doesn't start working on bug fixes that you want to start worrying

gjchester

americanv8 wrote:

2 things

1) You cant buy XP OEM without buying hardware to go with it, its against the licensing rules

2) Never trust companies who can't spell!

OEM XP is supposed to be tied to the hard you bought at the time you bought the OS. When the PC that component was in dies then the licence dies too.

Can't imaging it can ever be policed effectivly.

codger

Just a thought: scoobie and voyage ought to have their own column on here somewhere -- that was cracking good advice from both. Thanks! It's just saved me having to wade through Gawd knows how many pages of reviews when Vista eventually hits. Cheers, you two! :beer: