Upgrade time?

[miceormen]

Hey everyone.
I'm still running xp64.. A platform that allows me my stupid amounts of ram and reliable day to day use. But should I upgrade?

I'm running Vista Home Premium on my laptop, but for the most part it seems wholly unimpressive. I don't use either system for anything staggeringly complex; solid and continuous amounts of gaming and basic tinternet / media apps.

Essentially what I'm wondering is if there is any major tech or feature that I'm going to miss out on if I don't upgrade from XP on my main rig any time soon? Obviously I will have to move up eventually given Microsoft's dwindling security updates and patches for XP, but what to? My overall impression of Vista is that its a memory-whore that lacks any obvious performance improvements.

What are the improvements for me (the 'average' user) in Windows 7? Or would I be best once XP finally sinks below the waterline switching to Ubuntu / Sabayon?

I'd appreciate any ideas, but please keep the Vista vs. XP bitching to a minimum - or I'll cut off my nose and spite all of our faces by buying a Mac :O

- Thanks

 

[theheyes]

So long as it gets patched you'll be fine. We're talking more Windows 7 than Vista now anyway. And Vista isn't a "memory whore", it just uses more than XP. The main benefit of Vista/Windows 7 is that its a lot more secure out of the box and includes a lot of improvements in that area. There are other improvement you can find out about with a quick google. Eventually you will have to drop XP but I don't see much point in your situation as long as it is supported.

As for post-XP you have a good amount of choice if you're willing to look past Windows. OSX and Linux are both great. If you want an easier life get a Mac, if you don't mind tinkering try out Linux. No excuse not to try Linux really seeing as its free.