Quoting reply #18 (If they are that old they need emulators....why use XP then?

Win 98....95....heck use the C64 if nostalgia is your thing.)

Neither my C-64 or Atari 800 will support my 42" big screen and I can't see well enough to enjoy a smaller screen these days. I have emulators that run both as well as consoles like the 2600 through the Playstation 2 all in one neat package. But the main reason is every time they make a new version of windows, they make it harder to hack it to where I'm comfortable with it. The new version of explorer sucks as does the search for files. You mention win 98 and I preferred it to XP because I could move the hard drive to a completely different machine and it would boot up and configure to suit the new hardware as well as the ability to put the windows directory in a big .zip file to back up the OS. I didn't switch to XP until Service Pack 2 and wouldn't have then if not the 135 gig hd limit (or whatever it was).

 Quoting reply #19 (The point that no one has pointed out is the newer hard drive tech would increase the speed over an old drive on XP by about 20%.

That woud be reduced by 10% because of the block size.

End result: By replacing a 5 year old drive on an XP machine with the new tech, you would still see a performace increase of 10%.)

I'm sure eventually, some where down the road, I'll be forced to upgrade, but for right now, XP does what I want it to and I see no reason to learn to live with another OS until then. I'm currently checking out Sun's VitualBox software to see if it works well enough to satisfy my needs for multiple windows operating systems and it's looking pretty good so far. I want to run the computer version of Final Fantasy 7 and 8 and Breath of Fire 4 and Win 98 works best.

Nope.... cos he's so durned good at it!  It's his condition, you see... gives him a clear head-start over everyone else.

About the only people who come anywhere near close are Mac/OS-X fanbois... but that's only because Steve (Mr. Smug) Jobs has them brainwashed... into actually believing Mac stuff is far superior because: "We at Apple invented it"

Thing is, Webgizmos didn't need brainwashing!  Nope, he's a self-made man... and his psychosis is all his own work.

Um, there is one good reason to upgrade sooner... rather than later.  In our latter years (and I'm assuming with a 35 y/o son that you're in yours) our minds aren't as sharp as they once were... the longer you leave it the steeper the learning curve.

Then there's that "bugger it, I forgot what I just learned yesterday" feeling I know so well.  That's why I get in early with the betas of new OSes.... to get in a year of learning to be at the same place as the youngsters are the day after it comes out.

Well that pretty much puts the whole thing into the "Well, No Worries Then" catagory doesn't it?

Interesting, my Father who was a casualty of said war would never have called a discussion by people of free will's, drivel. Infact he would have been proud to have fought for thier right to do so in a civil manner.

dern double post

I put XP back on my older 320 GB WD hdd today.  I've been having some problems with Win7 and decided to take a break from figuring it out.  I fogot how much I actually like XP.  Not saying it's better than Win7, just that I do like it for some of the things it does.  Specifically, I can use some of my favorite WB's on it that haven't been updated for Win7 yet.  And I wanted to try out the new Plasmatron, which is awesome btw.  Yay for XP.

Bullshit!!  You did it to better relate to Webgizmos.

See!  Next you'll be ranting: "XP is ALL I ever wanted, needed and will ever...blah, blah, blah!!" just like him as well.  I mean, that little piece above was quite tame, but I can see it, if you don't get back to Win 7 as a matter of great urgency, that you and he will be having competitions to see which one of you can write the best XP rant in WC forum history.

No.  I like Win7 much better.  Which is why I put this on a wholly separate HD.  I don't even want XP residing on the same HD as my Win7 one.  I don't like the idea of it.  Sitting there.  Pretending to be on it's own partition.  Leaking into the other one behind my back.  Nope. Do. Not. Want.

For now, XP is being used.  But I'll tire of it's dependability soon I'm sure and I'll put the Win7 one back in...maybe.

What is XP?

its the energizer bunny of OS's...it just keeps going and going and...

7 aint bad except for all the white unskinnable areas.Still,for all the 7 users that seem to think EVERYONE should use what they use...(same thing happened when Vista came out)...I still havnt heard a single reason why someone on an older machine NEEDS to upgrade.

I currently run all 3,all tweaked,all skinned and running the same exact programs.XP uses less ram,fewer processes and less hard drive space.

So someone please tell me...whats the reason I NEED to actually prefer 7 to XP?

The superbar?Its OK,kinda weird...too tall tho...that used to be a crime here. (very limiting on designs also...pinned apps look silly with the button stacking and the mouseover glow only works on translucent buttons)

(thanks for the Plasplug natas,I knew somebody had to like the damn thing)

On the same HDD or PC?  Not in my house!  In fact, I have some XP discs that I keep in a separate room at the other end of the house.... giving myself the best chance to avoid cross-contamination.

See!!! You're worried about it as well  Hehe, if I were you, then, I'd take that XP drive and install it in another PC someplace else... like at a relative's.  Does'nt have to be one you don't like so much, but you feel less guilty for foisting XP on them if they're your least favourite rellies.... believe me.

I have nightmares and often awaken in a cold sweat because I built my daughter a rig and put XP on it for her.  Yup, the shame of my deed is getting to me. As punishment, I'm being tortured every night by bad dreams, cold sweats and having to get up at least 4 times to pee.

There again (the risk of guilt/shame is too great with a relly/friend) give it to an unpopular neighbour who's moving out of town... that one should be guilt free.

Oh yeah, get back to Win 7 real soon!! Don't be messing in XP for too long... as Webgizmos will tell ya, the meds for that just aren't strong enough.

Reply 22-Um, there is one good reason to upgrade sooner... rather than later. In our latter years (and I'm assuming with a 35 y/o son that you're in yours) our minds aren't as sharp as they once were... the longer you leave it the steeper the learning curve.

Heh, speak fer yerself!

Reply 24-Interesting, my Father who was a casualty of said war would never have called a discussion by people of free will's, drivel. Infact he would have been proud to have fought for thier right to do so in a civil manner.

Hummmm--if he's a casualty, how do you know what he thinks, I know very few who talk to the dead. But in any event, he would be entitled to his opinion as I am mine.

Man! This is more fun than arguing with my old lady!

I don't see any NEED to upgrade.  If it's working for you, then it's working for you.  I like XP and Win7 for different reasons.  Vista...meh, it's not on a HDD right now but who know's.  Maybe I'll install it on one in the future...mostly because I have it and I can.

@ Starkers!

Starkers + Currried Cabbage = Club Al Insanity (It's the pressure build up that causes him to forget how good XP really is...plus he has to justify all those upgrades just to be able to use that huge taskbar and all those bells and whistles...oh...and not to mention having to ask permission when you click on something) So when he goes on about how 7 is so much better...just smile and nod...he's just trying to convince himself switching was a good thing.

I was!  It's just that I'm not alone and quite a few of us here can be tarred with the same 'latter years' brush.  It's not that we can't learn all this new fangled technolergy... it just takes us a lot longer than it did with the trusty abacus.  And given I was never very mathematical, I never mastered that, either.  In fact, I found it so confusing I found another use for the beads... wonder if my g/f at the time ever figured out where her necklace came from.

Hmmm!  Just because you can... doesn't mean you should!  In fact, I advise against it (adding Vista to a rig that's already got XP and Win 7), cos triple booting will give you nightmares, cold sweats and make you get up to pee at least 4 times a night.  Not only that, at boot you'd see 3 entries and would be going "eeny meeny miny mo" instead of getting on with it... which is not very productive, right? 

@ Webgizmos!!!

There ya go again... trying to attribute a logical decision to curried cabbage and calling it a mistake.  I'll have you know that it was a clear and deliberate choice to upgrade to Win 7... the Microsoft ads said it was good, and I believed 'em.

Oh, and I don't use the phat taskbar in Win 7.  It reminds me that I have a weight problem... and I want to enjoy my coffee and donuts while I'm computing, thank you.

And I'll thank you not to rubbish the 'old fart' safety mechanism. It has saved my bacon many a time when I forgot untick the Google Chrome installation that comes with the DivX player install these days.  Sheesh... like I don't want that rubbish on my PC.

And I'll also thank you not to put thoughts in peoples heads... words in their mouths.  Your entire post was a psychosis driven attempt to influence others... and knowing you (being the lunatic that you are) it won't be "just smile and nod" for long.  No, that'll develop into a "point and stare" thing and I'll be afraid to go out where XP users congregate.

Who said anything about triple booting.  I don't even like double booting.  I just swap out the hdd lickity split.  Just as fast as a reboot for me.

I'm mentus incompus and I triple boot...with custom entries in the OS choice screen,6 partitions,and all document folders pointing to a single,seperate drive.

No offense. Yes I can remember building a "flip/flop" circuit on a breadboard way back in '67. A few years later in the army at Augusta, Georgia, training on one of the first military machines by IBM with peripherals as big as a car, tape readers, card readers, and the main machine that could handle a whole 800k of data and transmit it in 30 seconds over the new satellite link. High tech for 1973. I am getting old. Back's destroyed, joints are arthritic, can barely walk--where does the time go? But my memory's about as good as it ever was, it's all I got left

Hehe, I hope you're not taking my tongue-in-cheek stuff too seriously.  I went through a bout of depression recently, and I'm just using a bit of lunacy to help me get back on track.

With things like this (preferred OS/dual or triple booting, etc) it's always a case of each to his/her own.  Me, I liked to dual boot... that way I could always get in if one OS is down (which is very, very rare these days).  No, it's more that I can designate each OS to be and do certain things.  For instance: I have Vista Home Premium x64 set up as my office and doc/art creation OS, and Win 7 Home Premium x64 as my media and AV creation/editing OS.  I just find that neither OS gets too bloated that way... and usually it's only 45 to 50 seconds to switch between the two.

Some might ask why I'd want to run Vista now that I've got Win 7, but to be honest, I never disliked Vista, and now that I've decrappified it/disable all non-essential services, etc, it's not too shabby at all.  Put it this way, I detect very little difference in speed between between the two Oses on my machine, so it's not the disadvantage or a resource hog some people feel it to be.

Oh yeah, if truth be known, I do not dislike XP, either.  Admittedly I never liked the default look (thank goodness for customisation), but as an OS it was pretty OK by the time SP2 had arrived.  In fact, I still have XP Pro on my secondary rig and the one we reserve for visitors/guests... so it's not like I've totally abandoned it.  It's just that I prefer Vista/Win 7 for every day use, that's all.

See!!! I can be serious as well.

Yeah, but like Webgizmos, you have an excuse for being mentus incompus (or put another way.. non-compus mentis). Yup, you were so besotted by XP, that when Vista came out it was such a shock to your sensibilities that you went into cerebral meltdown and had a brain infart.  Quite a few have commented that you've never been the same since... that if it wasn't for the meds you'd be certifiable and in a strait jacket... such is your abhorrence for Vista.

So if you can triple boot without nightmares, cold sweats and having to get up 4 times a night to pee, it's the meds... which by the way, you should oughta share with WG. 

As you can tell, his aren't that strong.

Sounds like we're in similar boats.  I have spinal issues in both my neck and lower back... both hips and knees are arthritic, so are my shoulders, elbows, wrists and knuckles.  I also have great difficulty with mobility 99% of the time.  Apparently, I may have a form of arthritis known as fibromyalgia that also impacts on other areas such as concentration, swallowing, sleep, etc. Just waiting on some test results to see if that's the case, but seeing as I have quite a few of the symptoms, it seems likely.

I have some good days when I can get out to the shops or do a bit in the yard, but for the most part I'm not so mobile these daysl.  I still have my memory as well... not so good with names and phone no's always, but I generally remember all the important stuff, way back to when I was a young kid, even.

We have one difference. though.  I never touched a computer until 2001 - 2002, and then it was only little forays here and there.  I didn't start getting serious until late 2004 - early 2005.... and I haven't looked back since.