[Sheba53]

I have been running XP for as long as I can remember. I don't know if it is wise for me to be changing up to Win7....Would love to hear some feedback on this situation. (1) Will all my normal programs still run as good as in XP ?:
(2) Do I buy a full program of Win7 or do I use the upgrade??. I stayed away from Vista when it came out as it didn't like to comunicate with a lot of my programs.(not only me other friends also). Or is " the devil you know better than the one you don't"...thanks sheba53

[Officer Dibble]

I'm not impressed by the fact that we Joe public are M$' beta testers, but Windows 7 has pleasantly surprised me.

So, (1) What are your normal programs? (2) If you buy the upgrade then you are left with the dilemma of, 'What do I do if ever I need to reinstall the OS following a major upgrade, or system failure?'

If you would like to stick with XP for as long as it can hold out, then be inspired by this chart. Perhaps by time you choose to move to Windows 7 there will have been a service pack or two released and it will be behaving itself.

But you are doing the right thing, asking for others views, etc.

[Sheba53]

Thank you, As we get older we tend not to like change too much, but I realize sometimes we have too. Programs are Family Tree Ver 11, Photo edit, MS Office 2007, HP Printer and Scanner and a few games the grandkids like to play.. If as you say I decide to change I will get the full version, sounds safer in case I need to restore or such. sheba53

[helpful]

If you were worried of upgrading to Vista because of compatibility with your programs there will be no difference with Windows 7 unless your processor is capable of running 'XP Mode' and you purchase either Windows 7 Professional, or Windows 7 Ultimate.

The programs that will not run in Vista/Windows 7, you have some options:

1) Abandon the program or find another alternative/update
2) Use XP Mode to run the programs in XP virtual machine
3) Stick with XP until extended support drops in 2014

Microsoft made a tool Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor to help you indentify the incompatible programs and check to see if your computer meets the hardware requirements of Windows 7.

Even if you purchase the upgrade version, you can not do in place upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7, you must do a clean install.

[Sheba53]

Thanks for that I will go have a look. I have just got more ram for my laptop as I thought it was running too slow. maybe I am getting better at it, ha ha. sheba53

[Sheba53]

I went to the win7 advisor site and did a test and it looks like I will be staying with win XP for as long as possible. Known problems are to mane a few...Messenger, Nero OEM, Bluetooth and Adobe Reader 7.0.9...sheba53
PS I call this one SOLVED

[TerryNet]

I think that you are wise to stay with your current installed OS unless you have a need or strong desire for the features in a different OS. If you were buying new now I'd say get Windows 7 and don't worry about it.

The Adobe Reader warning is probably because the current version is 9.2. If Messenger is Windows Messenger or MSN Messenger, that does not come bundled with Vista or 7. Options are to download and install the (free) Windows Live Messenger (I use on both) or the older Messenger.

[Sheba53]

Hi Terry, Thanks for all the help, I am staying put with my XP Win as I have learnt from this one right from the start and being over 60yrs I don't like to change if it is not really needed..sheba53