Don't miss out, Free upgrade...

So the PC world is a buzz about Microsoft Vista operating system. All computer makers are only focussing on Vista ready or capable systems now. That's nice...yawn. Don't need a new computer anytime soon. I have XP with service pack 2 at home & at work. Usually no problems & it's pretty stable. You'd think that would be the case with XP being out for the time it has been.

I did have to venture into the realm of testing something in Vista through VMWare. I just think & go ugh. They've done it again. UI totally revamped & changed. I thought the jump from Windows 2000 to XP was odd & hard to get used to at first. Then I tried to do the testing in Vista & to do anything you were used to doing in XP, such as configuring network settings & such, became a very foreign land. Then I had to do the same in testing using a Japanese version of Vista...that was fun trying to guess which icon or button to push. I think I melted in that journey.

So what I'm first getting at is that if I were to buy a new computer today, I would be forced to use Vista because that's all that computer manufacturers are putting on their systems. They are bowing down to Big Brother Gates, controller of Windows. It's the in thing to do & consumers don't get any say in it. And ya probably wouldn't find it easy to find a valid Windows XP installation disk to redo the system to be what you want it to be. I guess you could go the Linux route but no thanks.

The trigger to write this was that a friend bought her daughter a computer that was Vista capable but that was before Vista upgrades for Windows XP were available so HP included that once the Vista upgrade was available it would be sent to them for free. My friend is able to get around computers fairly well & she ventured into the upgrade process & did everything very well in terms of creating recovery disks & such before upgrading. I was impressed. She applied the upgrade which took something like 2 hours to do. Thanks Microsoft. I'm sure your customers really appreciate that. I got a call from her the other day saying that her computer won't start anymore & gets a cryptic message saying Operating system missing. She told me that she had applied the upgrade & soon after this problem appeared. I went over last night to help her with it & I first got the recovery disks to recover the XP that was there & intact prior to the upgrade. Got it all recovered & working fine or even better than fine 'cause I'm good.

In the process it hit me. Hmmm...XP on system for daughter who mainly does some things on the internet, sends emails, & maybe plays some games. I then asked myself "Why upgrade to Vista? What is the motivating factor to do so besides that it was there for free to do?" I couldn't think of any good reason. I asked friend if she did the upgrade based solely on that it was there for free to do. So the outcome was, leave the system as XP & forget Vista upgrade. First time around the upgrade didn't do so well with this particular computer so first impressions aren't that great for a process that takes over 2 hours to complete.

So I queried a couple of co-workers & asked basically what does upgrading to 32 bit Vista from XP gain someone? Basically the answer was, not a whole lot & there's no good motivating factor to do so unless you have 2 GB of memory or something crazy like that. And their responses did include comments about how the UI keeps getting mucked with with each new Windows release.

I can't imagine how many people try to do the upgrade just because their system is Vista capable & the upgrade came for free. What's even more scary is that the instructions that come with the upgrade don't really make it obvious that if you go through a recovery disk creation process, that process does NOT include backing up personal files & data. Step 1 does say "Go backup your stuff first." I guess one would have to know that the term & paradigm of an OS recovery disk does not include backing up your stuff you don't want lost.

I'm wondering how many people do the upgrade without first backing up their own data & personal files because they think the recovery process will do that for them or they don't understand the process enough. I can just hear the thousands of digital photo files disappearing for forever from people's computers. But then it's commonly known that ya should have a backup process planned out on an ongoing basis. And with USB drives getting smaller & with more capacity, backing up is a breeze. I get to enjoy a work provided 160 GB Western Digital USB drive that Costco has been carrying. I like it a lot.

So in regards to upgrading to a major OS revision, what does this new widget give you that you don't have in your stable XP operating system? If the answer doesn't include some major compelling reason, then stick with the motto "If it ain't broke, don't try to fix or upgrade it to a new OS." If it is broke, call your nearest me & I can try to help you take it outside & smash it up. ha.

For those about to endure Vista, may success be with thee but proceed at your own risk & be prepared for the time it will take afterwards no matter the result.

Until later comes, just say no to Vista all you XP users.