YarnMaster
SubscriberWell, after 9 years, I have landed in the proverbial forked stick!
I need some advice & direction from those who have been closer to the coal face of recent times than I have....
I use a Toshiba Satellite Pro 4600 (PIII-900 / 512MB / 20G) and have done for the last 9 years to run our business ... running Win98SE. Love it !
Now, stop your finger pointing and sniggering ... it works, takes almost no admin' time and has been bloody bullet-proof.
This machine then acts as a mini-server for our accounts app' (MYOB Premier) to 2-3 other PIII machines running Win98SE ... which I'm about to update to some newer (used) Dell desktops/towers which will still run Win98SE (P4 1.8/2.26/2.4). The 1.8 is already up and running Win98SE SP2 and is good to go. I do have a copy of XP Home that came with the 3x Dells and can UP them to XP if I have to. We run Outlook 2000, Word, Excell, some basic email, web browing, parts CD/DVD's and other low end business stuff, and Win98SE just works.
Here's my dilema. About 6 months ago, I bought another Sat'Pro 4600 in almost new condition, as I know the one I'm using has gotta be close to karking it ... and about 2 months after buying it, the hinges broke ... #@%!!$# ... oh well, I still have the original, and the newer one now lives in a docking station with the screen wired in the upright position, in the garage, running RAVE ... so much for buying a backup machine to save my bottom when the workhorse dies ...
Yesterday, my 9 year old machine broke it's hinges !!! #@%!!$# ... oh well, now I have to buy another laptop ... so I've picked up a Toshiba Tecra A10 2.53 Core2 Duo 4GB 250GB ... $1250.00 ... and I am resigned to NOT being able to put Win98SE on it (oh I wish) ... it comes with Vista Business installed and downgrade media to Win XP Pro SP3.
I have a couple of low end machines at home running XP, so I'm kinda familiar with it, but still always go back to my 98SE machines.
What to do ??
Do I stick with Vista Business, or downgrade to XP ??
(downgrade is my first thought as I've heard too much BAD stuff about Vist, but being out of the IT loop for so long, maybe I'm gonna be missing out on something that I'm not aware of ... ?? .. or I'm gonna create a monster, and I don't have time to play PC technician ... I need to run our business.)
Vista Business or XP Pro ?? Whichever I choose ... it's gonna run for another 9 years or more if I can make it go the distance !!
Currently, the laptop sits on the front counter, does daily sales, orders and EVERYTHING else, then undocks and goes home so I can keep working ... backup to other PC's before leaving work, and again at home.
My system/s is simple, almost zero admin' time, and get the job done ... hence 9 years (& btw, the Toshiba would average MORE than 23hrs/day, 7 days per week ... for the last 9 years ... amazing!!)
I'm leaning towards XP Pro .... tell me why/why not to go Vista Business.
Thanks
Kev..
Swaggie
SubscriberI'd suggest skipping XP altogether and going straight to Win7. If you are going to learn something new, it might as well be the latest.
I didn't have a good run with Vista, so I stayed with XP until about 3 or 4 months ago, and I went straight to Win7. To date, it has been most stable and all my existing Apps run under it.
As a fallback position. if you already have XP (at no extra cost to you), then just stick with that.
YarnMaster
The IT guys at our University are bypassing Vista by hanging on to XP pro SP3 until Windows 7 comes out with at least SP1, maybe SP2.
That's a fairly big department, with a great depth of knowledge.
The news so far on W7 has all been positive, especially with TV tuners etc.
cheers
SysAdmin (Owner)
forget vista and xp and go with windows 7
2007 Discovery 3 SE7 TDV6 2.7
2012 SZ Territory TX 2.7 TDCi
"Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it." -- a warning from Adolf Hitler
"If you don't have a sense of humour, you probably don't have any sense at all!" -- a wise observation by someone else
'If everyone colludes in believing that war is the norm, nobody will recognize the imperative of peace." -- Anne Deveson
“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.” - Pericles
"We can ignore reality, but we cannot ignore the consequences of ignoring reality.” – Ayn Rand
"The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts." Marcus Aurelius
Moderator
Looking forward to the first service pack for Win7.
Soon please.
SysAdmin (Owner)
what issues you having...
runs like a treat on my old laptop....
2007 Discovery 3 SE7 TDV6 2.7
2012 SZ Territory TX 2.7 TDCi
"Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it." -- a warning from Adolf Hitler
"If you don't have a sense of humour, you probably don't have any sense at all!" -- a wise observation by someone else
'If everyone colludes in believing that war is the norm, nobody will recognize the imperative of peace." -- Anne Deveson
“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.” - Pericles
"We can ignore reality, but we cannot ignore the consequences of ignoring reality.” – Ayn Rand
"The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts." Marcus Aurelius
YarnMaster
SubscriberAmbiguoty abounds.... I am soooo confused
Yes, step right up to the plate and go Win7 and stay current ... 'cept the A10 comes with Vista Bus' or XP Pro ... don't really have spare change to BUY Win7 ... that's why it's the current choice between what comes with the A10....
... or am I just being phobic, and I should just puff out my chest and take the chance ?? (I'll admit, XP seems like the easy/comfortable choice only because I've had contact & limited use with it for some years)
I am a musician in my spare time (like the last 36yrs), and I remember all the greif we all had trying to get our app's running under XP (to wit, I still run 98SE for most of my stuff) ... it's pretty stable these days and nobody wants to update to Vista (let alone driver issues) ... but that's 'cause XP's had plenty of time to get sorted ... and there was stuff (hardware) that never got XP drivers written which became (VERY) expensive paper weights ... hence my apprehension of going latest/greatest, and why I've choosen to stay with 98SE for my studio PC/App's/Hardware.
... is that gonna be the case with Win7 ?? ... As I understand it, even MS admit that Vista was a flop and rushed Win7 to market sooner than was planned ... is that gonna be another great MS mistake ?? I don't have the time, or want to be a beta tester for MS
My 2x kids run Vista on their laptops. Seem happy enough with it. Lottsa glitz & pretty stuff I don't need/want ....
... keep the opinions coming please. I've got about 5 days to make a well informed choice before the A10 arrives.
Oh for the days when a PC was a plain, simple tool, and just did what you needed without sooooo much extra bloat attached.
C:\> blink blink
Thanks again !
Kev..
SysAdmin (Owner)
buy a macOriginally Posted by Fluids
thought latest a10s were coming out with xp pro as primary and win7 as recovery media...
2007 Discovery 3 SE7 TDV6 2.7
2012 SZ Territory TX 2.7 TDCi
"Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it." -- a warning from Adolf Hitler
"If you don't have a sense of humour, you probably don't have any sense at all!" -- a wise observation by someone else
'If everyone colludes in believing that war is the norm, nobody will recognize the imperative of peace." -- Anne Deveson
“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.” - Pericles
"We can ignore reality, but we cannot ignore the consequences of ignoring reality.” – Ayn Rand
"The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts." Marcus Aurelius
YarnMaster
SubscriberI think this is a slightly earlier A10 ... release date on .pdf doc' from ToshibaAU is July08 ... 18 months ago. It's now listed as a discontinued model, but is coming new in the box with full Toshiba AU warranty.
Mac! ?? LOL
Will Win7 run my older DOS & Win95/98 programs ?? ... will VISTA run them ?? ... some of them I cannot live without.
???..
SysAdmin (Owner)
download the free microsoft virtual machine software and run the older OS's in a window
2007 Discovery 3 SE7 TDV6 2.7
2012 SZ Territory TX 2.7 TDCi
"Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it." -- a warning from Adolf Hitler
"If you don't have a sense of humour, you probably don't have any sense at all!" -- a wise observation by someone else
'If everyone colludes in believing that war is the norm, nobody will recognize the imperative of peace." -- Anne Deveson
“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.” - Pericles
"We can ignore reality, but we cannot ignore the consequences of ignoring reality.” – Ayn Rand
"The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts." Marcus Aurelius
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