Friends shouldn't let friends buy Windows PC's

Even among the most enthusiastic of Windows champions, few advise upgrading an older XP or earlier machine to Vista or Windows Seven. The reason is simple enough: these new versions demand too much from hardware and your performance will suffer. The ill-advised "upgrade" is actually a complete reinstall, overwriting an wiping out everything currently on the machine.

Microsoft agrees. At Can my PC run Windows 7?, they say:

"And while we don't recommend it, should you choose to upgrade your current PC from Windows XP or another operating system to Windows 7, we recommend that you get help with this process from your local computer service provider. You'll need to back up your current files and settings, perform a custom (clean) installation, and then reinstall your files, settings, and programs."

Coming from Vista may not brighten your heart that much: Microsoft also notes that a Windows 7 upgrade could take nearly a day on "mid end" hardware (not "low end", not "high end", "mid end") .

So you'll get to hang around for a few hours. Better have a UPS - this is not something you'd want crashing mid-way!

Why not just get a Mac?

Really. If you are coming from XP, you need a new machine. Your XP programs aren't going to work, some of your old hardware may not work, you need to transfer data - it's a lot of trouble. Sure, you might be able to get help with all that from wherever you buy that new Windows 7 PC, but then again, if you are buying on-line or at a discount store, you probably won't get any help.

If you buy a Mac, you can bring your old XP machine to the local Apple store and for $99.00 they'll do all that:

"Just drop off your old computer - Mac or PC - and we'll transfer your files, install any new Apple software you've purchased, and put it all in the right places."

Your new Mac is going to be safer than running Windows. It's not just because there are very few Mac viruses and exploits to start with, although that is true. The design of OS X is simply much more secure than XP and any previous Windows version. Vista and Win7 are also more secure, and it would be fair to say that they match OS X in that were it not for one thing: the incredibly easy ability to disable much of that security for "convenience". Win 7 is supposed to be less annoying than Vista, but it's annoying enough that the controls for disabling security prompt entirely are built right in to Control Panel.

Imagine that - Microsoft KNOWS that people will hate these features and gives you a way to bypass them! Many users will do that, leading to increased possibility of attacks.

As to Mac's being more expensive, that's simply misdirection. You CAN buy low end PC's for less than the lowest cost Mac. However, those bargain basement machines will be low quality and low power - they aren't going to run Vista well and they are more likely to have quality issues. If you really compare apples to apples, Macs often cost LESS than comparable PC's - that's a subjective judgement, of course, but I say it with good reason.

For most users, there is simply no reason NOT to use a Mac. Equivalent or identical software is almost always available, quality is definitely better, and although we don't yet know how Windows 7 will do on security, a Mac is likely to be safer.

And, if you really miss XP: you can run it inside Mac OS X with Parallels or VMware (Win 7 Premium offers the same ability).

Friends shouldn't let friends buy Windows PC's. It's as simple as that.