Windows 7 vs. XP?

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Texas Star

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I'm running XP. I know it's no longer supported by Microsoft.

A brother (a software engineer) has offered to install Windows 7 on my computer.

How similar are they? Would I probably have a lot to learn? I'm not terribly competent with computers. Does Windows 7 have any advantages, apart from apparently still receiving updates?

Isn't it likely that Windows 7 is also going to be dropped soon?

Another bit...a couple of days ago, I was notified that I was to receive an update from Microsoft as the computer was shutting down. They downloaded one update. If XP is no longer to receive updates, what did I see? It looked like the updates that have been announced as the computer was shutting down for several years.

???
 
Tell him to do it! Windows 7 is a great operating system. After he does the install he can run you through the differences, shouldn't really be that big of a problem.
Sooner or later Microsoft will probably drop their support for Windows 7.
But that's a ways down the road, you can wait and cross that bridge when you get there.
 
If he installs Windows 7, will I keep all of my files, photos, etc. from now? I have important manuscripts in Word, too.
Will I be using the same hard drive?

BTW, I did read the XP topic. Just didn't see the answers I need and it was getting cluttered.
 
One Big Difference (for me)

Windows XP and previous versions would let you record the audio that was playing through your speakers, be it streaming audio, sound from a video/dvd, etc. Windows 7 does not give that option, an *** kiss to the recording industry I guess.
 
When my computer went out on me I got another that has Win 7.
I've had no problems and learning it was simple and not much different from XP.
I would back-up all your files before you change.
I have no problem coping audio from YouTube, DVD, etc.
 
Texas Star said:
If he installs Windows 7, will I keep all of my files, photos, etc. from now? I have important manuscripts in Word, too. Will I be using the same hard drive?
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure you can not "upgrade" XP to W7, like you could do with earlier Windows products. You need to do a "clean" install which means you'll need to backup/save all your personal files as the HDD needs to be formatted/erased. Any programs you have installed on XP will need to be re-installed once you've installed W7. It's just like starting from scratch. :(

W7 needs more RAM & HDD space than XP so if your PC is real old & has limited memory, hard drive space or slow processor, it might be better to get a new PC.

I'm in the same boat. I have an unused W7 Ultimate disk I've been putting off dealing with too.
 
I had XP on my last computer and liked it and found it very reliable.
The computer I have now has Windows Vista on it. It is not that
great. I'm up to date on all the patches and anything else they have
put out and recommend for Vista. Still it crashes about once or twice
a day and I have to reboot. My friend has Windows 8 on their new
computer and I don't like it at all. Maybe I should think of going to
Windows 7. What ever you do don't go to Vista.
 
Win7 is nothing like XP. Win 7 is faster, and more efficient, but requires more ram. the baseline question you should ask yourself is- how much ram do you have. 2g-4g- win 7 will run better, and generally more efficient. past 4gb ram, you have to know if you have a 64 bit processor.
There is nothing wrong with XP. if you have the resources, Win7 will be a nice upgrade in most respects.

Do you play old (2000 or earlier games) ?
Do you just use internet and basic office programs?
If either of the above is true, XP is fine.
if you want newer games, 7 might be worth a look at. PM me for details, it warrants a discussion about hardware and goals.

[EDIT] Win7 is basically vista, but fixed. there are a few things you need to do at install, permissions wise. If you are starting clean slate, format and all, it works a lot better than vista with a tuned install.
 
The only good thing about Windows7 is that they make software and computers for it. I much preferred XP, but had to move on. If you can stay off the internet and have a lot of XP software, you might want to do that.
 
Windows 7, vista, and win8 use the same drivers. so reliability is all essentially equivalent.
The main difference is compatibility with legacy software, and ram usage. Windows 8 is incredibly efficient, but the user interface is lacking. 8.1 is an improvement. I've used everything since 95 (95, 98, nt, ME, 2k server, XP, 2k3 server, longhorn, vista, win7 beta, 2k8 server r1, r2, )
If the software supports vista, it also supports win 7 and 8, they all use the same drivers and codebase. XP is still a strong system, just know that you'll have to keep your system updated as far as antivirus and antispyware are concerned.
it isn't dying, just not getting any new updates.
Nothing wrong with that, just shifts the responsibility to you to maintain your own system. If you have a 64bit capable processor, then win7 is a great upgrade. if not, stick with what you have.
 
I upgraded to Windows 7 on an old HP Pentium 4 that originally came with XP on it. It took me a bit to get used to the differences but, this old thing runs much faster and smoother than it ever has before.

A friend of mine bought a new computer with Windows 8 on it and he absolutely HATES it. Then again, he still uses a flip phone because he hates smart phones.
 
I have used XP and 7 I didn't find mauch difference at all.
For the last 3 months or so I have had Windows 8. I don't like it at all it is, to me very much different to any Windows I have used before, a bunch of them trhough the years.
Steve W
 
Just because XP is at end-of-life doesn't mean it stops working. If you like it, keep it. If you haven't already done so, I would load the free version of Avast for virus protection. Everyone makes it sound like every hacker on earth is going to invade every computer in the world now that Microsoft has stopped supporting XP. But, unless you've religiously been installing every security update that's been put out by Microsoft, you've already left your computer open to hackers and viruses. Are you having any issues now? If not, then you probably won't in the future.

If you like what you have now and it runs great for you, then don't change it.
 
I transitioned to Windows 7 from XP pretty easily. I bought a laptop with W7 and began using it a little at a time, and there really weren't too much difference. But I put Office 2010 on at the same time and it is really different from Office 2003, especially Excel.
 
ChuckS1 said:
Just because XP is at end-of-life doesn't mean it stops working. If you like it, keep it. If you haven't already done so, I would load the free version of Avast for virus protection. Everyone makes it sound like every hacker on earth is going to invade every computer in the world now that Microsoft has stopped supporting XP. But, unless you've religiously been installing every security update that's been put out by Microsoft, you've already left your computer open to hackers and viruses. Are you having any issues now? If not, then you probably won't in the future.

If you like what you have now and it runs great for you, then don't change it.
Click to expand...
This is seriously dangerous advice.

An exploit is NOT the same thing as a virus, and what protects against viruses may not even SEE an exploit, and in fact is extremely likely NOT to.

An exploit is something which takes advantage of a vulnerability of the operating system. I'm unaware of ANY anti-virus which patches the kernel or supporting mechanisms of the operating system. There's NO anti-virus program which is going to patch the operating system to prevent a stack overflow from a specific manipulation of a particular port.

Exploits don't have to be aimed at specific computers. They can be directed at entire subnets, and from large forces of hijacked "zombie" computers.

Saying that you should stick with an obsolete operating system with no security updates is like saying that you don't need a gun because nobody is specifically looking to rob, rape or murder YOU.
 
I used XP, Vista, Win7 and now on 8.1 on my desktop and, have had far less crashes with 8.1 and 7 than any of the other systems. When my old desktop went I would have stayed with 7 if I could have gotten it in an all in one machine like I am now running. However as others have said download a good free antivirus program and keep it updated.
 
harmavoidance0 said:
Win7 is nothing like XP. Win 7 is faster, and more efficient, but requires more ram.
Click to expand...
It's also much more stable.

As often as not, if there's a problem with Explorer in XP, XP just face plants and you have to reboot.

99% of the time when there's an Explorer issue with 7, the desktop only blinks out momentarily and the system comes back without a reboot. In XP the OPERATING SYSTEM crashes. In 7 the application crashes.
 
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