Upgrading Your Operating System
Posted by Art Misita on Mon, Mar 01, 2010
Have you been computer shopping lately? Windows 7 is the operating system that is currently being offered on virtually every new workstation computer and notebook from every major manufacturer. Microsoft has effectively killed Windows XP Professional and the sainted "XP Downgrade Rights" are all but a distant memory.
The good news is that Windows 7 Professional is a really solid, well-tested operating system. Windows 7 is possibly the most extensively tested operating system that Microsoft has ever released. (Vista gave the software giant a whole lot for which to atone in our humble opinion). And much of that testing was done by Microsoft customers and partners, not just internal staff eager to earn promotions by saying whatever the top floor wanted to hear.
Microsoft has added the exclamation point to the XP Pro obituary by announcing officially that the company will end support for Windows XP SP2, Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2000 Client on July 13, 2010. (Perhaps they will do something similar with Office 2000 so a ton of local law firms will reach into their piggy banks and upgrade their aged Office 2000 installations to Office 2007 in time for Office 2010 to make its retail debut). Windows XP SP3 (the last service pack for XP) is still being supported, but there is no threatened end date as yet.
One suggestion that we would make, however. Stick to 32-bit processors for workstations for the coming year. While 64-bit machines are becoming very popular, there are still far too many bugs in the 64-bit versions of Windows 7, SQL Server and Office for our comfort. Our practice management software, The Practice Resource, will run on a 64-bit platform, but we have found a large number of unpredictable and inexplicable product failures when running on 64-bit platforms that do not occur on the 32-bit versions using the exact same functions. SQL Server database updates, for example, simply do not work every time on 64-bit machines the way they do with absolute reliability on 32-bit machines. It is also still very difficult to find 64-bit drivers for some printers and other peripheral devices (especially older ones - more than a year old) that you might wish to migrate to your new computers since they still work fine and otherwise have no need for replacement.
Few corporate IT departments upgraded computers to Vista since its negative reputation was established very soon after its release, but it is beginning to look like Windows 7 upgrades will not be delayed quite so long in light of the looming deadlines for termination of Windows XP support this time around.
Microsoft might continue to release critical security updates for XP SP2, but they have not said that officially. The official position of Microsoft is that it is time for Windows XP to exit stage right.
An upcoming blog article will include some of the hardware/software offerings from Hewlett Packard that offer some very attractive savings as part of their Windows 7 upgrade campaign. We will also offer some very useful tips to help you to get the most performance and value from your office network.