Your next PC: thinking beyond the desktop

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	TOP STORY[/size][/font] Your next PC: thinking beyond the desktop[/size]
	By Woody Leonhard With Black Friday a fading memory and Cyber Monday deals still fresh on the Web, visions of a new PC may be dancing in your head. But before you go out hunting for that shiny new Win7 machine, take a deep breath, sit back, and consider these tips on buying a PC.[/size]

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The full text of this column is posted at WindowsSecrets.com/2010/12/02/01 (opens in a new window/tab).

Columnists typically cannot reply to comments here, but do incorporate the best tips into future columns.[/td]

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One final bit of advice: If you don’t have a fast Internet connection, forget the new computer and invest in more bandwidth. That may mean switching Internet service providers or paying more for an enhanced account. The joy of a fast computer fades. But having a fast Internet connection will serve you well — now and far into the future.

I wish…. Most I ever get with my copper cables is maybe 5Meg & that only tends to be late at night, sometimes in the evening I’m lucky to get 1Meg. Not everyone lives in a city with plenty of choice & speed.

ps.

Currently….

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I build my own computers, getting exactly what I want. My Quad core system is a bit old, three years old. I really can’t complain about it. Then again, I’ve upgraded it to six gigs of memory, and 3 TB of disk space. The 20″ CRT crapped out two years ago, so now I’ve got a 20″ 1600×1200 screen, and another smaller screen has become my second monitor. The only thing I’m even remotely thinking about upgrading is my video card, and that’s only so that I can run the @home programs on it. I had no idea that 256 megs would be considered too small for running them three years ago, but then they weren’t something that was on the horizon anyway.

A new computer would be using those same monitors. The same hard drives as well. I would use the same keyboard, a Microsoft 4000 (already on the fourth iteration with it, the cats can’t seem to be able to avoid throwing up on them!) and the same trackball, a Microsoft Trackball Explorer (selling for more used on Ebay than they were available new…). I’ve been pounding the trackball or one like it for over 15 years know, and Microsoft curved keyboards for even longer. I know what I like. And I’m already doing good to keep under the 250GB cap that Comcast has, so upgrading the speed on that is worthless.

My next desktop will be at least a Sandy Bridge. I expect to have USB 3, SATA 3 (to go with the SSD that I’ll probably be booting off of), and possibly even PCI 3.0. So I’m probably not even looking at a new one next year, but 2012 at the earliest.

Tablets?

I’m not convinced. The walled garden otherwise known as Apple turns me off. Capricious, and I really don’t want anybody telling me what I can or can’t run on my hardware. Lack of a decent keyboard is an issue. I’m using a Garmin Nuviphone now, and I’ve had it with it’s pitiful on screen keyboard. Getting something that runs Android just so that I can use Graffiti sounds better to me. I’m a Palm III and TX user (my wife convinced me to upgrade after she’d been using her TX for years, and they would most likely be disappearing after Web OS was announced…) and am proficient with it. Keyboards are still the fastest for me. Better ways for input have to be found. Graffiti isn’t it, it’s still too steep of a learning curve for most people.

All I really expect my laptop to do is browse the Internet, and if I need to do anything much more strenuous, I just need to be able to connect to my desktop with RDP and still do what I want on my laptop.

Then there’s the issue of whether to trust the cloud or not. My biggest use of the cloud is using Gmail for all my email. Which is problematic when it goes down, which has happened on more than one occasion. But I can check mail at a friends, the library or any thing else with a browser.

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I build my own computers too and prefer to choose all my components.
I’ll be awaiting the new UEFI, (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) Bios’ replacement, to see if it takes off in 2011 before deciding on doing another build.
With USB 3 and motherboards with HDDs capable of running SATA 6Gb/s becoming more readily available and standard, it should be a sweet combination of hardware.
I’m one of those that wants and is willing to spend for that 6 core processor and 24 GBs of RAM in that Thermaltake Level 10 case with bi or tri SLI or ATI GPU setup.

I don’t care for using a laptop, and certainly not as a desktop replacement. Laptops still lag far behind in computing power compared to the desktop and will continue for the foreseeable future.
My current laptop is merely a backup for my main desktop computer and I can’t seem to bring myself to see it as anything more, and this is despite the fact that with my job
I can change locations as often as every 3 to 6 months. A laptop is like persona non grata to me.
I have no use for office apps other than simple viewers, and cloud computing is’nt too terribly appealing to me other than the potential for backup, if it can be proven secure.
Got a chance to take a look at the iPad, it’s very nice looking (beautiful) and fast. I might seriously consider it for mobile internet browsing & email over a laptop.

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It is true that some older peripherals, and very many scanners, will not work with newer versions of Windows. That isn’t because of some problem with the OS, it’s because the manufacturer won’t provide compatible drivers.

In the case of scanners there are various third-party driver providers. I use VueScan Pro (http://www.hamrick.com) which provides drivers for over 1500 flatbed scanners. At $79.95 one might argue that one can buy a new scanner for not much more but if like me you have quality model that you hate to consign to the waste mountain it’s a viable option.

Geo.

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The Windows Experience Index (WEI) is far from accurate when evaluating the newer Intel Core-i5 and Core-i7 platform hardware. The Turbo Boost technology and the fourfold hyperthreading are not detected by WEI or the Windows Device Manager. The ability to switch from the on-board Intel-HD Graphics to discreet ATI or NVidia mini-cards is also not detected by WEI or the Windows Device Manager. This is a serious shortcoming when evaluating new laptops, including my own Toshiba Satellite (Core-i5 and NVidia graphics). Microsoft really needs to get up to speed with WEI before I can recommend it as a comparison tool when considering which new laptop to buy.

Belarc Adviser suffers from the same flaws as WEI, as Belarc relies way too heavily on whatever Windows reports about hardware components and their performance. System Information for Windows (SIW) does its own checking, and is much more reliable. Glary Utilities also does a decent job of reporting what is actually present, and how it is performing.

None of these tools is a true benchmarking tool. Readers should not rely on anything except actual benchmarks when deciding what to buy. For processors, the gold standard is Passmark, and they post at their web site a series of tables of which processors give the best performance, as well as which give the best performance for their price. Not surprisingly, AMD does well on the latter measure, while Intel tends to get the edge in raw performance figures. Other hardware components, most notoriously graphics sub-systems, are much harder to evaluate.

Otherwise, I agree that the vast majority of Home and Business Users would be best off with the less expensive laptops, and hardly anyone really needs a desktop these days, except maybe photo and video enthusiasts or serious gamers. For gamers, a faster Internet Connection and a faster router would be better investments than a new computer, as Woody says.

But hold off on getting a new router until IPv6 is fully implemented, which last I read, looks like it will have to happen within the next year or two. At that time, ISPs will have to change out a lot of modems, and today’s routers may not be compatible with tomorrow’s modems. This transition promises to be as disruptive and confusing as the Broadcast Television transition to Digital TV has been. (I still use VCRs, so I have six Converter Boxes with varying capabilities.) So hold off on that router upgrade, is my advice.

While I am happy with my new laptop, I doubt that I will use its full power for at least a few years into the future. For those not looking to keep that new computer longer than three to five years, what I bought would probably be vast overkill. But I do like how fast I can download and install updates and upgrades, as well as new software. And backup and recovery are also very fast compared with my older single-core Pentium-4 based laptop. So I could have gotten away with less, but I am happy with what I did buy.

-- rc primak

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Windows 7 Home, Pro and Ultimate actually support 4GB of RAM out of the box with a 32bit installation. Hence there is no need to purchase a 64bit version unless you need more than 4GB RAM

For more http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa366778(VS.85).aspx#physical_memory_limits_windows_7

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Windows 7 Home, Pro and Ultimate actually support 4GB of RAM out of the box with a 32bit installation. Hence there is no need to purchase a 64bit version unless you need more than 4GB RAM

For more http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa366778(VS.85).aspx#physical_memory_limits_windows_7

Somebody needs to define “support”. My laptop that had 4GB (that I bricked right before RTM came out…) only was showing 3.5 GB available (and actually more like 3.25) with the RC 32-bit. 4GB is all you get with 32-bit since you other peripherals use some of that memory as well (video…), although you can use PAE if supported on the hardware and do bank switching, which was used in 2003 32-bit, but that is certainly not true for Windows 7 32-bit. But in this case, I would say that it supports 82% of your memory. It’s better than just running 3GB, but you’re wasting over half of that added gig for nothing.

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Windows 7 Home, Pro and Ultimate actually support 4GB of RAM out of the box with a 32bit installation. Hence there is no need to purchase a 64bit version unless you need more than 4GB RAM

For more http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa366778(VS.85).aspx#physical_memory_limits_windows_7

@Stephen –

If you read the fine print, you’ll discover that 32-bit versions of windows can only address about 3.2 to 3.4 GB of memory, depending on a whole bunch of contingencies. In order to actually use 4 GB, you have to get a 64-bit version.

There’s a detailed explanation here: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/w7itprohardware/thread/048ed81d-0e9a-471c-99fa-ca6c26c956d1

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I will keep my desktop computer, thank you very much. While I’m no computer genius, I do work on my own computer, I had to learn myself as I wasn’t about to spend ton’s of money on someone else doing it for me and the desktop is so cheap and easy to fix; most of the time. Plus with my 23 inch flatscreen monitor, I can see everything! I work on my photos, graphics, watch Netflix, Hulu and anything else without straining my eyes. I also love my keyboard and can’t imagine not having one. I’m old school and used to manual typewriters, yeah I’m that old, so I like to pound away when typing lengthy emails. I use it so much I wear out the letters on it! Try typing 60wpm with out a keyboard. LOL

Tablets look cool, but I will never buy one. I just recently got me a HP Mini Netbook and I love it! I got it for work and I can use it all day long without charging the battery. My netbook has way more power than my desktop did about 10 years ago, so I can’t complain about it at all. I can even flatten it out completely and carry it like a book in my arm and walk around the office while using it. And I still have a keyboard! And with my eyesight, I can still see the screen no problem. Actually I was a bit surprised at how well I could see things. Granted it’s limited real estate for viewing, but I’m not going blind trying to view anything on the screen. Ipad is hype and limited. They can keep it!

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“pcdecrapifier” is a useful tool to run on a new machine – it will strip out all those trial applications and OEM specials. It worked for me on a new netbook.

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My one objection to your piece is the recommendation to go laptop. I’ve recently bought a laptop – a Macbook Air – but I wouldn’t consider using one as my main PC from the standpoint of ergonomics. If I were going to use a desktop replacement laptop, I would insist on external screen or screens (I currnently use 2 – one 23″ and one 24″), keyobaord and trackball. Adding those peripherals would make the laptop even more expensive when compared to a desktop. In my experience laptops are even more prone to instant obsolescence than desktop pcs.

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Just my $0.02 worth:

Most of my customers are 60+ years old and don’t travel at all. With diminishing eyesight at higher ages even a 17″ notebook is not a viable alternative. And for what my customers do, email, some Internet browsing, googling and so on a basic dual core Win 7 Home Premium PC with on-board graphics is plenty enough. They mostly have only one window open full screen at any given time anyway!

The difference between Win7 32- and 64-bit on identical hardware is significant though! Ok, my customers can’t compare but I see it all the time when I do my “clean up” job on new machines; on the 64-bit version I am done half an hour earlier than on a 32-bit version, everything else being equal!

ALL Win7 machines I recommend have 4GB and the 64-bit OS! 2GB is in my experience not enough for either Vista and Win7.

Compatibility issues are MUCH less in Win7 compared to Vista. And frankly, is the age old parallel port printer really worth keeping? Heck, we can get b/w lasers for under $100 and color lasers lately have shown up for under $200.

And a general remark: Those 5 to 7 year old Dells and Gateways and lead-heavy HPs I run across all the time are beginning to fail in droves. I tell my customers how it is IMHO:

Spend $150 to $250 on the upgrade and software repair (malware) and still have a sluggish old system that will be untenable in 3 years anyway (and likely develop other failures in the meantime) or invest $400 in a brand new Win7 box that is technically in every aspect a multiple of the old one. Most of my customers get a new one and I think they make the right decision.

Just some old man’s ramblings from every day’s real life practice. Merry Christmas y’all.

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[indent]”Before you put that old machine out to pasture — destined for the kids…”[/indent]
Good luck with that. Kids have a way of gravitating to the fastest machine in the house. Suddenly they will find that “nothing else will do”… and you will find yourself using the old machine. At least, that’s how it usually works.

I think that the greatest lessons here are the ones that weren’t mentioned: Buy what you need; ignore the bling and marketing – for some, the best solution is an iPad, for others it’s a netbook, for others it’s a desktop. This is especially true at this time of the year, when new shiny toys compete for our attention.

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I cannot agree with Woody’s recommendation for Win7x64. Despite providing access to more than 4 MB RAM, the x64 version has proven very unstable in my experience. As Woody pointed out, the scanner was the deal-breaker. It would not work under x64. All my problems, including hangs while the x32 programs tried to figure out the difference between Program Files and Program Files (x86), resulted from the 64-bit OS. When I switched to Win7x32, the problems went away. Microsoft and its OEM co-conspirators have tried to force developers to write native 64-bit code by ramming a 64-bit OS down the throats of customers. Microsoft’s licensing arrangements prohibit large OEM vendors from selling consumer-grade computers with Win7x32 installed. You have to purchase a business-grade computer to get the x32 version. Many developers have failed or refused to move to x64, or their attempts to port their applications have been poorly done. I had to buy a separate copy of Win7x32, wipe Win7x64 from my system, and perform a fresh install to resolve my problems. Win7x64 is not ready for prime time and will not be ready until mainstream software has moved to 64-bit code. Even Office 2007 recommends installing the 32-bit rather than the 64-bit version.

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I had to buy a separate copy of Win7x32, wipe Win7x64 from my system, and perform a fresh install to resolve my problems.

I have had no such problems with Win7x64. All programs have worked fine including my five year old Epson scanner. Did you trying running the install in compatibility mode set to Windows XP. That will solve many problems. Also you did not need to purchase a new copy of Win7. You only needed to get a 32 bit disk, or the complete disc (all install discs can be modified to allow you to select the install you want, version and bit depth). Your activation key would have worked for the 32 bit or 64 bit version.

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the x64 version has proven very unstable in my experience.

It’s not been my experience. It’s been quite the solid performer.

As Woody pointed out, the scanner was the deal-breaker. It would not work under x64. All my problems, including hangs while the x32 programs tried to figure out the difference between Program Files and Program Files (x86), resulted from the 64-bit OS.

I haven’t had an issue with any 32-bit program dealing with which subdirectory it’s in. Considering that some installers allow you to place the program directory anywhere you want it, it sounds like if they are having issues, they’re hard coded and poorly written then. But I also understand if it’s one of those must have programs.

The only issues I’ve run into are the fact that Palm refuses to release a 64-bit USB driver for their old Palm PDAs, a real pain in the butt. It can be got around by using a BlueTooth connection, but if you change much on your memory card, instead of taking five minutes to sync, you’re looking at an hour. And you can’t charge via USB any more, Windows refuses to just ignore the connection. It’s minor, but I don’t like Palm giving me the big Frak You! on this. I love my Palm, but I really hate the company nowadays. The other problem is that the environment changes when you start cmd.exe from Explorer, and when a 32-bit program (a portable menu program) starts cmd.exe, all in using batch files. Which is rather weird because of course cmd.exe will run a 64-bit program in either case, but finding that 64-bit program practically makes you hard code it. Which works, because even running it under 32-bit, as long as it’s installed in the default place, it will find it.

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I cannot agree with Woody’s recommendation for Win7x64. Despite providing access to more than 4 MB RAM, the x64 version has proven very unstable in my experience. As Woody pointed out, the scanner was the deal-breaker. It would not work under x64. All my problems, including hangs while the x32 programs tried to figure out the difference between Program Files and Program Files (x86), resulted from the 64-bit OS. When I switched to Win7x32, the problems went away. Microsoft and its OEM co-conspirators have tried to force developers to write native 64-bit code by ramming a 64-bit OS down the throats of customers. Microsoft’s licensing arrangements prohibit large OEM vendors from selling consumer-grade computers with Win7x32 installed. You have to purchase a business-grade computer to get the x32 version. Many developers have failed or refused to move to x64, or their attempts to port their applications have been poorly done. I had to buy a separate copy of Win7x32, wipe Win7x64 from my system, and perform a fresh install to resolve my problems. Win7x64 is not ready for prime time and will not be ready until mainstream software has moved to 64-bit code. Even Office 2007 recommends installing the 32-bit rather than the 64-bit version.

Sorry but I feel forced to chime in again.

the x64 version has proven very unstable in my experience.

I’d like to hear more about these “experiences”. Currently I de-crapify on average about four to five different Win7 machines every week. Have not seen ONE “instability” issue. The machines I see are from Acer, Toshiba, HP, Asus, MSI, Gateway and eMachines, notebooks and desktops about 1 to 2. Not one problem with Win7 64-bit!

while the x32 programs tried to figure out the difference between Program Files and Program Files (x86), resulted from the 64-bit OS.

To chalk that up to the OS IMHO almost disqualifies your whole comment. This seems clearly to be an application issue. How old and/or exotic are the programs in question?

tried to force developers to write native 64-bit code by ramming a 64-bit OS down the throats of customers.

Who gets forced here? Just buy the slow 3GB notebook with Win7 32-bit and run your old stuff happily.

Microsoft’s licensing arrangements prohibit large OEM vendors from selling consumer-grade computers with Win7x32 installed. You have to purchase a business-grade computer to get the x32 version.

Rubbish, sorry. Have you ever browsed Tigerdirect.com or Newegg.com? Win7 32-bit systems galore! I have to talk my customers out of them because the train is already on the downhill slope to everything 64-bit.

Many developers have failed or refused to move to x64, or their attempts to port their applications have been poorly done.

Thanks for confirming my earlier words, it’s the applications!

Even Office 2007 recommends installing the 32-bit rather than the 64-bit version.

The 32-bit version of Office 2007 YES. Has nothing to do with what Win7 you install it on. Please post a link to your source if you think I am wrong.

For the record: I am NOT a MS fan boy at all! But what is right is right and what is wrong or misunderstood should be labeled as such.

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Almost everyone who has replied so far says exactly what I am saying. I build my own computers, and expect to do so until I am too old to be able to use them. Since I am 77 this may be sooner than I think. I own two Lian-Li PC-50 cases, although I am only using one at the moment. My latest build is about two years ago. Neither the hardware nor WinXP OS shows any signs of becoming obsolete anytime soon. But when they do upgrading is easy. I do have a lightweight (3 pound) ASUS netbook I just bought to travel with me. It’s a great little machine but I can’t imagine using it at home instead of my desktop. Especially since I am addicted to the Avant Stellar keyboard, the successor to the late Northgate OmniKey, As someone wrote in a review of this keyboard years ago, you will pry it out of my cold dead hands. Touchscreen? fugedabodit! Cloud computing? No way my personal data gets stored out there! Finally, with all its well-known faults, I have yet to find a satisfactory replacement for MS Office, especially Outlook.

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I am addicted to the Avant Stellar keyboard, the successor to the late Northgate OmniKey, As someone wrote in a review of this keyboard years ago, you will pry it out of my cold dead hands.

HA! You can say that again.

I’m currently using the OmniKey 102 that I’ve battered for most of the past decade. Some day it’ll die. When it does, I have four more sitting in the closet…

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One other requirement for the use of Windows 7 Professional is if there is a need for Virtual XP. You could use Virtual PC but that does not come with an OS which will require a license for XP. With virtual XP you get a licensed version of Windows XP. Windows 7 Home Premium will not support Virtual XP. For that you need Windows 7 Professional. Some legacy software will only run under Windows XP.

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I think that for the average irresponsible user, the whole concept of cloud computing is appealing.
Why, because it is lazy. The user never needs to actually learn anything.
They can do what they see others doing & never be out of the loop.
They aren’t doing much exploring using a device.
Just learn a little about their device & bingo.

Ipad is a bad substitute.

Why?

1. No Multitasking (Self explanatory)
2. No HDMI Out – So you cant watch any HD vid you purchased on your television.
3. No Flash (Am I kidding? No i am not)
4. No Widescreen – Instead it is a 4:3 aspect ratio. 4:3 went out the window with the cart monitor & analog television. However it is back on this device.
5. Only apps from their store work with it. So if you want to use something useful like say google voice forget about it
6. No camera – Hell even the IPOD touch has a camera.
7. No GPS
8. Expenive adapters are needed to attach anything to it. They did not keep it simple. Of course the whole idea is for you to spend-spend-spend.

You are better off buying a netbook with a Touch as an accompaniment.
This of course defeats the whole purpose of having the Ipad to begin with.

I will always have my desktop or something like a desktop for several reasons.
I like the ease of replacement & upgrade that a tower gives me.
I like the low temperature that a tower gives me when properly vented, & performance based on a cool running tower.
I like the idea of being unbound, meaning that if I come across something I would like to delve into in the future, like say video editing, or animation.
A desktop can handle this.
I also like the advantages of RAID, especially with the evolution of SSD & the ability to use my tower as a server in the future.
For a family an old tower is great to use as a simple networked file server.
If configured properly you can reach it from anywhere globally. Even places like Thailand with terrible internet connections can be bypassed.

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A new PC can be daunting! What programs loaded do I keep, which have no value to you? The ones that don’t should be uninstalled! There is so much unnecessary junk software on store bought machines and some of it is really annoying the way it acts. I am talking about the proprietary software that comes with the machine that is supposed to make life easier but instead annoys the heck out of an advanced user like myself! Getting everything authenticated, registering all the programs you are going to use is a slow patient process and will take most of the afternoon. Then you have to figure out what settings each program needs to have. I get into even making sure the computer name is as I want it to be seen over the network.

Then there is “cloud computing”. Are you like me and don’t particularly take to someone else storing your data? Then you need a strong operating system and a good security suite. I have my recommendations but that’s for you to decide. You should run 4GB of RAM in the 64-bit version of this operating system, 2GB is okay but slow in my opinion. The thing aboutWindows 7 is the speed. So 4 GB is just about optimum. I will need 6 because of the big things I do in my graphics program. As far as office suites go, I find the newOpenOffice 3.2 capapble of reading Microsoft Office files perfectly and saves to that format too! The interface is remarkably similar to Microsoft Office 2003, so if you’ve run that than the interface will be easy to learn. It’s all the settings though…so many to get the Office format to save as default, but it can be done! It is a pretty complete suite and it is my main office application now. I installed Thunderbird as my email client. It has a couple of advantages to Outlook. First, Thunderbird connects to the mail server via SSL, Outlook does not! If you are out of domain the Thunderbird client will function fully, Microsoft Outlook will not. In addition,Thunderbird works with Microsoft Exchange servers at your office. All this software I have mentioned is free and of high quality thanks to the open source software community. I run a lot of open software and it works superb! So, save some money and check it out!

As it is withMicrosoft operating systems, a Registry Cleaner is necessary! The speed of this operating system goes up dramatically with a clean registry! If you rip out a lot of manufacturer software, the system will slow down because the Registry has path statements in it that are no longer valid. The registry cleaner returns the speed. A great free registry cleaner can be had from Auslogics. It is quite superb and does everything you’ll need. Getting a new computer configured the way you want it to run is a long process but well worth it! You can tweek Windows 7 to work the way you want better then any of the previous operating systems and it caters to the advanced user now too!

I recently began running the beta version of Internet Explorer 9 and this compose screen iscompletely unusable! Flash does not work correctly at all! Time for html5 guys! I have it, how about you?

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One other consideration in selecting Win7 Pro over Home Premium has to do with Network Attached Storage (NAS) and remote backup.

Home Premium will not back up to any sort of external device. So, I can’t use my ReadyNAS NV+ as my backup destination. Boo! The whole reason I bought the NAS was to get a large storage device running RAID 5 since I’m not the greatest at remembering to back stuff up. Fortunately, the ReadyNAS has a one-button backup to an external USB drive. Still, if I get sloppy about the backups, I will only have problems if I lose more than one hard drive at once.

But, even if Home Premium would allow backups to external devices, it will not connect to my ReadyNAS NV+ because some of the security settings are not accessible on Home Premium. So, I have just had to pay $80 to NewEgg to get an upgrade key to Pro. This was after spending HOURS online trying to figure out why my desktop Win7 Pro machine would talk to the ReadyNAS but the Win7 Home Premium laptop wouldn’t. Turns out that a lot of people have been having the same sort of problems configuring security on Home Premium and were working to solve the same problem, including copying files from a Pro system in order to get things to work. A Micro$oft support engineer commented on that thread advising that such a scheme would not work, so I abandoned that tack and gave M$ another slug of my hard earned money.

I’m in the process of trying out Ubuntu for the first time. I’m using a 10 year old server, and apparently it has some hardware problems, so I may yet have to buy another machine. But, as a professional programmer who is used to operating in Unix environments, I have decided that I will keep a Windows desktop for doing those few things that I can only do on Windows but will have a Linux desktop as my primary working machine. I’m very tired of working around the absence of my good Unix tools, and I’m tired of paying M$ for operating systems that don’t work well and having to buy the more expensive versions of their OS because they’ve intentionally crippled the less expensive versions such as to make them useless to me.

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I liken the current hardware and OS offerings to ownership of vehicles. Some people own one car that fits their needs all the time. Some people own several vehicles, perhaps a compact to get back and forth to work, and maybe a pickup truck or large SUV to tow a travel trailer, or maybe a mini-van to haul a lot of people. Just like no vehicle can fill everyone’s needs, no one computing platform can fill everyone’s personal computing needs. We have in our home 6 Windows based PCs. 2 are very old tower PCs that will soon be retired. 2 are laptops that replaced the PCs. 2 are Netbooks. An IPad or any other tablet can’t fill my computing needs which include the need to store photos taken with an SLR while on trips, both short and long. Then there is the issue of OS version. 80% of the software I use runs on Windows or only has a Windows version. I can run most of it on both my “big” latop and the Netbooks. I can’t do that on an IPad. That being the case, and the fact that both XP and Windows 7 have been stable and performed well for me, I have no reason to look at Linux or any other OS. Bottom line is that there is a market for all the current platforms, but I do agree that full PCs are already becoming less relevant, although I’m not convinced that MS Windows is, or will be less relevant for a long time to come.

As far as using the “cloud” for storage and backup, I personally don’t think it’s mature enough to rely on. Do you really want your personal data in the hands of others? I’m just not comfortable with that

Gregory, any reason you didn’t look at using Acronis or Macrium Reflect for your backups instead of ponying up to Win Pro? I think they offer a whole lot more than Windows backup for a pretty fair price.

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Laptops are great (provided you have good eyesight, good hearing and nimble fingers) until yours develops a hardware problem out of warranty. Then you will find out how vastly more expensive they are to repair than a desktop computer is.

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My opinion about the article: parts of this were generic and sounded like something I would read in a newspaper. You say you don’t need much computing horsepower unless you are a gamer or doing large graphic files. I could have read the same thing in a newspaper 10 years ago. Your readership consists of power users, write to them. For example, us programmers like to run virtual machines for testing or clean compiling environments, testing w/ older software,etc. Certainly this calls for more than a Atom processor. My i7 is the first computer that I’ve been really satisfied w/ in terms of performance. I’m not a gamer or a graphic artist.

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You say you don’t need much computing horsepower unless you are a gamer or doing large graphic files. I could have read the same thing in a newspaper 10 years ago. Your readership consists of power users, write to them. For example, us programmers like to run virtual machines for testing or clean compiling environments, testing w/ older software,etc. Certainly this calls for more than a Atom processor. My i7 is the first computer that I’ve been really satisfied w/ in terms of performance. I’m not a gamer or a graphic artist.

Any newspaper article that said that ten years ago was wrong. Back then, either Word or Office would’ve pushed any hardware to the limits.

I do write to power users. Few of them need i7s. My guess is that fewer than 1% of my readers commonly use VMs. Besides, you don’t need an i7 to run a fast VM. You need VMWare.

For most of what most people do – email, Web, an occasional document (or even a book, in my case), straightforward spreadsheets – the latest and greatest is mostly a waste of money.

If you’re running clean compiling environments and testing new software on a VM, yep, you may well need all that horsepower. But few people do.

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Any newspaper article that said that ten years ago was wrong. Back then, either Word or Office would’ve pushed any hardware to the limits.

I do write to power users. Few of them need i7s.

Bulls Eye, Woody! Keep the good work up.

All these guys that think what they do is the blueprint for all the many home users out here.
LMAORO
Above mentioned guys have no clue what is going on in “normal” user’s households.

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hey Woody. about the part in your article where you mention to get a faster internet connection: dont just get a faster broadband connection.
Get a faster AND wireless broadband connection. Time to go WI-FI for internet if you use a relatively new Win7 based laptop. Nobody else here seems to mention about going wireless for broadband internet.
My family currently has AT&T Yahoo DSL (Wireless).

My brother recently bought an HP OfficeJet 6500A+ E710n AIO Printer at Staples on Black Friday weekend. Fully Windows 7 compatible and connects to a wireless network. Now I can print documents to that HP printer through wi-fi on my WinXP bedroom desktop computer (w/ a wireless network card) and from my mom’s Vista laptop (w/ the laptop’s built-in wi-fi feature turned on).

those who have faster AND wireless broadband internet are truly ahead of the game

I may one day replace my bedroom computer that has XP with a new Win7 machine. I have to make sure I can find Win7 compatible drivers for the wireless NIC card when I transfer that network card onto the new computer.

GO WI-FI BROADBAND!

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dual-core vs. quad-core CPUs, i3 vs. i7 processors,/// Here’s a fact: unless you’re a hard-core gamer or you routinely edit huge media files, none of that horsepower stuff makes much difference

Let me disagree with this statement. My old PC based on a single-core Athlon 2500+ & AGP 64MB video card simply could not play Full HD video files, and only with a right codec it just could handle 720p30. I could not even think about doing anything else while watchcing HD video. On many other occasions I also was unsatisfied with the performance of that machine when multitasking. Now with my Athlon II X4 I can play FullHD even with embedded graphics, doing in the same time whatever I want to (so far:). And I think that in a year or two I will have to install a decent videо card to play pending higher spec video (1080p60@30Mbps and higher), not saying about any HD video editing. The same is about SATA600 or USB3. If you are going to upgrade now you’d be better spending additional $50 for a higher-spec MB which will be satisfying your next generation peripherals that will become common in several years.

I think it is not a good idea to upgrade from ancient to old, unless you are really on low budget or your PC is used for office purposes only. You will be permanently missing new knowledge and experience. That said, I am not a tech geek always trying to get the newest hardware. Just when it is time to upgrade I will get a modern system, about 2-3 times slower than top spec at that time.

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Yo Eike, you’re pretty snide but you make a good point. Win7x64 is not unstable by itself. It’s the programs I ran under Win7x64 that were unstable. I wrote with imprecision. The specific programs that slow down, choke, or lose functionality on my computer under Win7x64 are: A-PDF To Excel 2.8, Adobe Acrobat 9.4.1 Pro, Audacity 1.2.6, Kofax VirtualReScan 4.50, PowerDesk 8, and Sony Player Plug-in for Windows Media Player. All of these programs are mission-critical and must work consistently and correctly to get my work done. They do not do so under Win7x64. Once I installed Win7x32 all the problems went away.

Raymond Thompson, I appreciate your suggestion about using the same activation key for the 32-bit or 64-bit versions. The x64 was Home Premium while the x32 was Pro. Did not bother trying to use the Home Pro activation key for Pro. Do you think it would have worked?

I’ve got everything fixed now and am zipping along with the x32 version. I’ll happily trade half-a-gig of RAM for a stable, smooth-running system.

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“Many businesses, including Windows Secrets, are migrating to notebooks on the desk. The only PC users who still need a desktop are those who regularly upgrade their systems with new components.”

What a load of rubbish, Mr Leonhard. Desktop computers are always better $$$ value when mobility is not required, ie more power for your dollar. Desktop systems are more reliable than Notebook systems and when they do break they cost less to repair. “Notebooks on the desk” is so 2007 and they are a dying breed for enterprise road warrior use. Notebooks don’t have RAID so it is more difficult for home users to backup and restore their data. If you need real portability & mobility in 2011, try getting a decent smartphone. The iPad is trendy but you can’t use them to make a phone call or take a photo and the web browser is pretty average.

“…upgrading your current desktop PC…”

Good advise, Mr Leonhard and almost makes up for the previous paragraph.

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Honestly, I do not really agree with the go portable over the go desktop recommendation. A 17″ laptop is hardly portable, after a few days lugging the thing around. Bang for buck, you can’t beat the desktop and if you do have some task that requires more horsepower, desktop’s do provide the better value. Of course, I may not be the best example, has I do have a desktop and a few laptops to go around, but whenever I need to do most of the dev work, I do it on the desktop. Laptops are always slower, even when you run a good CPU as other subsystems are usually slower, due to cost – disk systems being a good example.

So for really hard work and a real performance configuration, a desktop will always be my favorite. Windows 7 x64 really made this clearer, with full compatibility with everything I use. Contrary to some previously described experiences, even my HP scanner behaves better under Windows 7 x64 than with XP – I love the native driver support and the app that comes with it. 7 x64 works so well that I am actually contemplating going from 7 x86 to 7 x64 on my laptop, thus making the 1.2 GB that 7 x86 does not use available to be used.

I find hardware support in Windows 7 pretty good. I had an old Toshiba Tecra M4 bought on 1994 that run XP very slowly. I decided to try 7 x32 with it and it actually boots and runs faster on 7 than it did on XP. I guess getting rid of a lot of Toshiba’s software helped, but even after boot it behaves better with 7. This laptop had no use for a while until it was rescued by Windows 7 and now it has replaced a XP running netbook as my kid’s computer!

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due to cost – disk systems being a good example.

I believe it’s more the fact that 7200rpm disk drives run hotter than 5400rpm. That’s why almost all budget notebooks have 5400rpm drives and they ARE relatively slow.

I had an old Toshiba Tecra M4 bought on 1994 that run XP very slowly. I decided to try 7 x32 with it and it actually boots and runs faster on 7 than it did on XP. I guess getting rid of a lot of Toshiba’s software helped, but even after boot it behaves better with 7.

YES SIR, I have upgraded about six or seven very differently configured XP systems to Win7 32-bit. Every single instance the machine was faster with Win7 then it was with XP.

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I believe it’s more the fact that 7200rpm disk drives run hotter than 5400rpm. That’s why almost all budget notebooks have 5400rpm drives and they ARE relatively slow.

I believe it’s also a matter of faster disks requiring more power, so accounting for shorter battery life.

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