[ebradway]

I've been in the software business for twelve years. I've written programs for just about very operating system out there, including most flavors of Microsoft Windows. I strongly advise against upgrading for XP for a number of reasons. First off, it is a resource hog (I believe it requires 2GB of hard drive space to install and expects 128MB of RAM). Second, Microsoft is constantly gathering more information about you, the users, both in the XP registration and in the Microsoft Passport (which essentially lets you store all of your critical personal information in their database - which Microsoft says is secure (no comment). Finally, XP further pushes the envelope as to what is considered the operating system. How many companies are going to go out of business because Microsoft is including their competitive package in XP?

I used to make computer games for Windows. We had to use Microsoft's operating system to develop on, Microsoft's development tools, and Microsoft's APIs, only to compete with Microsoft's own games on in the stores.

If you want an operating system that takes care of the details for you, use a Macintosh. It does a much better job than any version of Windows because Apple controls the hardware it runs on. Otherwise, stick with an older OS that lets you control what you have installed and doesn't demand you give up your first born to use it.

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Eric Bradway
'86 911 Targa
http://www.bradway.net/porsche