Okay Windows XP is no longer being supported. The word out is that you are going to become a target for people writing viruses. The virus writers will find the loopholes and easily gain access to your systems. I know that a lot of companies tried to hold out with windows xp as long as they could. Well I think time has run out and my advise is to move to windows 7 professional 64bit if your system supports it and if you are in a business situation. If you are a home user then I would move into windows 7 home premium 64bit or 32 bit depending on whether your computer will support it. The other option is a new computer running Windows 7 or Windows 8. If you go with Windows 8 do the update to Windows 8.1.I am a computer technician and I repair computers all day long. They can be desktops or laptops. The majority of repairs seem to be virus related. We have also seen a lot of customers wanting to upgrade their old windows xp computer to windows 7 and even a few to windows 8. The problem that most people run into is that their desktop or laptop is just too old to support the newer operating system.
In general if it is at least 3 to 4 years old then it most likely will be able to run windows 7 home premium 32bit. You may also be able to run windows 7 professional 32bit. I would not suggest going to windows 8. If your computer is 1 to 2 years old it may be able to run windows 8 or 8.1. The only real issue is that windows 8 was made to run on touch screen systems or tablets. The windows 8.1 update was supposed to help with this. Now as far as laptops go there are quite a few different brands to select from. From a technicians standpoint I do see certain brands come through more than others. These brands tend to be Hewlett Packard's and Toshiba's. Now I do not believe that they are bad brands, because most of the problems are associated with viruses, water spills, damaged lcd display and damaged dc jack. My best advise to anyone purchasing a laptop is to look into an extended warranty or an accidental damage warranty. I have seen way too many times where the motherboard becomes damaged for some reason and the laptop is out of any warranty. The cost of the repair exceeds what the laptop is worth. The DV series of Hewlett Packard Laptops were known for defective motherboards.
Now as for the laptops I prefer there are a few different brands. The Dell laptops seem to be pretty good and have some decent prices. Yes we do sometimes see a good number of them, but I believe that may be due to the large number of them being sold. I have some dell computers and they still run just fine. I like some of the Sony Laptops except they can be a little pricey. The Toshiba laptops are usually pretty good on cost as well as the Lenovo and Acer Laptops.
Another Laptop that I tend to like are the ASUS Laptops. They seem to hold up pretty well from abuse. Once again I would suggest to look into an extended warranty or accidental damage warranty. I only say this, because I have seen so many laptops damaged by liquid spills of some sort. The ASUS Laptops are rated right up there at the top of the list.
There is also another category of laptop that we don't see to often. This would be the gamer type laptop. The brand that I see generally in this category is the Alienware Laptops. They tend to be very big, bulky and heavy. They can also be on the expensive side. This would be one that I would recommend the extended warranties on. For that kind of expense it would be worth it.Well that's all for now so Thank You for reading and stay safe.
Have A Happy Easter
