Calling all computer people..

I'm probably buying a new laptop in a couple of months, and I was wondering if those of you that are reallyyyy into computers have heard if any new operating systems are coming out. I got the laptop I have now for my first semester of college, back in '07. Right about the time I got it, Vista came out and I had just bought mine with XP. I know that Windows7 hasn't been out long, but it seems like it doesn't take them long before they come out with something new. I haven't heard anything, but I didn't know if some people who were into computers and whatnot way more than me knew of it. I just don't want to drop several hundred bucks on a laptop again, only for a new system to come out weeks later. I would rather just wait, ya know? Anyways, I'm looking at some Dell's, because I absolutely have loved mine and she's had a good run, considering all the school stuff I've put her through, lol. I'm just interning in the fall and will graduate in December, so I'm ready for something new. Any help would be appreciated :)

If you're looking at a PC, windows 7 is about your only choice. Apple is another option. Many colleges/universities are supporting the apple macbook much more than in the past.

Good Luck!
Jim Smith

Thanks.. I've only heard good things about 7 from people that I know who have it.. I have used the Mac before, and maybe it's because I'm not used to it, but I wasn't a fan and was quite confused, lol.. Plus, after this semester I won't be in school much, because most of my stuff will be done at home and in the classroom(I'll be an interning teacher).

It took me a while to get use to it, but I love my mac. I have none of the problems that I had with my windows based laptops, even the ones with windows 7. Once you get use to the layout it really is easy to use. I won't own a windows machine again if I can help it.

I'm running windows 7 and I love it. I don't like vista at all. Even if you buy something new and another op system comes out, it takes a while to get all the bugs out. I would stick with win 7 even if something new comes out in the near future.

Ya, I've used Vista on other people's computers and I was not a fan at all.. So far, 7 seems great.

I currently use windows XP and Vista. Vista is pretty bad, but it gets the job done and i don't want to pay for windows 7. XP has always been my favorite and i still use it on most of my computers.

If i were you, i would just get one with windows 7 and call it a day.

dont freak about the operating system.. windows 7 is a great OS , and if people werent influenced by the media so much vista would have been fine also.. dont get me wrong vista had some issues but for the every day person it was not an issue .. media said HATE VISTA so everyone hated it .. but windows 7 is very nice...... there is a bigger beter pc every other day.. nothing you can do about that .. microsoft has not mentioned a new OS yet . now i did read that google is working on 1, but thats going to be awhile from now .. plus even if u did buy a windows 7 machine and a new os came out in a year, you can continue to run yours just fine or do a simple upgrade to the new 1 ...

all the people hating on windows vista .. have u seen that windows commercial where they call vista windows mojave and everyone loves it and then the reveal it was vista .. yah 80% + said they hated vista but loved mojave and it was the same OS ....

I just read this the other day. According to the article the next version of windows is tentatively set to come out Jan 07th 2013. :P

There is another possibility, you could always try Ubuntu Linux. 10.10 came out a few months ago and I tried it for the first time and am loving it. I'd never used Linux before but so far it's been pretty simple.

I wont comment on mac's since my dislike of Steve Jobs skews my opinion.:P

I just read this the other day. According to the article the next version of windows is tentatively set to come out Jan 07th 2013. :P

There is another possibility, you could always try Ubuntu Linux. 10.10 came out a few months ago and I tried it for the first time and am loving it. I'd never used Linux before but so far it's been pretty simple.

I wont comment on mac's since my dislike of Steve Jobs skews my opinion.:P

Im currently running a laptop with Windows 7 and a MAC Pro touch with a windows 7 virtual Machine. Windows 7 is by far the best coded system M$ has put out to date.


But keep in mind M$ is on a mission to get new software out every 2-3 years. So Windows 7 Will be outdates sorta speak in 2013 or 2014. But by no means will it be a ditch it and go better.

Ive recently in past week upgraded about 20 customers computers from xp or vista to windows 7. They have been very happy about the upgrade as their computers have ran better than before they said.


But in all reality its your choice, cant go wrong with Windows 7

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Originally Posted by XIIIPythons

plus even if u did buy a windows 7 machine and a new os came out in a year, you can continue to run yours just fine or do a simple upgrade to the new 1 ...

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You can? This makes me sound totally computer stupid, but I could have sworn that someone told me you can't upgrade the OS on laptops? Or am I misunderstanding.. That's completely possible, lol.. I just know how to use them, not how they work.. :confused:

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Originally Posted by XIIIPythons

dont freak about the operating system.. windows 7 is a great OS , and if people werent influenced by the media so much vista would have been fine also.. dont get me wrong vista had some issues but for the every day person it was not an issue .. media said HATE VISTA so everyone hated it .. but windows 7 is very nice...... there is a bigger beter pc every other day.. nothing you can do about that .. microsoft has not mentioned a new OS yet . now i did read that google is working on 1, but thats going to be awhile from now .. plus even if u did buy a windows 7 machine and a new os came out in a year, you can continue to run yours just fine or do a simple upgrade to the new 1 ...

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Chrome OS is in the RC stage and should be out soon. :P

Vista sucked.. End of story. It was overly controlling, slow and way resource heavy for the average computer system (at the time of its release). Hence the reason so many people hated it. The media had nothing to do with it.

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Originally Posted by XIIIPythons

all the people hating on windows vista .. have u seen that windows commercial where they call vista windows mojave and everyone loves it and then the reveal it was vista .. yah 80% + said they hated vista but loved mojave and it was the same OS ....

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That commercial was total bull. Any idiot can be impressed by what someone showed them on controlled setup. Now if that commercial had consisted of people being given a copy of "Windows Mojave" and being told "come back in 60 days and tell us what you think" and the results had still been as impressive that would have been valid. There's a huge difference between seeing something and using something for an extended period of time.

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Originally Posted by ShortStack

You can? This makes me sound totally computer stupid, but I could have sworn that someone told me you can't upgrade the OS on laptops? Or am I misunderstanding.. That's completely possible, lol.. I just know how to use them, not how they work.. :confused:

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You can upgrade the OS on any Windows based machine. Buy the disc from a computer store and follow directions. Simple as that.

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Originally Posted by RichsBallPythons

You can upgrade the OS on any Windows based machine. Buy the disc from a computer store and follow directions. Simple as that.

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Forgive me for my questions, but if I just upgrade the OS, would that do anything for the speed? That's my main problem. I have sooooo much stuff on here, that it just keeps getting slower. But I checked how much memory I have left, and it seems like there's a good bit. I've also defragged regularly and cleaned out the temporary internet files, cookies, and done regular virus scans. Sorry I'm kinda clueless! It just seems like answered questions bring on more questions, lol.

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Originally Posted by ShortStack

Forgive me for my questions, but if I just upgrade the OS, would that do anything for the speed? That's my main problem. I have sooooo much stuff on here, that it just keeps getting slower. But I checked how much memory I have left, and it seems like there's a good bit. I've also defragged regularly and cleaned out the temporary internet files, cookies, and done regular virus scans. Sorry I'm kinda clueless! It just seems like answered questions bring on more questions, lol.

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hard drive plays no roll in the speed of the computer. Your Processor takes on all the work load. If your system is bottlenecked by the Processor everything else will bog down once the system gets cluttered with files.

To help with this is get a spare external hard drive and keep all pictures, videos, music on it. Leave the main C drive that contains the windows files free of clutter to better help the CPU with processing HD requests. Dont get me wrong if you were to buy a SSD your system will load files faster, just wont make the system as a whole faster

Upgrading to another OS by using the upgrade function will not help anything, as this keeps all your files intact from the previous version of windows. Its best when going from say vista to windows7 is to do a complete fresh install. This will WIPE the hard drive 100% clean of all your files. So you can start fresh.

I just bought a laptop over black friday. It has Windows 7 on it, I love it! My desktop had XP on it, I love Win 7 compared to it. It's much more customizable, and I love things where I can make it mine.

Like someone else said, once you buy a computer a bigger and better one will always come out within enough time to make you irritated. My BF bought a computer... two years ago or something like that. It hasn't been completely outdated, still runs pretty darn good. It's comparable to my laptop!

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Originally Posted by RichsBallPythons

hard drive plays no roll in the speed of the computer. Your Processor takes on all the work load. If your system is bottlenecked by the Processor everything else will bog down once the system gets cluttered with files.

To help with this is get a spare external hard drive and keep all pictures, videos, music on it. Leave the main C drive that contains the windows files free of clutter to better help the CPU with processing HD requests. Dont get me wrong if you were to buy a SSD your system will load files faster, just wont make the system as a whole faster

Upgrading to another OS by using the upgrade function will not help anything, as this keeps all your files intact from the previous version of windows. Its best when going from say vista to windows7 is to do a complete fresh install. This will WIPE the hard drive 100% clean of all your files. So you can start fresh.

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I think you just saved me hundreds of dollars :D Thanks! I'll probably just look into getting an external drive and I may not even upgrade my OS. I'm plenty happy with how XP works, just not how slow my lappy has been lately. I do have literally thousands of pictures- I think one of my editing programs last counted them at like 5000 or something crazy like that. Not to mention 4 years worth of homework, powerpoints, research papers, and whatever else I've done for school.

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Originally Posted by ShortStack

Forgive me for my questions, but if I just upgrade the OS, would that do anything for the speed? That's my main problem. I have sooooo much stuff on here, that it just keeps getting slower. But I checked how much memory I have left, and it seems like there's a good bit. I've also defragged regularly and cleaned out the temporary internet files, cookies, and done regular virus scans. Sorry I'm kinda clueless! It just seems like answered questions bring on more questions, lol.

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I don't think it would. It really depends on why your computer is slowing down. If its slowing down because the hardware isn't enough to do what your trying to make it do upgrading is only going to make that worse.

What comp do you have? Like my laptop is a compaq CQ 60.
Also how much is a good bit of memory... :P Cause 1 bit isn't enough. Also is it a laptop or a desktop.

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Originally Posted by ShortStack

I think you just saved me hundreds of dollars :D Thanks! I'll probably just look into getting an external drive and I may not even upgrade my OS. I'm plenty happy with how XP works, just not how slow my lappy has been lately. I do have literally thousands of pictures- I think one of my editing programs last counted them at like 5000 or something crazy like that. Not to mention 4 years worth of homework, powerpoints, research papers, and whatever else I've done for school.

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Download and install ccleaner from www.ccleaner.com

That will help clean off garbage off the hard drive. Also go through and uninstall programs you dont use. If your machine is below 1gb RAM take it to someone and upgrade that. The ram shouldnt cost more than 20-50. You could even install it yourself if needed. And that will help with other things loading smoother.

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Originally Posted by David802

What comp do you have? Like my laptop is a compaq CQ 60.
Also how much is a good bit of memory... :P Cause 1 bit isn't enough. Also is it a laptop or a desktop.

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It's a Del Inspiron 1501 laptop.. As for the memory, I don't remember but last time my boyfriend explained to me how to go in and check, he said there was still a decent amount left.. I think I was using like 20% or something? Like I said, I can use them, but I'm clueless on how they work, haha. He's muuuuuch better at these things than me. I was all excited about being able to upgrade my OS if I wanted and he was just like, well yeah.. Busted my bubble :tears:

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Originally Posted by ShortStack

It's a Del Inspiron 1501 laptop.. As for the memory, I don't remember but last time my boyfriend explained to me how to go in and check, he said there was still a decent amount left.. I think I was using like 20% or something? Like I said, I can use them, but I'm clueless on how they work, haha. He's muuuuuch better at these things than me. I was all excited about being able to upgrade my OS if I wanted and he was just like, well yeah.. Busted my bubble :tears:

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that series of Dell laptops is older. If not mistaken they only come standard with 512mb ram which is a bare minimum for xp to run.

To find out your RAM you right click My Computer go to properties and window will pop up. When it pops up youll know the computers speed and RAM installed.

Ok, I'm on the phone with my boyfriend to and he knows a little more than me, so he was able to guide me through.. This is what it says about my processor and RAM: Processor 3500+ 1.79GHz, 448MB of RAM. Would it be wiser, and would I get more for my money, to just upgrade like my processor and whatnot, or just get a whole new laptop?

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Originally Posted by ShortStack

Ok, I'm on the phone with my boyfriend to and he knows a little more than me, so he was able to guide me through.. This is what it says about my processor and RAM: Processor 3500+ 1.79GHz, 448MB of RAM. Would it be wiser, and would I get more for my money, to just upgrade like my processor and whatnot, or just get a whole new laptop?

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Yep thats your problem right there, Processor is old and bogging your system down. With some good tweaking and cleaning you can get it to run decent. Upgrading ram to 1gb which is 1000mb will help you see a difference almost immediately.

You can get newer laptops that are decently fast for 3-500$ and will do what you want and then some

Thanks bunches for all the help!

If wanting to truly run windows 7 on that laptop i can hook you up. I fix computers on the side that helps fund the snakes.

Just run the windows 7 upgrade tool to see if it will run 100% for sure. If it says it will you can PM me and go from there.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/e...1-2497c146af15

Okie dokie, I'll take a better look at it tomorrow.. Thanks again!

Don't fall into the brand game. A computer's a computer. It's the Kernel and OS that makes the computer run that most people get confused about. An Apple's no different from a Dell which is no different from a HP, ETC. It's the Operating System that matter (and of course the hardware). With that being said, what are you using your computer for? If you're a gamer stick it Windows OS. If you're into music or computer animation stick with a Mac. if you're into programming and want to really know the ends and out of a computer OS go with a Linux distro like Ubuntu 10.10. I use Ubuntu (Open Source) 100% on my desktop and laptop. I could never go back to proprietary OS. If I was to buy an Apple computer, I'd still just install Ubuntu. It's free and quick. And if you really want control over your computer try Arch Linux.
It really does matter what you're using the computer for.
ALL OS have their ups and downs.

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Originally Posted by chessfighter

Don't fall into the brand game. A computer's a computer. It's the Kernel and OS that makes the computer run that most people get confused about. An Apple's no different from a Dell which is no different from a HP, ETC. It's the Operating System that matter (and of course the hardware). With that being said, what are you using your computer for? If you're a gamer stick it Windows OS. If you're into music or computer animation stick with a Mac. if you're into programming and want to really know the ends and out of a computer OS go with a Linux distro like Ubuntu 10.10. I use Ubuntu (Open Source) 100% on my desktop and laptop. I could never go back to proprietary OS. If I was to buy an Apple computer, I'd still just install Ubuntu. It's free and quick. And if you really want control over your computer try Arch Linux.
It really does matter what you're using the computer for.
ALL OS have their ups and downs.

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It's used for school stuff and once I'm done, work(teaching). So nothing crazy, lol. The only other things that go on it are my pictures, and I use it for webcam to talk to my boyfriend. If I don't NEED a whole new computer, I am perfectly fine with putting a lil money into the one I have to get it running a little better. I am all for saving money.. I am a broke college student and soon-to-be teacher, lol.. Money doesn't come easy!

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Originally Posted by ShortStack

It's used for school stuff and once I'm done, work(teaching). So nothing crazy, lol. The only other things that go on it are my pictures, and I use it for webcam to talk to my boyfriend. If I don't NEED a whole new computer, I am perfectly fine with putting a lil money into the one I have to get it running a little better. I am all for saving money.. I am a broke college student and soon-to-be teacher, lol.. Money doesn't come easy!

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That could work as well. Could possibly send it to me and i can either hook you up with windows 7 or windows xp.

Windows 7 might not run the best on that setup as it is older. XP be best option on that laptop. Decent cleaning will do that beast wonders.

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Originally Posted by RichsBallPythons

That could work as well. Could possibly send it to me and i can either hook you up with windows 7 or windows xp.

Windows 7 might not run the best on that setup as it is older. XP be best option on that laptop. Decent cleaning will do that beast wonders.

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Thanks for the offer, but she is like my security blanket, haha.. I go to school full-time and I have on-line work throughout the week, and have a long distance relationship, so webcam is a must.. I'd probably have withdrawals without it :rolleye2:

Thanks for all the advice.. Once I get my income taxes, I'm going to look into getting an external drive and try that site you sent me to clean all the junk out.. One more question, and I won't drive you crazy anymore, lol.. How do I get more RAM? Is that something a computer person would have to do?

Ram is a small simple Green Stick that inserts into the motherboard. Most laptops have a access panel on the bottom. Open one of them up and you should see the sticks or stick of ram.

Just contact someone local to you to help you order the right one and install it.

Or follow this video to installing it yourself to save few bucks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbPaR...eature=related