Upgrading to XP Professional

lifesaver · #1 02-02-2006, 02:53 PM

How easy is it? I have XP Home, but need the remote desktop access XP Pro allows. I am buying it today. How easy is the instilation? Just wondering. My life is on this computer and I'd be dead if I lost everything ( I do backups four times a yer, but still).

Rudey · #2 02-02-2006, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by lifesaver
How easy is it? I have XP Home, but need the remote desktop access XP Pro allows. I am buying it today. How easy is the instilation? Just wondering. My life is on this computer and I'd be dead if I lost everything ( I do backups four times a yer, but still).

It's easy as balls.

-Rudey
--But get a mac.

lifesaver · #3 02-02-2006, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Rudey
It's easy as balls.

-Rudey
--But get a mac.

No way. I'm not paying double for the exact same thing just because it is 'cooler' to own a mac, or because the interface is prettier.

It's a business purchase. I need the most bang for the least amount of capital investment. I wouldn't get that with a mac.

Plus, what about this http://www.apple.com/switch/ says its a powerful business tool.

Nothing. If i was wanting to make and edit home movies of my kids to send to grandma, mac's the tool. I'm not looking for a comp to enhance my life. I'm looking for a computer that can help the business. That's a PC.

PiKA2001 · #4 02-02-2006, 03:41 PM

I owned a mac and I can honestly say the dell computer I have now works just as good.

Rudey · #5 02-02-2006, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by lifesaver
No way. I'm not paying double for the exact same thing just because it is 'cooler' to own a mac, or because the interface is prettier.

It's a business purchase. I need the most bang for the least amount of capital investment. I wouldn't get that with a mac.

Plus, what about this http://www.apple.com/switch/ says its a powerful business tool.

Nothing. If i was wanting to make and edit home movies of my kids to send to grandma, mac's the tool. I'm not looking for a comp to enhance my life. I'm looking for a computer that can help the business. That's a PC.

OK I hate people that do this, and I'm about to do it, so I already hate myself for doing it, but...

You are comparing apples to oranges if you are saying a mac costs twice as much. The mac mini is a perfect example of a less expensive product and the ibook is a decently priced notebook. The advantages to the mac are mostly in terms of system stability. You don't have viruses, blue screens, spyware, yada yada. And yes, the computers are hot

I just thought you were in PR and creative/design people always want them.

But before I lose anymore cool points, I'm getting the heck of this topic.

-Rudey
--XP Pro should be an easy update and probably won't even need you to be there while it's happening.

lifesaver · #6 02-02-2006, 04:01 PM

Yeah.

See the Mac equivelant of the Dell I just got:
http://store.apple.com (Powerbook G4)

Price $2,499 before shipping and taxes.

The Dell i got:
Inspirion 9400
http://www1.us.dell.com/content/prod...=04&l=en&s=bsd

Paid $1,100 with shipping and Texas sales tax.

I can do a lot with the extra $1,400.

I was shopping for specific features. (procesor speed, etc) You are right there are inexpensive entry level macs. For my needs, with everythign equal, the PC was the way to go.

You are also right about the PR/Graphic Design love affair with macs. Its primarily for the look and feel of the machiene. For me it comes down to finances. They can look cool and trendy and be broke with a higher overhead. I'll have more money in my pocket and be average. (I'm not ever average, but for the purposes of this topic...)

Graphic Design software used to suck on PC's, but since 1998 or so the full Adobe Suite (Illustrator, Photoshop, Then PageMaker, now InDesign) has been fine and stable on PC's. Also, if you ever want to do corporate PR/Communications work, many large companies run exclusinve PC networks and wont even think of putting a mac on their network. Even if you could convince the IT dept to do so, good luck getting any support. They wont invest in the IT training for it. So here I am in PC land....

Thanks for the help on the XP Pro thing tho. lol.

*Edited to Fix Link

KSig RC · #7 02-02-2006, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Rudey
The advantages to the mac are mostly in terms of system stability. You don't have viruses, blue screens, spyware, yada yada. And yes, the computers are hot

I use a Mac PowerBook G4 for business, and I crash the fuck out of that thing - seriously, I'm not impressed with the system stability, and I don't even tax it very much.

You do have a valid point about viruses and spyware, though - but is that really an OS issue, or a matter of so few people using them (thus not as much incentive to program)?

Rudey · #8 02-02-2006, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by KSig RC
I use a Mac PowerBook G4 for business, and I crash the fuck out of that thing - seriously, I'm not impressed with the system stability, and I don't even tax it very much.

You do have a valid point about viruses and spyware, though - but is that really an OS issue, or a matter of so few people using them (thus not as much incentive to program)?

Screw it. I'll nerd it up.

If you're crashing a lot then there is something wrong with how you're using it. I would make sure you have all the apple updates (which you probably do) and then run a disk repair on it to make sure all the permissions are set correctly. I might restart my powerbook once a month and rarely does anything crash. I also have an IBM Thinkpad for work which I like a lot, but I have to reboot constantly and have so much trouble running even Microsoft programs on.

OS X is much more stable than Windows. The reasoning for that is the Unix foundation for OS X and the Windows Registry. Now if someone is running OpenBSD or some other OS, then they'll be getting more stability.

The virus problem is partly because of the fact that programmers want to target as large a population as possible. But again, the OS is not only more stable but the permissions on it are pretty helpful in preventing the viruses.

Lifesaver, I'm not sure which Apple you picked out since the link doesn't show it, but I do understand if you wanted a cheaper computer (Apples carry a premium for sure). The new Intel chips that Apples had have created an incredible system though and will allow for the new version of Windows to run on them as well.

-Rudey

lifesaver · #9 02-02-2006, 05:11 PM

I was referencing the Apple Powerbook G4.

I agree the stability issue is a promary concern. I didnt want to mention it so as not to jinks myself, but I have never had the blue screen of death issue. I have never had any stability issues. Started on XP Home, dont do much random downloading, have all the virus protection money can buy, and am the only user on my system. No one jacks with my settings or anything. I've been thrilled. This April will be three years I have had the system. I only have a life expectancy of 4 years for a desktop anyway, so if this one goes longer, then its bonus. Plus, by then I'll have more employees and can demote this unit to the receptionist/admin asst and get the new desktop for myself. Plus, by then I'll have to invest in a small server for file storage, so that will be another issue all together.

At any rate, I'm real pleased with my Dell and am looking forward to getting the notebook tomorrow.