With Vista now being the only main stream choice for a new computer, I have stared to develop a new strategy to look at "old" computers. Computer users who have late model Windows 98 machines (bought in 1999-2000), they might be able to get a few more years out of their systems and get a more updated operating system by switching to a Linux based system. I plan on doing some testing over the next few months of revamping older systems with Linux and of course will post my findings here at the site.
For Windows XP users (computers bought between 2001-2006), XP should work fine for most people for many years to come. Early models of XP machines and later bargain models, however, came with only 256mb of RAM. With the early editions of XP, 256 was adequate, but with the 100+ updates that have subsequently been released and larger need for security software, 512mb is now a minimum for XP and I encourage my customers to strongly consider 1024mb (1 GB). If a computer user isn't careful about security and updates, a reformat and reinstall is necessary, but the computer will be running top notch again afterwards.
In very rare cases does a computer user actually need to "upgrade" to a new computer. I am suggesting computer users think about upgrading RAM and reformatting a system first, and upgrade only when software needs dictate or the computer actually gives up the ghost.
For new computers, I truly recommend factoring an Apple Macintosh into the decision making process, and I'll let you know about the Linux option as I learn more.
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