How often do you upgrade your operating system or your computer hardware at home? With me it depends. I like to keep my Ubuntu systems current, which means I will usually make a clean install every six months as the next release comes out. Since I am installing Ubuntu on dual-boot Windows machines, I am not typically refreshing the hardware at the same time.
I tend to only start using a new Windows operating system when I buy new hardware (if the hardware I am buying comes with Windows installed). I get the itch to move after about three years, but it may take four or sometimes five years before I have the spare cash to enable a hardware refresh. And even then I’m only talking about my principal machine, since I tend to keep the older machines running for other purposes. The oldest one I have at the moment is a 2005 Dell Dimension 9100 desktop – still running fine on Windows XP and the latest Ubuntu.
Now that I’ve made the move to an iMac as my principal machine at home, I thought I was done needing to learn new Windows operating systems. Not true.
My father is about to refresh his hardware and software. He has a ten year old Pentium 4 with 256 MB of RAM running, slowly, Windows XP. It is, for me, almost excruciatingly sluggish. And since his Internet connection was DSL “lite” (many times faster than a dial-up modem!) the combination could quite simply stop you in your tracks. I finally convinced him that it was time to make a change.
I argued that two factors impacted his current user experience. (There’s no point making your case if you aren’t going to take it seriously and do a thorough job.) One was his Internet connection and the other was the processing power and speed of his computer. To “change his game” he needed to address both factors at once. Somewhat to my surprise, he agreed.
He has already made the call to upgrade his DSL. He should now have a connection roughly comparable to what I’m getting through Bell. He tells me that he already notices the difference. Web pages only take a few seconds to load, as against the 30 or more seconds most pages used to take. When I visit him next, I will install a wireless router to his system. This will not improve his experience. But it will provide a more normal (dread word!) computing environment for his grandchildren who are used to taking their laptops with them when they visit their friends and having full Internet connectivity while they are there.
As for the hardware and operating system refresh, I put forward two recommendations. One was the iMac with which I have been completely satisfied. The other was a mid-range Dell, which of course would mean Windows 7.
Some people are change averse. My father is one of these people. Some people have little if any intuitive grasp of computers. Again he falls into this group. Some people also have little or no interest in learning anything new that has to do with computers (and consequently feel no excitement in the possibility of playing with a new system). Again, that’s him. So, no matter what, I will be absorbing a fair portion of the change cost of moving him to a new computing environment.
In the end he chose the less expensive option. Fair enough. He will still have a much, much better user experience than he does currently. It may even give him a taste of some of the fun that is possible with computers. (But I doubt it.) And meanwhile I have started reading this very large book on Windows 7. I’m looking forward to his new computer arriving next week.
Really.
No, really.