|
| If all you need is some basic features and you can keep the computer in working order for cheap, then XP is fine.
But by and by, components will fail and that new webcam won't have XP drivers, or software you want won't work, like Microsoft Skydrive or Internet Explorer 9.
If you have a camcorder and want to do some family video editing, you probably can't. Even just video playback might not work smoothly if they are encoded with H.264. XP is over 11 years old and its latest service pack over 4 years old, not many people support it anymore.
If you set aside $10.42 per month for 4 years, you can buy a brand new computer and 18.5" LCD widescreen monitor every 4 years more powerful than the one you had, less prone to viruses, and using much less power too, with a large 1 TB drive and all the latest technology, if not the top of the range. And then you can resell your still working and still relatively recent old computer for a much better value, maybe $200, or give it away and make some kid happy at Christmas.
4 years used to be almost 2 generations in IT, it's been more like 1.5 years recently, with new generations of processors and graphic cards, new much cheaper SSD drives engraved on a 20 nanometer die, but no change in the latest USB 3.0 and SATA III standards for over 4 years.
Is it really worth keeping an old computer when a brand new one costs only $6 a month, or $300 every 4 years, resale price included?
(Says he who just made his 6 year old computer good to go for another 3 years by replacing its motherboard and other components...) | |
|
Throwing out good computers.
