I'm not Rick, but if you don't mind another opinion, here's mine.
I'm still using Windows 98SE and I'm very happy with it. I had the
hard drive replaced 2 years ago, but that's been the only major
problem.
I've been reading this forum for a couple of months now and have
noticed the quantity of problems have increased quite a bit.
That's to be expected. As Vista use becomes more common, more people
will have problems and questions.
That's not a reflection on Vista, it's simply a fact of life. A US
Auto repair shop that specializes in Toyotas didn't get a lot of
business back in the days when Toyotas were new, and there were very
few Toyotas in the US. Today, with lots of Toyotas around, it gets a
lot of business. That doesn't mean Toyotas are bad cars.
I back up important files regularly to Iomega, but fear one of these
days this system will come crashing down.
I'd like to replace my computer with a really good one (no concern for
cost), but fear a never ending battle with a VISTA OS. I also do not
like the prospect of deleting all the junk pre installed programs that
usually comes with a new computer.
I would appreciate your advise.
Should I wait 6 months or a year until they clean up VISTA or should I
take the plunge now.
Once again, I'm happy with 98 but fear an irretrievable collapse.
Hardware collapses are a fact of life. You're dealing with hardware
and hardware inevitably dies. As long as your data is backed up and
you have installation media for all your software, you can deal with
hardware failure. Just replace the failing part each time.
You can do that as long as you want to. To me, fear of hardware
failure isn't a good reason to replace a computer and get a new
operating system. The more significant issues are these:
1. An older operating system is less secure than the newer ones.
2. As newer software and peripheral hardware comes out, it will be
less and less likely that it work on Windows 98. How significant that
is to you depends on what interest you have in those newer products.
If either or both of those issues is important to you, you should get
a new computer with a new operating system. If they aren't, you should
stay with what you have and what you're happy with. There is *always*
a learning curve when you move to a new operating system, no matter
how good it is. There's no reason to undergo the pain of that learning
curve unless there's a clearly identified benefit to doing so.
But you have apparently already decided to replace your computer, and
question whether to get Vista now or wait "6 months or a year until
they clean up VISTA."
Let me state, first of all, that I have been running Vista here since
RTM in November of 2006, about 16 months ago. I have had essentially
no problems with it, and it's been completely stable. I know many
others who have had similar experiences (the few people I know who
have had opposite experiences are those who mistakenly bought a
computer underpowered for Vista, or who have been infected with
malware, which they wrongly attributed to being a Vista problem).
So if you do get a new computer now, I definitely recommend Vista, and
I see no reason at all to wait. Although improvements are always being
made, there's nothing to "clean up." Just make sure that you don't
skimp on the hardware configuration. Vista needs a *much* more
powerful machine than 98 did.
Also recognize that Vista is similar in some ways to 98, but in other
ways it is very different. Anything different requires time to get
accustomed to, and that period of learning the differences can be a
difficult, stressful one. But it's worth it, in my view. Just be
persistent; don't let those differences overwhelm you, and decide that
you don't like Vista simply because you haven't yet become accustomed
to the ways in which it's different.
One further point: you are concerned with "the prospect of deleting
all the junk pre installed programs that usually comes with a new
computer."
There are a couple of ways to avoid that issue:
1. Instead of buying a computer from a major OEM like Dell, get one
custom-built for you, and install Vista yourself.
2. Get it from a major OEM, but get it from one of those who (perhaps
for a small additional charge) will supply you with a real
installation DVD (not just a recovery DVD). You can then ignore what
they've pre-installed and reinstall it yourself.
)