The Microsoft OS Dilemma

With more versions of Microsoft’s Windows Operating System (OS) than ever before in everyday use, the choice of which one is suited to your requirements is becoming increasingly complex.

The first consideration when selecting which version of Windows to use is the applications that you intend to run. Not all software runs on all versions of Windows and this can be a major issue if you need to run specific software.

Companies that wrote some of the old or bespoke applications you use would have had no knowledge of the later Windows versions, as they obviously wouldn't have existed then. These companies may be able to offer later versions or upgrades if there is sufficient demand but all too often the company no longer exists, such is the pace of change in IT.

Companies writing new software have to consider cost and features. They will want their applications to be as feature-rich as possible but some such features may be unsupported on older Windows versions. Creating a variety of different versions of a product is more costly and will be dependant on demand.

The second important factor to consider is that of the PC's hardware. As more features are invariably added to each new version of Windows the demands on the hardware increase and the size of the OS both in terms of it’s installation (Disk space required) and Memory to run it (RAM).

This factor is particularly important if you are looking to upgrade from an earlier version of Windows but use your existing hardware. The table below outlines the minimal requirements for the major Windows versions together with recommendations for achieving a more realistic overall performance. (Note: If the PC is networked and provides file/print services for other PC's then the requirements will be higher.)

OS Version	Minimum specification Processor*/RAM/Disk**	We recommend at least Processor*/RAM/Disk**
Windows 3.11	386/2MB/20MB	486DX33/4MB/500MB
Windows 95/98	486DX66/16MB/500MB	P150/32MB/1GB
Windows NT Workstation	Pentium Class/16MB/500MB	P150/32MB/1GB
Windows ME/2000	P133/32MB/2GB	PII-300/64MB/4GB
Windows XP	P233/64MB/2GB	PII-500/128MB/10GB
Windows Vista (Home Premium/Business)	1GHz x86 CPU/512MB+128MB DX9 Graphics/40GB	Dual-Core 1.8GHz+ or Single 2.2GHz+ /1GB+256MB DX9 Graphics/80GB

*Parts quoted are Intel numbers but equivalents from other manufacturers are just as suitable.
**Actual disk size without compression tools - the use of which will have a large impact on perfomance. Some applications will demand higher specifications.

You should also consider what you will be using the PC for and what other devices you are likely to require. USB devices and DVD's were both introduced at the time of Windows 98 and are poorly supported by NT as are many Plug & Play devices. Windows 9X (95, 98 & ME) was targeted at home users and NT (New Technology) at the business marketplace. Massive growth in the domestic market however prompted greater uptake of Plug & Play hardware technologies and multimedia devices; 9X therefore evolved rapidly through 95 and 98 to ME, driven by consumer demand and as a result many business users chose 9X over NT.

Windows 2000 and XP include comprehensive support for all the features of 9X but remain built on the strengths of NT. The core difference between the 9X and NT versions is the handling of applications - NT keeps each application separate and allocates each it's own resources wherever possible. This provides much greater platform stability so that if a program crashes it is far less likely to topple the OS itself and instead is simply closed down. Similar events in the 9X family result all to often in the 'Blue Screens' or 'this program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down' which, as we all know too well, result in a subsequent reboot and loss of data! This may be frustrating for the home user but rarely results in financial loss, unfortunately the same cannot be said for most commercial applications.

For business use the improved reliability of NT and particularly Windows 2000/XP, offers by far the most suitable choice, providing that all the applications you require are compatible. At thus time, Vista is still young and consequently you may encounter some issues with software and device driver compatability - check before you buy! It should be noted that purchasers of Vista Business can currently downgrade to XP-Pro free but this may not last and does not apply to Home Editions...

You may well wonder why Microsoft had two different versions at all but at that time the different markets generally had different priorities. Information technology moves at a rapid pace however and as the costs have fallen many home users now have access to features once only found in higher cost business systems. Businesses are also much quicker to adopt new innovations and as reliability improves and prices fall, are more willing to do more ambitious work themselves. This is particularly true of tasks such as printing and multimedia content. Many small businesses now produce far higher quality literature themselves; special offers and clearance sales can be detailed in good quality colour print or on CD within hours instead of sending away to printers. This not only reduces the time to market but also frees up budgets for better quality materials and services from the more traditional sources.

Microsoft responded to this emerging market and have converged the two Windows technologies with Windows XP and have emphasised the multimedia abilities combined with the historically robust NT platform. Although the product is new and much more demanding on hardware than ever before the early signs are that it is largely delivering as promised – check your application compatibility however!

For a business environment you should avoid the use of the 'Home' versions of XP/Vista and opt for XP Pro or Vista Business.

New users with no legacy applications should opt for Vista unless they have specific reasons to do otherwise. We recommend the Home Premium or Business Editions and where minimal legacy support is require, the 64 bit versions are preferred as they are faster and can access more RAM (up to 128GB) than 32bit Editions (limited to just over 3GB).

With some fantastic offers around on PC hardware, a new tower can often be purchased for under £300 and given that this is warrantied and will be infinately faster than what most of us will have on our desks, it should always be an option before upgrading! There are so many factors that determine the performance of a PC that unless the machine is quite new anyway, most of the internal architecture will have moved on and thus some part of the old system will invariably 'bottleneck' that new upgrade so choose carefully... Please call or use contact form for free advice!