Have a duo core processor, should I get windows 7?

Recently had someone over and they asked what I ran on my computer when I told them XP they shook their head and told me I should get 7 installed, because with the duo core it would be that much faster, that with XP I am only using half of the processors ability and in the long run that could damage my computer.

So the question is, should I upgrade? and will everything I have backed up on my external hard drive work with 7?

 

Almost certainly everything you have backed up will work with Win7... most of the issues moving from XP were hardware/driver compatibility ones dealing with older equipment that XP supported, but Win7 doesn't. Even if there are programs that require XP, they can be run in a compatibility mode, so you should be still be okay.

And yes, Win7's ability to use today's multi-core processors should give you a performance improvement.

 

Like greywolf and Martian have said, that statement about XP being bad for your hardware is, to put it mildly, incorrect.
On your original question if you will benefit from upgrading. I run Win7 on multiple machines from P4 single core non hyper-threading to multi core hyper-threading machines. On the old P4 there wasn't a performance gain but things are better and new functionality built into the OS that would require add-ons in XP. The only scenario where I have had / know of issues about upgrading to Win7 is on laptops if the chipset isn't fully supported by Win7 then the machine can run hotter than previously (or with limited performance) but over all I agree with Martian that Win7 is probable the best OS from Microsoft.
When Win7 came out the hardware guys I know said if the machine can run XP SP3 then it will run Win7 and usually better.
Of cause all the visual features will benefit from good video hardware but Win7's true improvement is in security and hardware support (and .. and..

 

or save yourself tons of aggravation and trouble and buy a mac

/ducks and runs from the 'doze crowd

 

Windows 7 seems better than XP in every way. I've had to drag my dad, wife, and daughters kicking and screaming into the fold. Their tech support (me) refuses to touch XP.

That said, there's nothing really wrong with XP. Mainly, it's becoming increasingly less supported. I've heard of things not working with Win7; everything I use worked without issue. It seems that every other version of Windows is worthwhile, I wasn't a fan of Vista; but Win7 is good stuff.

 

oh I know..I was just teasin. I work on some 7 machines and it's not horrible, but OSX feels like home for me.

 

Are mac users even allowed in this form? This is a TECH forum and not a forum for overpriced photoshop computers.

Run subcommand loop piss_off_gloryhole
PRINT Fuck off glory hole!
PRINT Bitch
end loop

*****

I also agree with the posters above, you got some bad tech advice, no OS I know of will damage a computer (except windows ME) by running on it. Win7 is a nice and streamlined OS, go with it if you feel like it. You can always go back if you don't like it. Just make sure to backup the data to a safe place before you start changing OSes.

I'm an XP fan just because it uses less resources and I really just use it as a base for my VMs. I'd be fully converted to linux if not for video games.

How old is your PC by the way? That's a good way to know if your pc is supported fully by win7, but I don't really see that being a big problem.

 

..still waiting for your command to go through.. sorry you had a fatal loop and yet another BSOD. Mac users don't need a tech forum because our shit works.

 

I'm just going to leave this right here for you all experts...

 

On that note there is always the upgrade option that does wonders for your stability and software options.

 

I know, right? Almost as Captain Obvious as you acknowledging that people disagree about things, especially on the Web.

Let me follow up:

the INTERNET
IT'S FULL OF PORN​

Anyway, I posted the above link because I was hoping some would discuss the points, not fly off the handle. Perhaps the tone of my URL title was wrong. Now, I realize we're short on content-generating willpower here at TFP so next time I'll post it in detailed bullet format framed for discussion and do a SOURCE link instead of assuming how the dynamic of a forum goes where people discuss content instead of going all I'm-13-and-I-Know-Stuff on each other. I found some of the items in that argument to be valid. I'm obviously not a techie or a power user, so I was hoping someone that is and has the history would have comments with perspective on it beyond my Mastered-A-Tandy-Now-Can-Barely-Download-Shit.

 

I would call myself a power user at least in the Windows environment and I would say there are many valid points in there.
Two that I notice frequently are the anemic search functionality compared to previous versions and the lack of the "up" button, both can be frustrating. This is coming from someone that started on DOS 4.0 / Windows 3.0 and has worked with everything but that glorified MS Bob known as Win ME. I did enough tech support with that one to appreciate the awfulness and mainly lack of nearly any useful feature it had.

 

Thanks for the response.

As a total layman, it seemed to me that such was the case. Really interested to see what the next version of Windows will be like. I spend a lot of time behind dual monitors when I'm not out and about yelling at people and, as such, I'd hoped that Win 7 would be all that the ejaculating-in-the-pants that reviews made it out to be. Some of the cutesy MAC-like features are nice, but the backwards steps (as laid out in the link) caught me as big WTFs. So I dunno about 7. It's like the Facebook of operating systems. Pretty, but kinda annoying to those of us that use a PC for more than what the average teenager does on a daily basis. I'm still waiting for someone to bring me a raw Windows-style OS that is less flash and more function.

 

That "one thing" that really irks me with windows vista and 7 - it constantly "forgets" to keep "sort items by type" as a checked option despite me doing this umpteen times. After a few dozen times (maybe an exaggeration but it feels that way) over the years of rechecking this option it gets old quickly.

 

Just checking.

I didn't know if you were pulling a Manic Skafe on me or what. Either way, what's it like being able to read the six terminals on a Matrix workstation?