No Vista on the Horizon

It is that time of year again when Microsoft decides to make all those lovely PCs we bought for Christmas because we could no longer afford not to at those prices, now grossly out of date and beyond the point we can take them back.

Well, there is good news. Vista is now Windows with a broken pane or Windows with double-glazing, depending on your temperament. It is not something to think about for at least another 2-3 years. Having just tried to read an article of which I have absolutely no understanding, I can categorically say, Vista is taking away or more likely, making it difficult to add capability to your PC. It is more like driving a truck now than a sedan – even if it has lots of detailing.

But this is not about Vista. It is about those of you who are still thinking of upgrading your current PC experience. If this is to be your first PC, then I can save you a lot of time and not waste it on reading further. Get a Mac. Or, if you are thinking of second, think about buying a laptop (small footprint) and using the other as a wi-fi internet server.

If you are seriously or even jocularly considering a new PC, there are still some rules of thumb.

Software

It is a big sting, but get XP Pro. In fact always get Pro or Premium anything. These are the programs the Fortune 50 use and if they are not happy, Microsoft is not happy. If you are unhappy, Microsoft (and others …) puts you on hold. If it says Lite, Express, Basic, realize that it is of limited use, perhaps justifiably so. The other reason is that the people you are going to call with questions are family and this is what they work with daily. Nobody works with Works, so nobody will have any answers. I have no idea what version of Vista relates to XP Pro.

Hardware

RAM is what you butt your head against because you keep getting it confused with disk space. RAM is the scratchpad – much like etch-a-sketch; pull the plug, pull the sheet up and everything in memory is erased. This is short-term memory, which we all know, is forgettable.

The long-term memory is the hard drive, the disk, storage, directory, partition. This is massive by recent standards. The little 3.5” floppy disks of yesteryear would hold Tolstoy’s War and Peace. Today you can keep the equivalent of 100,000 of them at a minimum on something the size of a cigarette case or two packs of cards.

If you have a printer that is over 5 years old, it is now off to the recycle bin. All printers today require USB (chicklet-size connector) – no longer parallel. Similarly, there are no more floppy drives; only CD and DVD – which better be both read and write. On the other hand, the floppy has been replaced by the memory stick, which, as I write, is averaging about 512 megabytes – or over 500 floppy disks on something the size of a lipstick (and which can be forgotten in ones pocket, but survive the wash and dry cycle with no problem …)

Video seems to becoming more significant, so make sure the AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) video board has something like 256Mb on-board memory, or even 512Mb. Sometimes called last year’s gaming video.

Modems have been replaced with network cards as everyone now has broadband internet access … So the old telephone RJ11 connector is now an RJ45, which looks exactly the same but is slightly larger.

Mouse and keyboard will still work, but probably require a PS/2 to USB adaptor. At $30-40 for the adaptor cable, it might make more sense to buy a wireless keyboard and optical mouse (no little ball to clean every few months).

Since the PC is now a two-way communication device, you will probably need a webcam for virtual babysitting of grandchildren, a headset for internet telephone calls (VoIP) and special memory slots to read the memory from your digital camera for the inevitable upload to your website and another little converter box to upload your videos to Youtube (if you are using 8mm cassettes; not needed if using mini-DVD disks in your video camera).

So that is the meal, what is the shopping list?

Rule of 4

Since the only thing that seems to be changing these days is the AGP video card (which is rumored to be an absolute requirement for Vista), there is less need for the room we once required – particularly since most add-ons are now externally attached through USB connections. So once we thought we had had enough with all the cables spewing out the back; now they are gone, but all the stuff that was once inside the computer is now outside – just wireless, thanks to Bluetooth and USB receivers.

So size doesn’t matter. Except where it does. Microsoft used to say what the minimum and recommended requirements were, but they were worse than EPA estimates. The simplest rule is to multiply what you were told by 4. If Windows 98 required 64Mb RAM, then buy 256. Vista is now recommending 1Gb, so that would mean … 4Gb (gulp!). Sticking with XP Pro, which was 256Mb, 1Gb is minimum. (1Gb – gigabyte = 1000Mb – megabytes = 1,000,000Kb – kilobytes. 1Tb – terabyte = 1000Gb, but you saw that coming …)

Similarly on the hard disk. 60Gb? No, make that 240! Time-sensitive report: Average cost is $.50 /Gb … so 500Gb would cost about $250. If need more or backup, external drives make more sense than creating DVDs, at under $100 on sale. They act like one huge vacuum cleaner, sucking up an entire disk in a couple of hours – which you then put someplace safe like under the seat of your car.

Since USB is all the rage (and firewire is not), make sure there are at least 4 USB ports, 16 would be better. Yes one can add on extenders but they may require a hard-wired DC adaptor (another cable!).

Oh, and the PC should now last 4 years before being totally unusable for the inevitable upgrade to Vista SP7 …

Archie specializes in tutoring and training of seniors in PC security, Windows, Internet, and Microsoft Office. He holds the CompTIA A+ certification and is often featured speaker at Goodwin House in Alexandria; he can be emailed at ama3@tfci-us.com