Upgrading From XP to Windows 7

THE SIMPLE UPGRADE...NOT!

Why get Windows 7? Well...the User Interface, takes one more bold step toward making a Windows machine look and feel like a MAC. Howse that for an explanation?

That said, why can't anything be simple anymore? 

I was hoping that well...to upgrade from XP to Windows 7, I'd just buy a Home Edition of the software, pop in a disc and then listen to my old trusty work-horse machine whir and click away while I watched a Bonanza re-run. 

Wrong!

IS YOUR CURRENT COMPUTER COMPATIBLE?

First boys and girls, here's what I would suggest: go to Microsoft to find out if your old machine is compatible with Windows 7.  If you have a newer machine, you should be okay. Especially if your newer machine runs on 64 bit rather than 32 bit. To find out please go to:   http://www.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility/windows-7/en-us/default.aspx

There is a compatibility program you can download that will look at your machine and tell you what will work and what perhaps won't work. Drivers for your printer and sound card for example, may need to be updated. 

But that ain't all. 

Once you make the choice to upgrade, Microsoft has a pleasant lady in a pleasant video tutorial telling us how there are four million steps to take before you reach Windows 7 enlightenment.  

ROLL UP YOUR SLEEVES

And here's why:  First you'll need to take all your files and copy them either to an external HD or a buncha CD's.  Then, you will need to install 7 onto your machine. And then...copy your files back to your machine. 

And then (if these 'And then's' were shoes dropping, it would sound like an earthquake), you will need to re-install ALL your programs MANUALLY. Yikes. 

In my case, I have a couple of sound editor programs. Free ones: Audacity, and Acid Express, and let's see other useful programs like CCleaner and Defraggler, and....I'll have to download them all again. 

So make a list of the programs you have, and then get ready for the great re-load. 

GOOD-BYE OUTLOOK EXPRESS

One thing you might want to keep in mind: Outlook Express is gone forever. 

Instead, you will have the choice of going to another e-mail software (like Thunderbird for example) or Microsoft's newest e-mail offering called, Windows Live Mail. 

Looks interesting because it allows you to get mail from your ISP as well as configure it to give you all your mail from Hotmail (anybody still use that?), Yahoo, GMail, and whatever else mail there is out there. You don't have to buy Windows 7 to use Windows Live Mail. It will work on XP, but I admit I haven't taken that leap of faith yet. 

TWO HOURS AT LEAST...TO UPGRADE

So, if upgrading to Windows 7 from XP is in your future, get some sleep the night before, take a few extra Happyzack, and get ready for some 'interesting times' as the old Chinese proverb suggests. 

Or just go out and buy a new computer. Which is probably what Microsoft, and all its partners would want you to do anyway. 

Geesh.