Windows 7 is a lot better than XP, Windows 8 I'm less sure on (not used it much yet). Both do cost for licences and you might need a better computer to run them.
If you are happy with the computer as it is, and you have good security software, see absolutely no point personally.
I got a new laptop with Windows 8.1 .... It took a bit of getting used to. It's surprising how much you miss Start>Programs, and how much the "metro" front end reminds me of Windows 3.11.
I am currently aware of around 80,000 Windows XP machines in goverment departments that will continue in use for the next year after coming to an "arrangement" with Microsoft. I suspect that this will cost a lot more than we can afford though. I do agree though that it isn't absolutely necessary to upgrade.
I found a simple solution to all my Windows problems. I bought a MAC. Simples and it never fcuks up. (Unless I get a few too many beers down and try to use the mouse back to front...)
Windows 8 runs great on my lappy with ssd. Id probably leave the xp as it is and look for a new machine with win 8 when you are ready cos im guessing its pretty old with xp on? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
In my opinion XP was a very good o/s so if you do upgrade then avoid the rank awful Vista and go to Win 7 which is pretty good. I'm not a fan of Win 8 so but I've only had limited experience with it so I can't be too critical.
If you bought a PC quite a few years ago it may be time to upgrade the whole PC not just the OS there is a good chance your old PC wont run WIndows 7. The Minimum requirements for XP were The minimum installation requirements to install Windows XP Home Edition or XP Professional Edition are: Pentium 233-megahertz (MHz) processor or faster (300 MHz is recommended) At least 64 megabytes (MB) of RAM (128 MB is recommended) At least 1.5 gigabytes (GB) of available space on the hard disk The Minimum requirement for windows 7 is If you want to run Windows 7 on your PC, here's what it takes: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor 1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit) 16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit) DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver So unless you have at least a 1GHz processor and ideally 2Gbytes of Ram in your PC either stick with XP or buy a new PC - if your PC will support running Windows 7 and you want to upgrade its not simple you may find drivers dont exist for some of your hardware and some of your applications will no longer work unless you run them in XP mode ( which needs even more RAM) Also the upgrade isnt cheap unless you find a hookey copy Summary upgrading your existing PC will probably not work - buy a new one. Personally I would buy one with Windows 7 installed - its very similar to XP to use but has some improvements I dontl like Windows 8 at all
I agree, just try and buy a new machine. And avoid Windows 8. After years of being able to walk normally, it's like having to wear 6 foot long skis day and night for the rest of your life.
Windows 7 is bob-on as a replacement for XP, it's become something of a cliché to slate Windows/Microsoft and they have made a few mistakes (Vista being a big one) but they generally get it right. The trouble with XP is they made too good of a job with it, 13 years ago it surfaced and it will still do everything most people need today. Go back 13 years ago from when XP was released and you'd have been loading things off floppy discs and getting 8 colours on the screen if you were lucky. I've been running Windows 8.1 since it came out and now I've got used to it it's fine, starts up in about ten seconds, you never notice updates and it's very stable. Although it should be said that instability isn't usually anything to do with the operating system it's generally down to bad memory or a failing hard drive. I had a problem about 6/7 years ago where I was getting blue screens daily on a tower machine and just couldn't figure out what the problem was - turned out it was the power supply not being able to kick out enough juice for all the components, thought that was ludicrous when it was suggested to me but bought a higher rated one for about £40 from PC World and the problem stopped.
I think an OEM copy of Windows 7 or 8 goes for about £80 so when you consider you can get laptops with it preinstalled and with modern components for about £220 it does seem daft buying the software only and chancing it on an old machine.
Firstly, I do wonder if this will be another "millenium bug"-style ado about nothing. Nevertheless, maybe a system with vulnerabilities which won't be fixed is not one to do your online banking on, or hold valuable documents without good backup arrangements. Secondly, I wouldn't upgrade Windows. As has been pointed out, the cost of a licence to eke extra life out of ageing hardware is about a third of the cost of a shiny new PC. Thirdly, Linux is free and - surprisingly - not that scary. Yes, Windows programmes don't run on it but nevertheless, there are alternatives for just about everything you'll need. If you go with Ubuntu, many of these are pre-installed (Firefox browser, LibreOffice, Shotwell photo manager, Rhythmbox tunes) and others (eg VLC media player, GIMP photo editor) easily obtained free from the software store. Furthermore, having downloaded the ISO file you can burn a CD or extract to a USB stick anf boot from that to test drive it. It is genuinely worth considering.