Windows XP to Windows 7

[chef]

I was asked by my cousin if he should upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7 and if so, why? what benefits are there?

So, what do the crowd think? what would you answer?

"buy a Mac" is not on his agenda, an OS upgrade is not the same as buying a new machine in terms of cost.

[doodab]

The 64 bit version of Win7 is much better supported in terms of drivers & 64 bit versions of applications so if you want to install lots of memory that's one reason.

It's also a bit more secure, supposedly, because privileged operations usually require elevation, and better optimised for multi-core hardware. The visual bells and whistles might persuade some people as well.

But then, if it ain't broke.....

[Not So Wise]

Also, unless you are running on really old/crappy hardware my personal experience is that Win7 is actually faster and more stable than XP (and even better if you turn of aero).

[d000hg]

If it's an old PC, wait to get a new one with W7... or get a ultra-cheap desktop with no monitor, keyboard, etc for £250 with it installed.

If the PC is OK, then I'd upgrade, W7 is pretty good (although XP is good too). Can you upgrade to the 64-bit version though, or do you have to wipe the disk?

[doodab]

If it's an old PC, wait to get a new one with W7... or get a ultra-cheap desktop with no monitor, keyboard, etc for £250 with it installed.

If the PC is OK, then I'd upgrade, W7 is pretty good (although XP is good too). Can you upgrade to the 64-bit version though, or do you have to wipe the disk?

You have to do a clean install to go from XP to any version of win7. It's called an upgrade cos you can buy the upgrade instead of the full version to do it.

[Spacecadet]

I made the transition last year, first with an evaluation copy of windows 7pro 64bit then I decided to actually buy it (OEM from amazon)
Glad I made the change, Win7 does feel like an upgrade. Office 2007 seems to run better on it and generally everything seems to feel a lot more stable.
Being able to type in the start menu and see the results appear instantly in real time is a massive plus for me. The libraries are useful as well.

Aero shake and peek have also proved to be more useful than I first thought, the system tray nicely organises itself and pinning applications to the task bar is genius although it has meant I stopped using rocket dock.

[gadgetman]

Same effect as the Quicklaunch toolbar in XP.

and pinning applications to the task bar is genius although it has meant I stopped using rocket dock.

[Spacecadet]

Same effect as the Quicklaunch toolbar in XP.

not really - quick launch was just a handy shortcut area, the application would then appear on the task bar.
Hitting the quicklaunch shortcut again would just open a new instance of the application.

[lilelvis2000]

I don't think one can directly upgrade from XP to Win7. It is essentially a new install so you'll have to reinstall all your applications. I use both XP and Win7 and I much prefer Win7. Especially on my quad core

[gingerjedi]

I stuck a 2nd drive and extra RAM in my old P4 2GHz XP machine and installed W7 on the new drive as a dual boot.

Using both now and I've got to say W7 is far better in every way, it just feels far more intuitive and less niggly than XP or Vista. If the intention was to make the whole experience slicker and more user friendly they've done a good job.