Most Microsoft support for XP ended a while back. The only remaining support is security updates, and that will be ending in the next year or so. Plus, XP doesn't allow you to upgrade to Internet Explorer 9, so that is another security hole.
Your options are:
- Buy a newer Windows Operating System (7 or 8). Cost will be about $100 plus probably hiring me to do the installation and transfer your files from the old system to the new. (Total might be about $160.) Note that there is an additional risk going to Windows 8- it will require significant learning.
- Buy a new computing device with a newer Windows Operating System already installed. Cost is whatever you're willing to pay for a new computer plus perhaps hiring me to transfer your files and install the programs you need.
- Install the free operating system Ubuntu. The desktop and general behavior of this system is the same (actually better) as the latest Apple operating system. Cost: nothing.
Well, there really is a cost to the last one, and that is to take a course I am teaching at Furman Olli from Jan to Mar on installing and using Ubuntu. Typically we would install Ubuntu as a second operating system on your computer, so you would continue to use XP when you need to. However, your default would be to use Ubuntu and never go on-line withing XP.
If you are a "power user," then Ubuntu is for you. If you are a novice and only do web searches and any combination of email, photos, and music, then Ubuntu is for you. (If you have to use iTunes, then it is a little more complicated, but I can show you how.)
So, ummm... I can't think of a reason to not have Ubuntu on any computer, at least as a second operating system. And there are so many reasons to install it.
A couple of articles:
- Ubuntu vs Windows 8
- Ubuntu vs Mac OS X. In this article, it talks about "usability." This article was written for a previous version of Ubuntu. I find that Mac OS X is so constrained and "automated" that it is more difficult to use if you have any conditions other than the ones Apple targets; for example, your ISP is bellsouth/att.
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