Readers like you help support MUO. When you make a purchase using links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Read More.
I have Windows XP. I haven't upgraded to either Vista nor to Windows 7. Is it better to upgrade?
2013-01-25 09:14:31
I would not upgrade if there is not a big reason to do it ! I mean, only if some "new SW" I want to use, requires Win 7. VISTA is the "same" as XP, so no point to upgrade.... However if your PC is older than 5 years do not upgrade, it's not worth the efforts and expected benefits. But keep in mind, this is only one opinion, so ask for "another opinion"...
2012-12-16 10:22:44
yes i think u should upgrade.......... to win 7. there are many features which i liked in win 7.
2012-12-16 09:19:40
Absolutely, go with win7. Win XP will soon be unsupported by MS (like some people already posted) thus will make obsolete, so don't take any chances and upgrade :)
2012-12-14 04:54:37
Windows XP is oudated microsoft does not give any support for win xp anymore. Its better to switch to win7 or 8 if your machine supports it. I would recommend you upgrade to win 7 or 8.
2012-12-13 15:38:44
windows xp is a great operating system but if you have a good enough computer to run it i would recommend windows 7
2012-12-13 07:49:57
You can upgrade to Windows 7. Windows 7 is best to use, but before upgrading make sure your Computer meets the requirement of Windows 7 or any other Windows Version that you want to install.
2012-12-13 00:55:14
If you can, Yes. Windows XP is the best release according to me but it has too many security flaws.
2012-12-13 00:17:30
You should really upgrade if your pc support new windows.
2012-12-11 08:00:28
Depends to your PC or Laptop actually, if like me, you're using a netbook, or a considerably old pc, and you owns an original Windows XP, by all means dont. XP works quite well, and does the job done, without you having to spend extra cash to do exactly the same job. If you're a hardcore gamer with the state of the art rig, by all means do, a lot of games today needs it.
2012-12-10 17:28:17
Simply YES...
2012-12-10 05:05:12
instead of windows you can upgrade to a any linux distro, all linux os are free, only problem with linux is that it lack games .
2012-12-10 01:21:27
To be honest I think you should, ever since getting window 7 I love it! I tried the beta version of windows 8 and that ruined my laptop.
2012-12-09 17:31:53
If you want to test Windows 7 and have space on HDD, split your Windows XP partition and install 7 in it as dualboot setup. A 90 day evaluation version of 8 is still available but you should first use MS system evaluation software. Note: some older periferals such as scanners and printers will not be usable because drivers aren't available.
2012-12-09 15:10:36
You should, if you can. I suggest upgrading to 7 since it's the most stable OS out there and its interface is similar to windows XP's.
2012-12-09 14:53:46
You really should, XP is a bit outdated now, since it came before Vista. There's a few games you can only play on Windows 7. The interface just looks a lot better on 7.
2012-12-09 07:24:40
Hello, yes it would be a good idea to upgrade. You have to keep in mind that windows XP, even though it is still a decent operating system, it is a little bit long in the tooth. Besides updating it will be over pretty soon.Also, you have to consider the age of your computer. If you want to upgrade to windows 7, chances are you will have to upgrade some hardware, specially the graphics card.
2012-12-09 07:07:11
Yeah, Windows 7's way better!
2012-12-09 06:32:09
How old is your computer and what specs does it have? It if has 2GB of ram or more, 7 or 8 will work quite well on it (not talking about CPU yet, most cpu's from the past 6-7 years should work quite well). Also another thing to keep in mind in legacy hardware or software, you need to make sure they work well with newer versions of windows before you upgrade. If your computer is fast enough, and has hardware support, I will recommend upgrading because 1. Windows XP support is ending soon2. Newer versions of windows are more secure3. Newer versions of windows (excluding vista) are faster4. More and more software are dropping support for windows xp.
2012-12-09 00:57:48
Well the big reasons to switch are:* Better stability and less blue screens, almost none for me.* Faster booting.* The network and other problem troubleshooters are very robust. Say your networking stops working, you right click on your networking icon in the system tray and choose "Troubleshoot problems". In my experience then Windows fixes the networking trouble half the time or more without the need for your further input. With Windows 7, there is little need to know about networking and ipconfig details for instance (which I forgot from my computer course days 10 years ago by now anyway). If the troubleshooter can't fix the issue, it seems to know exactly what is wrong and what you should do about it. The troubleshooters for printer and scanner hookups are better too.* The "Action Center" app besides the annoying reminder to set a backup location, will give you useful actionable information to help you with problems you have had in the past with your computer that you or Windows could not immediately solve.* On a sometimes related issue, the driver handling now works almost flawlessly. Have some some semi-obscure USB hardware but are too lazy to go to the website of the maker of the device? No problem as soon as you plug it in, in my experience like 90 % of the time Windows will go online, find the right driver and install it for you. No need again to do anything. In fact this might be better then you installing the drive manually. If it can't do it automatically, Windows 7 will magically make an actionable entry in the Action Center (again sitting in the System Tray) which will have the exact right link for the drive for instance for your Samsung 1710 laser printer (mine :-).* Home networking just works better. Windows 7 (and Vista?) have the concept of "HomeGroup". It is easier to connect other computers on a non-domain home network, than it was before. The network identities and connections are more stable now too.* Whenever Windows 7 makes a system restore, it takes a snapshot of the boot drive. So if you later change a file stored on the drive and that changed file becomes corrupt, you can right click on the corrupt file listing in Explore and choose "Restore Previous Versions". Select your old non-corrupt version of the file, and bam, windows 7 restores your corrupt file! It's just like having a backup :-). People will quibble and tell you its not a backup. Who cares? it works like one and can save you if you are lucky and there was a system restore point made to your computer before the corruption.* Windows Aero styling. Cool transparent/translucent "living" graphics. A step up from the ones that are available by default in XP. It just seems like a more modern computing experience.* Searching for files is faster. Also a combination "Run" app and a file search blank field is now placed just above the Start button on the Start menu for quick running of a Windows "system type app" or searching for a file.* You can now "pin" shortcuts to the taskbar, making it much quicker to start favorite apps. It allows you to have many more icons the old XP "Quick Launch" system. It just works better now.* In my experience Windows 7 WordPad will sometimes open corrupt Word docx format files that MS Word 2007-2013 and WordPad XP can't open.* You can transfer you files (and programs??) from XP to Windows 7 more easily than from Windows XP to a new Windows XP setup.I covered a lot :-). Anybody else want to weigh in with Windows 7 features they like that I left out?
2012-12-11 18:10:09
You covered it all...I agree with you... :-)
2012-12-08 20:40:41
depends on your hardware really....check the requirements for the new windows you want to install and check it with your hardware....if they match i think you should as windows 7 is really awesome...i havent tried windows 8 yet...but dont upgrade to vista though...just putting it out there
2012-12-08 18:43:00
Reading a lot of these repy's lead me to think What planet does some of these people live on? I mean reading their submissions justs confirms their inability to answer anything logical!Test, or submit your computer specs then make a descision, or you can go with " Yes, Win 7 is good!"
2012-12-08 17:05:30
dont upgrade to vista it consumes lots of memory and graphic but if u can upgrade it to windows 7 then it is good.......go fir it....
2012-12-08 11:26:37
Yes u should but i recommend only win 7 if you work better on win xp...
2012-12-08 18:45:28
Din One your answer isnt anything of a sensible evaluation, do you smoke strange things?
2012-12-08 11:15:13
yes if your pc supports its good to upgrade
2012-12-08 10:47:55
if Microsoft do not shutdown computers with windows xp and if you like windows xp then stay with it, now the question will be how many years you want stay away from the latest windows. You should also consider the fact if you want to jump to the latest windows os then you have to use clean install and not upgrade feature. In fact upgrade feature can be done from windows 7 to windows 8 and the following a year a new update is expected for windows 8 and probably you cannot upgrade windows 7 to the new coming windows os and have to do clean install.
2012-12-08 08:16:35
Yes !!If you do not have problem in upgrading. I mean if you afford of paying upgrade fee or you can find a pirated CD key and have capable hardware then you should upgrade.As windows xp support life-cycle is finishing in 08/04/2014 means you won't get any update including security updates. Other than that windows seven is more secure. I recommend upgrading to windows 7.
2012-12-14 18:04:22
Agreed. No pirate allowed.
2012-12-08 07:59:50
Simplest answer is yes. If your computer hardware supports it, you should upgrade. It has many benefits-1. Better protection from malware- Although Windows never is secure even if you have zillions of antivirus software running, it is best to upgrade to make sure the number of targets is less. It is very unlikely that you'll ever meet an expert hacker. Most of the crackers use software easily available on the net and if windows has patched it, that software will be useless. With each update, a few security holes are closed and windows is patched. So its worth the upgrade to make sure you are more secure.2. Better and newer features- There are a lot of improvements that have happened since XP was released. So if you want better features, go for upgrade.3. Support may end- As guys above have been telling you, XP is an old OS and support may end soon for it. So its better if you upgrade to 7 which will have longer support.
2012-12-08 07:30:16
One word: yes.go with windows 7. Its a great os
2012-12-08 06:25:42
Upgrading to Windows 7 is recommended.
2012-12-08 05:48:55
Yes ! In my opinion you should upgrade to win7 !
2012-12-08 05:42:46
Its a bit like asking "Should I eat a Banana or an Apple?"Go to your local computer store and have a look at Se7en (if there is any computers in the store running it) and Eight then make up your own mind on should you upgrade etc.If you are asking from a support point of view then yes, as support for XP will be dropped in just over a year.
2012-12-08 00:12:54
Yes you should but you need to buy all your programs again unless you backup or if you have the programs serial numbers.
2012-12-07 23:50:24
Windows XP support will end on April 8, 2014 ~ so theoretically you still have some time before you should upgrade for security purpose.However, a lot of new software ~ especially games ~ require stuff that may no longer be supported on Windows XP.For example DirectX support ended for Windows XP with version 9.0c. Any application requiring a DX10 and above will not work on XP.Also the .NET Framework 4.5 requires Windows 7 minimum. So application based on that won't work either.
2012-12-07 23:51:58
Sorry, 4.5 minimum is Vista SP2
2012-12-07 23:31:52
If your computer supports it and you are not using any legacy software, then yes, you should upgrade. If your computer is limited in resources (for example, less than 1 GB of memory), then you should not. Upgrading your operating systems gives you new features and other improvements, but it will be more demanding in resources.Support for XP is soon to come to an end, if I remember correctly.
2012-12-10 01:01:35
*completely.also the windows embedded for point of service v1 end in 2016.