[thelist] Which OS to trust for keeping productive?

[Ken Schaefer]

On Thu, 29 Jul 2004 21:48:16 -0500, Dave <schemer at speedeenet.com> wrote:
> Probably a dumb question but when it comes to stability and not have to
> spend more time worrying about backups and reinstalls and software
> re-registration codes and having 7 pc's to make sure while one is
> running the antivirus, the other can get the newsgroups and the other
> can stay safe  etc etc... Which OS do most people trust to use as their
> regular one? I am starting to think I need to stick with Win 2000 Pro as
> it seems to have been the most faithful. I have read of people
> reinstalling XP numerous times to fix things and in the past my pc used
> to run for years without a hiccup. Like I said, probably a dumb question
> but I would like to hear what the majority trusts cause I need to know
> so I can get back to work :-)
> Thanks,
> Dave
> 
> P.S. It may be because I had a lousy mainboard and my experience started
> being based off of that but just how long is the record of an XP machine
> that is used extensively without reinstalling it?

In my experience, how long you can keep an OS running depends on how
you treat it. Install/uninstall lots of cr*p and you'll find you
probably need to reload things every few months - no matter what OS
you're on.

At work, where we use an SOE-type environment, and users do not have
administratives privileges we've had XP machines running since we put
XP in, in 2002 without reloading the OS. We also have Windows 2000
machines running since April 2001 when we put those in.

Personally I use Windows XP Pro or Windows 2003 Server for my
machines. I configure my own firewalls, have AV software etc. I only
install mainstream app on my core OSes (Office, Acrobat, Photoshop,
Visual Studio). Everything even remotely suspect (apps from small
vendors, beta software etc) goes into a virtual machine.

Cheers
Ken