[thechat] operating system advice

noah noah at tookish.net
Tue Oct 15 00:13:01 CDT 2002


Hi Folks,

I hope this is sufficiently OT for this list.

I have to change the operating system on my notebook (Dell Inspiron 8000)
-- the computer's great, but Windows ME is not. I use the machine for all
things web related, but Photoshop is probably the most important app (I'm
assuming that changing OS is not going to seriously alter the way a text
editor works).

I have experimented with linux on this machine, but I just don't have time
right now to manually configure every aspect of the notebook -- PCMCIA,
firewire, IrDA, etc. -- eventually I'm going to buy a vanilla box and run
linux on that.

I can't use Windows 2000 because I need support for multiple monitors on
one graphics card, which 2000 does not provide. That means either XP or 98
SE, of which I have a copy. I'm having trouble convincing myself to upgrade
to a 4 year old OS, so I'm leaning toward XP.

The question is, which XP? First off, I'm not sure whether to get the
update or the full version -- I shudder at the thought of having ME stuff
left on the system because of an upgrade, but the price difference between
the upgrade and full is reasonably significant. And then there's the "Home"
vs. "Professional" question. The machine will eventually be networked, and
I like to have access to configuration, both of which point to Pro -- I've
also come across vague references to better power management in
Professional, and this is a notebook. Again, though, more money. Pro full
is exactly three times the price of Home upgrade.

Any advice?

Cheers,
Noah




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