Operating System
Component of the
Home Computer Security Baseline
"The operating system is the foundation upon which you
compute; Don't build on sand!" - Wise Sage
For the time being, folks, this site is all about the
Microsoft Windows operating system, in it's different flavors.
I'm not saying that's the best way to go, but for most people
it's the only way. Back in the early '90's (that's 1990's for
you wise guys) I worked under a guy who was loathe to embrace
the move to Windows. Not that I was excited, mind you. Until
Windows 3.0 came out I absolutely refused also. Yet I saw it
coming. Not enough to buy and hold Microsoft stock naturally,
but saw it coming I did.
In fact, one of my parting remarks to him as he left to
chase greener pastures was "if you don't move to Windows
voluntarily, sooner or later you'll get dragged kicking and
screaming." A year later we spoke and he told me he was now
using Windows operating system; and yes he was kicking and
screaming!
"What are my Operating System
choices?"Well, the flavors of Windows are:
That many? Yes, and even more if you include the server
versions, which of course I won't. Confusing? Yes, to most
average computer users. Not to you, though, you have the
(tada!)
Free Computer Consultant to
save the day! Shortcut to my "bottom
line" recommendation
So let's take a look at each operating system available.
Windows 95/98/NTIf you have Windows 95/98/NT I have
simple, straightforward, no nonsense advice: UPGRADE! Now, the
real term is "migrate" because I don't mean for you to hunt for
an "upgrade" copy of XP (which doesn't exist) and try to load
that over top of what you have. In fact, you likely need a new
PC as well. I'm sorry to break the bad news to you, but you're
fighting an uphill battle. In fact, forget security. You have a
certain amount of safety in that very few attacks on those
systems are out there - but they are there!
Windows Millenium Edition (ME)Windows ME. It hurts
just to think about it. Downgrading to Windows 98 is the second
smartest thing you can do. XP Professional is the smartest, by
the way. More Microsoft executives and programmers should be
indicted over Windows ME than Enron and Worldcom execs, IMHO.
ME was nothing but trouble. Very unstable, driver problems, you
name it. In fact, the best thing about ME is that most copies
went out on "value" PC's that have long since died, their copy
of ME being thrown out with them.
Windows 2000 ProfessionalWindows 2000 Professional is
a good platform. You need to be on Service Pack 4 and
understand that Microsoft is limiting the patches they will
release for this operating system. W2K Pro (as it's known)
lacks some of the bells and whistles of XP Pro especially in
the areas of media and computer "toys". Yet, if it works, don't
fix it. Migrate to a newer platform when the benefits outweigh
the costs and inconveniences of the migration process.
Windows XP HomeWindows XP Home. Windows ME
reincarnated. The Justice Department STILL didn't hand down any
indictments. They should have. Similar to ME, HP Home has
driver problems, stability issues and lacks some key networking
and other features that come in hand for connecting to
corporate resources for telecommuters or trouble shooting. XP
Home is not equipped for authenticating to a Windows Domain, a
must in larger networks and darn inconvenient for some
telecommuting applications. Fortunately you can do a pretty
smooth upgrade to Windows XP Professional. Not cheap though.
Microsoft makes you buy a whole complete $175+ retail box
version. Ouch. Pays to buy right the first time. See my
computer buying guide.
Windows XP ProfessionalWindows XP Professional or XP
Pro for short. Now on Service Pack 2 is a pretty decent
platform. Prior to service pack 1 (SP1) I chose not to use it
for my business clients. At that time there was nothing to gain
and the stability of W2K Pro to lose. XP Pro doesn't live up to
the speed and stability that Microsoft touts, at least not once
you install all of your applications, but on decent hardware
runs as well or better than W2K Pro. Never forget the cardinal
rule of hardware: what Intel giveth, Microsoft taketh away (AMD
notwithstanding). This means that even though Intel has
increased computing power many times over since 1998, a
computer running MS Office 2003 on a Pentium 4 loaded with XP
Pro doesn't seem to be any faster than MS Office 97 loaded on a
new PC back in 1999 running Windows 98 - 2nd edition. But I
digress...
Windows XP Media Center EditionWindows XP Media Center
Edition. For all those people without a nice TV that prefer to
watch movies on a computer screen. My first impression of this
operating system is that they added some toys to XP Home. When
the brand new Intel-approved hardware PC showed a propensity to
not shut down properly from the very beginning, my impression
was vindicated. The optional, buy many times configured,
wireless keyboard and mouse often needed to be kick started in
the Bluetooth applet of the control panel in order to connect.
Try doing that without a keyboard or mouse! We keep a usb
keyboard in the closet nearby for such occurrences. Annoying to
say the least. Windows MCE Still has the same annoying
limitations regarding networking, meaning I just don't see the
point. Wait for Vista!
Windows VistaThe latest operating system, Windows
Vista, is showing great promise. It's mostly glitz, with the
new "Aero" interface, which you will only see if you have
adequate hardware (mostly, lots of RAM). With Aero it can be a
bit daunting to get used to, everything is changed about the
menuing. Vista (pre-release) seems very stable and gets great
reviews. In order to get the "Aero" interface, you need to
AVOID Vista Home Basic; go with Home Premium or
above. For a version comparison, see Microsoft's comparison chart. And,
finally, Microsoft is apparently making good (mostly at
least) on the promise not to have to reboot so much every
time a program updates a line or two of code.
So what's the bottom line?
My advice: Stay with Windows XP Professional SP2 until a
stable version of Vista appears.
With the official release long past us, Vista
seems ready for prime time on new systems. Most reviewers are
calling it their favorite operating system so far; just plain
fun. While upgrading from Media Center or XP Pro might
be ok, a fresh install of Vista will be optimal. Many upgrading
are plagued with driver issues.
So wait if you can to buy that new PC with Vista pre-loaded
instead of counting on an upgrade later.
And, whichever operating system you do run, please see the
Home Computer Security Baseline section on Patch
Management and stay up to date with important security
fixes.
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