Posted on: Tuesday, May 28, 2002
Is your PC ready to put out to pasture?
By Gene Steinberg
Gannett News Service
It used to be the fastest beast on the block, but today your PC seems dog slow when you want to use the latest software or operating system. Should you upgrade your computer, buy something new or make do with what you have?
Microsoft and Apple Computer have stiff requirements for upgrading to their latest operating systems. Both Mac OS X and Windows XP work best with personal computers having at least 128 megabytes of memory and plenty of hard disk space. If you need to use these fancy operating systems, you may find the old family or office PC isn't up to the task.
Richard Decker, a book salesman from Scottsdale, Ariz., has avoided installing Apple's new operating system on his two Macs.
"I have been learning my computer, struggling along and adding peripherals and I've reached a plateau," he said. "I'm not taking home movies. I don't even have a DVD player yet. I don't feel like I'm missing anything by sticking with what I have. Maybe I'll buy another computer in the next 12 months, but not now."
Computer consultant Mike Willmoth of Arizona agrees. "A lot of home users and small business users don't need to upgrade. If your computer is working reliably and is doing what you need it to do, there's no reason."
Willmoth blames software and hardware makers for fueling a vicious upgrade cycle.
"As newer versions of your favorite programs appear, they become larger and bulkier, require more disk space and more memory and processor power," he said. "It's called 'bloatware.' They seem to write the software to get it to market; they don't worry about making it efficient."
So when do you need a new PC? Willmoth's recommendation: "If you require a new business program, or you want to join the digital lifestyle — maybe hook up a digital camera, store a lot of images on your hard drive and upload them to your Web site — that's going to require more resources and processor power."
What about upgrading an old PC?
"New computers are so cheap these days, it's hard to justify." he said.
Free-lance writer and editor K. MacLeod, a Maryland resident, is sticking with her home-built 1999 PC. Although its Pentium 2 processor and 64 megabytes of memory may seem paltry in the era of the wicked-fast AMD Athlon and Intel Pentium 4 processors, it works fine with her present operating system, Windows 98.
"I can edit manuscripts and get online just fine," MacLeod said.
She is, however, eyeing a laptop, "so I can edit when I'm away from home."
