Why Migrate to Windows 2000 or XP
Windows 95 has been a comfortable work environment for many users for years
now. Why should we upgrade to Windows 2000 / Windows XP?
Microsoft is Dropping All Support for Windows 95
Microsoft has replaced Windows 95 with several upgrades: 95 OSR2, Windows
98 and Windows ME, and now Windows XP. They now refuse to fix remaining
bugs and newly found security flaws in 95.
New Hardware Doesn't Work with Windows 95
Many new computers, graphics cards and peripherals (printers, cameras,
etc.) don't work with Windows 95. It is becoming increasingly difficult
to find replacement and new hardware which can continue with 95.
In some cases, we have to buy outdated and inferior devices if we wish
to maintain 95 compatibility.
Improved Reliability
Windows 2000 and Windows XP don't crash as frequently as Windows 95.
And when an application like Netscape or Internet Explorer crash on a 2000
or XP computer, it doesn't crash the whole computer. With 95, the
crash of one application meant the entire system would likely need a reboot.
Improved Speed
Windows 2000 and XP require much faster computers, so of course you would
expect them to be faster than 95 on old hardware. But that's not
all - Windows 2000 and XP log in faster than 95 on similar hardware.
Microsoft claims your applications will also run faster, benchmark programs
to test this claim seem to have a better chance of repeating that result
when the study is being financed by Microsoft.
New OS Features
Windows XP adds several new and useful features.
Remote assistance is possible for problem resolution. Your local
consulting desk can connect to your computer and see the same symptoms
you are seeing, all without anyone having to leave their desks.
XP also includes network based video conferencing using inexpensive
set-top video cameras.
Windows 2000 and XP also include new features for rolling out centralized
software. These features allow us to be more flexible with software
rollouts on Nexus than we were with Waterloo Polaris.
New Software
Today's software is increasingly dropping support for older versions of
Windows like 95. Microsoft has added many new features which programmers
are happy to use in their programs. And also the programmers are
less likely to test on 95 now that it is an unsupported operating system.
Editted Dec 3, 2001 by Erick Engelke