[HCARC] Win 8

[Kerry Sandstrom]

Gary,

There are a number of issues.  First of all, at some point Microsoft stops 
supporting the older versions and what that really means is no more updates 
including ones for security.  Right now, I think XP's days of support are 
numbered.  Second,  there are always new features/capabilities added to the 
new software that are difficult to impossible to use with the older 
software.  Third, some of the older software will not run on the newer 
operating systems.  XP was the last that would run the old 16-bit software. 
I have heard that Win 7 Pro will still run old software but the other 
versions of Win 7 won't.  I haven't heard anything about Win 8 in that 
regard, but at best it will be the same as Win 7.  That is important because 
a lot of the older ham radio software was written to run on the older 
operating systems.  You may have to get a new version of some software to 
run on Win 7 or 8.

So where does that leave us.  I have kept my XP computer and that is the one 
I use for ham radio applications.  I have some old FORTRAN programs, a BASIC 
interpreter and a FORTRAN compiler that run just fine but won't run on VISTA 
or anything newer..  I have a terminal rogram that runs fine but isn't 
available for VISTA, 7 or 8.  I don't use that computer on the internet very 
much so I'm not as concerned about lack of security updates for it.  I will 
keep that running as long as I can.  If you have some ham radio programs 
that you like, you need to determine if they will run on the new operating 
systems or if there is an updated version for the new operating system. 
Then you can make part of the decision.

The computer I'm using now is running VISTA as does my laptop.   I can run 
programs like VOACAP and NEC on those computers so I'm fairly happy with 
them.  I expect VISTA will be supported for a few more years so no decision 
required.  These two computers are the ones I am most likely to have on the 
internet and I get the security updates so that part is fine.  There are 
probably some new features that I can't use, for example, neither one has a 
Blu-ray drive.  I don't miss that.  If I want to watch a Blu-ray movie, I've 
got a Video Disc player for that.  I don't download videos so thats not an 
issue although i believe i could on the VISTA computers.

My wife's laptop is running Win 7 and is doing well.  She is on the internet 
a lot and she is fairly safe with that computer.

When she or I get a new computer, it will have whatever the current 
operating system is.  At that time I will evaluate what if any software I 
lose if I get rid of one of the other computers and will act accordingly.

By the way, software isn't all you stand to lose.  Perhaps you've noticed 
that new computers don't come with floppy disc drives or ZIP drives.  I 
think that some of the new ones don't even come with CD, DVD or Blu-ray 
drives.   If you have any data saved on these media or any software on these 
media, be sure you keep a capability to read the data.  I still have a 
functional 486 computer running DOS so I can still get data off my 5 1/4" 
floppies, 3 1/2 " floppies and I have an external ZIP drive that plugs into 
USB ports.  There are numerous magnetic memory cards around now that are 
used by various cameras and other things as well as numerous USB drives.  Be 
sure that you don't lose the capability to access those media if you change 
computers.  I expect that at some points normal omputers will have almost no 
memory and few resident programs and no drives.  Your data will be stored 
"in the cloud" as well as your software.  When you want to do anything, your 
computer will connect to the "cloud' and your programs and data will be 
there and that's where it will run.  Your computer will be just be a smart 
terminal.  That will be fine as long as nothing happens to the "cloud".  But 
perhaps you should ask where they are going to find all the bandwidth for 
that kind of an operation!  That is why tablets and smart phones are 
worthwhile.

The Touch-screen question is partly one of individual preference.  Where are 
Touch-screens used now?  To make choices on terminals at places like banks 
and stores where you must select from a few options and you don't enter any 
data via the Touch-screen.  To enter data using automated test equipment 
where you must select from a limited number of options and you aren't 
entering any data, the data is collected automatically.  On mobile devices 
like tablets and smart phones where you have a limited number of choices and 
you aren't entering data.  I just don't see the utility of a touch screen 
for a desktop or a laptop.  If you still have a keyboard and mouse, the 
touch-screen is redundant - but thats just personal opinion.

In order for an individual to make a decision on a computer operating 
system, I think he/she has to consider whether or not current software will 
run on the new OS or not, how much the computer will be used on the internet 
and the associated security issues, what new features a new computer and OS 
will add and how much those mean to you, and finally what existing media you 
use and the ability of the new computer and OS to access that media.