All this stuff replied has got me more apprehensive about an alteration. Ofcourse the side act of personal disagreements have been entertaining. However, I need to run the latest MYOB (Australian) Accounts Package as it appears very suitable for a tiny business like mine. And these application package vendors always favour the latest OS from MS. Its really not important that I have to spend money. Its always not pleasant to alter anything in life thats going on fine. Its frightening to alter your OS. I am sure there will be foulups, in spite of Greg's optimism. You see I am not a top notch system engineer like him. Cheers, Jamshed. it appears i need to --- Dian Chapman <dian@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > >Mine turn! First I love that spouses can agree to > disagree so > publicly!!! Greg Chapman says "yes" and Dian Chapman > says "flat-out NO" > > <hee, hee> > > And in five years, we've only had ONE argument that > was of any > concern!<g> We respect each other's opinions (most > of the time<smirk>). > I can appreciate Greg's opinion and if I were also a > senior systems > engineer, responsible for the problems of about a > bazillion employees in > a dozen remote locations and had to keep all those > systems and servers > running...then I TOO would be the first one to beg > for the latest, > greatest software...budgets be damned! > > Plus, realize...as an MVP...I get all MS software > and betas free. So I > have every version of Word, including the next one. > XP is ok and I agree > with Linda that, if you're still using 97, you > SHOULD upgrade to either > 2000 or XP, cos' 97 has problems. And I also agree > with Greg that using > Outlook XP is much better than previous versions. > > But when talking Word...I still prefer 2000 and > generally use it most of > the time. I know why MS has set up the user > interface so even a monkey > can use it without much problem. Wizards galore...so > you can deal with > productivity and not have to deal with learning how > to use the program > before you can get your work done. > > But the question was...the user has 97 and is happy > with it. Should he > spend the money now to change to XP. I think he'd be > better off doing > what one of my students recently did and find a > cheap version of 2000 to > purchase. That'll provide more stability and less of > a learning curve. > XP doesn't offer all that much as compared to 2000, > in my opinion. And > they've added more hassles for regular users, since > they need to relearn > how to do things that have changed, unless they > spend time putting Word > BACK the way they're used to using it. Like adding > back the old Mail > Merge dialog rather than that stupid wizard. Again, > I see the > point...who needs to learn mail merge when it can be > a hassle. But damn > it...at least give the users a better chance to make > a choice! Because > I'm a loyal user...*I* have to spent time digging to > get back the > productivity I need and yet the newbie has it easy? > I also have to work > twice as hard to handle forms...now having to clear > my development > fields cos' some folks can't handle learning how to > create forms > properly. And give me the CHOICE of using the task > pane or NOT if I > don't want the damn thing! Yes...I could go on and > on, but I'll step off > the soap box now. > > The bottom line is...as someone > one...Linda?...said...the next version > will be available in not too long. So at this point, > I'd wait to see if > it might be better to use the newest version rather > than spending the > money now on XP, or find a cheap version of > 2000...since it's older and > you can find it cheaper on the net. > > > Dian Chapman > Technical Consultant, Instructor, > Microsoft MVP & TechTrax Editor > > Word AutoForm/VBA eBook: > http://www.mousetrax.com/books.html > Tutorial web site: > http://www.mousetrax.com/techpage.html > TechTrax Ezine: http://www.mousetrax.com/techtrax/ > > -----Original Message----- > From: mso-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > [mailto:mso-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On > Behalf Of April Pace > Sent: Thursday, January 16, 2003 3:16 PM > To: mso@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > Subject: [mso] Re: Is it worth changing over to?XP ? > > > > Mine turn! First I love that spouses can agree to > disagree so > publicly!!! Greg Chapman says "yes" and Dian Chapman > says "flat-out NO" > > Without getting into all the pros/cons about the > technical aspects of > upgrading to XP, I will give you my two cents of why > to upgrade to > WinXP.... If you are like me, I have a home office, > with two small > toddles... their favorite way of getting my > attention, is to come in and > hit the off button on my 'puter killing what ever I > had been doing since > my last save... In WinXP, I can make the off button > work just like the > Start/Turn Off Computer .... Now when they hit that > button, instead of > it killing my puter, it asks me if I want to Shut > Down/Restart/Cancel.... And I can just Cancel the > move and kill them > instead... Also If your puter/mouse ever locks up, > And you can't to a > normal restart... you can hit that button and get to > the restart option > without having to do a hard shut down.... > > April > > > -----Original Message----- > From: mso-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > [mailto:mso-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On > Behalf Of Chuck H. > Sent: Wednesday, January 15, 2003 9:00 PM > To: mso@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > Subject: [mso] Re: Is it worth changing over to?XP ? > > > > Well, it sounds pretty darn logical to me, and I'm > considering upgrading > to Win XP Professional. The thing that we can't get > around, however, > and that bugs the devil out of me, is that the > Longhorn release is not > too far down the road now and, not long after that, > Blackcomb. If > Microsoft is going to release another OS every 18 > months to two years, > we may as well get that third job and start saving > more money for > constant upgrades! > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Greg Chapman" <greg@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > To: <mso@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > Sent: Wednesday, January 15, 2003 2:29 PM > Subject: [mso] Re: Is it worth changing over to?XP ? > > > > > > Hi Jamshed! > > > > My own opinion is yes, you should go through the > pain (very little > > other than that pain applied to your wallet)for > both the OS and the > > Application Suite. I've been running both, full > time and exclusively, > > since their release. Here are the creteria I use > for that opinion: > > > > 1. Compressed Time - In the computer industry, a > lifetime of more than > > > 24 months is a long time. It seems only yesterday > that you installed > > Windows 98 and Office 2000. Sorry chum, that's > been at least 3 years > > for the operating system and at least 1 for the > application suite. If > > you wait much longer, you'll be at least 2 > versions behind what's > > going on with your applications and you're already > 2 versions behind > > on the OS. > > > > 2. Old software problems continue to this day, > unpatched - NT4 for > > will never approach the security of W2K and W2K > will === message truncated === __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ************************************************************* You are receiving this mail because you subscribed to mso@xxxxxxxxxxxxx or MicrosoftOffice@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To send mail to the group, simply address it to mso@xxxxxxxxxxxxx To Unsubscribe from this group, send an email to mso-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=unsubscribe Or, visit the group's homepage and use the dropdown menu. 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