Dear Editor,
I’d like to thank Mr Sean Brignandan (GC, July 26) for his interest in my IT article on Windows Vista, SN Business July 24. Indeed Mr Brignandan is correct about Windows 7 being just around the corner. Mr Brignandan, a self-described computer enthusiast, is however seemingly unaware of Microsoft’s history of Operating System (OS) problems. Windows 98 (not SE), Windows ME, and more recently, Windows Vista despite extensive pre-release testing, all had serious issues upon their launch.
Mr Brignandan is, as he says, aware of the initial problems with Vista, and it boggles my mind that he is advocating an immediate adoption of Windows 7
.
I believe this article covering the bad experiences of a Vista user, almost one year after its launch goes a far way toward answering Mr Brignandan and his unbridled enthusiasm –http://www. stabroeknews.com/2007/features/daily/12/18/the-operating-system-that-stole-christmas/. Given Microsoft’s record, unless there is an overwhelming incentive to upgrade (such as Win XP over Win 98) it is advisable to wait until the new OS is tested and improved. Of course, it is also possible the deployment of Windows 7 goes relatively smoothly (as Win XP did).
Vista (SP2) today is much improved over the Vista of 2007 and the purpose of my article was to inform on some of the features of the Vista OS (given that it is current and will remain so for the near future). In the article I focused on the OS itself, and I will deal with software applications in the future – Mr Brignandan can look out for this. I will also feature Linux which is a viable alternative OS.
In my article, which was written with businesses in mind, I noted the increased hardware requirements of Vista over XP. Thus, from a financial perspective, I was cautioning businesses in
moving ahead too soon – in particular if their existing software and hardware are already adequate.
The word downgrade is not a disparaging term, contrary to what Mr Brignandan believes, and simply means going with an older OS (Win XP in this case). XP is currently the most widely used OS (60% worldwide), and because of demand, continues to be offered, and support by Microsoft has also been extended. The term, downgrade, is also used by Dell, which Mr Brignandan recommends. On that note, given the government’s commendable and active encouragement of the local IT sector, why would Mr Brignandan recommend Dell?
As an enthusiast I would expect Mr Brignandan to know that the small form factor Dell desktop machines are not only difficult to repair or upgrade (they use costlier and hard-to-get low-profile cards) but as far as I am aware, no one in Guyana stocks parts – in particular, power supply units (PSU) and motherboards. Further, buying Dell leads to a higher loss of foreign exchange, while buying a locally assembled clone injects more into our economy which can then be spent and re-spent in a greater stimulating manner.
Although the 3GHz barrier for processors was broken six years ago, today the emphasis is not on increasing clock speeds so much, but on other aspects such as cache and multiple cores. Presently the highest clock speed for mainstream processors is 3GHz (dual core) and 3.33GHz (quad core). The latter costs just over US$1,000.00 – this price, for a processor only, is more than a complete clone office system, including full power protection and printer right here in Guyana. I am therefore interested for what purposes Mr Brignandan is wildly recommending computers with 4.0 GHz processors and 1GB “graphics.” It couldn’t be for the average business now…
Yours faithfully,
Gerhard Ramsaroop
