no more xp support. time for a new laptop?

No big deal as long as you keep your virus protection up to date. Use it until it dies.

 

I went from windows. to Mac. Never looked back and it's been about 2 months now. It's pricey but for your needs, i wouldn't really recommend it for that reason.

 

Just repeating this. Save yourself some grief.

 

Linux. Don't like the interface, plenty of others to try. No viruses either.

 

Yeah but it's nothing like the original, the third party tool are way better, but I'm still going to do 7 when I build a new PC, no games even keep up with 8. Directx12 isn't even really going to be used

 

...multimonitor capabilities under win 8 are much more robust, and a welcome sight to many, no?...

 

XP's support ending could lead to problems, if the bad guys find a hole in the OS. Given that its a Microsoft product that is a certainty. The question is will they spend the time? The fact that Apple and Linux remain relatively virus free is their lack of use by the masses, not any inherent superiority in the software.

Personally I hate migrating to something new with a gun to my head. Meaning I want a slow calm move, not a forced march because something has blown up and I have no choice. So my advice to everyone is get off XP. If you shop around you can pick up a pretty good laptop for $400 - $600. My current computer is a Toshiba laptop with 8 gig of ram 750 gig hard drive and an i7 quad core with hyper threading. I picked it up for $620 on sale. If you're happy with a 7 year old laptop $400 is all you need to spend. The BestBuy website has a bunch of laptops in that price range.

 

Virus protection only protects to a certain degree, but without support from Microsoft I would be very hesitant to stay with XP.
All those security updates you get in your operating system? Yeah, those protect your computer from being killed. AVG and other virus protection don't have teams working to figure out the vulnerabilities in specific operating systems like microsoft does.

If you decide to get something new, I would recommend a dell, with a i5 or better processor.

 

so much money for a facebook/typing/tw machine though.... i hate technology

 

i've got some desktops, and a Apple G5 Desktop i could sell you, if you don't have to have a laptop. Loaded with 7 or xp (If you so desire... )
PM if you are interested.

 

I just went from windows PC to a new 13" MacBook Air. I am happy with the upgrade. The computer is paper thin and super light. 12 hr battery life. No complaints yet.

 

I like XP, 7, and mac.
W8 just sucks IMO

 

Well, if the only thing you EVER do is on the internet, then a Chromebook is a good choice. Here's one for around $200 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834314360

The Chromebook will be a paperweight if you don't have internet access, but really, how much does anyone do nowadays without the internet?

 

This might be actually what fits my bill. Forgive me if these are dumb questions but can I run Microsoft office on a chrome os? I will need word excel and power point for work stuff. Other than that I really would just use it to browse the internet, watch netflix, and maybe a YouTube video. It's a cheap laptop but will it be able to do all that? If so I might be sold on it or something similar

 

This.

 

"Chromebooks run Web-based apps, not traditional PC applications.
Chromebooks are designed to be connected to the Internet. You can create documents and spreadsheets or edit photos on a Chromebook using Google apps designed for these purposes. The Chrome operating system will not load and run traditional PC software like Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop. However, files created in these applications can be viewed and edited using Google apps on your Chromebook or cloud-based applications like Microsoft's Office web apps."

 

I currently have a laptop with Windows 8 and don't see everyone's deal about it not having a start button. There is a key on the keyboard for that...

The learning curve on windows 8 really isn't a big deal in my opinion. While it is optimized for touchscreen laptops, I don't really need to use my touchscreen. I think its a better O.S. than XP all around but most will disagree with me.

 

Spot on.
Once you get in desktop mode (I think that is what its called) its just windows 7, except you can select a program from the start menu, instead you have to search for it by hitting the button where the start button used to be and start typing. Oh wait.. is that to much to do??