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I am an IT Professional and can say with certainty that it is never a good idea to upgrade an OS. I would never do it, even if it's free.
As an IT Professional, I disagree. If anyone out there should be upgrading, it's you. And me.
You should have a better grasp of the ideal way to install a new OS, makes sure everything works, and go back if it doesn't work.
You should embrace a new OS. Every time. You need to be on the cutting edge. Running Win 7 in 2018 is no way to stay sharp in our field.
As an IT Professional, I disagree. If anyone out there should be upgrading, it's you. And me.
You should have a better grasp of the ideal way to install a new OS, makes sure everything works, and go back if it doesn't work.
You should embrace a new OS. Every time. You need to be on the cutting edge. Running Win 7 in 2018 is no way to stay sharp in our field.
That isn't really true. There are many, many businesses, governmental agencies, and colleges that simply don't upgrade every time there is something new and shiny out, because for one thing, it costs money to constantly upgrade. Not just the operating system and the computers themselves, but to upgrade business applications to make them fully compatible with the new systems. And as frequent as Microsoft is with OS releases lately, it is just bad business to try and keep up with the Joneses.
Now, of course, the sector of IT where it's necessary to be cutting edge is in help desk, or companies that provide development software. But I've seen colleges completely skip operating systems like Vista, 8, & 8.1. I've seen governmental agencies stick with operating systems that have long stopped being supported by the general public. State wide ERPs tend to not do a lot of changing, therefore, local governmental agencies and schools that use them simply don't have a reason for being in a big hurry to upgrade.
As an IT Professional, I disagree. If anyone out there should be upgrading, it's you. And me.
You should have a better grasp of the ideal way to install a new OS, makes sure everything works, and go back if it doesn't work.
You should embrace a new OS. Every time. You need to be on the cutting edge. Running Win 7 in 2018 is no way to stay sharp in our field.
As another IT professional I disagree with your disagreement
Quote:
Originally Posted by skinsguy37
That isn't really true. There are many, many businesses, governmental agencies, and colleges that simply don't upgrade every time there is something new and shiny out, because for one thing, it costs money to constantly upgrade. Not just the operating system and the computers themselves, but to upgrade business applications to make them fully compatible with the new systems. And as frequent as Microsoft is with OS releases lately, it is just bad business to try and keep up with the Joneses.
Now, of course, the sector of IT where it's necessary to be cutting edge is in help desk, or companies that provide development software. But I've seen colleges completely skip operating systems like Vista, 8, & 8.1. I've seen governmental agencies stick with operating systems that have long stopped being supported by the general public. State wide ERPs tend to not do a lot of changing, therefore, local governmental agencies and schools that use them simply don't have a reason for being in a big hurry to upgrade.
I'm not suggesting you upgrade the entire college. I am saying as an IT Professional YOUR skill set needs to be current. The IT Professional should have at least one computer of his/her own that is as up to date as possible.
What happens if you work at that college on Win7 and in 3 years they finally decide: "Let's take a look at 10." Who are they going to ask to contribute? This guy who has had 10 for years, or the stick in the mud IT guy in the corner telling everyone else "we should just stay on 7".
What happens if you work at that college on Win7 and in 3 years they finally decide: "Let's take a look at 10." Who are they going to ask to contribute? This guy who has had 10 for years, or the stick in the mud IT guy in the corner telling everyone else "we should just stay on 7".
You can maintain your skillset using a VM rather than using an OS you don't want to use on a daily basis.
Word of advice. I upgraded to window's 10 and lost a lot of things as well as programs once on windows 7. All of my music, photos and the list goes on and on. Things that came w/ the original windows 7-now one pays.
Only my personal opinion- stay where you are as we live in a world that is in love with the almighty dollar.
Location: Mableton, GA USA (NW Atlanta suburb, 4 miles OTP)
11,334 posts, read 26,089,277 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by irman
Does not compute ... (a statement I remember from a very long time ago)
Sorry, in a corporate context it does. We ran XP SP3 here for a long time past public EOL because we had an agreement for extended support. We are running Win7 now. I don't see that changing soon.
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Uhmmm ... so when you do build your next one, does that mean all your software then works and all your printer drivers are there ?
It may. It may not. Commercial software and freeware/shareware will probably be updated eventually to work on a new platform, but internally written software may not be updated so quickly ... depending on the nature of the software and the environment in which it is running.
Quote:
it is never a good idea to upgrade an OS.
Did you never see anybody upgrade from XP to Win7 ?
I don't make OS updates lightly myself, and I always do a full partition and disk snapthot before I do.
I've been badly burned by OS updates before, and not just in the Windows world.
Quote:
I think upgrading is not the problem.
Having them *force* it on you might be ...
Location: Mableton, GA USA (NW Atlanta suburb, 4 miles OTP)
11,334 posts, read 26,089,277 times
Reputation: 3995
Quote:
Originally Posted by Peregrine
As an IT Professional, I disagree. If anyone out there should be upgrading, it's you. And me.
You should have a better grasp of the ideal way to install a new OS, makes sure everything works, and go back if it doesn't work.
You should embrace a new OS. Every time. You need to be on the cutting edge. Running Win 7 in 2018 is no way to stay sharp in our field.
At work, Windows is a tool for me. I don't develop on it, or support it ... I use it to access the non-Windows server platforms on which I do my development. As such, I don't care if it's the latest or greatest. I just don't want it to fail. If it does, I won't be able to do my job. Thankfully, I have multiple boxes here. The probability of them all failing is low.
At home, Windows is a tool for me. I don't develop on it, or support it. I use it for various things that amuse me or serve me, and many of those things are portable between Windows and the other platforms that I use. As such, I also don't care if it's the latest or greatest. I just don't want it to fail. If it does, I have many alternatives, and also very good backups. :-)
You can maintain your skillset using a VM rather than using an OS you don't want to use on a daily basis.
That is certainly one way to do it. I usually do that first and then test it. Then I'll install it on my machines for real.
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