Old PCsenvironmental hazard 3235

KR Williams

But when you have thousands to deal with, the cost of replacing those machines adds up and becomes substantial. (Not only the purchase cost, but roll out, file conversion migration, user training, downtime, etc.)

Are there that many service calls for hardware defects? We have service calls, but often they are user caused problems--eg spilled coffee, tripping over mouse cord, etc., that is, stuff that isn't the fault of defective hardware but human error or carelessness. Those things won't change with newer machines.

Which is my original question. Why do the operating systems and configurations go out of date so fast? Why isn't there more stability?

You are correct that out of date versions is a big problem and source of service calls. But why do we tolerate stuff getting obsolete so fast? I had an old browser on my machine, "old" being only a few years. Many sites in cyberspace insist on using the latest and greatest even though no more information is shared. In other words, they like bells and whistles for bells and whistles, not to improve functionality any. Why are web developers so insistent on using the newest stuff? Now I have "Flash" capability and I hate the dancing animation I'm forced to watch (and waste time downloading, even on a high speed connection.)

My machine at work is more far "powerful" and newer (2 yrs) than my machine at home (10 years). Yet because of all the junk loaded on my work machine, my machine at home runs so much faster.

I still don't understand what functionality the average user gets from stuff later than Windows 95, indeed, I was doing fine on plain Windows on a 486 with MSWord 6.0. Sure the new stuff converts a 1-2 into a fraction character automatically, but frankly that is a enhancement I don't need. I do a lot of writing, but there is nothing new in Word 2000 that I use, Word 6 serves my needs fine.

As far as I can tell, the average user doesn't go anywhere near a great deal of the features from modern software programs. Even many "power users" are adequately served.