There's a major difference in 2000 and XP. Basically if you are running an Intel PII CPU or AMD equivalent processor and are somewhere around 200 megs of RAM, 2000 will run fine. If upgrading to XP the real world bare minimum is at least an Intel PIII or AMD equivalent. XP will run on a faster PII machine with plenty of RAM, but it will be slow. Let's face it, XP wants 512megs of RAM and a faster processor. Your better off with a processor that is 1gig or better and RAM is just like kitchen cabinet space - you just can't have too much.
XP or 2000? There are hints that Billy boy and the Microsmooze crew will kill complete support on 2000 soon in order to pressure you to upgrade, especially with Windows Vista just around the corner. I don't understand this but many things computerese aren't comprehendable. Windows 2000 is a great operating system. Yes XP is built on the same NT5 kernel and has many of the same features. The Pro version is the way to go with XP. Home Edition is light and I feel not as stable as Pro or 2000. I certainly am not going to upgrade my 2000 machines right now.
The rumor mill is churning with various lists of hardware requirements for Windows Vista. Seems the gist is 2.5gig CPUs and 1gig of RAM. DON'T PANIC. It's not available yet so wait and see. If your machine is old though, now is a super time to make a purchase. The computer market is a buyers market presently and don't expect it to stay that way. Purchase the maximum CPU possible and get mucho RAM. I still prefer HP/COMPAQ and have no problem with Dell. Dell will cost more. I shy away from eMachines and their new subsidiary Gateway (only because Gateway is now part of the eMachine). AMD or Intel? To avoid a bitch slapping fight let's get this out of the way and say take your pick. Hey at least you won't be paying money to Darth Jobs for an Apple.
Why not Apple? Here goes - you may be instantly associated with some of the weirdest nerds on the planet. Most of them lie because they believe in lies that have been told to them. These machines are slow, overated and wayyyyyy overpriced. Appleites will argue until death that Apples are faster than PCs. They are not. Hell, they are not even close. Since they have started using Intel CPUs this will probably change. They do have a nice operating system, OSX or whatever Roman numeral now appropriate, that was gleeped from the open source FreeBSD people and made proprietary. And then there is Darth Jobs. You really want to put money in this jerk's pocket? I don't. Yes, they are great when it comes to Photoshop, MAIA and other software of the rendering genre. Not a good main computer and it does not belong in an office scenario even though Microsoft Office is the most popular selling software for an Apple computer. You can bet there will be emails over this paragraph. Some of these Apple people are scary. Let me bare my soul and admit that I am considering the purchase of an Apple. There is a place here for another Apple tech. Yes, I have met stable Apple owners. This diatribe may run even them off, though. BTW one of my favorite sites, Slashdot is run by Apple aficionadoes. Will keep you posted.
Ashby Rhett Culpepper disagrees with me. I don't think the office arena is ready to run FreeBSD. He says with the proper IT person it will work. Yep, sure will. Ashby has the credentials and knowhow to do this; I don't at this time. The Ernie Ball guitar string company went Linux several years ago and I understand they haven't looked back. Yes, it can be done. My daily visits to the field convince me it won't be easy. Honest to God, you'd have to explain on the front end about how much time will be spent with your IT on site and the costs. Unless you find a business owner that is geeked to such an alternative this will be an uphill battle. I hate it. But that's the way it is out there. I like FreeBSD, a LOT. Some Linux flavors ain't bad either!
These are my opinions. This is NOT a forum and if it is not apparent that I favor certain areas of the computer realm then my ability to write is mediocre at best. You can comment all day long and I welcome them. I welcome even those who disagree. This last paragraph is written to forewarn the mad Appleites that their comments will be edited if profane. That's my story n Ima stickin' to it.
"Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't."
-Jong, How to Save Your Own Life
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