Upgrading or Changing Your Operating System

Upgrading your operating system is as important as upgrading your PC computer system. Hardware and software is alike in the fact that it is always changing and evolving. If you were to never upgrade your hardware then you would not be able to run most of the programs that exist today. Likewise if you never upgrade your operating system you will not be able to run half of the programs or tools that have been created. There are many different operating systems you can choose from. Some are free and some you have to pay for. No matter which route you go you’ll want to stay up to date with the newer operating systems even if it’s not the most current version.

Many people have a hard time changing from the operating system that they’ve become familiar with. They also worry that if everything will work just as well and easy as the old system did. Most operating systems are based off of the previous version. This makes it easy for most users to be able to use the new operating system just as easily as they did the old one. In some instances there will be improved looks or some of the basic icons or tools may have been shifted around for performance reasons but they should still be relatively easy to find.

It’s important to remember that if you upgrade to a new operating system that you should check your computer hardware to ensure that it’s powerful enough to handle the new operating system. While companies try to make operating systems more efficient for the computer’s resources, it’s important to know that by a new operating system has come out on the market the “average” computer is much more powerful than machines even a year old.

Another major concern of many people is that the operating system will be difficult to install and get working. The fact is most operating systems install easy and very straight forward. If you are upgrading to another version of an operating system (IE: Windows Vista to Windows 7) then you will only have to run the upgrade program. However if you switch operating systems entirely (Windows Vista to Ubuntu) then you will have to install it from scratch.

Installing the software itself is easy. Before you begin you should back up all of your important information just in case it gets deleted. This is especially true if you’re planning on formatting your hard drive. Next all you will need to do is insert the disc and restart your computer. One the CD boots up you will just have to follow the on screen instructions to install the operating system. While installing an operating system is easy it still takes a lot of time. You should plan on the whole process taking two to three hours. If you don’t have all of that time on your hand you can let your home computer install it and then come back to it at a later time.