If you work in the IT industry and plan to go to only one computer exhibition this year, this is the one.

2. Don't upgrade to Windows XP!

Buy it already installed on a new computer!

[Please note that in this opinion piece when referring to 'Windows XP' I'm talking about the Operating System that runs your computer only. The 'Windows XP Office' is a different software collection altogether and contains Word, Excel, and other Windows Office programs and is not referred to here.]

To save you time, if someone recommends that you upgrade to the Windows XP Operating System, my personal advice to you is only do it if you really need to. There must be a really strong reason as it is not as easy as it sounds.

Some examples.
1. Windows XP can be installed in under 2 hours on your computer if EVERYTHING is perfectly compatible with the software and you've never had any problems with the computer and you haven't installed anything that is not Microsoft Compliant. And you have no viruses. And you have plenty of RAM, and if the computer is fast enough, and the computer is usually no more than 2 years old and...
2. I recently had the pleasure of installing a Windows XP upgrade on a system that was only 'just' compatible. It took over 6 hours. It wasn't just the Windows upgrade that was needed. Several pieces of hardware and software had to be upgraded as well before Windows XP could be fully installed. Once it was, it was found that the modem wasn't working, even with a recently downloaded XP compatible driver, so a new modem had to
be bought and installed.  I'd like to point out that we are happy to come out and service your computer but if it is to install a Windows XP upgrade you may find it cheaper to invest that money in a new computer. If you have bought an upgrade copy of Windows XP and you are having trouble installing it, please contact us and we'll work out a special rate for you for the job based on your system.
3. Much of the hardware in computers today is designed with Windows XP in mind. The minimum required memory is 128MB. The recommended memory is 256MB but XP actually really runs well under 512MB memory. It also requires a much faster speed processor. Look at no less than 1GHz. It will operate on less than this, but much slower than if you were running Win98 for example. 

If your computer was bought before 2001, we recommend not upgrading to XP. You're better off buying a new computer with it already installed.

Having said all that, it is unnecessary to upgrade to the Windows XP operating system if all your computer really needs is a system clean up.

3. New Staff and new services

Welcome to William, Matt and Greg who joined us recently. William will be taking care of the Eastern Suburbs areas while Matt fills in for Kris on the Northern Beaches and Greg takes on other areas of Sydney.

You can read up on details of most of the staff at:
http://www.computerwebhelp.com/computer-support-professionals.html

Thanks to some recent upgrades and the addition of new staff, we have new services we can offer you. These include:
Unix and Apple Mac support 
Linux Installation and support

<Update 2004. Greg and William have moved on, so our Apple service is no longer available. Due to the low interest, we won't be bringing the service back.>

Computer support in Cantonese, Mandarin and Indonesian.

That's it for this April edition.

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Copyright 2003 Electronic Desktop Solutions Pty Ltd 

ABN 54 065 417 665 

Mention of products, services, ideas, articles, news etc is for informational purposes only and constitutes neither a recommendation nor an endorsement. Electronic Desktop Solutions Pty Ltd assumes no responsibility with regard to the selection, performance or use of these products, services or information. Unless otherwise indicated all pricing is RRP in Australian dollars correct at time of publication. All URL's are correct at time of emailing. Product specifications are subject to change. No responsibility is taken for information read from the off site links. 

Electronic Desktop Solutions Pty Ltd