Windows 10: Windows 7 vs Windows 8 vs Windows 10

Choose another accountant. If he is willing to let someone (who by your own admission) doesn't know what they are doing secure his computers then I'd not trust them to be competent at anything else. Up to you of course.

If you do want to pursue it then find out what software is required and unless it doesn't run on 10, get 10.

 

Everyone has their own views on this.

I would rate W7 as the worst (and certainly most dated OS).

W8.1 (not W8) had the potential to be good... and it was... until MS ruined it with all the countless W8 to W10 updates. I would be happy using W8 with the exception of it not having the latest 'Edge' browser.

W10 has been the best OS of the bunch by some margin imo. Its not perfect, but it comes close. The fact that you are only one update away from the latest version is a massive bonus. You have just the base image plus the latest single update.

If you went for W10 I would probably recommend the Pro version, simply because you get greater control over what and when this single update and also any 'feature' updates are installed.

 

Ouch!!! *Eek


That wasn't very supportive!

Why is it a bad thing to make sure my next accountant is doing things as securely as possible?

 

Hi,
10 you can also be one new build from getting borked lol *Smile
Kind of the point in having a more stable 7 ready to go at a moments notice *Wink

 

Interesting.

That makes sense, and good advice on getting Windows 10 Pro.

How much do you think a decent laptop, with sufficient resources, running Windows 10 Pro would cost?

 

That doesn't help!

(It already sounds like some people think I am a fool with what I am trying to do... And I am starting to feel disheartened by some comments. I had hoped there would be a way to reach my goals...)

 

Hi,
You'd have to seek a budget
Most would be about 1k for a decent model
Brand is personal preference but most would say stay away from dell *Smile

 

I run W10 Pro on Dell Vostro 3750 laptop with i5 processor and a 256Gb SSD which makes a massive difference. It only has 4GB RAM but its lightning fast. Lightning fast means fully booted from cold in around 11seconds, and applications such as LibreOffice opening in two or three seconds. The SSD means disk imaging takes around 3 minutes to do a full system image.

Cost wise and this was around £500 + VAT.

 

Hi,
I haven't said anything bad about your goals
Win-7 pro would upgrade to win-10 pro
Imaging each install is actually very easy
Backup and Restore with Macrium Reflect Windows 10 Backup Restore Tutorials

Heck have 2 ssd's or hdd's and have a 7 install on one and a 10 install on the other.
Being you're looking for a laptop swapping the drives out is the most difficult part.

 

Here's something to think about..you provide the computer with your software and settings on it and you are assuming liability for anything that might happen except for data entry.

Computer breaks and you lose the data...your liability. Someone hacks into it and steals your data...your liability.

One of the reasons for contracting work to another source is also to make the contractor liable for when things go wrong. You would be taking on almost all of the liability by insisting on using your equipment with your settings.

 

Decent results for the hardware.

I just bought a refurbished Mac last week with 16GB RAM and a 1TB drive. Can't imagine only having 4GB of RAM! *Wink

Of course, I paid more than $500!

 

I never said you said anything bad, did I?

(I thought lx07 was a little harsh, though) *Sad

Okay.

 

Hi,
No problem
Yep 500.us is a total wasted purchase it will be a piece of crap and also a dell *Confused

But you do say an interesting option which I too was thinking
Just get him/ her a mac and run windows on it in possibly boot camp or what ever it is ?

 

Tough advice.

Sad but true!

*Sad
Of course, what is the alternative? Use an accountant that is running WIndows XP, hasn't updated his OS in 15 years, uses social media and gaming sites on lunch breaks, and has clicked on enough phishing links to choke an elephant...

People worry about things like Equifax, yet sadly you have no control over that.

But each of us has lots of control over what our accountants do.

You bring up really good ideas, but my counter-arguments match yours.

So any ideas how to find a solution to this slippery slope? *Sad

 

Agreed.

Well, my Mac purchase last week was totally unrelated to me coming here, but in the back of my mind I have always wondered about that.

Now, not trying to start any wars here, but security on a Mac is way easier. And since I switched to Mac in 2007, I have become rather proficient with them.

Now I know nothing about Boot Camp/VMware/etc, but that could be a longer term option.

I am really glad I came here, because you all have gotten me to think about so many things that I hadn't thought of before.

I am also frustrated because I am supposed to be finishing my Mac security guide up over the next few weeks, and once again I am off in the weeds learning something new, i.e. Windows!

But here is my dilemma...

I have done much better this year making $$$, and I need an accountant htis year, and this guy I spoke with earlier this year - at the time at least - sounded like exactly what I need.

I might be driving through his state in the next couple of weeks, and wanted to come up with a proposal for him.

I seriously don't have time for any of this, but I need an accountant before the end of the year so I don't give Uncle Sam all of my profits this year!

Another factor that needs to be considered, and relates to your Boot Camp advice, is which accounting software he uses? (I know its nothing rinky-dink like Quick Books.)

Once advantage is that I think more and more accounting software is Cloud based.

On one hand, that is a disaster from a security standpoint, but since things are web-based, they probably give you much more flexibility as far as the OS you choose.

I dunno... All of this is so complicated.

Sometimes it sucks being so privacy and security focused like I am!!! *Sad