Windows 10: Windows 7 vs Windows 8 vs Windows 10

I have had several brands of Laptops. I have a relatively new Dell laptop (new in July) and it is, by far, the best Laptop I've owned. Dell has a bad rap but its as good, sometimes better, than others. They sell more so there is the potential for more to have some type of problem, whether the PC's fault or the users fault. Most commercial locations, including medical, that I've been in the last 5 years or so have all had Dell's. The federal government agency I worked for (until retirement) bought 1800 LAN systems, along with 55,000 workstations for a nationwide upgrade. The 1800 LAN servers were all Dell's. The workstations went to several vendors.

 

Hi,
Most everything revolves around what the budget is
Every manufacture has "price target models" and anything under 1k is usually lowend crap which I'm sure fireberd is not using *Smile

Problem with mac's or apple in general is storage is very expensive *Shock

 

I've been pleased with my Dell to. Its 5.5yr old now and one of the things that impressed me was that Dell have full service manuals freely available. Hope I never need it but its nice to have.

I also have an old Acer laptop (coming up to 11 yr old) that is also running W10 but the performance of that is way down the rankings.

And thanks for the rep @Allegheny *Smile

 

It can be but doesn't have to be. My only issue with my MacBook Pro [mid-2010] is it has only 2 USB ports but that was overcome by using a Bluetooth mouse so I could use an External USB case containing a WDC 320GB HDD formatted as exFAT. The case uses a Y-cable, one leg for data and power and the other leg for additional required power. WDC also makes a USB Passport HDD that needs only a single cable, 500GB, 750GB and 1TB, maybe even larger by now. I recently got a WDC MyBook 4TB at Wal*Mart for about $120USD that is formatted exFAT, should be quite usable on Windows, Mac and Linux [had a couple gift cards that had to be used].

 

Hi,
I was referring to internal storage not external storage apple is actually rather fond of internal storage drives/ ssd space *Smile

 

How about hiring an accountant/accounting firm with a good reputation?

 

What is that supposed to mean?

If you mean a big swanky accounting, then I would pay 3-4 times as much for my taxes, and still probably not have any more security.

And If you mean that I am talking to someone who is not reputable, then you must think I'm a fool.

Accounting competency and IT competency and IT Security competency are 3 wildly different areas that probbaly never intersect as far as one person's skill set.

 

Hi,
Some accountants can be penny pinchers so they use what works until it dies *Smile
Didn't you say he/ she was using 7 ultimate ?

 

Most bosses/business owners are tightwads!

I am not sure what he uses, although I vaguely recall him saying Windows 7/8 - I think he has a couple of computers.

Based on the title of this thread, it sounds like Windows 10 is the way to go as long as his software is compatible.

Thanks to lots of interesting feedback today, I feel more confused than when I joined yesterday!

A lot of what happens probably depends on his openness to things.

When I spoke with him early this year, one thing that caught my attention was that he was actually open to my ideas.

The prior 50 accountants I called were like, "My computer is secure. I know what I am doing. You have no worries. And besides, the IRS requires me to put your full Social Security number on my (unprotected) laptop."

 

Well, my two cents. The recommendation to go 7 then upgrade is sound. Myself, I would go with a 10 machine from the start. More secure and will be supported for much longer. Almost all new machines you buy will have 10 by default anyway. Yeah I know you can still find a few machines out there with 7 or 8 installed but those are getting harder and harder to find. The good thing about starting with 10, IMHO, is the hardware. You're virtually guaranteed a decent machine. Windows based machines are easier to upgrade hardware-wise too. If security is your main goal , and if its just for accounting I think it should be then ,again imho, you really have no choice but 10. Natively more secure and as mentioned will be supported in perpetuity (if MS is being true about 10 being "it")
I have had no problems whatsoever with broken programs/apps etc. from updates or new builds but some have. If that's your worry, then just back up , which you should be doing anyway, before each update/build.

 

@indianacarnie,

Thanks for your thoughts!

 

Another thought, I'd have thought bitlocker would be pretty essential for financial records as it would stop your data being retrieved if the laptop is lost.

That requires 10 Pro, 8 Pro or 7 Ultimate and ideally a laptop with TPM chip.