Title & poll, post your thoughts, please?

Guess I should explain a bit. My hard drive died this morning. Unlike with the graphics, which began acting up 3 weeks ago, there was absolutely no warning with the hard drive. I read somewhere that bumping the computer case around can cause the "needle" (the head?) of the hard drive to scratch up the disc inside. But all the while last week when I installed the graphics card it wasn't getting bonked around.

Only thing I can think of is yesterday I was moving a lot of files around> I had to rebuild Fallout 3, and lots of info was getting downloaded. And I also 'deleted' a lot of files from my old install of FO3. (And I know info doesn't actually get erased when we delete it.)

Another thing is the old drive was 1 tb, most of which was full. Maybe up to 890-ish GB.

Anyway, getting a new drive, which OS would you get?

Much as I loved Win7, I voted Win10. It's not a bad OS so long as you know how to avoid as many of its potential negatives as possible. One downside, Win10 itself has only another year of life before becoming officially obsolete. I do not favor Win11. It purportedly gives the user less ability to disable what many find to be intrusive "features".

I would go Windows 10, just because it is more recent and so is more current when it comes to security patches. That is why I updated my gaming PC to Windows 10. But even 10 is going to be at end of life next year. Honestly, if you are thinking of the future Windows 11 is the way to go. I have not really had much experience with it however, so I cannot really say much about it one way or another.

When it comes to Windows 10 at least, with Open Shell Menu and OldNewExplorer it looks and acts just like Windows 7 did. For that that makes it easy to go with 10.

Don't really need to give my two cents, do I? But for the record I of course voted for Win7. If Win10 is almost gone anyway and 11 isn't as good for reasons stated, might as well go for the good one that's already out the window. Err... sorry bout that one


Or go Linux like Saki did. Might want to talk to her about that.

I voted Windows 10. This is what I have on both of my Windows PCs, while we have Windows 11 on our work machines. I don't like 11, it has too many "intelligent" features that we cannot disable. And I think Win7 is just too old. I've had no issues running Oblivion or other old games on Win10, I think all those scary stories about Win10 ruining your game are just scaremongering. Or people not knowing what they are doing.

The one thing I'd do straight away though is install Winearo and disable Windows updates.

10 if you can get it. Linux rather than 11.

I’m on 10, and resisting Microsoft’s push to get me to upgrade. With 11 they are trying to follow Apple’s example and control what you do, and how your system runs. When 10 becomes non-viable I’ll install Linux.

I would advise against Linux for Renee's computer. Not because I dislike Linux - quite the opposite. But a computer is just a tool, and you need to ask yourself what it is for. With Renee, it is for gaming. Renee is not looking to make OS administration into her hobby (forgive me if I am wrong). And all the games are for Windows, so if you want them to run in Linux, you have to take extra steps on the side of Linux system administration, such as installing Wine or another Windows emulator. Plus, Renee likes to make mods for several games, so you are not just looking to support the games but also the Creation Kit, Construction Set and the like.

This is the reason I finally purchased my first Windows PC since Windows 3.11 (1995) - why make things more difficult for yourself than necessary?

Sorry I'm not techie enough to really advise you. But for what it's worth, I run W11 and have no complaints. It supports ESO just fine, including 'mods' (UI addons for the game). I use Word for Buffy's story and that works fine as well. Like every version of Windows, it requires a bit of getting used to the small changes but no more so than than previous versions of Windows.

Should have had an option for Win11 in the poll me reckon.

Also, can I change my vote to DOS? Have had no issues with that one for Duke Nukem 3D ...



We're just two peas in a pod, aren't we?

Voted Windows 10. It works fine for me.

I love how I'm once again in the minority



Honestly though, I did expect it...

The thing is that you already have Windows 7. And it is working fine for you. So if you were the one in need of a new hard drive, I'd say without a doubt, go for Windows 7. Because why make things more difficult than necessary?

However, Renee has Windows 8. That's neither here nor there, so she'll have to switch to a different system anyway. So in her case I vote for Win10 because it is newer and because it works fine for the games she runs.

I voted WIN-10 but I'm torn between 10 and 7. I feel Win-7 gave the user more control of the PC. While I've had little issues WIN-10 I cannot say I'm thrilled with its reliance on the CLOUD. If Win-7 would have been able to use the latest version of DirectX I would not have switched. Microsoft practically forced upgrading.


Now that's a thought. I've read that win-11 is much like win-10 so why not skip 10 and go for 11. Either way you'd more than likely have up-grade drivers for peripherals; printers, scanners, and the like. I know, I did.

Whoa my gosh Windows 10 will be OBSOLETE so soon??? Decrepit, you mentioned "potential negatives", what is an example (other than loss of support)?

> My auxiliary computer is Windows 10. That's my "everything else" computer, not for gaming. So I am familiar with 10, at least. In case I decide to go that direction.

> Not getting Windows 11, mostly because all the games on that computer are old. And I'm not familiar with 11 at all. ... In the future when ES6 is announced I'll either buy or build a new PC eventually. That computer will probably have 11 on it.

> All this push for AI annoys me too, so I agree with you Lena. If 11 is packed with 'intelligent' features which can't be turned off that would definitely annoy me. I hate (for instance) when I'm typing a sentence on of the computers I use for work, and it tries to finish what I'm typing. At least I can disable all that nonsense for my own rigs.

Yeah I don't even know what Linux is! All I know is it's an alternative to Mac or PC??? Either way, I'd be a duck stranded away from the pond if I went for Linux.





Ah, here's something I didn't consider. So which DirectX does 7 support at highest?

Heck, I'll bing that. Okay, it says Windows 7 supports DirectX 11, so I think I'm good.




Nope, not going for 11. 'Tis why 11 is not on the poll, mirocu. I'm only running older games on this computer, and as Lena + the ghast have mentioned, there are things about 11 they don't like.

Thanks all, btw.

I haven't had any problems with Win 10 so far. My only complaint is tracking down the free windows movie maker whenever I upgrade my PC. Gets harder and harder to track down reliable website to get it from.

Sometimes, upgrading really doesn't upgrade, does it...?