That is what I am thinking. I put a bigger hard drive and more ram in my computer last summer, and it is running great with Win XP. I have no reason to need a new computer, so I'm very disappointed at the thought of buying a new one when things are running fine. If I upgrade to Win 8, I'll be maxing out the ram, and the software and printer I have won't work, so it will be a big snowball effect. If that's the case, I think I might as well buy a new computer. If I only used it for recreational use and didn't have to have it for work (I work from home), I might give Linux a try. I'm not sure that I have the time to invest in learning about Linux and then troubleshooting anything that doesn't work quite right. Lori Camper > On Jan 18, 2014, at 3:38 PM, "Nivard Ovington" <ovington.one@gmail.com> wrote: > > Like all "improved" versions of OS it really needs a better processor > and more RAM than XP would, so I wouldn't waste my time upgrading an > older XP machine to W7 or W8 but would spend the money better on a > complete new machine which is likely to be money better spent IMHO