Top 10 Tips! When Choosing A OS?(Operating System e.g. Windows, Mac, Ubuntu etc.)

1.The first key thing you need to ask yourself? is what do i want out of my os do i want just publishing and using desktop applications e.g. word, open office and generally to use the internet? or do i want to play games aswell?

Well for just publishing and using desktop applications e.g. word, open office and generally to use the internet, i would suggest if you are not bothered about eye candy e.g. visual effects, desktop features etc, i would say go down the free route.

For example there are lot of good free os's out there! that fit the free route criteria, the most popular to date is a Linux based os called Ubuntu or if you want to buy an os and still just want publishing and using desktop applications i would suggest Windows Vista Home Basic or if you can find a reseller? Windows Xp preferably.

But if you want to play Commercial PC Games aswell and want all the eye candy you can get! visual effects such as desktop features... i would suggest Windows Vista Home Premium.

2.The second thing you need to do is check your hardware! you will be suprized at just how many people do not do this! For example someone buy's and installs Windows Vista and it will not run due to not enough ram! or there CPU isn't up to the job! and in some sad but true! cases they need a new! motherboard and if they have registered Windows on that machine already, then they will need to buy a new License due to the License is registered to an IP which is provided by the motherboard, I can not stress this enough.

3.The third thing you need to consider is how much am i willing to pay for an os? and what is the best package for me, when i say package? i mean for example Windows Vista comes in many version's e.g. Home Basic, Home Premium, Ultimate etc, because if you really want to use Commercial Programs such as PC Games, what else do you need or want? because there are many extra's and other options that comes with Windows e.g dreamscape, Windows Live Essentials etc.

I would say research into this as you will find it cheaper! if you just get what you want and not what others or Microsoft think you should have?

4.The fourth thing you need to consider is do i want to buy a brand new! PC with an OS preinstalled! or in some peoples cases a Mac, now you can either get a Desktop or a Laptop?

Now with Desktops it all boils down to what i mentioned in points one and two! because the more dependent your PC is? the more power! your gonna need to run it! Now onto Laptops the funny thing about Laptops is that in the majority cases you pay more and get less! don't get me wrong there are some shops and company's that will give you exactly what you want but the majority of the time companies build these to one set of specific spec's! so it will in essence will only be able to do as much as the companies have built into its capabilities.

I know you can ring up Dell and have one manufactured exactly how you want it? but at the end of the day this is the way things are! and plus its cheaper! for them to mass produce that one specific product, same goes for pre-built Desktop PC'S.

Now one other thing you need to think about? when it comes to Laptops is how much time will i be spending on it? and questions such as the obvious will i take it with me elsewhere to places? how long will i use in a single day? all these questions you must ask yourself before considering getting one!

And i must point this out to you, if you are planning on using this all the time? not plugged into a plug, always on the go! your going to need a Laptop with a big and good enough battery life! trust me on this! you don't want to be in the middle of nowhere or somewhere important! and you need your Laptop and the battery dies!

5.The fifth thing to consider is and this is in relation to the point i made before is make sure even if you have a Laptop will a brilliant battery life! make sure that the power management in your OS is up to the job! and it handles and uses power efficiently!

6.The sixth thing you need to consider or more to the point check is how long is your chosen os going to be supported e.g. getting updates, Service Packs etc as in some cases for example you get Windows Xp nowadays and it is either no longer supported! if you have Service Pack 3 or there are not alot of updates due to the os has more or less ran it course! which isn't necessarily a bad thing as this means this os in particular is more or less? fully supported! in alot of area's.

And the reason why there isn't alot of updates for it is because there is a newer os out which in Microsoft case who built Windows Xp is Windows Vista but even that is soon to be replaced by Windows 7! os's change everyday remember that!

7.The seven thing you need to know is that no os is perfect! not in the slightest that's why they have updates all the time and i know i just said Windows Xp is more or less supported in all area's, but that's why Microsoft released Windows Vista to supposedly replace Xp with something better!

Please don't take everyone's comment on os's or certain os's in particular to heart! these are just opinions! only you! can decided whats best?

8.The eighth thing to take into consideration is how well your chosen os runs doing what you do from day to day on your PC now in some cases it's not the os but your hardware as i stated in point two! but it can be a mixture of both your hardware and the os as i said in my point before this one, no os is perfect!

Now in alot of cases i would suggest go and look for help in PC interest based help forums of course that's why they are there or if you are really interested and can and want to take the time? explore the problem yourself its more satisfying that way! or my ultimate suggestion would be make sure you have researched your chosen os in full what fixes have been made? what bugs there are? and where it is in terms of stability to the current date you researched this os.

9.The ninth thing you want to think about is? after going through all this thinking and reading are you ready? are you sure you want to do this? I know this sounds silly but sometimes you want or you don't want to spend that much money or you just feel as if your not ready to make the change to a newer os or an os at all.

10.My last and final tip! will be once you get your os enjoy it! use and get the most out of it! that you want? and to summaries:
No os is perfect,
Do not take people's comments and opinions to heart on certain os's,
Always check your hardware!,
Research!,
Think things through! e.g what os package you want? etc!,
The best features that suit you?,
How good is the support for the os?,
And last but not least are you ready to do this?,

I hope this has helped alot of you out there!
Good Luck!