Gnomie Jebus (pronounced “hay”-”bus”) writes:

Mr. Pirillo,

I’m a long-time watcher, recent-chat-joiner and first-time writer. I’ve noticed that one topic that comes up regularly is Windows Vista, to which many chatters respond to “upgrade to XP.”

However, no matter how strong you think you’ve built your argument against the winds of change, your shelter of stubbornness is bound to collapse eventually. I remember when XP came out, and people criticized it for being too user friendly, a lot like when DOS was around and geeks criticized it for not being (for lack of a better term) technical enough.

I wish not to criticize Vista or praise it, but merely provide this Top five list to help improve your future eXPerience.

5. Update!

For the love of Cthulhu don’t forget to update. Service Pack 3 is almost out and after that Windows XP will be on extended support, so you will still need to check regularly for hotfixes. A good idea might be to back up your data and completely wipe your hard disk and reinstall XP, then install all the service packs and updates at once.

4. Keep your box free of dust.

A clean computer is a happy computer. Make sure your system has proper ventilation and a good air flow. Check it ever two or three months and vacuum the dust (after taking the proper safety precautions of course) out of the surrounding area (floor, fan grates, the jumble of cables, etc…). Invest your hard earned cash in canned air and clean out your computer. Or, if you’ve never even opened up your tower, buy an air compressor. (I’m serious, I once bought a used Alienware off eBay and I had to use an air compressor to get all the dust out of it, it works fine now though).

3. Use alternative programs.

I don’t want to start a browser war, but it would be a good idea to switch to a lighter browser, such as Firefox or K-Meleon. In the future, there will no doubtedly be an IE 8 and an IE 9, which Microsoft will ask you to upgrade. Undoubtedly the new browsers will be more rich in features and will require more resources to run. I have no doubts that Firefox and Opera will follow this path as well, to what extent however I cannot predict (read: I don’t want to start a browser war). Also, with less popular browsers there is a smaller chance that you will get a virus or spyware than with the more popular ones.

Much like Internet Explorer, there will be updates to Windows Media Player, iTunes, QuickTime, and Real. These will run slower on your old system. If you use “QuickTime Alternative” and “Real Alternative,” you get the same functionality at a faster speed. Also, try some lightweight media players such as VLC, which plays just about every media format imaginable.

Instead of using the latest AIM client, try Miranda-IM or Trillian, free programs that both make use of all the popular IM protocals out there and organize your contacts under a single program.

2. Defrag and Chkdsk

Run these system checkups every once in a while (every five or six months is what I do) in order to keep your hard drive content neat, tidy, and uncluttered. Another helpful program is CCleaner, which erases your Internet cache, cookies, and all sorts of useless hidden files and folders that are just taking up space on your hard drive.

1. Remember that you are using an out-of-date OS!

I can’t count how many times I’ve had people complain to me about how “terrible” Microsoft Windows is and how they get the Blue Screen of Death every 10 minutes. Whenever I ask what version they are running you would not be surprised how many times I find out they’re running ME or 98se. You chose not to upgrade, so be prepared for the consequences.