Now that Windows 7 has officially launched (last Thursday, October 22), there's a perceived frenzy to rush to the new OS. Granted, many XP (and Vista) users are eager to upgrade, but others aren't convinced that they really need the new features and are wary about losing some of their old ones
Even if you like the looks of Windows 7 and have no qualms about getting used to a new interface, now may not be the ideal time - from an economic perspective - to make the switch. After all, even if your hardware will support Windows 7, you'll still have to buy the OS itself, at a price as high as $319.99 if you pay the full package retail price for Windows 7 Ulimate to as little as $29.99, the students-only price for one copy of Windows 7 Home Premium and Pro editions through the promotional offer here...
Either way, unless you have an MSDN or TechNet subscription or you hosted a Windows 7 Launch party or you have some other conditions under which you can get a free copy, if you want Windows 7 (legally), you'll have to pay for it. Budgets are tight right now and some folks can't spare the extra cash
Regardless of your reasons, if you've decided to stick with XP for a while longer, that doesn't mean you have to resign yourself to not being able to enjoy any of the enhanced features that come with the newer operating systems. You can get many of those enhancements with free or low cost third party add-ons. For example, one of the most genuinely important new features in Windows 7 is BitLocker to Go, which lets you encrypt removable drives such as USB thumb drives to protect the data on them. Vista introduced BitLocker full volume encryption, but it didn't work on removable drives
Just because you can't or don't want to upgrade your OS, you aren't relegated to putting your data at risk. You can encrypt USB flash drives or USB hard drives on your XP computer, as well as encrypting the partition on which Windows is installed for pre-boot authentication, using a free disk encryption program that can do much of what BitLocker and BitLocker to Go can do. One such program is TrueCrypt, which uses strong AES-256 encryption. You can find out more about it here...
Another security issue with XP is the fact that even if you install a new version of Internet Explorer, it doesn't run in "protected mode" on XP because the operating system doesn't have the User Account Control feature that relies on. Does that mean you're doomed to putting your computer at risk from malware every time you browse the web? The answer is "no": you can still use IE and protect your system by running the browser inside a "sandbox" environment that isolates it from the rest of your system. One way to do that is to install Virtual PC 2007 and install a second instance of Windows XP, then run your web browser (and any other programs that might not be safe, such as P2P file sharing programs) in the virtual machine. You'll need a license for the second copy of XP if you don't already have one, but VPC 2007 itself is a free download...
Another program that can be used to isolate programs on your PC is called Sandboxie. It does require that you buy a license to get rid of the nag screen that appears after 30 days, but the license allows you to install Sandboxie on all of your computers, not just one. You can find out more about it here...
A GUI change that's been highly touted in Windows 7 is called "Aero Snap." Unlike some graphical interface enhancements that are mostly eye candy, Snap is extremely useful when you want to compare two documents, web pages or other program windows side by side. Here's how it works: when you drag a window to the right or left side of your screen, it "snaps" into place and resizes itself to fill exactly half the screen. You can do the same with another window on the other side. Sure, you could put the windows in those same positions manually, but it would take a bit of tedious work. Snap completely automates the process. If you like it, you can have the Snap functionality on XP (or Vista), too. This little free program requires that you install the .NET Framework 2.0 or higher first, but it even supports multiple monitor setups...
Taskbar thumbnails were introduced in Vista and expanded upon in Windows 7. It's nice to be able to hover over a taskbar icon and see a preview of the window(s) that it represents. Again, you can do the same thing in Windows XP without paying a penny. Just install Visual Task Tips. There's even a beta for 64 bit XP. The only catch is that you have to enable the Classic theme to run it. Find out more here...
Or if you'd like more than just the thumbnails, here's a program that gives you transparent thumbnails, plus the ability to "pin" applications to the taskbar as you can do in Windows 7 and even a nice Window 7-like Start orb to replace the not-so-pretty XP Start button. It's called ViGlance and you can see some screenshots and download it here...
Another Vista/Windows 7 feature that some users love (and others hate) is the "breadcrumb" view in Windows Explorer. The nice thing about it is that you can click anywhere in the path and go directly to that folder. You guessed it - there is a way to add this same type of functionality to XP, using a little add-in called Minimalist Explorer Tool Suite that lets you navigate more quickly through the folder hierarchy. Registration costs $7.95, but you can install and use it indefinitely without registering if your budget is really tight. You can read about it and download it here...
At eight years of age, XP might be getting a little long in the tooth, but there's still plenty of life in the old gal yet - and you can get many of the same benefits that Vista and Windows 7 have without giving up the tried and true
Even if you like the looks of Windows 7 and have no qualms about getting used to a new interface, now may not be the ideal time - from an economic perspective - to make the switch. After all, even if your hardware will support Windows 7, you'll still have to buy the OS itself, at a price as high as $319.99 if you pay the full package retail price for Windows 7 Ulimate to as little as $29.99, the students-only price for one copy of Windows 7 Home Premium and Pro editions through the promotional offer here...
Either way, unless you have an MSDN or TechNet subscription or you hosted a Windows 7 Launch party or you have some other conditions under which you can get a free copy, if you want Windows 7 (legally), you'll have to pay for it. Budgets are tight right now and some folks can't spare the extra cash
Regardless of your reasons, if you've decided to stick with XP for a while longer, that doesn't mean you have to resign yourself to not being able to enjoy any of the enhanced features that come with the newer operating systems. You can get many of those enhancements with free or low cost third party add-ons. For example, one of the most genuinely important new features in Windows 7 is BitLocker to Go, which lets you encrypt removable drives such as USB thumb drives to protect the data on them. Vista introduced BitLocker full volume encryption, but it didn't work on removable drives
Just because you can't or don't want to upgrade your OS, you aren't relegated to putting your data at risk. You can encrypt USB flash drives or USB hard drives on your XP computer, as well as encrypting the partition on which Windows is installed for pre-boot authentication, using a free disk encryption program that can do much of what BitLocker and BitLocker to Go can do. One such program is TrueCrypt, which uses strong AES-256 encryption. You can find out more about it here...
Another security issue with XP is the fact that even if you install a new version of Internet Explorer, it doesn't run in "protected mode" on XP because the operating system doesn't have the User Account Control feature that relies on. Does that mean you're doomed to putting your computer at risk from malware every time you browse the web? The answer is "no": you can still use IE and protect your system by running the browser inside a "sandbox" environment that isolates it from the rest of your system. One way to do that is to install Virtual PC 2007 and install a second instance of Windows XP, then run your web browser (and any other programs that might not be safe, such as P2P file sharing programs) in the virtual machine. You'll need a license for the second copy of XP if you don't already have one, but VPC 2007 itself is a free download...
Another program that can be used to isolate programs on your PC is called Sandboxie. It does require that you buy a license to get rid of the nag screen that appears after 30 days, but the license allows you to install Sandboxie on all of your computers, not just one. You can find out more about it here...
A GUI change that's been highly touted in Windows 7 is called "Aero Snap." Unlike some graphical interface enhancements that are mostly eye candy, Snap is extremely useful when you want to compare two documents, web pages or other program windows side by side. Here's how it works: when you drag a window to the right or left side of your screen, it "snaps" into place and resizes itself to fill exactly half the screen. You can do the same with another window on the other side. Sure, you could put the windows in those same positions manually, but it would take a bit of tedious work. Snap completely automates the process. If you like it, you can have the Snap functionality on XP (or Vista), too. This little free program requires that you install the .NET Framework 2.0 or higher first, but it even supports multiple monitor setups...
Taskbar thumbnails were introduced in Vista and expanded upon in Windows 7. It's nice to be able to hover over a taskbar icon and see a preview of the window(s) that it represents. Again, you can do the same thing in Windows XP without paying a penny. Just install Visual Task Tips. There's even a beta for 64 bit XP. The only catch is that you have to enable the Classic theme to run it. Find out more here...
Or if you'd like more than just the thumbnails, here's a program that gives you transparent thumbnails, plus the ability to "pin" applications to the taskbar as you can do in Windows 7 and even a nice Window 7-like Start orb to replace the not-so-pretty XP Start button. It's called ViGlance and you can see some screenshots and download it here...
Another Vista/Windows 7 feature that some users love (and others hate) is the "breadcrumb" view in Windows Explorer. The nice thing about it is that you can click anywhere in the path and go directly to that folder. You guessed it - there is a way to add this same type of functionality to XP, using a little add-in called Minimalist Explorer Tool Suite that lets you navigate more quickly through the folder hierarchy. Registration costs $7.95, but you can install and use it indefinitely without registering if your budget is really tight. You can read about it and download it here...
At eight years of age, XP might be getting a little long in the tooth, but there's still plenty of life in the old gal yet - and you can get many of the same benefits that Vista and Windows 7 have without giving up the tried and true
