It's finally almost here - Microsoft will no longer support Windows 7 as of January 14, 2020. If you are one of the many people still using Windows 7, it's you have two choices - upgrade your existing computer, or buy a new one. My experience has been that most older Windows 7 systems can be successfully upgraded to Windows 10, with some caveats. I've created this table to help you decide.

	Upgrade	Replace
Age of computer	Most systems less than 10 years old will upgrade fine. If it originally came with Windows 7, it should work. I try to do an "in place" upgrade, where all your programs and data remains unchanged, but some systems require a clean install, where I will back up and restore all your data, and programs must be reinstalled.	If your system came with Vista or Windows XP and was upgraded to Windows 7, it is time to replace it. I will back up all your data and settings to migrate them to your new system. You will need to buy new programs such as Office if you use it.
Intel Processor	Intel i3, i5, i7 - upgrade	Intel Pentium, Core 2 Duo - replace
AMD Processor	Call and check	Call and check
Condition - desktop	All in working order	Wonky power button. Frequent unexplained shutdowns
Condition - laptop	Keyboard intact, no cracks in screen, hinges work smoothly If the battery no longer holds a charge, check to see if battery replacement is available.	Missing keys, broken hinges, cracked screen. No replacement battery available. Frequent unexplained shutdowns.

Between the holidays, the end of Windows 7 support, and the major changes brought on by MacOS Catalina, I am getting more and more requests to help clients pick out a new computer. Whether you are shopping for a new desktop or a laptop, a PC or a Mac, here are some guidelines to help you decide where to start.

The three specifications you need to consider most are storage (hard drive space),  processor, and RAM (Random Access Memory). Basically, the way a computer works is to take information from storage and put it into RAM, then manipulate it with the processor. Any of these components can become a bottleneck, but the faster the data moves from storage to processor, the faster the computer.

Storage - Also known as hard drive space, this is the single most important consideration when picking out a new computer. Unlike the last time you bought a new system, bigger is not necessarily better. The best gift you can give to yourself when buying a new computer is to p urchase a system with a solid state drive (SSD). However, SSD's are expensive, and the bigger the drive the more expensive it is. So you need to know how big a drive you should buy. Most systems with SSDs will be configured with 128, 256, or 512 GB (Gigabyte) drives. I don't recommend 128 GB - it's just too small. So the typical decision is between 256 and 512.

The best way to determine what size drive you need is to determine how much disk space you are actually using now. On a Windows system, follow these steps to check your current drive. On a Mac, follow these steps. Once you know how much storage you are currently using, you can make a rational decision on the size drive to buy. I recommend buying a drive that is at least 100 GB more than you are currently using. So if, for example, your current system has a 1 TB drive, but you are only using 110 GB of it, you are perfectly safe buying a new system with a 256 GB drive. However, if you are using 200 GB of that 1 TB drive, spring for a system with a 512 GB SSD.

Some desktop systems, and some 17 inch laptops, are configured with two drives - a smaller SSD which acts as a boot drive, and a larger traditional drive for storage. This is a good compromise if you have large collections of music, pictures, or video. However, it requires a customized setup to actually store your data on the larger drive automatically. If you purchase a system like this, try to make sure you buy one with a 256 GB SSD, and  drop it off with me to set it up correctly.

Keep in mind, most Windows systems allow you to upgrade the storage, so you can swap in a bigger SSD later on if you need it. Most Mac systems are not upgradable - what you buy is what you will keep for the life of the computer. So, to future proof your Mac, you want to buy the most storage you can afford.

Processor - There are two major manufacturers of processors on the market - Intel and AMD. I vastly prefer the Intel processors. Look for i3, i5, i7 and i9. The higher the number, the faster the processor, but truly, if you have an SSD in your system, any of the Intel "i" processors should work out fine, unless you are truly a power user.

RAM - The amount of RAM determines how much a computer can think about at a time. Truthfully here, the bigger the better. The current standard is 8GB of RAM, which should be fine, but 16 is better. Again, most Windows systems have a way to open up the computer and add more RAM later. Most Macs now have the RAM soldered to the motherboard, so it can't be upgraded. 

Other considerations 

• If you are buying a laptop, check the comfort/feel of the keyboard, the resolution, angle and brightness of the screen, and whether or not it feels like it's made of quality components. If you are buying a desktop, make sure that the video connector matches your current monitor. For All-in-One units, consider the location where it will be installed and if you might have a glare issue.

• You don't need to buy any antivirus software - Windows 10 comes with a good antivirus built in, and I don't recommend antivirus for Macs. You will probably, however, need to upgrade your Office software. 

• I am not a fan of retailer's extended warranties, but it's certainly worthwhile to use a credit card which automatically doubles the manufacturer's warranty on any electronics purchase. If you are purchasing directly from the manufacturer, check their extended warranty and accidental damage protection policies - some of those are very good deals.

If you need any help purchasing a computer, or want me to look over the specs of a system you are considering purchasing, feel free to get in touch. And of course, once you have your new system, call me to help you migrate your data and set it up. Happy shopping!  

I've been ComputerMom for almost 25 years, but I've never seen so much change in tech as quickly as in the last decade. When I started this business, most of my clients had a single desktop computer in a central location in their home, connected to the internet with dial-up! Now I help people with all sorts of tech, so I thought it might be fun to put together a list of some major changes I've seen in the last decade.

Smart Phones because ubiquitous. The first iPhone was announced in 2008, and the first Android phone in 2009, but they really weren't in wide use until early in the decade. Now, everybody has one, and we can't live without them! It's truly incredible how a single device replaced so many other gadgets from the previous decades, including digital cameras, video and voice recorders, standalone GPS's, MP3 players, and even alarm clocks and digital timers.

Sharing and Shopping Apps - Uber, AirBnB, Venmo, DoorDash - none of these businesses existed 10 years ago. Now we are accustomed to hopping into someone's car instead of a taxi, or planning our vacation in someone's guest house rather than booking a hotel room. With a few clicks of an app, we can easily transfer money to a friend, and just as easily get delivery from our favorite grocery store or restaurant. 

"The Cloud" became a thing. The last decade has seen us grow more comfortable with storing our personal data off site, on big corporate computers. Be it iCloud or Google Photos, One Drive or Carbonite, almost every one of us has entrusted some or all of our data to a third party storage site.

Streaming Video changed how we entertain ourselves. At the beginning of the decade you were still more likely to watch a TV show on its regularly scheduled night, at its regularly scheduled time. The rise of streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime, and streaming devices such as Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire and Google Chromecast, along with smart TV's and cable on demand services, has completely reinvented the entertainment landscape in the last 10 years.

Digital Personal Assistants now answer at our beck and call. Alexa, Cortana, Siri, Google Assistant - whether you talk to them though your phone, your computer, or though a personal speaker, we've become accustomed to speaking to our devices, asking them questions, and expecting them to answer. And with the advent of smart home devices, they also turn on and off the lights, check who's at the door, and perform myriad other household tasks.

I help people figure out the best way to set up and use all of these devices and services. It's been fun trying to keep up, and I can't wait to see what new innovations we'll find commonplace by the end of the next decade!