Do I really need to upgrade from 98SE to XP? Advantages? Disadvantages? Would this be the best time to replace orig- inal 20GB hard drive with 80GB Western Digit- al hard drive while rebates are in effect? Thanks

You don't need to. XP is more flexible, more stable, fewer problems, etc. It's a good solid OS. Takes some getting used to and can be frustrating until you do. But you'll be happier in the long run. 20G is pretty small these days (my first computer's hard drive was 20MB!) and this would be a good time.

STOP! Before you upgrade to XP, please realize that you'll need a fairly current PC. If your PC came installed with 98, it's very possible -- no, make that PROBABLE -- that either your PC is too slow or doesn't have enough RAM for XP to run correctly, and that you may have problems finding driver for your peripherals. Make certain you have the minimum requirements necessary. As a test, you might want to consider buyin that 80GB drive and replacing your 20GB, then installing XP on the 80GB just to see how it runs. You can always put the 20GB 98 drive back if XP is a dog.

I have not upgraded to XP. If you don't plan on purchasing a new computer, I believe you would be much happier staying with 98. A big disadvantage, with your hardware, would be that you will see a huge decrease in operating speed. If you play alot of games, you will notice a huge decrease in game functionality and frame rates. Advantages would be that you are running the latest and greatest. (Not really necessary) Wait until you could purchase a new pc. The quality of your hardware makes a huge difference with XP.

OK. OK. I made some assumptions. Above advice is good if your computer's old. But while 512 is much better, 256 is possible. But with 500 on the speed, may be too old. Thanks for whipping me into shape.

Well, not that I want to argue but... you don't need the fastest pc for XP even though most people think so : I run XP pro on a old K6/2 350 Mhz with only 128 Mb ram and it is ok although I can't play new games but that is only because my cpu is too slow but everything else is alright.

Same for me. I have XP Pro on a 333 mghz with 128mb ram. The computer boots much faster and it is far more stable. Things do get a little slow when I have several programs running at the same time. I probably need to up the ram to 256 or 512 but for now I can handle things the way they are. myth