Not keen on Vista

[Maximus1929]

I have just bought a new laptop and it has come with Vista which I'm not too keen on as you have to subscribe for Microsoft Office which I think is a con. Would it hurt to put Windows XP on whilst Vista is on.

[Ethel]

Microsoft Office is a very expensive piece of software that has never been free, with XP or any other OS.

It is sometimes supplied with a pc as part of the software bundle but that is becoming less common.

If you downgrade to XP you still won't have Office.

[Maximus1929]

Thanks for the advice but I already have all the discs from my othe rcomputer. So will I be able to use them.

[Ethel]

Oh I see. I can't understand why you can't use them on your new pc with Vista, unless you have registered the licence key its maximum number of times, in which case you'll have the same problem.

[ChuckFickens]

Downgrading to XP on some new laptops may not be possible as there will be no XP compatible drivers available for some parts.

if you have a copy of office already just remove the trial version thats already installed and install the version you have.

if you don't have office then you can try OpenOffice which is free and does most of the stuff that MS office will

http://openoffice.org

[Maximus1929]

Thanks to you both at least now i know i can put office on which was my main concern. Whilst I can see you're both whizzes could you tell me why i cant download bt internet i already have explorer but i think its a pain and we already have bt to the house.

[ChuckFickens]

I assume you mean the BT internet (yahoo) browser that installs when you install the BT internet CD.

It's not available for download but either give BT a call and ask them to send you another CD or go to somewhere like PC world and they will probably have the CD's available for free and you can install it from that.

Personally I would recommend firefox as a browser though.... much better, faster and more secure.

http://www.firefox.com

[Maximus1929]

Cheers thanx 4 all the advice I can start playing now.