AdviceOnOperatingSystemForNewLaptop

I am getting a new Laptop.
My only concerns are my ability to install and use RSLogix 500, and RSLogix5000
I noticed that the compatibility chart only shows that Win7 is supported for Studio5000.

I really want to get Windows 8.1, because I hate to be behind the curve too far on releases.
Heck, the Laptop that I am now using has WinXP on it, and it has been unsupported for half a year now.
I think some here have been able to use RA software with Win8.1.

Do you think that I should downgrade to Win7, or go with Win8.1 and set up a VM for any software that doesn't work?

If you want Win8, go for it. You can (and probably should) run your AB software in a Win7 VM anyway. I've been doing that for the last 8 years as there are too many conflicts between the various applications in our industry.

I've actually been running Linux the last 4 years, which handles all of my basic needs of email, web browsing, file management, networking and printers, etc, and have separate VM's for each vendor. It's worked out very well.

The coolest part was when I upgraded my laptop last Spring. Instead of spending weeks getting all the software set up, I spent half a day on a Saturday installing Linux and getting the basic host functions working, then copied my VM's over and was 100% ready for business on Monday.

Good luck,
-Brad

If you can get Win & then do so as Win 8 will not do you any favors and Microsoft is trying to get away from it the way it did from Vista. Windows 10 is on the way.

Either way your AB and other industrialo software should be installed in a Windows 7 VM for a life with lower stress.

Echoing some of the comments here, but I would indeed get a laptop with Windows 8.1. I think Win 8 is significantly better than Windows 7 (for my needs). I am a Windows fanboy, I admit it. I always like the latest and greatest and I have had Win8 on my desktop since the first public preview was released. I had it on my laptop until my company forced me back to Windows 7 and I hated going back to Win7!

People harp on Win 8 because they don't like the Metro (MS calls it "Modern") environment, not because things don't work right (like with Vista and the new driver model). But you don't have to use Metro. The desktop is still right there and it is better than it was in Win 7. I rarely use Metro on my desktop as I use primarily Windows desktop applications, but I use Metro all the time on my tablet since it supports touch.

Run Windows 8.1 natively and then virtualize your applications in VMs using Win7, Win8, or WinXP as needed. You can have a Win7 VM and a WinXP VM running simultaneously if you like.

I wouldn't bother waiting for Windows 10 as that is still many months away. You should be able to upgrade a Win7 or a Win8 PC to Win10 when the time comes. If it runs Win8 then it should run Win10 too.

I really agree with BAJ's comment about keeping things in VMs. When corporate sent me a new laptop last year, I simply copied my VMs over and was ready to go in an hour or two whereas some of my coworkers that refuse to learn VMs spend days downloading and installing various software packages. And anytime IT tells them the only fix to a problem is to reimage their PC, they get to do it all over again.

This is of course, my opinion

OG

ya'all of course know that when you run Any Windows in a VM you need a licence for that. to stay on the legal side. and that's apart from the license (probably 1 PC) on your laptop.

apart from that (legal) I don't care much myself

Trust me, that topic has been discussed ad nauseam.

OG

OG, What brand of VMWare do you suggest?

gbradley said:

OG, What brand of VMWare do you suggest?

Click to expand...

*giggles*
WMWare _is_ the brand

VMWare Player, or VMWare Workstation?

Most people use VMWare Workstation. I'm going to be giving VirtualBox a whirl here hopefully next week.

VMWare Player is for non commercial use only. You can use it at home, but not for work.

I started out with VMware originally, switched to VirtualBox about 4 years ago and never looked back. You can try them both and convert VM's between them if needed.

A couple of other cool things about VMs:
1. You can run old OS's (like DOS and Win95), if needed, without new hardware driver issues.
2. You can attach a USB-to-serial device to the VM before booting and make it a native COM port in the VM (which doesn't exist in the PC world anymore). So if you have to deal with any crusty old software that will only open COM1/2 by the IO address or IRQ you can still git-R-dun.

I prefer VirtualBox over VMWare. HOWEVER (this is a big one) if you are getting a new laptop and all of its USB ports are USB 3 then you will have problems connecting USB devices to your Virtual Box VMs. VBox doesn't support USB 3 yet.

I use VMware Workstation. Currently I have v10 on my work laptop and v9 on my home desktop PC. I've been using VMware Workstation since about version 4 or 5 I think.

For quite a while I did everything in a VM on my home PC. I did not ever use the host O/S. I had a standard "browse-the-internet and check emails" VM. I still have a "taxes" VM and a "download stuff from the internet" VM.

I tried VirtualBox and it was ok but I didn't spend a lot of time on it. I might go back to it in the future, but right now I am pretty happy with VMware. Though I was disappointed hen they removed the movie capture. I loved that feature but it was apparently causing some problems so they scrapped it.

Whatever VM package suits your needs!

OG

Ok, so it looks like VMWare Workstation is ~ $249.00
Virtual Box is free???
Is VMWare that much better, or easier to setup?

When I first got a Machine with Windows 7, it came with an option to download and install XPMode which allows one copy of WindowsXP to run on a Virtual machine.

Does Win8.1 allow me to install Win7 on the virtual machine?
Do I have to purchase a separate copy of Win 7? $139.00

gbradley said:

Ok, so it looks like VMWare Workstation is ~ $249.00
Virtual Box is free???
Is VMWare that much better, or easier to setup?

When I first got a Machine with Windows 7, it came with an option to download and install XPMode which allows one copy of WindowsXP to run on a Virtual machine.

Does Win8.1 allow me to install Win7 on the virtual machine?
Do I have to purchase a separate copy of Win 7? $139.00

Click to expand...

I don't think there is really much difference in setup between VMWare and VirtualBox. They're both pretty easy.

I think "XP Mode" was something MS did to help the transition to Windows 7. From what I can tell, it was a Windows 7 thing only. XP Mode went away in Windows 8 and no there is not a "Windows 7 Mode". If you want to run Windows 7 in a virtual machine, you will need to purchase a Windows 7 license, even if you are running it on a Windows 7 host.