need a new operating system but don't know which kind

[Cookie5564]

I have recently purchased from a friend an HP laptop. The laptop has been completely wiped of everything including an operating system. I do not know which operating system I should get plus I am unfamiliar with the differences between full versions, service packs and oem options. The laptop will be used for things like facebook and email. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated along with explanations on the differences. Thank you very much

 

[RealBeast]

OEM versions are a fair bit cheaper than retail. This is particularly true if you look at the big sellers on EBay that are selling legitimate resold units (those from corporate machines that never used that OS).

Windows 7 OEM binds the OS to the motherboard, if you go Windows 8/8.1 you can freely transfer the OS to another of your computers if you remove it from the current install.

Either Windows 7 or 8 gets you a free upgrade to Windows 10 when it arrives later in the year. No word out yet about the transferability of 10 but I suspect it will be like 8, although perhaps not for 7 OEM users (but who know at this point).

I would go OEM, the choice is 7 or 8 and then upgrade to 10. And the real issue that you need to consider between 7 and 8 is whether that HP laptop has the drivers for 7 and/or 8. Without drivers available you would not want to select that OS.

And I must mention that Ubuntu is free if you have uses that allow for Linux.

 

[Wolfshadw]

You should check the specifications page of the laptop to find out what operating systems are supported. Ideally, you would get the proper OS installation disk from the manufacturer of the laptop, but that usually entails a cost. Other options, depending on the age of the system could include a version of Linux or perhaps the Windows 10 Technical Preview.

-Wolf sends

 

[Rookie_MIB]

I had an old HP 10" netbook that I went and installed Fedora on. If you're just going to be running browser-based stuff on it (Facebook, Email etc) then I would just toss a free Linux OS on it.

CentOS 6.x, Fedora, Mint, there are bunch of different flavors of Linux and they're free, and they're all rock-solid.