Free Reprint Win 95 or Lose 95: Should I Upgrade Now? Remember all the hype about Windows 95? Remember how this product was going to fly off the shelves? It didn't happen, and survey researchers are among those who have been slow to adopt Windows 95. What did happen? Why has Windows 95 acceptance been slower than expected? First, Microsoft misjudged how people would perceive Windows 95's benefits. Unlike Windows 3.1, which - compared to DOS - was a giant leap forward, Windows 95 offers only incremental enhancements. Windows 3.1 standardized the PC software interface and made PC software much easier to use, increasing both the number and the productivity of PC users. Windows 95, on the other hand, offers fewer, less obvious advantages to be balanced against the cost and effort of upgrading. In addition, many users have to upgrade their hardware if they want to install Windows 95. Second, despite the most extensive beta testing in the software industry's history, there were initial reports that Windows 95 was not installing properly and that it caused some software applications to misbehave. As a result, many copies of Windows 95 are still sitting on store shelves and users' shelves waiting for the "all clear" before being installed. In spite of these problems, there is no doubt that Windows 95 and its cousin, Windows NT, are here to stay. PCs manufactured over the last several years are 32-bit systems (that is, they pass information internally using 32 data traffic lanes). Windows 3.1 and Windows for Workgroups are operating systems for 16-bit systems, so software written for them does not take full advantage of the speed, power and precision of the latest computers. Furthermore, new PCs are now shipped with Windows 95 or Windows NT installed - not Windows 3.1 or Windows for Workgroups. The question for PC users is: If Windows 95 is inevitable, should I switch now or later? Steve Struhl of Total Research Corporation addresses that question in the article "Windows 95: Should You Upgrade Now?" which appeared in the May 1996 issue of Quirk's Marketing Research Review. This article poses several questions you should ask yourself in making the Windows 95 decision and lists the pros and cons of upgrading. It also walks you through the ins and outs of getting started with Windows 95 and discusses a number of helpful utilities to use with it. For a free reprint of "Windows 95: Should You Upgrade Now?", call Katherine Klein at 847/866-0870 or e-mail us at info@sawtooth.com. Back to Sawtooth News Index