- Joined
- Jul 12, 2016
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If upgrading OS or installing a new OS is just a "30 minute job" to you in your narrative, then I congratulate you. Good for you.
I would say, even installing Windows 7 from a DVD would take more than 30 minutes even if you do nothing after installation, especially on older hardware without SSDs. I say this from previous experience.
For me, upgrading to a new OS or installing a new OS is a time-consuming job, as it is not just the OS installation itself. Even if the OS installation goes without incident (and that's a big if, particularly on older hardware), I have to make sure the OS itself runs correctly, try to adapt to any changes the OS presents, and that every application I use will work correctly on the new system.
In the case of VMware Fusion, for example, I will have to remove the older version, install the new version, configure it to my liking, and then make sure every one of the virtual machines (Windows 98 / XP / Vista / 7 / 8.1 / 10 in multiple language versions) still work correctly. It can't be done in "30 minutes", more like days.
Unlike you, I cannot act like I am not concerned with whether something will break after an OS upgrade, and since it will take a long time for me to install and configure a new OS and the corresponding applications to my liking (and may have to wait for an application to be compatible), I am now very reluctant to do them, after Sierra / High Sierra / Mojave / Catalina. In the case of Big Sur and Monterey I have decided that I won't do it at all.
To each their own, I guess. I would like to be in a position similar to you where I can do a quick OS upgrade and do not need to worry if "something is going to break", but I am not, and I don't use any of your applications (which may require OS upgrade to continue to work like the Adobe subscription apps), so my OS strategy has to be different from yours.
Older windows OS I used to keep the cab files on a hard drive and install that way so it never took very long. Newer OS like windows 7 or newer I downloaded from Microsoft directly and installed from USB. I typically install without incident because I do not keep older hardware around. But you also do not have to upgrade the older hardware, you do not have to be on the same OS on every system do you?
Not sure about your VM issues if every time you update you got to reconfigure your VM's then maybe you should be using a different VM software. I do not have to reconfigure anything in my VM's with Parallels after I update parallels or after I update the OS.
At first glance it looks like you are a Horder of OS's maybe you should get some streamlining going. MS hasn't supported vista (worst windows ever) in almost a decade. And windows 8.1 support ended before windows 7.