This column deals with the business side of computing, rather than the aspects of home or personal computing. The emphasis, for a business, should be reliability.
First of all, the life of a computer workstation is about three years. This figure is derived from a number of different inputs. It's not just that the hardware itself will fail, although of course there are mechanical components and connections that will fail as they get older. In addition, you need to take into consideration that Microsoft changes its OS (Windows) fairly frequently. This then causes applications to change. Hardware changes and is upgraded; you cannot plug any of today's scanners or digital cameras into an old PC any longer as they require USB connections. If your PC is more than two years old, or if it is running Windows 95, you probably don't have a viable USB interface.
The benefit of buying a new PC is that you get the latest OS (and possibly the latest application suites) with it. It's much cheaper to buy the OS with a new computer than to just upgrade the OS.
Another factor is that Microsoft has discontinued support of older versions of Windows, and it is becoming more difficult to get drivers for these older versions.
One aspect of older hardware that is very significant is the displays (monitors) that were available on older computers. Modern displays are flat (even the CRT units) and 17" displays are quite inexpensive. If you have a team of people squinting at 15" or 14" curvy displays, its time to upgrade. This will definitely have a positive impact on productivity and morale.
So, my recommendation is that you budget to replace 1/3 of your workstations each year. Thus, you are keeping up with the latest in hardware and software, and your cash outlay will be consistent and manageable.
My next point is: hands off your server. Although it's tempting to use your server as a workstation also, resist the temptation. A server needs to be reliable and, let's face it, much of the software available today is somewhat less than fully reliable. The fewer applications, the more limited your web access, the less games, and the less free software, the more reliable your server will be.
Next: upgrade your applications, especially the application suites such as Microsoft Office. I know many companies still using Office 97. Sure, it works OK for what you want, but the older versions are not as stable and may be incompatible with other systems if you exchange document files. I cannot find a definitive statement on the Microsoft website concerning the use of Office 97 on Windows XP, but I would not recommend installing it. As was stated above, getting the suite upgrade with your new computer may be the cheapest upgrade path.
Finally, if your peripherals don't have drivers available for Windows 2000 or XP, its time to more on to new peripherals. Old drivers are, again, just too unreliable to use. There have been really great strides made in generating more reliable device drivers in recent Windows versions, and you need to take advantage of this.
To sum this up and to make recommendations for business workstations:
1) replace 1/3 of your workstations each year;
2) new systems should have Windows 2000 - I do not recommend Windows XP until the first service pack is released later this year;
3) keep up with the latest office suites - you should be using Office 2002 or Office XP if you are an MS fan;
4) a good display goes a long way;
5) old peripherals, especially ones that do not have drivers for the latest OS versions, should be replaced.
(Bob Seidel is a local computer consultant in the Southport / Oak Island area. You can visit his website at www.bobseidel.com or e-mail him at bsc@bobseidel.com).