D2

As a part of D2 I have been asked to evaluate the performance changes after performing the hardware and software changes to my computer system.

Software

My software upgrade was upgrading Microsoft Windows XP to Microsoft Windows 7. Overall I am very happy with the increase in performance, everything is better. The human computer interaction is a lot better; the whole interface has become more streamlined and unified in windows 7 than what it ever was in windows XP.

Another advantage is the performance increases, windows 7 is a lot smoother, and in general faster, which allows for a wide range of multitasking, Media playback and gaming due to increased software compatibility with the hardware, whereas Windows xp is much slower and just trails behind.

The final advantage is security, Windows 7 Has full security patches and support for years to come keeping your computer and data safe from viruses and malware whereas with windows xp it's support has totally ended leaving users vulnerable.

I can't really think of any disadvantages to upgrading this software except from the fact that it cost a hefty £40.

Hardware

My hardware upgrade was to install a WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) card onto my client’s personal computer. Overall I think that the upgrade was a total success. The installation of the WLAN card was easy and simple and the drivers were installed very quickly by inserting the driver cd provided with the WLAN card. The results were as expectedly very good, The WLAN card allowed me to connect to both printers and other computers in the near area aswell as connecting to the internet so it can access webpages like google or wikipedia and also has the ability to stream media like netflix videos or music. It was a great price for the upgrade that you get.

The only disadvantage I can think of is that because it is a cheaper, it doesn't have the best range, however if I paid a higher price I could of gotten a better one.