Thanks...I need to get my act together and get a new op system.
Hopefully, this list will assist in that decision.
I’ve got Win XP and have never downloaded a patch in 6 years.
No issues whatsoever. The key, stay away from questionable sites period.
There may be others who have seen me post this in the past 6 months...but I answer your question with a question.....Why?
I am still using XP but just not for internet access. I have no need for driver updates nor do I have any compatibility headaches.
I have installed Virtual Box (which is free). I then created a Virtual Machine using a Linux Mint 15 Live DVD. This I downloaded for free and burned to a DVD.
Once you get things setup, go to the Control Panel in WinXP and disable TCP/IP and Client for MS Windows in the Properties section for your primary network interface.
Then enable a bridged network connection to your NIC in the VM properties and you are done. Linux Mint uses Firefox and you can import you bookmarks and your profile from WinXP to Mint easily. Mint can access all your files in the WinXP controlled areas and drag 'n' drop from XP to Mint works too.
So for email (Thunderbird) and internet browsing (Firefox) I use Linux. For all the applications I love, I use my WinXP as I always have with no security issues to worry about since XP can't access or be accessed from outside my PC.