‘Application Spreading’

‘Application spreading’ (I coined it, sorry if it’s corny), in my head, means that i would install certain major programs on each operating system in an attempt to curb "bulkiness". The bulkier your system the slower it will operate. I find if i go through with it, then start up times won’t bother me, as much as they do now.

Remember that I said ‘Application Spreading’ would benefit me by decreasing overall memory usage, decreasing the overall amount of time needed to boot, decrease the overall amount of space associated with redundant applications, increase the long term vitality of my operating systems, and increase my overall experience in using just plain old Windows. These are only my initial thoughts. I hope they are true.

I need to designate the things I will do on each operating system, so I know where to focus a lot my my time. For example I could use Windows 7 for casual things such as browsing, typing, blogging, or etc., use Windows Vista for my main programming, or use Windows XP for audio and art(Photoshop and Corel painter). Now that does not mean I am only restricting activities to a certain operating system, I want to figure out what I will be doing for most of my time on a certain operating system.

‘Portable’ applications does not mean they are only for USB drives, but they are certainly useful for on the go. I consider myself on the go if I am on a certain operating system and need to do something quick , so rather than reboot, I can use ‘portable’ applications to curb the need for reboot. I might not get the same functionality as bigger applications, but if I can at least do what I can with the application, then there is no need to reboot for ‘*one* application on another operating system. There are many ‘portable’ applications for download. Not to mention, Open Source applications are useful too, especially if you do not have to install it (standalone).

Some exceptions exist to the thought about less redundancy. Basically, some applications will be redundant such as anti-virus programs because they need to install critical program files and modify system configuration in order to operate. It is understandable, some antivirus programs will not work correctly on Windows 7 as evidenced here, so different antivirus solutions or anything else might exist.

Let me summarize:

• Less memory usage mainly comes from the less applications used.
• Decreased boot time and decreased hard drive space comes with lesser applications being installed.
• Increased long term vitality for the OS is something I made up, after seeing how some applications could modify and brick your OS.
• Increased overall experience of Windows is derived from the previous bullet points.

Less problems, more resources, and less waiting contribute to to a better overall experience. Don’t worry if an operating system is underused. I do not use XP as much because I use it as a quick backup in case if Vista messes up. If you want to isolate the problem stated in bullet point #3, then organize your partition tables. Read up on my post: Win 7 and partition structure. I described my current partition structure here, it works too. Any problem on one OS will not spread to another, so it is practically fail safe recovery.