I would go straight to win 8.1 64 bit and a new PC. What we recommend to new clients that want to upgrade their old PCs ranges in costs from $1700 to $2000 from a dedicated PC shop (not harveys, office-works or similar)

I respect those whose opinion is that you can get a similar specked PC for lot less, you can, and you will be disappointed for the life of that PC. Cheep PCs are cheep for a reason. Inferior hardware = inferior performance.

The above priced PC will perform well into the future and be able to perform well even after Windows starts to slow down due to the normal deterioration in performance which is due to leftover crap and patches and so on ..... that is where the pretend PC's just fall apart. We see it all the time.

In punting the PC is your betting partner, your analysis buddy and form study companion. That is something that is worthy of proper investment, if you are serious, speed saves YOUR TIME; you need a great PC, NOT an adequate one!

Finally, WIN XP and next best; I hope that you did not infer that XP is the best and what ever else you choose is the second best. Win 7 is far faster then XP and Win 8 is faster again. Once you will get your head around the interface you will kick yourself for not taking the initiative earlier. That is how I felt and I loved my XP.

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Michal - Ratings2Win Pty Ltd
R2W Axis - Axis is Australia's leading horse racing software and database;
with sophisticated form analysis tools and accurate horse performance ratings for TAB meetings.
http://www.ratings2win.com.au/