New Intel Haswell Processor

If you're thinking about upgrading your laptop or Windows tablet PC, you may want to consider waiting for computers that will use the new Intel Haswell processor. We're finally about to see fast performance in mobile computers that have all-day battery endurance. These newer computers will get released this summer.

The Intel Haswell processor is a 4th-gen Core processor. It's much more power-efficient. Imagine the power of i5 but the battery life of Atom.

Right now, your options for all-day computing on a Windows platform are dual-core Atom-based mobile computers like Windows 8 tablets. While these devices perform very respectably for basic computing tasks, they don't compare to the processing speed that you'll find with ultrabooks computers equipped with Intel i3, i5, or i7 3rd-gen Core processors (Ivy Bridge). So, you have to make a compromise. Either get a small and light Atom-based PC that has really long battery life but slower performance, or grab a larger, heavier device that is fast, but doesn't last all day.

One of the first laptops to come with the new Intel Haswell processor could be a refreshed MacBook Air in the middle of June. I'm sure the Microsoft Surface Pro will also get a new processor this summer that will give it longer battery life.

Plan to upgrade your older PC in 2010

Older PCs can still be very functional, but if you want to keep up with the latest software that's out there, then you should expect to upgrade your PC next year. Why? Major applications will demand more RAM and processing power to run effectively. Let's take Microsoft Office as one example. If you ran Office XP or 2003, then you probably noticed a huge difference in performance if you upgraded to Office 2007. Unless you have at least 1 GB or RAM, you can expect Outlook 2007 to be significantly slower compared to Outlook 2003.

Microsoft is getting ready to release Office 2010 and you'll need a modern PC if you want to run these applications efficiently. So, instead of paying for a Windows 7 upgrade if you currently use XP, consider replacing your older PC with a new system that comes with Windows 7.