Ok, Sagus mentioned we are looking at possibly changing our Operating System.

I have been hearing all kinds of horror stories about various ones that have large security gaps, etc.

My question is this, which currently the safest Microsoft system that exists now?

We were looking at getting XP professional because we heard that it was the most "stable" and "safest" type of OS by Microsoft in the market now. Is this correct?

can we have some input from some of our computer Gurus (or at least more educated than me )?

That depends how U define stable. My laptop has only had XP-PRO installed once. And my desktop is going through changes all the time (XP-PRO also). I believe XP is pretty stable but very picky. So rather tham trying to adapt your old system get a new one with extended warentee.

ivnj

All Operating Systems will have security gaps. Windows is the most widely used, so it is "attacked" most frequently.

There are trade-offs to any system. Windows is probably the easiest to use and when kept up-to-date with the Windows Update feature, any recent version is pretty secure. I would also strongly suggest running a firewall like ZoneAlarm as well as a good Anti-Virus like Norton Anti Virus.

Did you run the Windows XP Upgrade Advisor? Before even considering any of the Windows XP versions, you'll need to determine if your machine is capable of running it.

See this Discussion Room post for details

Dwight

I have a question to ask, what will you be using this computer for?

In some situations, you can actually ditch Windows and switch to a Linux-based OS. (Such as Lindows or Lycoris Desktop/LX) At least you wouldn't have to download patches everyday. Plus you would save yourself a bunch of money.