What makes a clean install of an OS better than just upgrading? (In the context of MS Windows) Is it all in our heads?
Solution:
Actually, upgrading is always better from a user’s point of view. Who wants to keep starting from scratch, restoring one’s programs, documents etc every time one gets a new computer or OS version…
That said, you probably used the word “better” in the sense “more stable” here in this context 🙂
Now the reality with Windows is that a clean install is very often less problematic than an upgrade. In my experience, I have always had trouble with upgrades, not one was successful for me so far, I’ve always had to basically redo a clean install after an upgrade. What I call an unsuccessful upgrade is one that I have to scratch and reinstall from scratch within a month because Windows proves to crash too often after the upgrade, and I couldn’t find a solution to the problem within that time… (an unstable machine for me is a machine that can’t run for at least 2 weeks without crashing).
I’ve done about 6 attempts at upgrades so far (since ~1998). My take on it is: you run into problems with upgrades if you install/uninstall/reinstall a lot of programs (keeping up with new versions of those programs etc). If on the other hand you don’t do much with your programs besides using them (creating/editing documents etc), then chances are that an upgrade will go well for you.