3 computers, 3 os's?

Hi...first post here! Here's my situation.....

I've come upon some major "computerage" in this last year. I used to just have my old HP Pavilion DV4000 laptop. Well, then I got married and my wife had an HP desktop. Then her father gave us a Toshiba Satellite laptop he couldn't use, and now we just got an iPad. Pretty overwhelming! Anyway, I'm trying to get everything sorted and settled, and here's what I've got.

HP DV4000 - It had XP installed in it, but it was running slow and I think contracted a virus, so I wiped the hard drive last night and now I think I'll run the recovery CD it came with. So it should be back and going strong with XP in it.

HP Desktop - I don't know the model, but it's only a few years old and it's running VISTA. I like it, and it's performing well, so my plan is to leave it alone.

Toshiba Satellite - Again I don't have the model with me, but it's probably 5 years old. It also runs XP. What I'm thinking about doing with it is loading in Windows 7 (I'm a student so I can get it for $67 ). I ran the Windows 7 compatibility checker thing on it, and I think it was okay except for few minor things...I need to double check again. But I think it will take Windows 7 without too much hassle.

My question is....is this the way to do it? Is having 3 OS's a bad idea??? Or a pretty good idea? Also, if it's smart to have 3 OS's, am I putting them on the right computers you think? Obviously in order from oldest to newest it's the DV4000, the Toshiba, then the HP desktop. I wondered if I should put 7 on the desktop instead? But can I still even buy an upgrade from XP to Vista for the Toshiba?

I'm all kinds of confused.....help!

One other thing I forgot to mention, I also have a wireless home network. Everything is connected wirelessly to the router (even the desktop, reason is the router is in it's own room). But I am going to set up a network drive that can be shared by all three computers, and also I have a printer that is hard wired into the desktop that I am going to set up to share. Didn't know if that would make a difference in what I do....thanks!

Dont know whether this will help but here goes...

I have a couple of computers and some others which I intermittently use. My dekstop is reasonably old but its a HP and has XP (a good combination). So its pretty solid, now I was pretty tempted to load 7 on it but i just didnt see the point, it was working and coping and i had no need for 7.

Next is my laptop, about 6 months old and is running windows 7 (lovely). My main one used is the laptop although at the moment I am using the desktop because the charger has broken on my HP laptop and ebay sellers arent the kindest people (long story).

Now what I have done is left both and instead concentrated on the programs and documents on each. With the thought being on being able to use any computer at any time if anything was to occur (such as a broken charger). So let me just say I did/do the following:

Syncplicity: I use this file backup thing and just simply tell it which folders to backup. So it uploads them on the web using my email and a password which means I can access my documents online and on the computers I choose. I only need the free one which is 2gb and then any extra by people joining thanks to me etc. Maximum its about 4-5 gb which is ok for me seeing as I dont use much.

Dropbox: The same pretty much which installs a folder on my computer/s and then back anything up inside that folder on the computers i say. So overall my documents are constantly backed up and any computer i choose and i can constantly choose.

Next with the programs I spent a day with both and just loaded the programs I needed on both. Mind you i didnt load all the unneccesary ones on the Xp cause i dont what it to die on me

Now that was just as a background for your personal situation, I advise:

HP DV4000- Well quite rightly i would wipe it and load AV like AVG which i love. I would leave it would Xp...

Toshiba Sattelite- I would leave this also with Xp because is it worth the move and its likely to cause maybe issues. I personally though and your opinion might change. Although having said that it would be nice with 7 but again is it worth it?

HP desktop- Now heres a chance to probably go to windows 7. I dont like vista at all and the desktop being a strong (?) most powerful machine means it would be nice to have a windows 7 in the house. Its most likely to cope and hopefully all will be well.

Now hopefully you agree but this is my opinion. XP AND WINDOWS 7 are good OS's so even what youve got is good (i just dont like vista). This combined with the software i mentioned is a good idea and will hopefully provide a good experience. P.S. Look at the website of dropbox and syncplicity which both have free options and cost ones for different sizes, have a quick look and they are easy and reliable and also will mean you can easily move around.

I use both but if you want either then give me a shout and ill post the links to make an account and give me an extra 0.25gb

Thanks for the reply....you know, the more I sit here and think about it, why would I want 3 different OS's? I mean I think about work....if we had all these different OS's it would be a mess! To me, the compatibility issues would make me probably eventually pull my hair out. That said, I know the HP is probably just too hold to try and put 7 on it. But maybe I should proceed and upgrade the desktop and Toshiba. They will be the two I use most frequently, so why not have the lasest software on them right?

I would probably just upgrade to Windows 7, considering it's what Vista SHOULD HAVE been. There's no reason to pull your hair out trying to figure out how to install things on different operating systems, particularly in the home environment. I don't know if your wife is computer savvy or not, but it just might be best for her sake. It's costly, yes but it's probably worth it. I bought the OEM edition of Windows 7 64-bit. It works fine, and it's cheaper than the full version. I think the only difference is the fact that you don't get fancy packaging, a manual and the support/licensing is a bit different, but it's basically a full install. I've had no problems with it.

Having that said, just upgrade your computers' hardware. You'll find the networking capabilities for Windows 7 are insanely easy in comparison to Windows XP. If my memory serves me right, with XP, you had to map everything with IP Addresses or computer names. Windows 7 finds things automatically. In fact, I'd NEVER networked printers before, and I was shocked out easy it was with Windows 7.