As a consumer, it's a great time to need a computer. Prices are coming down while computers are getting faster and smarter, capable of handling more information more efficiently. At the same time today's computers are quickly becoming tomorrow's paperweights. Computers purchased as little as three years ago have become obsolete for running today's software programs. Computers purchased as little as five years ago may not be Y2K compliant.
Consumers seem to have no choice but to buy a new system.
If you think about the computer sitting on your desk, however, there's probably five or six things that will last many more years than your 486 or Pentium processor. Hard drives have increased in capacity but a modest two or three gigabytes is sufficient for most software necessities. Your floppy and CD-ROM drive will probably work on today's higher tech systems, even though some speed may be sacrificed. And as far as your modem, sound card, and whatever peripherals you might be using go, they should still work fine with any system. Well, start with your motherboard.