Dell 12" Netbook - Which version of Windows?

[TurtleCrusher]

I just bought a netbook off of craigslist for $70. All is working properly, however, the laptop does have windows XP SP3 (genuine) installed.

Here is the Amazon page for specs.

1.6Ghz Atom Z530 (HT enabled)
1GB DDR2 (non-upgradable)
Intel GMA 500
12" 1280x800 LCD
50GB HDD

I have a couple copies of Vista ultimate and one copy of Win 7 pro. With it being a single core atom, would 7 really bog it down? All i am using the computer for is web browsing, word processing and NES/SNES emulation.

Basically, as XP SP3 is fully updated and i have symantec AV, should I upgrade my OS or leave it be?

 

[lxskllr]

I'd use Xubuntu. That would work for all your stated purposes. If you insist on running Windows, I think I'd go with Vista. 7 may run a bit faster on that machine, but I think Vista could be tweaked into shape, and you have more of those licenses.

 

[ViRGE]

Windows 7 on 1GB of RAM is going to be painful. There's no getting around that.

 

[Gunbuster]

Win7 is better on low ram systems than Vista.

 

[blurredvision]

Win7 is better on low ram systems than Vista.

I agree with this. W7 is overall leaner than Vista.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

Since the ram is not upgradable and if I were to go to Windows 7, would picking up a mini-usb drive like this work well for readyboost? Would this be the specific case where readyboost shines?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...B-Flash-Drives

 

[JackMDS]

If you can get Win 7 Starter or Win 7 Home Premium -N it might work faster.

If you use regular Win 7 get rid of all the Visual "Jazz", check carefully the StratUp and disable every thing that is Not really needed.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx

 

[Turbonium]

As already stated, that RAM is really limiting you; 1 GB is the bare minimum you'd want to run any version of Windows 7. And I really do mean bare minimum.

I wouldn't install Win 7 Pro on it - waste of a license. Yes, Vista could be tweaked, but it's less efficient than Win 7 in general. Expect no faster performance than XP SP3, even when tweaked.

Why don't you just find Windows 7 Starter somewhere (if that's even possible)? That's all that machine really deserves.

 

[uallas5]

That machine comes with a card reader. If you don't need to use it for additional space, get a fast cheap 4 or 8GB SD card and use it for Readyboost. AFAIK a low RAM system like yours is where it would be beneficial.

Other than Technet, I'm not sure where else you would get Win7 Starter/Premium -N/Home Basic.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

Update:

I upgraded the OS to Windows 7 Pro. The system was fairly unresponsive at times without readyboost. I added a 4GB Class 4 SD card (19MB Read, 7MB Write according to HD Tune) and the system is far more responsive. I'm using all but 25MB of the SD card for Readyboost. It is especially faster with Google chrome as the browser. Firefox performance is SHIT on this machine.

Disabling Aero was a big boost in responsiveness. Classic theme is good enough for me! The onboard GPU is the Powervx 535 (i think the same as my iPhone 3GS!) and it runs aero with minor glitches. Video (MP4, AVI, etc) runs incredibly better on 7 than xp.

TL;DR: Readyboost helped a ton, and the video acceleration works quite well under 7. Even a class 4 SD card makes the system more responsive!

 

[The0ne]

Win8 is even better with memory management. I'm hoping to do the upgrade on the Dell mini when I get a chance and see how it performs.