Lowballing Windows 7: Worth a try?
Where Microsoft says the new OS will require, at minimum, a 1GHz CPU, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of drive space, and a DirectX 9-capable graphics card or integrated chip, a number of PC enthusiasts experimented with running Windows 7 on significantly less powerful hardware. Their results vary, as you'll read in the piece, but everyone seems pleasantly surprised to learn that Windows 7 runs pretty well on hardware designed to support Windows 2000 and Windows XP. But don't go digging your old laptop out of the closet just yet. Reading the experiment results a little more closely, you'll see that these modified machines turned in uniformly low benchmark scores, jittery video playback, and couldn't keep more than three or four apps open simultaneously. In addition, the Aero interface would not function on these older systems. So what have we learned? That it's fun to experiment, that Windows 7 is a remarkably lean and versatile OS, and that anyone who wants to use Windows 7 in a professional setting is better off investing in hardware that can support the OS without any kludges. Follow us on Twitter for all the latest Windows 7 and Windows Server 08 buzz! |
