Microsoft really needs Windows 7 to be the netbook OS of choice. But how does it work on a netbook? And how does that performance compare with Windows XP?
Hands on: running Windows 7 on a netbook
Netbooks are the one segment of the PC market that's actually growing, even in the current economy. For now, Microsoft is offering Windows XP on netbooks because Windows Vista simply won't run on a netbook's limited hardware, but it's going to need to move them to Windows 7 once that operating system hits the market.
Which brings up the question: is there anything wrong with running a full version of Windows 7 on a netbook? To test this out, I decided to install the Windows 7 Ultimate beta (because of frequent updates, I worked with builds 7000 to 7077) on a Dell Inspiron Mini 9 netbook. How well would it run?
While Microsoft claims any version of Windows 7 will run on current netbooks, Intel is not making such claims. In fact, Anand Chandrasekher, Intel's head of Ultra Mobility, recently said that Intel will be releasing new Atom processors in the second half of 2009 that will support Windows 7 Starter and Basic editions.
What Windows 7 needs
Microsoft states that Windows 7 requires a 1GHz processor, 1GB of main memory and support for DirectX 9 graphics with 128MB of memory (for the Aero interface). The company recommends that you have at least 16GB of available disk space for the installation; Windows 7 actually takes up about 5GB.
The Dell Mini 9 is powered by an Intel Atom N270 processor running at 1.6GHz. The test machine had 1GB of RAM and an 8GB SSD. The 8.9in display is powered by the processor's built-in 945GSE graphics. The default resolution, which is typical for a netbook, is 1024 by 600. The Mini 9 also has three USB ports, an Ethernet port, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and an SD card reader.
What it doesn't have, as is the case with almost all netbooks, is an optical drive for the installation disk. To get around this, I used a Sony DRX-710UL external DVD drive.
NEXT PAGE: smooth installation, slow performance
Comments
Andrei said: Just installed Windows 7 RC1 on Asus eee 1000he everything standard except 2gb RAM Runs perfectly no problem with Windows AeroIn my opinion - even faster than XP
Nathan Smith said: Windows 7 runs very smoothly on my Asus N10j netbook The computer came with Vista which was horrendous Boot-up times are waaaay faster with version 7 and the system is quite stable Perhaps the 2GB of on-board RAM and dedicated graphics chip are helping
Tylar said: Rewind to the year of XPs release Ah the good ol days when people were condemning it like everyday
Zk Lampkin said: I love XP because it run perfectly on my DELL laptop I tried win7 and I found its a little slower on my laptop than XP because when I switch my current window in a very fast speed I found it sometimes freezing I cant tolerance any freezing at any time But this is not the major reason I do not choose win7 I found that Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional could not work as normal as in the winxp when I wants to make a PDF document via the Adobe pdf printer I could not tolerate it any more Besides not only Adobe but Icesword wSyschech or other apps that I always use could not run So I still keep my keen on XP
Player911 said: I have a Asus EeePC 1000he with the 17 Atom Processor and 2gb DDR2 800mhz RAM running Win7 beta 7000 flawlessly I run the same version on my Core2Duo desktop and use them about the same I dont notice ANY difference in performance at all My netbook can do whatever my PC can as far as internet related goesBoot time is super fast on my netbook too faster then my desktop To be honest I use my netbook more then my desktop now a days because of the portability factorOne big thing is you are running on a Solid State drive SSDs have a really slow write time For Windows to function properly you have to install a patch for it to successfully run I can only assume the XP was the OEM OS that had the patch built-in while the new install of Win7 had not For better real world experience I would not use a SSD The technology under performs compared to a standard HDD
Charles Keledjian said: I installed Windows 7 RC on my Acer Aspire One 89 with 15 RAM 160 HD and was running windows media center showing HD TV recorded show from my desktop computer across my wifi while browsing the net and using Microsoft Expressions Web designer and it was all fine and smooth Windows Update offered me the latests drivers for the wifi I dont agree with this article Also I just timed boot time to 30 secs And it works perfectly with aero Intel 945 is perfectly capable of it
Skidz said: Long Live XP
Greg said: RAM is ALWAYS the most important factor I would of thought a site called PC Advisor would know this before this test but I guess not 4 GB of RAM with a Pentium 4 will get you better performance than 1 GB with a Core 2 Duo
Giovanni said: Have you tried the release candidate 7100