Windows 7: New Life for old Hardware
Over the holidays, I had a chance to speak with a number of friends and family who had tried Windows 7. Several had invested in new machines (and, for the gadget prone like myself, there’s nothing quite like buying a new machine…), but quite a few more had opted for an upgrade. What amazed me was 1) how easy the upgrade was…Vista is seamless…XP is straightforward but takes a bit of ‘lifting’ on the user’s part to migrate data and reinstall applications; and 2) how well the OS ran on older hardware. A few models that were ‘revived’ included a Toshiba Tecra M4 (c. 2006), a Dell Inspiron B130 (c. 2006), and – most surprisingly – a Dell Latitude D600 (c. 2003). In all three cases, the RAM had been upgraded to accomodate the 1GB requirement, but these were relatively low investments resulting in well-running machines.
If you’re in the market, recommendations for new machines can be found at the Microsoft Store. If, on the other hand, you prefer to upgrade (and there’s a good chance you can)…check out the upgrade advisor and weigh your options. For folks seeking to get another year or two out of an existing box, Windows 7 might give you the mileage.
PS. If you’re already running Windows 7, or have an interest in some of its features, check out 18 cool things Windows 7 can do that Vista Doesn’t. Great set of tips and tricks…
