Can You Run Windows 7?
Software upgrades often carry a cost in terms of hardware requirements. We all know that machines capable of running, for example, Windows 2000 or even 98 would bog down over XP or (gulp!) Vista. Feature additions require more CPU, memory, or disk space. Newer games often require high end video cards. Staying “appropriately ahead” (a new term…you saw it here first) of hardware requirements is a constant battle in the IT marketplace.
When someone asks my advice before buying a new machine, I tell them to buy ahead of the curve if possible. If the current Windows or MacOS version requires 1GB, buy 2GB. If you think you need 250GB of disk space, try to buy twice that. This is also known as “future-proofing” your purchase. It helps, but doesn’t guarantee, you’ll be able to use that machine successfully for more than a few years.
Now for the good news: it appears Windows 7 will be able to run on most desktop machines sold since roughly 2006…presuming they’re not low-end boxes with minimal RAM and processors faster than 1GHZ. Initial tests show that machines with a processor over this speed, plus at least 1GB of RAM and a paltry 16GB of disk can run the soon-to-be-released new Windows version. That should make people pretty happy.
The other good news is that, even if you have a machine with only 512MB (and there are few of those around, I suspect) you should be able to upgrade your existing system for short money. I just put 2GB of RAM into a 1-year old laptop….for $40. That’s pocket change.
This said, “able to run” doesn’t mean it’ll necessarily be a pleasant experience. A lot depends on the software you’re using on top of the OS. If you use only email and a browser, you’ll probably be perfectly happy with your system’s performance. But if you habitually use lots of memory-intensive applications, or run tasks that tax the CPU, you might need to upgrade. Or get used to waiting.
September 30th, 2009 at 4:32 am
From what I have read, don’t expect to upgrade XP or earlier to Windows 7. It requires a reinstall. Back up your machine, wipe it out, install the OS, install all of your drivers and applications again, put your data back on, re-do all your customizations, and so on. My guess is this is well beyond the tolerance and possibly the capability of many Windows users. Microsoft has made a serious miscalculation here.
This may be the time when a lot of Windows users take a hard look at the applications they run and consider another operating system. If most people do e-mail and web browsing and occasionally edit some photos and simple documents, a free distribution of Linux and downlodable and web-based tools may just fit the bill, at perhaps the price of having to do a little digging and maybe encountering a few complexities here and there.