Windows Starter 7 or XP service pack 3?
Asked by
Rarebear (
25192
)
March 16th, 2010
I need to get a netbook for various reasons and they come with one of these two options. Any experience with either?
And Linux and Mac users, yes, I know you’re out there and no, I don’t want either of those systems.
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18 Answers
Win 7. Future-proof yourself.
Though it’s kind of a coin flip. Aside from cosmetics (Aero!), both will do 99% of what you want.
Wait, Starter does not do Aero.
Coin flip!
Flip a coin. (if vista basic is anything to go by, 7 starter will not have aero).
Personally, I would go for XP. Needs less disk space, no patronising UAC, no ban of uncertified drivers (if you have a software or hardware that uses drivers not certified by Microsoft, windows 7 will prevent those drivers from being installed, and as the computer novice i think you are you will have no way to circumvent it), I do not know of any windows 7 exclusive software, so anything you throw at it should work, oh and i found the vista/win7 start menu as well as the control panel absolutely dreadful.
But win7 does have a very good integrated voice recognition and command engine.
@ragingloli Thanks. I’m not a computer novice, actually—I just have no experience with Windows 7 and I don’t know how memory intensive it is. I have one Vista computer and hate it, and I got a second computer and got an XP downgrade because of the aforementioned hated Vista. What I want is something that is fast and clean.
@jaytkay Thanks. My interest is processing speed and battery life. As I mentioned to @ragingloli Vista is too memory intensive for my needs.
@Rarebear
Here are some tests, XP vs Win7 (not Starter, the hard stuff) on a netbook. Maybe I’m missing it, but I cannot tell if they turned off Aero or not. Anyway, the performance is really close.
Windows 7 versus Windows XP on the ASUS Eee PC 1005HA Netbook
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1023/6/
@Rarebear: XP service pack 3. Some people have had problems with Windows 7.
@Rarebear:
Sleep/Hibernation issues.
===> Issues with hardware compatibility.<=== could cost you $100+ alone if you were forced to purchase new hardware!
Issues with people not liking new interface.
etc.
Sleep/Hibernation issues.
So the particular netbook matters.
FWIW, if I were buying one today, it would be the 1005HA mentioned in the review I linked. There are a few versions, get the 6-cell battery, not 3-cell.
I’m running Windows 7 on a laptop with a 400 MHz front-side bus, with a 2.1 GHz Sempron processor and 384 MB of RAM, and as long as I keep the pretty stuff off and turn off UAC, 7 runs pretty well. I’m digging the upgraded native firewall and hella upgraded permissions settings. The native media server is a plus too. Though the non-native driver punishment is kinda stupid, I do recommend 7.
WIndows 7. XP is over 10 years old. Microsoft aren’t going to develop any new software for it (IE9 won’t be compatible for example) and are going to stop supporting soonit soon.
@Lightlyseared: XP has better software support than Windows 7 right now. This will likely continue to be true for the life of the netbook. Microsoft Windows 7 only software is a disservice/gimmick Microsoft provides to its customers in an attempt to force upgrades. Most Microsoft Windows 7 only software going forward isn’t likely to run very well on the limited system resources of a netbook anyway.
Thanks everybody, this helps a lot.
Vague warnings without specifics are meaningless. Windows 7 will run any common software that XP runs.
If there is a specific, uncommon application you must run, check with the publisher.
@jaytkay Yes, I have uncommon applications, so I do need to check. Also, battery life is of primary importance to me, and I saw one report that Windows 7 had up to 45 min. battery life less than XP. Need to research more. I’m in no hurry.
@jaytkay The second one is the test I saw, too. I agree, it is odd.
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