It's October 22 today. A completely random date in the grand scheme of things (we Dutch lost a big naval battle to the Ming dynasty on October 22 1633), but it also happens to be the release date of the newest version of Windows - Windows 7. Since Windows is still the most popular desktop operating system out there, this is pretty big news.
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Member since:2008-05-26
I thought Win 7 was meant to be good for netbooks? My netbook came with 512mb of RAM, so basically with Windows 7 it would fill my RAM on bootup.
Vista reportedly used about 400mb on bootup, so things have gone backwards. And sorry to drag out the Linux comparisons again, but I came close to running out of RAM on Ubuntu 9.10 on my netbook - running Compiz, Update Manager, Software Center, Prism, Firefox and Opera (yeah, three web browsers and two package managers, don't judge me!).
So 512mb of RAM used just to display a pretty desktop... that's crazy resource use.
Member since:2008-12-16
Member since:2007-10-09
Vista reportedly used about 400mb on bootup, so things have gone backwards.
So 512mb of RAM used just to display a pretty desktop... that's crazy resource use.
Check this out (paraphrased a bit):
"Windows 7 needs 1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit) and 16 GB
available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
Windows XP Mode (available in Windows 7 Pro editions only) requires an
additional 1 GB of RAM, an additional 15 GB of available hard disk space,
and a processor capable of hardware virtualization with Intel VT or AMD-V
turned on"
So much for an XP replacement! There's no way that's anywhere near acceptable if all you want is XP-level app compatibility.
Member since:2005-07-06
Member since:2006-10-11
Member since:2006-10-10
I thought Win 7 was meant to be good for netbooks? My netbook came with 512mb of RAM, so basically with Windows 7 it would fill my RAM on bootup.
Vista reportedly used about 400mb on bootup, so things have gone backwards. And sorry to drag out the Linux comparisons again, but I came close to running out of RAM on Ubuntu 9.10 on my netbook - running Compiz, Update Manager, Software Center, Prism, Firefox and Opera (yeah, three web browsers and two package managers, don't judge me!).
So 512mb of RAM used just to display a pretty desktop... that's crazy resource use. "
A netbook with only 512MB of ram? Are you kidding? And you expect to run a modern OS on it?
Member since:2006-06-28
Well, I can't agree with you here. Of course hardware gets better, but if I buy new hardware I want more power. I don't want my resources being used up, especially not by my OS, because the OS it not the application.
So even, if I have the best hardware available I want to use it for my application and not for an OS. This doesn't make any sense.
Most software developers try to make software faster and less resource intensive. For example Mozilla Firefox. You can think about this browser what you want, but with higher versions it became faster and used less memory, while adding other enhancements. I can't see any reason, why I need new hardware for new software.
Oh and there are things like netbooks, nettops, etc. They have lower specs and besides this more (used) resources means wasting more energy usage. This isn't good for your battery life, your UPS or the environment.
And think about the (toxic) waste you produce. Bad for the environment, cost a lot of money, creates more traffic (the waste must go somewhere), even worse for the environment and for the people.
Think about it. Windows is used on A LOT of systems, so yes all these effects are BIG!
Member since:
2006-12-18
Sure it uses more RAM then XP, but then again, XP used more RAM then 2k. If you upgrade your software from XP, then it's probably a good idea to upgrade HW as well, a PC from the beging of the XP era wouldnt be much of joy today anyhow..
With that said, I run 7 just fine on a EEE 1005HA-H(atom n280, 1.66Ghz, 1GB RAM), 7 is using about 50% as base after a boot. Havent got any problems with running out of RAM. Ofc I dont have 3 FF windows with 20+ tabs in each, alongside 720p video playback and editing photos in Photoshop. For regullar netbook usage, its perfect!
EDIT: I also have as habit to not shutdown the EEE, mainly using hibernation/sleep, still not any real RAM related problems..
An other point, HW that runns 7 good on the desktop isnt that highend, most HW sold today should manage 7 with areo without probs, 2/4-core cpu, cheap nVIDIA/AMD/Intergreated Intel graphics card with 256-512MB video RAM and 4GB RAM should not be very expensive, and really do you expect to be able to run a modern OS on soon 10yrs old HW? Can you run the latest Photoshop on that old HW? modern versions of anything more advanced than notepad etc?
On a side note, been using 7 for a month or so on the little EEE, and couldnt be more happy, ~8hrs battery, nice UI, Im happy
Edited 2009-10-22 13:25 UTC