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Need advice: Which OS?

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gramirez
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09 Jun 2010, 12:08 pm

My mom has a basic Compaq laptop which she uses very casually for email and internet and things like that.

Given the specs,

AMD Turion 64 2.00Ghz
2 GB RAM
nVidia GeForce Go (up to 128MB)
80 GB hard disk

What would perform best? Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7?


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Orwell
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09 Jun 2010, 12:12 pm

Debian.

But if you're dead set on Windows, XP would get the best performance by far. That laptop is likely to flop over and die if you try to make it run Vista.


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danace2000
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09 Jun 2010, 12:36 pm

With the given specification, I'd say XP would be the best option.



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09 Jun 2010, 1:16 pm

I agree--use Windows XP.


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Jpeg
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09 Jun 2010, 2:06 pm

XP or 7, XP will preform better but some people prefer 7.


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netsavy006
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09 Jun 2010, 2:40 pm

Given the specs, XP would be the best performer.



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09 Jun 2010, 4:43 pm

Ubuntu if you're willining to leave the Windows bubble.
It comes with preinstalled software and is free.



Talena
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09 Jun 2010, 5:09 pm

I third Linux. Failing that, then XP.



gramirez
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09 Jun 2010, 8:41 pm

XP it is!


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Asponaut
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09 Jun 2010, 9:24 pm

Windows 2000, XP or 7.



conundrum
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09 Jun 2010, 9:30 pm

gramirez wrote:
XP it is!


Good choice. :)


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lau
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10 Jun 2010, 5:38 am

gramirez wrote:
XP it is!

I trust you'll help her our with the costs. That includes the cost of anything beyond the basic XP.

You'll also need to assist her with the virus infections.

Also, cope with the ongoing process that means that XP progressively degrades over time.

Finally, at least Microsoft will patch up security holes for nearly four more years: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP ... _lifecycle


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gramirez
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10 Jun 2010, 9:04 am

lau wrote:
gramirez wrote:
XP it is!

I trust you'll help her our with the costs. That includes the cost of anything beyond the basic XP.

You'll also need to assist her with the virus infections.

Also, cope with the ongoing process that means that XP progressively degrades over time.

Finally, at least Microsoft will patch up security holes for nearly four more years: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP ... _lifecycle

She's only using this computer for a couple months...until she gets a Mac.


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MDM
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10 Jun 2010, 11:16 am

gramirez wrote:
lau wrote:
gramirez wrote:
XP it is!

I trust you'll help her our with the costs. That includes the cost of anything beyond the basic XP.

You'll also need to assist her with the virus infections.

Also, cope with the ongoing process that means that XP progressively degrades over time.

Finally, at least Microsoft will patch up security holes for nearly four more years: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP ... _lifecycle

She's only using this computer for a couple months...until she gets a Mac.


If she is just going to be using the computer for a short amount of time, might want to get a free linux based operating system.



Northeastern292
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10 Jun 2010, 6:16 pm

MDM wrote:
gramirez wrote:
lau wrote:
gramirez wrote:
XP it is!

I trust you'll help her our with the costs. That includes the cost of anything beyond the basic XP.

You'll also need to assist her with the virus infections.

Also, cope with the ongoing process that means that XP progressively degrades over time.

Finally, at least Microsoft will patch up security holes for nearly four more years: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP ... _lifecycle

She's only using this computer for a couple months...until she gets a Mac.


If she is just going to be using the computer for a short amount of time, might want to get a free linux based operating system.


I'll second that, unless there is something that she absolutely needs Windows for.



gramirez
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10 Jun 2010, 6:49 pm

She's very computer-illiterate. The last thing she needs is more confusion. She's used Windows and Mac (she definitely prefers Mac), and will be getting a Mac fairy soon - I don't think switching to Linux would be a smart move. But that's just me.


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