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I have a vintage 2003 ThinkPad with a P4 and maxed at 1Gb RAM running XP. Should I move to Windows 7 or will I be better off with XP?

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All the older computer i have running XP seem to run better with Windows 7.

These computers include:

P4 1.8 Ghz with HT and 1GB ram

Celeron 1.6 Ghz 1GB ram

Give it a try.

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  • Update 2011-12-28: I did put Win7 on that laptop, and it worked fine, until it was stolen out of my unlocked rental car in Phoenix AZ. Oh well...just thought I would let everyone know Win7 was fine on P4/1Gb RAM - the only problem was I could not get a driver for the graphics card, so it would not go up to the card's highest resolution. Thanks all.
    – qxotk
    Commented Dec 28, 2011 at 17:17
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I have tested Windows 7 RC on quite a few machine with 1GB or less memory and the performance was impressive. Since the new kernel improvements the overall performance on lower end machines has improved massively.

It's also been extremely stable across all these platforms running day to day business applications, including Office 2007.

We recently also set up a low specification machine as a Media Centre using the RC and it is working well.

Some of the specifications I tested on:

  • Celeron 633 / 1GB RAM / 80GB Drive
  • Centrino Duo 2 / 512MB RAM / 80GB Drive

I have also used in in Virtual environments using VirtualBox, Parallels and Virtual PC.

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  • Is this compared to Windows Vista or compared to Windows XP?
    – ChrisInEdmonton
    Commented Jul 28, 2009 at 21:17
  • Both. The performance gain over Vista was massive, and definitely much more stable then XP SP3. I also had no hassle getting drivers for either of the machines. For full disclosure I am a hardcore Vista user, and have had no issues with the OS itself, but I do find Windows 7 much more streamlined and matured.
    – BinaryMisfit
    Commented Jul 28, 2009 at 21:21
  • voted you up, but selecting @demetri as the answer because he has the P4/1Gb experience. THANKS.
    – qxotk
    Commented Jul 28, 2009 at 21:51
  • Fair enough. I have to agree with him. I did test it on a P4 but not extensively.
    – BinaryMisfit
    Commented Jul 28, 2009 at 21:52
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It is good to hear stories of windows 7 running well on old hardware. I would generaly say you might want a little more RAM to make things more smooth though. If it works great and you want to move to Windows 7, I would say go for it. New software is always fun.

On the flip side, If you currently use XP and it meets all your current needs, I wonder how much you will gain from Windows 7. Continuing to use XP will cost you nothing. Is the Windows 7 upgrade price worth it to you? Evaluate your needs/wants and if your willing to put more money into an aging machine.

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  • I have access to MSDN Universal, so I have access to Win7 - I just don't want to waste my time, if there is nothing to gain performance-wise.
    – qxotk
    Commented Jul 28, 2009 at 21:52
  • The machine is from 2003, and the motherboard does not support any more than 1Gb.
    – qxotk
    Commented Jul 28, 2009 at 23:05
  • I did run it, and it ran well - see comment to question above, and thanks for your assistance.
    – qxotk
    Commented Dec 28, 2011 at 17:18

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