Archos announces Windows 7 touchpad; Reviewer proves Windows 7 works on ancient PC
Got a PC from 2001? Windows 7 truly might run on it, according to a test run by Michael Scalisi of PC World. He grabbed a PC with an Intel P3 933 MHz processor, 768 MB of RAM, and an 80GB hard disk built in 2001 and loaded Windows 7 on it with surprisingly good results.
Granted, he admits that the installation was like playing hopscotch with blue screens of death. But eventually, he was using the ancient PC with the modern operating system:
“I installed Google Chrome and Office 2007 and prepared to get to work. Frankly, at this point, I was shocked to find my circa-2001 computer running a 2009 operating system. I’m not going to lie and say that the performance was great, but it was, well, surprisingly usable. The time between pressing the power button and having a desktop was a respectable 110 seconds. Within five seconds, I launched Chrome, my go-to browser, and started surfing the Web. Watching videos on YouTube was as choppy as you’d expect, but the rest of my Web browsing experience was decent. I started Word, and had to wait 8 seconds until I was able to start entering text.”
So if you have a few old PCs in your basement and would like to see someone be able to use them for something, Windows 7 might bring them back to life. Who’da thought? Read more: Windows 7 Beats Snow Leopard On Older Hardware Support
In the meantime, if modern hardware is what you want, consider the new Archos 9, a Windows 7 powered touchscreen-only Internet tablet introduced yesterday by French company Archos. Instead of introducing an Android netbook, as the press expected, the company shocked everyone by launching this Windows 7 tablet on an Intel 1.2 GHz Atom Z515 processor with 1GB of DDR2 RAM, Wi-FI (802.11 b/g), Bluetooth 2.1, a 10/100 Ethernet port and two USB 2.0 ports. It also sports a 80GB hard drive and antennas for DVB-T broadcasts. All of that is topped off with an 8.9-inch resistive touchscreen display. Target price is around $635 and exact availability is TBA, but certainly, with Windows 7 to ship October 22, it will arrive faster than an Android model could.
Did Microsoft influence Archos into ditching Android for Windows 7? We hope not. Given the way the European Union is pressuring Microsoft these days, we hope Microsoft isn’t engaging in yet more anti-competitive behavior in the region. Read more: Windows 7 Powers Archos Internet Tablet
If you just can’t wait until the fall to buy a new Windows PC, word on how PC makers will handle the Vista-to-Windows 7 upgrade program is starting to emerge and, frankly, it isn’t pretty. Some PC vendors and sellers will reportedly begin a coupon program on June 26 to entitle people who buy premium versions of Microsoft Windows Vista to upgrade to the new Windows 7 operating system. But the upgrade offers may not be free and they will vary by vendor and retailer.
Given the problems that people had in upgrading from XP to so-called Vista-capable systems (leading to a lawsuit filed against Microsoft in which loads of hilarious, albeit frightening, e-mails from Microsoft executives were revealed), we find it hard to believe that any one would consider buying a PC now, with intent to cutover to Windows 7 in the fall. If you do you’ll pay for it, it seems, possibly in more ways than one. Read more: Windows 7 upgrade programs will start soon, vary by vendor
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