Windows 7 on a netbook - My verdict
link: original article - section: windows
I’ve been running Windows 7 on a Samsung NC10 netbook for some months. With the Windows 7 Release Candidate now leaked, it’s time for a verdict on whether Microsoft’s latest OS is suited to these tiny portable PCs.
The Samsung NC10 is a fairly typical netbook. It’s equipped with a 1.6GHz Atom processor, an Intel GMA950 graphics chip, a 1024 x 768 screen, and it comes in a choice of hard disk sizes - 80/100/120GB. Battery life is also in the 4.5 to 7.5 region, depending on how hard it is being used.
It’s hard to come out with a final definitive verdict about Windows 7 on a netbook because many of the netbook’s features rely on specific drivers. For the purposes of this piece I will ignore any driver-related issues.
Installation
Installing Windows 7 on a netbook is pretty straight-forward as long as you either have access to a USB optical drive, or are able to put the installation files onto a USB flash drive.
The whole install process took a little over 30 minutes and the installation consumed some 7.5GB of drive space.
Performance
The performance of Windows 7 on the NC10 is, on the whole, pretty good. It scored a 2.2 on the Windows Experience Index rating, Bootup times felt a little longer than what I’d come to expect with Windows XP. Under XP the system would cold start in about 40 seconds, but with Windows 7 this increased to about 70 seconds.
Verdict
Windows 7 works on netbooks, but if you push the system the same way as you push a desktop system then you might need to add more RAM. On top of that, remember that Windows 7 takes some 7.5GB of disk space, so you need to factor this into your thinking, especially if you have a netbook with a small SSD fitted.
My advice would be not to bother upgrading an existing netbook unless you really feel you want a particular Windows 7 feature. wait for Windows 7 netbooks to arrive on the scene as some of these will hopefully come with 2GB of RAM fitted.
