1st anniversary
Posted by jonno | Posted in Macbook | Posted on 15-06-2009
Well in about a weeks time I’d have had my Macbook for 1year. It’s been a quick year and a pretty steep learning curve. Simple stuff like short cut keys and the fact the minimize/close buttons are on opposite sides of the screen have made it fun and annoying to get used to.
Would I swap? Not for the world. I truely am a Mac convert. I find myself eagerly awaiting Snow Leopard. I’m interested to see Windows 7 but having been burned enough, Windows ME, Windows Vista, Office 2007, is there any reason to give Microsoft another try? I think not.
Although Windows 7 is fairing well in the media. I came across this article on Friday.
If you have a PC and you want the upcoming Microsoft OS, but don’t want to buy a new computer, Microsoft has your back. The minimum specifications listed on the Windows 7 RC download page are a 1 GHz Processor, 1 GB RAM, and 16GB of free hard disk space. This means if you have a computer that is more than a few years old, you can still get some functionality from the latest OS rolling out of Redmond. Intel hit the 1 GHz processor mark on March 8 2000, which means theoretically Windows 7 could run on computers over 9 years old! Since Microsoft is known for understating their hardware requirements, I grabbed an old PC out of retirement and put it to test.
The PC I chose had an Intel P3 933 MHz processor, 768 MB of RAM, and an 80GB hard disk. My test subject was manufactured in 2001.
I particularly like “Microsoft has your back”. Yeah right. Exchange 2007 - rip & replace. Exchange 2010 - rip & replace. Microsoft Vista - Even NEW PC’s have trouble running that busted OS. Microsoft has your back. Sure.
And after replacing half the hardware to get the thing to install, performance was crap. There is no denying it. Could it be done. Sure. Was it usable? If you were slow I’m sure it would be. But in a day where I can go to Dick Smith, JB HiFi’s or even Harvey Norman and grab a PC under $1000 (under $800 if I look hard enough) or a Notebook even cheaper, the damn license is going to cost you half the price of a new PC (with an OEM copy included).

