I was curious how well Windows 10 would run on my old hardware, so I installed it to find out.
I'm using a Dell OptiPlex GX520, circa 2005. This machine has a Pentium 4 processor and 512MB of RAM. It's my favourite platform for evaluating how well various incarnations of Windows handle minimal hardware.
Windows 10 Install checks before it does any work, so I had to "borrow" a 1GB memory stick for the installation. Afterward, I removed the "extra" RAM and Windows 10 (32-Bit) ran OK on 512MB.
Since Windows 7 (64 Bit) runs unacceptably slow on this system, I didn't bother installing 64 Bit Windows 10.
I didn't run any formal speed evaluations, but instead, gauged how the system "felt" as I was doing some quotidian work. Windows 10 seemed slower than Windows 7. Not much slower, just a little, but enough to notice. ( And Windows 7 runs just a tiny bit slower than Windows XP.)
Another observation. . .
Since I prefer installing my systems on Virtual Hard Drives, they occupy less disk space than installations to separate volumes. The smallest "footprint" from Windows 7 is 6GB. With Windows 10, it's 7GB. I consider this 1GB "growth" acceptable. (Note: Windows XP (in it's own volume) occupies only 1GB!) Windows 8.1 occupied over 8GB.
Cheers, PW.
P.S. Windows 10 Install managed to supply all the correct drivers for my old hardware without any effort on my part. As well, it supported my laser printer which is only a few weeks old.
P.P.S. All my evaluations are done after "Clean" installs. With Windows 10, this is a bit of extra work because to activate, I need to run an "Upgrade" installation first. The "Upgrade" registers my hardware with Microsoft, so that when I do the "Clean" install, it activates automatically. |
