Will your PC run Windows 7? Test it here …
- Microsoft’s (free) Upgrade Advisor. It also checks the compatibility of software and gadgets. If problems are encountered The Advisor offers guidance in getting your machine ready for Windows 7!
- InfoWorld’s (free) Windows Sentinel can also test your PC’s compatability.
- Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit is more in depth.
According to Computer World Windows 7 requires:
- at least 2GB of RAM;
- at least a 1GHz dual-core CPU;
- at least 16GB of installation space for the 32-bit version and 20GB for the 64-bit version;
- a DirectX 9-compatible graphics processor or card with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver.
Software:
- XP cannot be upgraded in-place to Windows 7
- Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) 5.5 determines which applications will function smoothly in Windows 7 and which ones will not. (One tool this has is the Standard User Analyzer (SUA), which lets you reduce the many “are you sure?” messages which were one of users’ main dislikes of Vista.)
- Microsoft provides the User State Migration Toolkit (USMT) 4.0 in its (free, I think) Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK) for Windows 7. This is a collection of tools and documentation designed to help IT Professionals deploy Windows. Migration tools — especially AIK — are difficult to use, so you may need to bring in a migration consultant if using them.
32 or 64 bit?
- 16 bit applications will not run in 64 bit
The above is from ComputerWorld where there is more in depth discussion if you need it.
Random observations:
32-bit software will not utilize > 4GB RAM (with the exception of some specialized applications that use memory “adddress extension”).
64-bit *will* use >4 GB in a standard fashion.
Aside from the performance effect of greater memory capacity, 64-bit typically doesn’t yield much performance benefit for business users – in spite of some marketing “spin” to the contrary. Gamers and Entertainment/Media software may get more benefit from a 64-bit environment. Evaluate carefully in the case of the latter.
For both 32 and 64, expect to NOT find Win7 drivers for many old peripherals (printers) and possibly other components. The problem will probably be worse for 64-bit for several more years, but at some point, 32-bit will become deprecated industry-wide, just as 8-bit or 16-bit is now.
So as to annoy as many people as possible, many of the cool “IT” features that “power users” want are only available in the higher-priced “Pro”, “Premium” and “Ultimate” versions such as “built-in” encryption, disk cloning, virtual XP mode, etc.
Side note: SSDs (ULTRA-FAST solid state disks – without moving mechanical parts and platters) are on the verge of going mainstream. The big early technical problems with reliability and efficiency are probably going to be solved by mid-to-late 2010, and prices are starting to drop towards $100 for a SSD OS boot-disk (40 GB).
“Hybrid drives” will probably not evolve as was hinted (by Microsoft?) a year or two ago.
Bye!