Which Windows should I install on this computer?

Dimitri

Member
The computer I got is:

Athlon II X2 250 3 GHz

4 GB DDR3

Radeon HD 4300/4500

I don't play video games, I just browse the internet, however, I'm the kind of guy who has 600 tabs running so I sometimes run out of memory.

So, which Windows should I install? (Win 7, 8, 10?)

Also, should I go for 32 bit or 64 bit?
 
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johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
64bit home version. Can you upgrade to 6 or 8gb? 600 tabs??? You are crazy.
 

Dimitri

Member
64bit home version. Can you upgrade to 6 or 8gb? 600 tabs??? You are crazy.

Sorry, I guess I wasn't completely clear in the OP, I mean, aside from 32 vs 64, whether I should go for win 7, 8 or 10.

I'd rather not spring for extra RAM.

Yeah, I know I'm nuts on the tabs, but its coming down. Firefox introducing Pocket changed my life.
 

Agent Smith

Well-Known Member
If your sole use is just Internet, then Linux Mint is really all you need. You can burn it to DVD, boot the DVD and try it out and see what you think. There are three GUI desktops for Mint.
 

_Pete_

Active Member
Agree with Agent Smith as long as all you are doing is browsing the internet. You can do other stuff with Linux but you do need to be a bit of an officionado. If yhou want to write letters etc etc then you should use the OS that 99.999999% of the rest of the world is using and that is Windows. Again in agreement, if you going to use Windows then it has to be Windows 10 64bit and as much RAM as you can squeeze in and afford.
 

Dimitri

Member
So the consensus seems to be win 10 64 bit (home?).

Obviously, that's the latest OS, so I would have gone with it on that basis, but is there any reason to consider an earlier OS given that my computer is old and with limited RAM?

If your sole use is just Internet, then Linux Mint is really all you need. You can burn it to DVD, boot the DVD and try it out and see what you think. There are three GUI desktops for Mint.

I'd rather stick to Win, because I don't want to learn a new OS now and also, what induced me to finally migrate off XP is that some translating software I need to use for work doesn't work on XP, so I'm worried about potential support issues with Linux.
 

_Pete_

Active Member
Ah you see now it's not "just internet browsing".

Linux is excellent and can give older computers a new lease of life but as I have said the learning curve is very steep initially especially when it comes to installing software. You can get all the equivalent softwares for linux that you can get for Windows but again getting them to work with what the rest of the world is using, Windows, can be a nightmare.

I would think you should be okay with Windows Home. I cannot see any reason to go with a higher version. I have installed Windows 10 32 bit on a much older laptop that only has 2 gig of RAM. It's not ideal but it does work and it browses the internet as well as my much much newer Windows 10 machines. You will, of course, have to buy Windows 10 and if your computer is really really old then it may be more cost effective to go for a new computer. You can run Windows software from Linux using software like Wine but, again, the learning curve is quite steep.

The fact that you say you"migrated" from Windows XP makes me think that that was your last OS and that is a shame because if your computer had had Windows 7 then you could get a Win 10 upgrade for free. You can get a free download from here:-

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10/

But you will need a valid product key from Windows 7 , 8 or 8.1. This is an ISO and you can make either a bootable USB key or a bootable DVD using this tool but, as I have said, unless you have a valid product key for Win 7, 8 or 8.1 then this toll will not work.

Bottom line really to all of this is that you do need to be thinking about a brand spanking new computer with a brand spanking new Windows 10 on it and as much RAM as you can afford.
 

Dimitri

Member
Ah you see now it's not "just internet browsing".

I said just internet browsing because that's the most resource consuming activity, the reason I asked which Win I should go for is because I thought maybe Win 10 consumes too much resources for my old computer.

The software I use is no more demanding than a word processor so its not important in this respect.

Linux is excellent and can give older computers a new lease of life but as I have said the learning curve is very steep initially especially when it comes to installing software. You can get all the equivalent softwares for linux that you can get for Windows but again getting them to work with what the rest of the world is using, Windows, can be a nightmare.

Yeah, I don't want to go through all that aggravation.
 

_Pete_

Active Member
This thread is just getting painful..

Windows 10 - 64 bit /...done! good grief

Yep I agree. Seems like the OP doesn't want to say what he is using his ancient computer and when someone says "not just internet browsing then" after the OP said that is only what he is doing he gets all huffy and puffy. Okay Mr Op your on your own byee.
 

Laquer Head

Well-Known Member
Yep I agree. Seems like the OP doesn't want to say what he is using his ancient computer and when someone says "not just internet browsing then" after the OP said that is only what he is doing he gets all huffy and puffy. Okay Mr Op your on your own byee.
Well.. that..but also people such as yourself, who consistently post mini novellas each time they post... No offense - but a huge, convoluted story isn't required every time.
 

Dimitri

Member
Yep I agree. Seems like the OP doesn't want to say what he is using his ancient computer and when someone says "not just internet browsing then" after the OP said that is only what he is doing he gets all huffy and puffy. Okay Mr Op your on your own byee.

I didn't get huffy and puffy, you misread the tone of my post, I didn't mind the "not just internet browsing then" comment at all.
 

Agent Smith

Well-Known Member
In Linux you really don't have to unpack tar files, etc all that much for software. In most Linux distributions you have the package manager (for lack of the right term ATM). It's just search and double click to install. For other crap it can be a constant headache of updating apt-get, etc. Like I said, you can run the OS from CD to get an idea of what it does and the feel of it.

But since Internet is not your sole use now and Linux is not a viable solution, I would go Win 7. I will be mocked for sure, I give between 0 and 1 fruits. But Win 10 is a privacy nightmare without using Pfsense to block M$'s ASNs. Not only that but they have the gull to serve you ADs in your own Start menu. The OS is not a step up, It's a step down and to be honest with you if more Windows Apps worked in Linux with Wine, I'd be Linux full time.

sudo end rant end
 
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