I have been doing a lot of beta testing of Windows Vista in the last several weeks and yesterday I decided to put an older laptop to the test to see how Vista would perform. Funny thing is, the laptop I tried to install it on isn’t very old. The specifications are as follows:

  • Intel M Pentium Processor 1.73 GHz
  • 512 MB
  • 60 GB Hard drive
  • Mobile Intel 915 GM Chipset Family

I got Vista loaded but the graphics adapter didn’t allow me to get the full blown Aero Glass. Instead, I got a basic version of Aero but it did the trick. What most annoyed me was how slow the computer was running. I started fishing around the new OS and found a tool that provides a performance rating on how Vista will work.

The tool took 12.5 minutes to run and after it was complete, my laptop was given a rating of 1 on a scale of five. I have attached the thumbnail below.

Ouch!

This is a pretty fast computer. I was very disappointed. Upon further investigation, I found that the monitor driver, Intel Wireless Driver, and USB Driver were wreaking havoc on my poor laptop and slowing it down tremendously. These were the only drivers I could use because there were no Vista beta drivers available yet.

This got me thinking that many people are currently buying laptops that may run Windows Vista but not as well as they might run Windows XP. It all depends on what your motivation to upgrade is.

If you are currently in the market for a new computer that will run Windows, make sure the computer you buy is designated with a Windows Vista Capable logo on it. If you don’t and you want to upgrade in the future, it could be costly.