Netbooks forum: Windows XP or Windows 7 Starter?

I would not advise trying to use Windows 7 on any of the current netbooks...they are just too underpowered, especially if you are, as you say, a multitasker. Also, if you dislike Vista, it's extremely unlikely that you'll take to Windows 7. They are VERY similar.

As far as Windows 7 is concerned, the "starter" version is probably all you'd need for what you listed, but I repeat, if you get windows 7, don't expect to be able to multitask a whole lot. XP is a much 'lighter' OS, in terms of memory usage, and particularly demands on your graphics card, because it was made back in the day when most computers had slightly less power than a modern Netbook.

Most netbooks come with 1GB of memory and an onboard graphics chip, meaning the GPU(graphics chip) is using a part of your system memory. And, 1GB is the stated system requirement for win7, BUT I'd advise 2GBs at least, especially if there's an onboard GPU. Remember all the boasts about the 'eye candy' in Vista/Windows 7? Well, that's going to tax your GPU a lot, and thus your memory. So, in a netbook, I'm fairly certain this will come at a great cost to performance. Plus, Windows 7 (or at least the "starter" version) doesn't do a whole lot more than XP. It's just got a fancier interface, an instant search ability, and...well, that's it.

I think the upgrade cost to Home Premium is $150, but I'm not certain about that...

Anyway, for what you said you'd use it for, XP should be OK. I am not a big XP fan myself, but I'd rather have it than 7 on a netbook.

Final verdict: XP and Win7 Starter are going to have about the same capabilities, so it's really going to come down to performance, and I think XP has it's newer cousin beat in that respect. It may look 'old school' with the blue taskbar and nontransparent windows, but these small losses do enable XP to run better in a lower performance computer.

Have fun with the new machine!

Note: I personally completely bypassed the whole netbook thing and got a new MacBook Pro 13" to act as my 'supernetbook', but it was kind of costly.

It's not heavy on the machine and you get all the latest without having to deal with an old OS.

I've seen the same thing I really don't see why anyone wouldn't jump at the chance at getting Win 7 even Starter.

you've presented yourself to have don't sound like a good match for current netbook offerings. You say you're impatient and a multi-tasker. That's strikes one and two. As for getting on the internet, the only limiting factor I see with a netbook is that it loads a browser more slowly than a higher end laptop. The difference won't be more than a second or two, however. If this won't be an aggravation, you might be ok but you're not going to open a lot of programs and work between them with much speed. If you've used these already, you probably know you'll be dealing with a smaller screen and probably find yourself scrolling horizontally as well as vertically. The keyboards are smaller as you should know. How well they work for you will depend largely on how well you type. I'm a reasonably good typist and don't "hunt and peck" well because my fingers know where the keys are better than my eyes do. Scrunching fingers to fit a netbook isn't fun. Still, for traveling, they are reasonable. They do come with 12 inch screens now but this puts them in the realm of smaller and more powerful laptops that might be more suited to your cited character. A couple hundred more $$ might fetch something you could live better with. Just my thoughts.

i got an asus eeepc1015pem netbook as a gift,but it came in japanese version of windows 7 starter,so i couldnt use it nd gave a quack who changed it to english xp. but after that i noticed that there was no bluetooth and wi fi feature. but they had there own buttons,but if u push them,no response,i dont know if i still have to install a driver or something because i really need the bluetooth nd wi fi. please help me,am so inexperienced.