There have been numerous discussions about the inability of Vista to run smoothly on older computers. Unfortunately, “older” seems to refer to anything not built or purchased in the last six months. I know for sure my 2.4 GHz, 1 GB DDR machine would not be able to handle the load…especially to run all the nifty graphics updates. After all, I built the machine 3 1/2 years ago.
Oh well…I guess it’s still XP for me (which honestly is only chugging along these days with all of the crap that I have installed and refuse to part with). But for those who are interested in upgrading to Vista as soon as possible, the new “Windows Experience Index” might help you know how well it will run on your machine. It is provided by the Windows System Assessment tool, which is included in Vista Ultimate Edition.
In my opinion, it would be helpful if Microsoft provided this as a standalone tool so I can try it out before I purchase Vista. If I had a high index reported by the tool, I would be more likely to upgrade.
Explanation of the tool and description of the numbers
