Thinkpads Forum

I'm running windows xp on these.

Should I upgrade to Win7 for the x61?

What are the latest, most compatible OS? I'm looking for performance so if xp will provide for the best performance, I'll stick to that.

Any of these machines will run W7 like a champ, presuming you have more than 2GB RAM installed.

No issues whatsoever in my experience.

And, on the other side of things (since you didn't specify ): those machines are very well supported by all major Linux distributions (and all minor ones too.) And FreeBSD as well (though IIRC that's with the exception of the 3G cards). An XFCE-based setup will run like a champ provided you have at least 512 MB of RAM installed. At 2GB+ you can easily manage the latest KDE as well. (Those numbers can drop substantially too if you're willing to do some tuning.)

I bought my X61T with 7 pre-installed, but reverted it to XP due to personal preference. Ran 7 pretty fine though - considering that a lot of X60/X61's were shipped with Vista you should not notice a speed difference between XP and 7. In fact i'd recommend Win7 because it adds support for SSD's, more than 3.2GB RAM (in case you have an X61 - unofficially it supports up to 8GB) and the optional Intel Tubomemory module. Especially Turbomemory should give you improved responsiveness while decreasing boot time and power usage.

Linux Mint FTW hehe

With the Intel graphics chips the display stuff works flawlessly which is nice. Running Mint 13 on my T410 and my X200 (Had it on my X60s when I still owned it too).

I would echo what others have said about these machines being fully compatible with both Windows XP (or XP Tablet Edition for X61T) and Windows 7. You will find various debates about the relative performance of these OSes on the web, but I would identify two major things to consider.

First, switching to an SSD or hybrid SSD will have a much larger impact on your Thinkpad's performance than the choice of OS.

Second, the difference between cold boot times in Windows XP vs Windows 7 is dramatic, and for a laptop that is turned on and off with any frequency, that alone can be a reason to prefer Windows 7.

Oh, and if you are considering adding more than 3GB RAM on your X61, then you will want to install the 64-bit version of whatever operating system you choose.

Phil.

thanks for the responses guys. I'm leaning towards win7 because of the fast boot times. All of these machines are maxed out in ram. Never have installed linux before, might want to consider linux mint, will be run faster than win7 in terms of boot times and overall performance. Any benefit to dual boot linux mint and win7?

codek wrote:Any benefit to dual boot linux mint and win7?

Aside from the experience of setting up dual boot (and the fun that can come from when a Windows install nukes your bootloader...) the only real reason to dual boot would be if you need software that runs under Windows which won't run under WINE.

Nprod wrote:I bought my X61T with 7 pre-installed, but reverted it to XP due to personal preference. Ran 7 pretty fine though - considering that a lot of X60/X61's were shipped with Vista you should not notice a speed difference between XP and 7. In fact i'd recommend Win7 because it adds support for SSD's, more than 3.2GB RAM (in case you have an X61 - unofficially it supports up to 8GB) and the optional Intel Tubomemory module. Especially Turbomemory should give you improved responsiveness while decreasing boot time and power usage.

Every review I've read about Turbomemory showed that it's a gimmick and should be avoided.

Brian10161 wrote:Linux Mint FTW hehe

With the Intel graphics chips the display stuff works flawlessly which is nice. Running Mint 13 on my T410 and my X200 (Had it on my X60s when I still owned it too).

A vote for LMDE here

+ thinkfan to keep the fan nice and quiet
+ liquorix kernel (power savings optimization + undervolting to keep it cool and efficient)
+ 8GB (you can't have too much RAM ==> more RAM ==> more cache, faster system performance)
+ Middleton bios for reasons below
+ SSD
+ upgrade the wifi preferably to a half-sized card (to keep the palm rest cool, plus cards are more efficient performance and power saving-wise)

Rivals my T420 and Ivy Bridge ultrabook and remains my day-to-day usage machine(s).

I tried dual-booting with my original x61t, Win7 and ubuntu.
It was ok, but i got tired of the choosing which to boot each time and when I decide to get rid of ubuntu and grub I ended up having to do a fresh install of Win7 again.
This was before knowing about EasyBCD

Win7 boots pretty fast with an SSD, haven't tried the Middleton Bios but I'm happy where it is at.
I also got rid of most of all aero effects as they use up more energy and memory.
Heck I have the classic toolbar too, one thing I hated seeing Vista on then "new" laptops was the toolbar and the bloat, but then again those were entry level laptops everyone had...

Ubuntu works great on my x61s, I think it eats up more battery life when browsing but then again I have a 7200RPM HDD in this machine, so im sure thats more of a factor, and the battery needs replacing.
I'd suggest you trying ubuntu if you havent yet... just can't see netflix without some tweaking and using WINE

Saucey wrote:I tried dual-booting with my original x61t, Win7 and ubuntu.
It was ok, but i got tired of the choosing which to boot each time and when I decide to get rid of ubuntu and grub I ended up having to do a fresh install of Win7 again.
This was before knowing about EasyBCD

Win7 boots pretty fast with an SSD, haven't tried the Middleton Bios but I'm happy where it is at.
I also got rid of most of all aero effects as they use up more energy and memory.
Heck I have the classic toolbar too, one thing I hated seeing Vista on then "new" laptops was the toolbar and the bloat, but then again those were entry level laptops everyone had...

Ubuntu works great on my x61s, I think it eats up more battery life when browsing but then again I have a 7200RPM HDD in this machine, so im sure thats more of a factor, and the battery needs replacing.
I'd suggest you trying ubuntu if you havent yet... just can't see netflix without some tweaking and using WINE

Ubuntu nowadays with more recent kernels is much more power-efficient than Windows 7.

why dont you try windows 8?
Touch works like wonders and right out after install. It is also faster than Windows 7.
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/6/23/1204474/huer.jpg

For my two cents.
I am running Win8 on my x61 2.0ghz with 4gb ram and a WD 640gb 5400. Runs great!
My x61s dual boot Win8 and Ubuntu 12.04 1.6ghz with 2gb ram and a Intel 128 SSD is my favorite setup, boot times are very fast. I ram Mint for some time and it performed better, but I love Unity.

Either way there are lots of choices of OS's and the machines are still relevant.

Oglon3r wrote:why dont you try windows 8?
Touch works like wonders and right out after install. It is also faster than Windows 7.
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/6/23/1204474/huer.jpg

yes I will try windows 8! It just came out so I didn't know if they worked out all the kinks yet.

Thanks to all for the great info. You guys are truly experts at thinkpads!!!