Which operating system to choose...

[i-SnipeZ]

Well I'm in a bit of a delima here. Vista runs nice on my T43 but I'm not sure if I want to stick with it. I have several options and each one I've had lots of experience with, its just a matter of choosing. In the end I will probably stay with Vista (and soon, Windows 7) but I'd like to hear some comparisons etc. and your opinion. Who knows maybe you could sway me to go a different route.

So options are at the top. Have at it!

[Harryc]

I've run Windows 7 on a T43 with an X300 GPU, and it's almost like that machine was made for the OS. Max out the RAM to 2GB, turn on Aero, and enjoy it.

[Dr-J]

The key question is: what do you want to do? What applications best do that for you? If those are in the Windows universe, choose Win7. Otherwise, choose the OS that best runs the applications you want.

[ajkula66]

If you like Vista at all, you'll like W7 even more, especially on an older machine like T43.Definitely a much smoother-running OS on pre-Core Duo hardware.

As for other stuff, I have Linux Mint Gloria on my T43p and am loving every second of it...

My $0.02 only...

[mgo]

Well I'm in a bit of a delima here. Vista runs nice on my T43 but I'm not sure if I want to stick with it. I have several options and each one I've had lots of experience with, its just a matter of choosing. In the end I will probably stay with Vista (and soon, Windows 7) but I'd like to hear some comparisons etc. and your opinion. Who knows maybe you could sway me to go a different route.

So options are at the top. Have at it!

Expect at least a 20% speed improvement with Windows 7 vs. Vista. I have run 7 on a R50p, and currently the RTM on a R52 with really nice results. Once installed, have Windows Update go looking for drivers for your T43 first, before heading to the Lenovo site; it may find most of what you need. Microsoft is doing a decent job with the driver thingy.

[KristianJ]

I ran the Windows 7 RC on a HP nw8240 (comparable specs to a T43p), and loved it. Quite snappy and very useable, with readily available driver updates where needed. My new laptop (HP Pavilion dv7...I know it's not a Thinkpad, but it's surprisingly quite good IMO) will have its Windows 7 upgrade disc coming just after 22 October and I look forward to seeing how it fares on this machine. So if you're going to stick with Windows, I would happily recommend you grab a copy of 7.

[Temetka]

Windows 7 will out perform Vista on that machine. It makes far better use of system resources and re-introduces 'teh snappy' back into the machine.

If you are a *NIX fan you can install any *NIX that suits your fancy. I myself happen to prefer SuSE, but it's your call.

Or you can be a rebel like me and dual boot.

[Dr-J]

Or you can be a rebel like me and dual boot.

Or you can use a virtual machine, such as VMware or Virtualbox. Dual booting is nonsense: what you need invariably is on the OS you did not boot.

[Temetka]

Or you can use a virtual machine, such as VMware or Virtualbox. Dual booting is nonsense: what you need invariably is on the OS you did not boot.

That is why us alpha geeks create a partition that can be accessed by either OS and use it to store our files.

[Dr-J]

That is why us alpha geeks create a partition that can be accessed by either OS and use it to store our files.

I see. That gets you FreeBSD and Solaris too. Gotcha.

[ajkula66]

Dr-J wrote:

Dual booting is nonsense: what you need invariably is on the OS you did not boot.

Not really, especially when you have two (or more) users with strong personal preferences towards a specific OS, and one of them has no intent on running virtual machines of any kind...

Apart from agreeing with what Temetka wrote regarding partitioning, I can access any file on my XP partition from the Linux Mint side of the street...even without creating a separate partition for the given files....so what makes no sense to you might make a lot of sense to people with needs and user patterns that are different from your own...

[Dr-J]

To each his own, I suppose.

I have found that over the years that file access is not an issue. Those can always be transferred in one way or another if must needs be. Access to programs is a different thing. That is where a VM shines -- one can use Acrobat and awk together easily, on whatever OS one chooses (I use FreeBSD myself). And I don't allow anyone else on my laptop. Others can use any of my half dozen or so desktops just fine, thanks.

[ajkula66]

Dr-J wrote:

And I don't allow anyone else on my laptop. Others can use any of my half dozen or so desktops just fine, thanks.

Well...the last desktop I owned was a SX386 back in 1992...

My laptops are desktop replacements, except for my "daily beater"...

To each his own, by all means...

[i-SnipeZ]

out of me being curious is there any chance of putting IBM OS/2 Warp 4 on this machine?

[Dr-J]

My laptops are desktop replacements, except for my "daily beater"...

To each his own, by all means...

Yeah, well... I admit that my needs may well differ from others. One computer does laboratory real-time data acquisition and control and digital camera control (for photo and video fluorescence microscopy) -- these need add-in cards. Another box does finite element calculations -- that one will be replaced shortly with a dual, quad-core Xeon system. It also has AutoCAD and solids modeling software. My software development box, a dual, dual-core Opteron system (this one actually boots four different OSs) also hosts my company's accounting software, and there is no way I will put that on a laptop! And so forth...

Needless to say, running a VM on this sort of hardware is no big deal.

I readily admit that not everyone has such needs.

[Kyocera]

the best thing to do is run win7, you can get it free until march, you should be able to install the linux distro on a 4g usb drive to try it out. I have tried 7, vista, linux mint, 2003 server, xp, osx, on my various machines, and they all have their place. When 7 hits the street and goes through the first iterations of reality , it should be a good os, because like george said it is a little sweeter than vista.

[paul*robertson]

Win 2k on my 600x. Works very well imo. On my Samsung i have Vista, but dont like it. Too slow and hate user control.

[LegendaryKA8]

I've run Vista on four machines thus far... my old T42, my X60s, T60p, and my XPS M1730. I personally don't mind it, and as an OS it suits my needs rather well after some tweaking here and there. As it stands I like some of the features that Vista adds, but I'm still 'old-school' enough that there are features I simply don't like to deal with. Keep in mind I've only recently migrated to vista from XP.

This is probably one of the reasons why I won't be making the switch to Win7 for a while. The interface simply looks a little too new for my tastes. I like the Aero transparency effects and some of the eye candy, but the first thing I do to all my Vista installations is get rid of the sidebar(I keep an IM client going on my machines all the time and I need the extra desktop space). I also really don't like the Mac-style application toolbar that Win7 seems to adopt... I prefer the 'older' way of having an actual taskbar and a quick launch bar just above it.

That is simply my personal preference. From what I have seen, Win7 seems to be a bit snappier than Vista, and overall a slicker product. I'm just going to wait until it matures a bit before I get it, and even then make sure my more traditional Windows OS layout is kept, even as an option.

[craigmontHunter]

I would be using windows 7 on my t41, but powerplay does not work for the graphics card, and I need the battery life . Other than that it is amazing on my system, and probably better on yours.