Best current OS for Acer Aspire one 722?

The netbook in question has 2 RAM and dual core 1 ghz.

it came with a win 7 home premium 64 bit installed, but after 2 years, its time to reinstall the OS, cuz performance has been getting slug-ish.

Im thinking of going 32 bit, as with the netbook's specs 64 is unnecesary hog on system resources.

Despite the lack of official drivers, i gave the XP a trial shot, since it would best utilize said specs. I used 3rd party drivers, and i got everything working, except the sound.

So my real question is: Is it worth buying a windows 8? Is it heavier on the system resources? How compatible is it with old games, such as Baldur's gate - same as 7 or worse?

Cheers

 

I've read of people downgrading to 32 bit IF the install is OEM using ABR (Activation Backup and Restore) and they stay at the same edition. It is a long labor intensive process.

I suspect this causes way more problems than it is worth and not advise anyone to go this route. The software compatibility issues: None of your current 64 bit apps are gonna work. IMO, a very bad idea...

It would be like taking a Corvette, somehow managing to get a 4 cylinder engine to fit in it and expect it to deliver better performance than before.

What I would do is clean up the install, or reinstall, and get some more RAM. Its cheap enough.

 

Arent 64 bit app issues alot more common than the more compatible 32? I cant think of anything on that netbook that is 64bit only, and old games are far more likely to run on 32.

i dont know squat about cars, so i dont get the refference.

Im cleaning the install by reinstalling, and i did consider buyign another 2 ram.

However still not 100% on what OS to use.

 

64 bit doesn't noticeably use more resources than 32 bit.

I'd stick with 7, if I were you.

 

Last time I installed both x86 and x64 W7 on the same machine, x64 used ~20% more RAM to boot and ~30% more drive space.

I doubt if you'd miss any x64 programs, most users probably don't have any, unless they installed them deliberately.

I'd stick with W7, go with x86 unless you fit more RAM.

 

That much more ran usage doesn't seem right.

Was it ram used or pre cached stuff?

 

My particular barnd of netbook can be upgaded with an aditional 2 RAM.

COnsidering i get the max 4 RAM and the fact that i dont use any 64 bit programs at all, should i go with 32 or 64 bit? I dont want any unnecesary resource hogging, but since 32 bit caps out at 3 ram, maybe its offset...?

 

If I were in your situation, I would definitely get the RAM to 4GB, and leave the 64 bit system on. You're looking at something like $20 probably. I personally like crucial.com for RAM.

Windows 7x64 is completely compatible with 32 bit programs, etc. Period. There aren't any compatibility issues (that I'm aware of). It's far different than the XP 64 bit and such.

 

In use by the OS.

 

Win7 Pro, Ubuntu 12.10x64, Win8.

 

20$ a friend of mine says my particular model of netbook has but 1 slot, capable of holding 4gb ram, not 2x 2RAM.

That means price goes up to like 45$

 

I don't know if it is a DIMM or SODIMM, but:


DIMM
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6613461&CatId=4534

29.99.


SODIMM
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5625842&CatId=4153

26.99.