Has anyone tried this? http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/download.aspx Has anyone tried running it on a machine below min requirements? I have a 1.4ghz with 256mb ram that i like to test it on but if performance is unbearable then maybe not.

I'm running the win7 beta on my machine at home (amd 2.6ghz dual core, 4gb ram) and it runs very nicely. I really wouldn't want to try it with anything less than 1gb of ram though.

Just buy some more ram. It costs nothing these days.

i am running it with 1gb ram and amd athalon 6000 64 x2,3.1Ghz.
runs smoothly, though loading of windows 7 is a bit slower than xp.

I'm installing it presently with VirtualBox.
If you haven't tried it yet, it's gives you an easy way to set up an virtual machine. If you just want to give an OS a test drive, this is an easy way to do it without having to install over top of your current OS or dual boot.

I tried one of the earlier versions of Win7 and it looked pretty much like Vista to me. I'll have to look up what it is they changed at some point. I never really had that big of a gripe with Vista after disabling some of its annoying "security" features.

I had it running on an Athlon 2700+ underclocked to 1.6 GHz with 1 GB of RAM without problems. I know some people running it on netbooks as well.

Three of my favorite new features of Windows 7:

• Taskbar: I love the unification of the taskbar and the Quick Launch bar, and how keystrokes like Win+1 will switch to an application if it's already running. Now applications are always in the same order and are always activated using the same keystrokes. And before you freak out, yes, you can restore the old Quick Launch bar, and yes, you can configure the taskbar to display text and use small icons.


• Window management mouse gestures: These sound small but after using Windows 7 for a while I find myself trying these gestures all the time on Vista. I even thought Aero Shake was a silly feature at first, but now use it all the time to minimize all apps except one in order to drag-and-drop from the desktop.


• Keyboard shortcuts: Can't live without these. They're incredibly natural after learning them, and make multiple monitors even more fun to use.

I really love Win 7. The taskbar is amazing. The window shortcut keys are hard to live without (especially if you have two monitors). I will be switching to 7 as soon as it's released.

The only reason I use Vista atm is that 7 doesn't work with punkbuster and such, so I can't play games I usually would on 7...

I never understood the use of a task-bar until I started using MacOSX. Once I had it, I couldn't switch back. Good to see Microsoft picking up on it. The gestures look good too -- I use hot-corners on my Mac all the time to minimize windows and sort through open processes.

With these additions, Windows 7 is definitely something I will check out.

Also, Aero Peek looks sweet.