transformer_99 said:The beta I have is the last one they intend to put out before it goes mainstream and according to MS, will expire 6/1/2007. I was able to get it thru where I work so I didn't have to download a dvd sized iso. The computer I put it on connects wirelessly and has no dvd drive, so I basically shared the dvd drive on my other/main system and installed it wirelessly. I did this because I'm too lazy to swap drives just for this install and Ubuntu is already set up on the main computer as the primary OS. It took forever, but I kicked off the installation during the middle of the night, fell asleep and awoke to it installed.
The first thing I checked, how much memory resources it used, 400+ MB of ram. That's just insane. I can see why the minimum configuration has 512 MB of memory. My Ubuntu system runs with 1.5 GB and Linux fully loaded uses around 120 MB. Anyway, I wouldn't run Vista with any less than 1 GB and would really be tempted to run it with closer to 2 GB. I have a feeling this new 3d desktop stuff is just going to use memory like mad. In Linux the equivalent is xGL & Compiz, as I recall it uses around 300 MB itself, but that's still far short of what Vista uses.
Yes, Vista is a resource-hog for certain. The motherboard I've been looking at for my new computer will support some of the quick-boot/instant-on features Vista has to offer by utilizing 384MB RAM strictly for program execution purposes in non-volatile power-down state. I am planning on a minimum of 3GB of memory to run Vista properly and efficiently. My fastest XP Pro PC has 1GB right now with a terabyte of HD space, so it kicks along fine. However, it's a slug with Vista.