Should i change from xp to Linux?

An SSD and extra 2GB would light a rocket under most systems, Windows or Linux.

True to an extent but I've run Windows 7, 8.1 and now 10 on the same machine and sluggish isn't in it. Linux runs way faster to the point a browser is opened and page loaded in under a second but Windows takes closer to 5. Opening explorer generates a 'loading please wait' message for a few seconds after opening on Win 10 but in Linux I'm done with my file operation before Explorer would have even rendered.
 
T...Opening explorer generates a 'loading please wait' message for a few seconds after opening on Win 10...

Apart from W10 being beta. You realise thats not normal even for Windows. On the W7 machine, I'm writing this on explorer opens instantly and this system has a regular HD.
 
Hello,

Since xp support finished, my computer has slowly but surely ground to a halt. It is an old computer (almost 10 years old) but up until the xp support deadline was still a very dependable and relatively fast computer (for what i needed it for). Would be great if someone could answer these questions:

1. Is the deterioration of my computer due to the stopping of xp support? And, if so, why?

2. Whilst xp support has finished, why do i still get the occasional installed update when closing down?

3. Would installing Linux improve my system?

Thank you for anyone that takes the time to help!

Re-installing XP would improve that system.

But XP is a security risk. Time to move on and Linux is good choice.
 
My oldest lowest spec machine ddr2 667, 9~10yrs old is a laptop but file explorer is instant. But it has SSD in it ;). The machine I have with the slowest I/O file (explorer) access, is not the one with the lowest spec of ram, cpu. But slow because it has a rubbish hard drive in it. Newer versions of Windows hit the disk very hard unless you turn off certain features. W8 hammers the disk regardless of what you do. As do many browsers. A SSD is becoming a necessity these days, regardless of machine.

Out of curiosity I looked my slow drive. It actually does well in benchmarks. Unfortunately those benchmarks are from 2005.
 
Last edited:
Infinitely!

While I was always a fan of XP it really has nothing on a good Linux install. And Linux doesn't tend to get slower with age either.

Indeed, while my ancient core2 media box takes a min or two to boot and open the aps I want, it's just as fast a a clean xp/7 install, in fact faster, and it doesn't fubar itself over time it just works, all the time, without borking itself.
 
My windows machines which don't change much are rock solid for years. XP is a long way from W7 in terms of stability. But XP is obsolete. Any Linux is going to be light years ahead of XP.
 
I concur, time to upgrade as of several years ago. Linux is far easier to maintain than XP (type a few lines in a terminal and done, with zypper or apt-get) and XP will probably run faster as a virtual machine within Linux; Windows often works better kept away from the hardware. A long time ago, I found some apps were faster in Wine than native Windows.

Distro choice is a matter of taste, and there are plenty of lighter ones for aging PCs.
 
Back
Top Bottom