Dell Latitude 2120 - install windows 10 or windows 7?

[Stealth3si]

I am getting an old laptop for my cousin to use for shopping online and excel spreadsheet. which is pretty much what she will only use it for. it has no OS but was wondering if it is better to install windows 10 or windows 7, from a performance perspective?

 

[Alaric]

As much as I love W7 and hate W10, in this case I'd have to say load Windows 10. Ongoing support, better performance, more security, and all with less effort. The most current OS is the best bet for minimal involvement from the operator. My $.02.

 

[Bill_Bright]

I am getting an old laptop... ...is better to install windows 10 or windows 7

Definitely better to put Windows 10 on it - AS LONG AS the maker has provided updated drivers for it - preferably W10 specific drivers but typically W8 drivers will suffice. There are two problems here. (1) There is no financial incentive for hardware makers to invest resources (time and money) to develop, post and maintain W10 drivers for old, obsolete and superseded products. They get $0.00 in return for those investments. They would much rather you buy a brand new laptop from them. And (2) W7 is over 10 years old and mainstream support for it ended over 4 years ago. So for security reasons alone, W10 would be preferred.

If you find W10 does not run on that notebook, I recommend you go with Linux. OpenOffice or LibreOffice (free MS Office compatible alternatives) work with Linux and she can still shop securely too.

 

[trents]

https://www.dell.com/downloads/global/products/latit/en/latitude_2120_spec_sheet_business.pdf

I would put neither Windows 7 or Windows 10 on it. It doesn't have enough memory (1 or 2 gb) and it has an atom processor. Very weak on processing power and RAM.

I would put a Linux disto on it. Linux uses system resources much more efficiently than Windows. For what she does with it there would be virtually no learning curve. She only uses a browser and a spreadsheet. Browser usage would not change at all. Browsers are browsers and platform independent as long as she is comfortable with Chrome (Chromium in Linux) or Firefox.

As far as the spreadsheet goes, most Linux distros come bundled with LibreOffice which has that tool and has a user interface very similar to Excel. It will open and edit Excel files and also save files in Excel format.

If you put Windows on it the thing will be so pokey it will be frustrating.

 

[EarthDog]

Well, that laptop came with W7 Pro, so, due to the amount of resources that W10 can use (even though it has better resource management than previous versions of windows) I fear that it will be too 'heavy' for this system with 1-2GB of RAM and the processor inside. Go W7 and tell that user to upgrade sooner than later from that potato of a laptop.

RE: Linux - It is a solid choice for an enthusiast, but I would imagine that the person is not Linux literate (most aren't). If they have to use a potato for a laptop, I am imagining that Linux is familiar nor would they take to the time to learn a whole new OS. The OP would know their user the best though.

 

[Alaric]

Windows 10 has pretty solid driver support for things that used to be solely the domain of hardware manufacturers. Microsoft's driver catalog is yuge now. And Windows 10 is pretty solid at running on W7 level hardware (one of the design intents of W10).

I think for the OP's intended purposes tracking down drivers is still a metric #$@! ton easier than teaching her to use Linux effectively.

edit: W10 can use a lot of resources, but a little tuning and it shouldn't be an issue. My girlfriend has what amounts to a Chromebook from Dell and it runs W10 just fine. Only issue has been the SOC storage. As long as a clean copy of W10 is installed it should run ok. My link for a no bloatware W10 Pro is dead, but it was built using MSMG Toolkit, available here. https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/msmg_toolkit.html

 

[knoober]

If it has to be windows then I agree with recommendations for Win10 (even though I also hate it).

As for Linux, it doesnt have to be a painful process for a new user and I agree that for basic use the learning curve is almost nothing. If that is a direction you can handle there is a lot of easy to find info that can help. Asking here will work as well

https://www.cnet.com/how-to/turn-an-old-laptop-into-a-chromebook/. I have done this little project on an oldish Toshiba and it worked well. The tutorial is old and YMMV, but I still think it might be worth a look for your needs


Edit: seems neverware says it will definitely work on that machine. That makes things a little easier. https://docs.google.com/presentatio...FSBAyVHRrWix0/preview#slide=id.ga9588ab56_131

 

[trents]

Per the description of the user I don't see where there would be much of a Linux learning curve. For what she does, it would work just like Windows. She's not getting under the hood at all.

 

[Bill_Bright]

And Windows 10 is pretty solid at running on W7 level hardware (one of the design intents of W10).

It was a goal of Microsoft's but not a very high priority. That is, security and support for current and future hardware were, as they should be, much more important. And again, it is not Microsoft's responsibility to ensure legacy support for obsolete, superseded hardware. That is the hardware makers responsibility to ensure driver support - if they choose to spend the money on it. Many didn't because it cut directly into their profits.

The key to making your comment valid is "W7 level hardware". If the hardware was designed and certified as W7 compatible, there's a really good chance it will run W10 with no problems. But a lot of hardware in the early days of W7 was made for Vista or even XP and were later updated to W7. It is our experience here that those systems were the ones most likely to have W10 compatibility issues.

 

[EarthDog]

Per the description of the user I don't see where there would be much of a Linux learning curve. For what she does, it would work just like Windows. She's not getting under the hood at all.

Agreed. But some people, as you still know as you live this, dont like change. The performance benefits of linux versus a w7 or w10 install doesnt warrant throwing it on there (imo). The OP would also have to be a bit familiar with it. I wont install an OS I'm not familiar with on a friends machine.

I dont know, linux just seems like more of an uphill climb in this situation.

 

[Alaric]

I wont install an OS I'm not familiar with on a friends machine.

You closed down Joe's 24/7 Software Support Emporium??? But...but...think of the children!


Yeah, for stuff like that, if I can't make it plug n' play I don't do it. Too much chance of "BBBRRRRIIIINNNGGGG!!! "Hello?" "Which key is the 'ANY' key???"

 

[Stealth3si]

She cannot use Linux. I am going to install Windows 10 first and if there are no driver installation issues, briefly replicate what she would be doing to hopefully not be sluggish. If it is or I encounter crashing and freezing, I will switch to Windows 7.

 

[Stealth3si]

The Dell latitude 2120 was too slow. So I went ahead and bought an evoo laptop. Much better.

 

[knoober]

The Dell latitude 2120 was too slow. So I went ahead and bought an evoo laptop. Much better.

No reason not to put Linux on it now

If you go that route try Lubuntu and see if you like it. It's made to run on minimal hardware and IMO works reasonably well on less than 512mb of ram and single core processors. There are better options for legacy hardware, but you can Google that if you end up being actually interested.

Glad to hear everything turned out well for you though

 

[habbajabba]

It's 32bit architecture so it should, imo, be reinstalled with win7 32 bit. Per dell's site they have drivers for ubuntu 10.10, vista and xp, and obviously 7 as well. Why push towards 10 when she really needs 64bit architecture, as in a newer pc? I would definitely start with the dell drivers and go from there. It won't get too many driver updates no matter what OS you use. Then you can go to the driver manufacturer's pages for audio, video, and network and see if there are any newer compatible versions that work.
Veeam free works great for backing up/restoring system and is highly recommended in case you update wrong or whatever.
My T/S tablet's manufacturer (name brand) in my sig was sold twice over but not before I was able to update some of it's drivers with the newer quad core versions drivers, which are not listed as it's primary ones. Even so a windows update did find some u-blox gps updates even after all that. So, it's not win10 you need but a working windows update and maybe a wsusoffline one as well (which just got an update itself).
https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/product-support/product/latitude-2120/drivers

Too late. XP runs great on 32bit but again the dell is old