The only thing that may be an issue is that you can't install any Windows software that you already own. It's not difficult to use, especially for web browsing, but will take a little bit of getting used to. It's important to consider that with most netbook operating systems, you'll be running Linux. I've used Linux Mint on a first-generation netbook and it runs pretty well. I don't personally like Ubuntu's netbook edition, but some people love it. The alternate netbook operating systems are also a good option. With XP, the OS itself should use less of your memory, which could improve it a little bit. Windows XP would probably give you a little bit of improvement, but as Tina said below, you have to make sure you can get all the drivers for your machine before you try that option. This will probably make a difference, though it will still have more limitations than the average PC due to the less powerful CPU. I would recommend upgrading your netbook's RAM to at least 2GB. A machine with Windows 7 - even Starter edition - should just always have more than 1GB of memory installed. What it comes down to is that each machine will have different limitations based on its hardware configuration.Īny PC running any version of Windows 7 with only 1GB of RAM will probably run into this type of problem with what seems like a minimal amount of load on the system resources. On my home PC (Core i5, 4 GB RAM and Windows 7), it would take a lot more open tabs to affect performance. I experience the same kind of slowness if I open a lot of tabs (by a lot, I mean 20+). Any PC will see this type of issue with enough open tabs, but those with more powerful processors and more RAM can handle far more tabs before the issue becomes noticeable.įor example, my PC at work is an older machine, a Pentium 4 with 1.5GB of RAM, running Windows XP. The more tabs you have open, the more memory and processor power you're using. The delay in switching between tabs could just be due to the limitations of the machine.

Firefox opening multiple tabs