Windows 8 ...on a netbook!

Ok, I've pretty much given up on this Dell Mini 10. It was great for what it was but the tiny form factor has proven to be just too restrictive. Now that its be assigned to "test-bed duty" I have been attempting to install new and different operating systems on it.

The before...

The last tinkering I did on it was to turn it into a dual booting machine. It ran Windows 7 Starter and Linux Mint Katya. It had gotten increasingly more sluggish on the Windows 7 side, and it refused to update on the Linux side. So, I decided to try running Windows 8.

Now, the problem I anticipated running into is that I would not be able to run most apps as Windows 8 requires a 1024x768 resolution. Most online sources stated that most Dell Minis ran at 1024x600 resolution and hacking the registry to force the system into thinking its 768 was a piece of cake. I proceeded to install the Windows 8 Consumer Preview on it and low and behold my Dell Mini 10 only tops out at 800x600. The registry hacking instructions don't apply to specs. The directory was there, but nothing else. Crap!

...and after.

With that said, I'm now searching for a new workaround to get this thing up to speed. It seems to be pretty responsive to the system so I hope all is not lost. Its a work in progress; I'll post some new findings if I get good results.

I had attempted to install Ubuntu 12.10 Beta 1 on the system and Unity proved to be a bit resource heavy for the Mini (also, the wifi didn't work). I think I may have to rethink my options on dual booting this machine. Maybe a different distribution or alternate desktop environment will run smoother on there too. Aside from not having an easy upgrade path, Linux Mint was pretty nice. Xfce and Lubuntu are nice alternatives as well. However, I'm a fan of the basic Ubuntu experience. Oh well. I guess the bottom line is that I should just buy a new computer.

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