Softpedia performed a quick test to see how smoothly Windows 10 can run on a 7-year-old Acer Aspire One powered by Intel Atom N450 processor clocked at 1.66 GHz, 1 GB of RAM, and a 320 GB hard disk.

Obviously the installation not only went impressively fast but Windows 10 also works fast. In fact it only packed a sad when you were running a demanding app such as Photoshop. But that is normal anyway.

Windows 10 will run on a 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster processor or SoC, 1 GB of RAM and 16 GB of spare HDD space. It also needs a display of 1024x600 pixels resolution or higher

Softpedia's test was done on a machine that a netbook previously ran Windows XP with a resolution of 800x600 pixels.

Windows 10 not only installed all drivers automatically but it also changed the resolution to 1024x600 pixels, which is the default resolution the device supports.

"Windows 10 makes the 7-year-old netbook work better than on Windows XP, which was clearly an operating system whose system requirements made it a bit more suitable for such old hardware," the mag wrote.

 

What it did not say was the impact this news would have on all those companies and owners who have old PCs which desperately need to be upgraded before smoke starts pouring out of them.

A CIO will just say "it works fine under Windows 10, you can keep your old machine and just install the new software."
The knock on effect of this will be that PC sales, which have been in the doldrums for a couple of years will stay there. After all why upgrade if your PC still works?

The only one laughing all the way to the bank will be Microsoft. After all it has designed its business model to work on the PC you have. Microsoft is less likely to care if you upgrade or not.