RAM and Windows 7, 8 & 9

4 years old damaged RAM Chip Sets each 2GB

My Dell Inspiron 580 is more than 4 years old (bought in June 2010). It originally comes with 6GB RAM but recently I noticed that the programs and speed of the PC is terribly slow despite efforts in removing unwanted programs. Then I realised that the RAM was down to 2GB, the remaining 4GB seemed to be unreadable or damaged.

Not knowing which RAM chip set was damaged(there are 3 of them as shown above), I decided to replace the 3 pieces of RAM with a single 4GB RAM set (DDR3) After replacement, the programs run on smoothly. A desktop with 4 years of continuous usage is considered old. But I trust that my Dell can still run for another year or two. Good workhorse.

It runs on Windows 7, which is acknowledged as the best operating system from Windows and to some it is better than Windows 8.1. I have a Dell laptop running on Windows 8.1 but I still continue to use my Windows 7 desktop.

Recently, there was rumour that the new Windows 9 will be released soon (Sep 14) by Microsoft under the new CEO. When I bought Windows 8.1 laptop, the salesman said that the laptop was loaded with Windows 7 and believed it was a better OS. However, I proceeded to pay Microsoft for Windows 8 and subsequently upgraded it to Windows 8.1. The laptop doesn't come with touchscreen, as such it is difficult to use the much promoted Windows 8 Metro interface. I had initially thought that with the promotion of touchscreen interface, there would be attempt by monitor manufacturers to produce large quantity of touchscreen monitors, hence over time, reduce the cost and price. I was wrong. At the time of lauch, a 23 inch touchscreen standalone monitor cost about S$550. Now after 2 years since Windows 8 was released, the 23 inch touchscreen monitor still costs about S$500. Why would anyone pay this price for touchscreen feature when a non screen 23 inch probably cost half of that price? The non-cooperation from monitor manufacturers means that consumers are still using the conventional non touchscreen monitor, aka Windows 7.

Microsoft Office 365 introduced for Windows 8 ran on a yearly subscription format. The non subscription version will cost much more. This is asking consumers to pay Microsoft on a yearly basis. Why this arrangement? This discouraged consumer to upgrade to Windows 8 or Microsoft Office 365.

What I hope to see in the new Windows 9?
Traditional Windows Start Button
More stable Internet Explorer with less security issues
More stable Operating system with less requirement to upgrade
Forget about subscription base Microsoft Office
Full compatibility with older softwares

Well, Windows 7 continues to serve me well even though it is more than 4 years old.